What the Danish and European media misunderstand (and misrepresent) about America, and vice versa. And other stuff.
An opinion piece in Berlingske Tidende on Sunday raises some interesting questions about the future of the war in Ukraine, some of which are stated directly and some of which are merely implied. Will we still say “Slava Ukraini” if the US pulls the plug?Adam Holm, Berlingske.dk, May 21 The subhead or lede of the…
NATO comes under new management in September: current Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will step down and he’ll be replaced with a fresh face. Probably a female face, because, according to Berlingske, “it would look good with a woman to lead the Western defense alliance.” The article by European correspondent Solveig Gram Jensen is entitled “Forget about…
Tom Jensen is the editor in chief of Berlingske Tidende. He uses a column on its editorial pages as his “center-right” (borgerlig) newsletter. I’ve covered some of his previous “newsletters” in the past. Have you almost forgotten about the war in Ukraine? Be careful with thatTom Jensen, Berlingske.dk, April 27 The upshot of this one…
In case you missed it, last weekend a person said some things. The person was French President Emmanuel Macron. The things he said were during a state visit to China and then in an interview on the airplane home. Some of the things he said were published Sunday in Politico. Europe must reduce its dependency on…
The Nord Stream pipeline sabotage is back in the news. Media: German police have located mysterious boat on Christiansø. Was used for attacks on Nord Stream, they claimMikkel Danielsen, Berlingske.dk, March 8 Long story short: five men and a woman using false passports rented a boat from a Polish boat rental agency in Poland. The…
There are fourteen independent nations in the world today that used to be Soviet states, and many more that were Soviet clients. If we focus on continental Europe, there are six countries that can be counted among the former and even more than can be counted among the latter. This map of 1990 Europe from…
On Sunday, Berlingske published an editorial in which they came out in support of free speech—arguing against the censorship of fake news on the basis of sunlight being the best disinfectant. Here’s the lede: “Instead of censorship, Western democracies should bet on freedom of expression as the best antidote to the information war.” That should…
It’s commonly believed that on September 26—more than three weeks ago—the Nord Stream pipelines were sabotaged. Three weeks isn’t a lot of time in most circumstances, but in warfare it’s an eternity: time enough to fight the whole Six Day War three times and take a long weekend. New Yorkers woke up to a beautiful…
It’s still a truth universally acknowledged that nobody knows who sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines earlier this week, but the vaporous fog of ignorance has been coalescing into two general assumptions in the establishment media. The first is something like “We still don’t know who’s responsible, but it was obviously Russia.” The second: “Anyone who…
Things are getting kinetic in the Baltic Sea. On Monday, two underwater explosions caused three leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines carrying natural gas from Russia to Europe. The explosions and leaks occurred to the northeast and southeast of the Danish island of Bornholm. Quoth Danmarks Radio (DR): According to…
Energy prices are skyrocketing in Europe and the natives are getting restless. The situation absolutely requires that a really stupid and futile gesture be done on somebody’s part—and you know what that means: The EU summit will fight skyrocketing energy prices: “Russia’s manipulating our energy markets”Per Bang Thomas, DR.dk, 7 Sept Is it boring and…
The lights have literally begun to go out in Europe, even in little Denmark. Several municipalities are considering saving electricity by dimming street lightsRitzau, Berlingske.dk, Sept 6 Energy prices have skyrocketed, and this has caused several municipalities in the capital area to discuss whether street lighting should be dimmed or switched off during the night…
Remember when hating Russia and Russians was the hot new thing? Vladimir Putin had just invaded Ukraine (“basically, that’s wrong,” the American Vice-President helpfully explained) and we therefore had to chuck not just Russian gas and Russian oligarchs, but also Russian literature, Russian music, and Russian people. Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Pushkin, Bulkagov, Tchaikowsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky—out…
If you’re a full-throated left-wing extremist—if you still want George Bush and Dick Cheney hog-tied before a Hague war crimes tribunal, for example, and if you believe American news media are biased to the right, and if you simply cannot understand why Donald Trump still hasn’t been taken out and shot— then Poul Høi is…
Some things are so stupid only an intellectual could believe them.—George Orwell (apocryphal) Sovereignty is irrelevant.—Intellectual The new think pieces are here, the new think pieces are here! American professor: The Danish yes is part of a new world orderSolveig Gram Jensen, Berlingske.dk, Jun 2 Yesterday, as expected, Denmark voted overwhelmingly (roughly 2:1) to drop…
China, yesterday: Control your soul’s desire for freedom. Do not open your window. Do not sing. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. Imagine living somewhere, some big modern city, where drones fly around giving you orders. There are 26 million people in Shanghai. That’s a fact. It’s a thing we can’t deny. And…
Having been a resident of New York on 9/11, I’ll always think fondly of Rudy Giuliani. His performance as mayor that day—ironically enough an election day on which his successor was to have been chosen—is surely remembered warmly by everyone else who lived in New York City at the time. Amidst all the confusion and…
