Monticello Society makes ready for US elections 2012

It is only January 2011 yet, but the speculations about possible candidates for the Republican nomination for US President have been going on for a while already, and most of the Republican politicians will publically announce their candidature during the winter and spring. The election will take place on 6 November 2012, by the way. It will as always be a long and exhausting campaign.

The Norwegian-based Monticello Society, which I am a member of, is perhaps the best place for Norwegians to find information and facts about US American politics and campaigns.(*) The purpose of the Monticello Society is to study the history, society, politics and culture of the USA, to work to enhance Norwegian's knowledge and understanding of American affairs and to oppose anti-American attitudes, particularly in the Norwegian media. Each year the society hosts the Reagan Conference and arranges members meetings with US politics and society on the agenda. The society's president Jan Henrik Gilhuus and vice president Jan Arild Snoen are among the leading experts on US American politics and campaigns here in Norway and are often consulted by the media.

Today it was announced that the society's 2012 election pages had been created. It aims to cover the nominations and campaigns for president, Senate, House of Representatives as well as the elections on state level. Besides the presidential election, 33 senate races as well as House of Representatives elections and 11 elections for Governor will take place. Exciting as always!

I have followed US politics and campaigns with great interest since I was a teenager, and have set a goal to read a (serious) biography of every US president, as well as books on other central politicians past & present. During the last few years I gather that I have read far more books about US politicians than about royals. In other words, I am really looking forward to the elections in 2012!

It is far too early - at least for me - to make serious predictions. It is not difficult, however, to say with almost certainty that President Barack Obama will win the nomination for the Democrats. The only elected Democratic President to have lost the nomination was Franklin Pierce in 1856, and I don't think that Obama will be seriously challenged within his own party. The midterm elections in 2010 turned out to be a disaster for the Democrats, so Obama will have tough job ahead of him in order to be re-elected. But it is still a long time until 6 November 2012. If the financial situation improves, it will improve his chances. Democratic presidents who run as a moderate but rule as a liberal will often end up in trouble, as Carter experienced in 1980. Obama has to move to the center to win back his supporters from 2008.

The campaign to win the nomination for the Republicans will of course be far more exciting, and it is still a very open race, among the reasons why I follow so many Republican politicians on Twitter. Many would maintain that the Republicans tend to nominate the candidate who is regarded to be "next in line", and this time it is Mitt Romney's turn. Personally I am not too excited about his candidature, and he seems a bit "yesterday news" to me, but I will probably be wrong. The last poll shows that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is in the lead, but as of today both would lose to Obama (see RealClearPolitics, polls 20 and 21 January 2011). Other candidates mentioned are among others former Alaskas Governor Sarah Palin, who was the Republicans' vice president candidate in 2008; former Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Senator John Thune of South Dakota, US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, Jr. of Utah, Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana and Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts.

It might be too early for Scott Brown to run, but then again he is not in a much different position than Barack Obama was in 2008. Some think he is too liberal, too. He could be vice president material, though, although a Romney/Thune or a Romney/Daniels ticket might seem more likely. It will be fun to watch John Thune's campaign though - if he decides to run, that is. Of course the world needs a US president of Norwegian ancestry! :-) I still find it difficult to believe that populist candidates like Palin and Huckabee could win the nomination - the former will most likely be crushed by the other Republican hopefuls if she dares to run.

I will surely return with more comments and predictions later on! We are up for a lot of fun!

(*) Of course I get my news feed from many other sources, including RealClearPolitics, Politico.com, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post (which, by the way, asks today: "Who can win the 2012 GOP nomination?"), The Boston Globe and others.

Updated on Sunday 23 January 2011 at 10.15 (url corrected); last time updated on Wednesday 1 February 2012 at 23.30 (typo corrected).

Head of the Royal House of Prussia engaged

The engagement between the head of the Royal House of Prussia, Prince Georg Friedrich, and Princess Sophie of Isenburg, has been announced at the official website Preussen.de.

Prince Georg Friedrich, b. Bremen 10 June 1976, is the only son of the late Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1944-1977) and the then Princess Donata, née Countess of Castell-Rüdenhausen, and succeeded his grandfather Prince Louis Ferdinand (1907-1994) as head of the Royal House of Prussia in 1994. The last-mentioned Prince Louis Ferdinand was a grandson of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia (1859-1888-1918-1941), which of course means that Prince Georg Friedrich is a great-great grandson of the last Emperor. After the younger Prince Louis Ferdinand's death in 1977, his widow married (in 1991) Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg.

After finishing his military service, Prince Georg Friedrich studied business administration at the University of Freiberg and is currently working "for a company specialized on marketing of academic innovation".

Princess Sophie of the mediatised house of Isenburg, b. Frankfurt 7 March 1978 is the fourth child of Prince Alexander of Isenburg and his wife Princess Christine, née Countess von Saurma and Baroness (Freiin) von und zu der Jeltsch.(*) This means that the Prussian head is to enter an "equal" marriage, which we don't see so often these days. Princess Sophie has according to the press release studied business administration in Freiberg and Berlin and today works for a consulting company for public benefit organisations ("gemeinnützige Organisationen") in Berlin.

The wedding is expected to take place later in 2011, probably at Potsdam.

