The Copenhagen Post: 9 - 15 December by The Copenhagen Post

Special section inside full of handy tips for surving the festive season

9 - 15 December 2011 | Vol 14 Issue 49

Just like her slipper, Cinderella will fit all of our Christmases perfectly

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper | cphpost.dk SCANPIX

NEWS

How old is old enough to vote? A government commission says it’s 16, but not everyone is convinced

NEWS

Magic mushroom? Danish researchers think they may have found a ‘shroom to beat cancer

Scandal explodes

SPORT

‘Taxgate’ ensnares former prime minister after Venstre MP flees parliament

Grab your sticks – a few dedicated players have helped to increase lacrosse’s popularity across Denmark

14 HISTORY

The festive Julekalender TV show has been a Christmas tradition for almost four decades

Price: 25 DKK

PETER STANNERS New figures show small monthly difference between being on the dole and having a full-time job

A television institution

9 771398 100009

New figures show it doesn’t always pay to work

ECIPIENTS of cash welfare benefits need better incentives to enter the workplace argue politicians and lobby groups after new figures show that having a job does not always pay. The figures from the Employment Ministry reveal that a single parent receiving cash welfare benefits is only 923 kroner better off a month in full-time employment, while those with two children would receive 997 kroner more a month if they found a job. The small benefit from working may well be lower, however, as work related costs, such as transportation, are not included in the calculations. The figures only add to the woes

of the Employment Ministry, which in a Konservative MP, pointed out to the past 18 months has registered 66 metroXpress newspaper. Ellen Trane Nørby, an MP for Venpercent more unemployed people in the category of those least likely to enter the stre, agreed with Behnke’s appraisal. “This is another example of [the govworkforce – category three, or “those ernment] saying one thing and doing outside the workforce”. In response, the employment minis- another,” she told metroXpress. “It’s goter, Mette Frederiksen, proposed several ing to be more expensive to take the bus new measures to reintroduce cash welfare and train and people have to pay more in tax and charges. In that way there’s benefit receivers back into employment. One test initiative would target the less incentive to start work, and 600 krolong-term unemployed – those receiv- ner a month isn’t going to change that.” Frederiksen responded to the critiing cash welfare benefits for at least 47 weeks a year over two years – providing cism arguing that the 600 kroner bonus them with a 600 kroner tax-free bonus needed to be viewed as one of many new proposals. per month if they find employment. “You can either let the numbers grow But the proposal was not well received by all, with some politicians argu- or you can try and tackle it,” Frederiking the wrong group was being rewarded sen told metroXpress. “I want to make it mandatory for under 30s receiving for finding employment. “You are rewarding those who stay benefits to seek education, and I want assessments of those receiving unemployed and don’t enter into em- atougher Organise personal meeting ployment or education,” Tom Behnke, benefits about whether they are available

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for work, because in my eyes being on benefits shouldn’t be an opt-out.” Think tank Cepos also argued that better incentives are needed to get people back into work. “The government should also pass a reform of the entire benefits system in order to ensure that people moving from public assistance to a typical, low-wage, unskilled position gain at least 2,000 kroner a month,” Cepos chief economist Mads Lundby Hansen told The Copenhagen Post (see op-ed on page 8). Prime Minister Helle ThorningSchmidt joined the debate at her weekly press conference on Tuesday, arguing that Denmark’s welfare system needed reform. “If you are a cash welfare benefit recipient you have to be able to take a job from one day to the next,” ThorningSchmidt said. “No-one should be in a position to choose between benefits and a job.”

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Week in revieW

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9 - 15 December 2011 Scanpix

Life out there?

The Week’s MosT ReaD sToRIes aT CphposT.Dk Fears of vigilantism after rape of young girl public transport fares going up, despite election pledge Dramatic drop in number of residence permit approvals how foreigners could save the welfare state euro not the way forward, say Danes

FRoM oUR aRChIVes Ten YeaRs ago. The pre-Christmas period is interrupted by a national debate over rising church taxes. FIVe YeaRs ago. In what is hailed as a victory for free speech, two Berlingske Tidene journalists are cleared of breaching national security for publishing intelligence information on the War in Iraq.

A team of Aarhus University researchers were involved in the discovery of the most earth-like planet ever – for now known as kepler-22b – circling a star 600 light years away. researchers call the discovery a key finding in an ongoing quest to learn if life exists beyond earth

International political and military goals have changed and Denmark must reflect that new reality, Hækkerup argued. former defence chief Hans Jesper Helsøe countered that if forsvarskommandoen was absorbed into the Ministry of Defence, sensitive national security information could end up in the wrong hands.

Denmark’s only english-language newspaper Since 1998, The copenhagen Post has been Denmark’s leading source for news in english. as the voice of the international community, we provide coverage for the thousands of foreigners making their home in Denmark. additionally, our english language medium helps to bring Denmark’s top stories to a global audience. In addition to publishing the only regularly printed english-language newspaper in the country, we provide up-to-date news on our website and deliver news to national and international organisations. The copenhagen Post is also a leading provider of non-news services to the private and public sectors, offering writing, translation, editing, production and delivery services.

