Some news in short:

• Arnold Schwarzenegger says he wants to introduce flat tax in California. That is a good idea. Flat tax is both fair and simple.
• About a week ago, Venezuela’s de facto dictator Hugo Chávez “urged the nation’s attorney general, Supreme Court and telecommunications chief to take action against ‘poisonous’ private media or resign.” A few days later, Venezuelan prosecutors charged the head of an anti-government television station for violation of foreign-exchange rules that give importers access to dollars, which is a big no-no in Chávezland.
• The Dutch women’s-rights group Women on Waves and its front figure Dr Rebecca Gomperts caused some commotion when they tried to dock their abortion boat in Spain last October. Diana Whitten and Anita Schillhorn van Veen have published an article about Dr Gomperts and her organization on Huffington Post. Personally, I think it is a fundamental human right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Women on Waves are heroes in by book.
• A quarter of Swedish voters doesn’t know that the election to the European Parliament is tomorrow. Personally, I think it’s a good thing that people with no interest in European politics stay away from the polling booths.