(*) If anyone wonders, I tend to translate prepositions ("nobiliary particles"/"Adelsprädikate") like "von", "zu", "de" etc. into English for persons who belong to reigning or former reigning royal and princely houses, including mediatised houses, but not for members of noble families (like von und zu der Jeltsch).

Filigrando Cafe & Lunch, Poznan, Poland

I visited the Polish city of Poznan the last weekend of November 2010, as I have already written about earlier this month. There will be more articles from the visit later on.

On the first day of our visit my wife and I had lunch at a nice little café at the old town square, Stary Rynek. The food was great and the prices reasonable as well, but what I particularly remember from the café was the interior!

Normally I would leave comments on interior design to Dagny, who is the wife of a first cousin of mine, and whose blog on interior design and fashion is well worth visiting. But I just had to take photos of our visit as a memory and to share with others! Should you visit Poznan, I can absolutely recommend Filigrando, which you will find at Stary Rynek no. 49, close to Szkolna street.

Filigrando also has a café with a similar interior at the mall Stary Browar. The mall is built on the premises of the former Hugger Brewery and is also worth visiting. You cannot separate most shopping malls from eachother, but the architecture of Stary Browar is just amazing and not possible to forget.

Population of Oslo reached 600.000

Last Sunday, 16 January 2011, Oslo inhabitant no. 600.000 was born at Oslo University Hospital (dep. Rikshospitalet/The National Hospital). The mayor of Oslo, Fabian Stang, marked the happy occasion by visiting the newborn baby girl, Stella, and her parents at the hospital. The baby was given a gold jewel with Saint Hallvard - the patron saint of Oslo - engraved, while her parents, Miriam Nordgård and Lars Olav Vartdal, received flowers.

The population growth is first of all caused by a surplus in births and immigration. The last estimates I have read say that the population will have passed 768.000 in 2030.

As of 1 October 2010 the population of Norway was 4.908.100.

Articles in Time on the Pahlavi dynasty

Every Monday I receive by e-mail the magazine Time's newsletter "Top 10 Weekly Europe Edition", which contains a survey of the 10 most popular stories of the week.

The newsletter I received today contained two articles about the Pahlavi dynasty. The first is titled "Why Royal Family Still Haunts Iranians" and was published on 6 January 2011. The journalist, Azadeh Moaveni, referring to the recent death of the late Shah's youngest son Prince Ali Reza, asks why the former Royal (should be Imperial) Family still fascinates the Iranians.

Well, the activities of the former Imperial Family of Iran certainly are of interest to non-Iranians as well. The Pahlavi pretender to the Iranian throne, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi (titular Shah(ansah) of Iran), who resides in the United States, makes one alternative to the present Iranian dictatorship.

The second article, titled "Iran Reacts to Suicide of the Shah's Son", was published on 5 January 2011, and is also written by Azadeh Moaveni. The journalists writes that the Iranian leadership has tried to eliminate the former Imperial family from public discussion, but has not succeeded.

Following the death of Prince Ali Reza, it is a bit unclear who the current pretender's heir or if there is an heir after all. If the succession law is agnatic, the heir would be Reza Pahlavi's cousin Prince Patrick Ali Pahlavi [Prince Ali Islami], b. 1947. I hope to get more details on the Iranian monarchical constitution and succession law soon. For more information on the Pahlavi Dynasty, you are recommended to visit The Royal Ark.

Reza Pahlavi's other siblings are Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi, b. 1940, and Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi, b. 1963. His youngest sister Princess Leila Pahlavi, b. 1970, died in 2001 and is buried at the Cimetière de Passy in Paris, France.

Reza Pahlavi's mother Empress Farah Diba resides in Paris, France, but also owns a house in the United States.

Updated on Wednesday 19 January 2011 at 20.25 (see comments below).

Bernadotte wedding postponed

In November 2010 I wrote that Count Carl Johan "Jan" Gustaf Wilhelm Bernadotte af Wisborg, son of Count Lennart Bernadotte af Wisborg, born Prince of Sweden, and his first wife Karin, née Nisswandt, was going to get married to Gunilla Stenfors in Hyftinge church on 8 January 2011. This would be Jan Bernadotte's 7th marriage.

The Swedish magagzine Svensk Damtidning writes today that the wedding has been postponed because Jan Bernadotte's divorce from Christiane Grandmontagne was not yet finalized (he is listed as unmarried at Ratsit.se, though).

According to Svensk Damtidning the couple insists that the wedding is still going to take place, but the divorce has to be formalized first. They said that the postponement doesn't matter too much, as this love is going to last for life.

Poznan Cathedral, Ostrów Tumski, Poznan, Poland

Statue of Pope John Paul at Ostrów Tumski, Poznan.

Grave of Mieszko I of Poland (ca. 930-992).

The crypt is also the burying place for several Archbishops of Poznan. The room where their sarcophagi were placed was too dark to get a decent shot. If you click on the picture you will be able to read the names.

I visited the Polish city of Poznan during the last weekend of November 2010, and among the sights worth seeing was the Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul (Poznan Cathedral for short) at Ostrów Tumski just outside the centre of Poznan. The Cathedral Island, as Ostrów Tumski means, is where the city of Poznan originated and "where Poland began" according to Pope John Paul II.

The cathedral was originally built in the second half of 10th century, but has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. The crypt has survived and contains among others the bodies of Poland's first rulers, Mieszko I and Boleslaw the Great.

Source: Poznań in your pocket November 2010-February 2011.