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Inmate, line 1

InMateS of the nation’s prisons will be allowed to own mobile phones in a trial proposed by the Radikale Venstre in parliament this week. The trial would allow prisoners greater contact with the outside world, especially with their families, in order to improve their successful reintegration into society

President and Publisher ejvind Sandal Chief executive Jesper nymark editor-in-Chief Kevin McGwin Managing editor Ben Hamilton news editor Justin cremer Journalists Jennifer Buley & Peter Stanners

on their release. Inmates will be allowed to loan mobile phones that will be tethered to the walls of their cells from which prisoners could text and call. The proposal was criticised by Venstre who argued that allowing inmates mobile phones will allow them to continue their criminal behaviour while incarcerated.

editorial offices: Slagtehusgade 4 – 6 DK 1715 copenhagen V telephone: 3336 3300 fax: 3393 1313 www.cphpost.dk news Desk news@cphpost.dk 3336 4243 The cPH Post welcomes outside articles and letters to the editor. Letters and comments can be left on our website or at: comments@cphpost.dk

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Defence minister, nick Hækkerup of the Socialdemokraterne, announced this week that he was establishing a “fast-working committee” to study the implications of eliminating the national defence command, forsvarskommandoen, and absorbing its top managers under the Ministry of Defence.

colourbox

Downsizing

one YeaR ago. The new Citytunneln between Copenhagen and Malmö opens, making it faster to travel back and forth in the Øresund region.

Be careful

cHRIStMaS revellers should be aware when making merry this weekend, as cold, wet and windy weather threatens to be an unwelcome julefrokost guest. Winter conditions complete with strong winds could arrive on friday, which is when many Danes will be attending christmas parties. This could

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make for dangerous conditions on the nation’s roads, especially when combined with the copious amounts of alcohol typically consumed at a julefrokost. If the predicted weather does hit, it will add to the woes caused late on Sunday and into Monday when over a dozen weather-related accidents were reported in Jutland.

Layout and design Justin cremer aviaja Bebe nielsen Logo by Rasmus Koch

annual home delivery rates: 1 year: 1,200kr 6 months: 750kr 1 year (online): 365kr Discounted bulk rates available.

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NEWS

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

9 - 15 December 2011

Commission: give 16-year-olds the right to vote Proponents say initiative would get teens more engaged in democracy; others are sceptical of the idea

This is the way we should go if we want to broaden our democracy

The proposal would give 16-year-olds the right to vote in local, regional and parliamentary elections

to 16 would also mean that 16-yearolds could run for office. Under current law, people are first allowed to vote and run for office at the age of 18. But even though 18 to 30-yearolds comprise 20 percent of the population, only five percent of city council members are in that young age group. The under-representation of young people in local politics is one thing Val-

PETER STANNERS Bad news for homeless as bed numbers dwindle; good news for foreign vagrants after state finds place for them to sleep Overcrowded trains are among the mayors’ complaints

Mayors rebel over congestion zone S and SF mayors are disappointed public transport prices won’t fall as promised

ANY MAYORS on the island of Zealand are reconsidering their support for the traffic congestion charge after the government revealed that public transport prices would not be reduced as promised. Indeed, public transportation prices may actually be set to rise after it was revealed that operator DSB was facing financial hardship and that the government could not make up the shortfall if prices were reduced. But while reduced public transport prices were supposed to encourage people to use buses and trains instead of driving their car into Copenhagen – which would cost between 50 and 70 kroner a day after the introduction of the congestion zone before next summer – many mayors of regional councils on Zealand are concerned about the effects of higher transportation costs. “Our message to the government is to slow down their plans and shelve the plan to introduce the congestion zone and instead use the time to find a solution to the congestion problem in Copenhagen,” Mette Toubourg (SF), Marie Stærke (S) and Joy Mogensen (S), the leaders of Lejre, Køge and Roskilde councils, wrote in last Friday’s Politiken

gretskommission aimed to address with its 28 recommendations. Similarly, the new government also promised in its common policy framework, published on October 3, to “create a groundwork for seeking young people’s participation in local elections”. The government now appears to be ready to make good on that promise. If Denmark does try to lower the

voting age to 16, it will be following in its Scandinavian sister’s footsteps. In September – just two months after the politically-motivated terror attacks on the Norwegian Socialdemokrat’s youth camp on Utøya island – 20 Norwegian councils allowed 16 and 17-year olds to vote for the first time in their local elections. Prior to that just 8.3 percent of the participating towns’ council members were between 18 and 30 years old. Afterwards the percentage rose to 14. At the same time, the Norwegian councils that allowed 16 and 17-year-olds to vote saw 57 percent of those aged under 30 vote – the highest ever local election turnout in this age bracket. Denmark’s legal voting age has dropped steadily over time. In 1953 it dropped from 25 to 23. In 1961 it was again lowered to 21. In 1971 it became 20. In 1978 it was reset at its current 18. Is 16 next? It was only in 1915 that women, servants and the poor were given the right to vote.

City’s homeless face trying winter

SCANPIX

OW OLD is old enough to vote? According to the voters’ rights commission, Valgretskommission, the answer is 16. After two years of study, the crossparty group – which includes members of all the political parties, as well as experts in civics and political science – presented parliament last week on Thursday with a list of 28 recommendations to strengthen young people’s participation in the democratic process. One of those recommendations is to lower the legal voting age for local, regional and parliamentary elections from 18 to 16. “This is the way we should go if we want to broaden our democracy. We want to get as many people as possible engaged, and a legal voting age of 16 will help do that,” said the commission’s chairman Mogens Jensen (Socialdemokraterne). While a majority of Valgretkommission’s members support the recommendation, MPs from the right-of-centre opposition parties Venstre and Konservative remained sceptical.

“The moment you get the right to vote, you’re an adult and you’re responsible, and we just don’t think we should press that age downwards any further,” said Venstre’s political spokesperson Ellen Trane Nørby. But people who are old enough to choose their educations, work fulltime, buy alcohol, and be sent to prison, are socially and civically mature enough to vote for the policies that affect them, argued the majority of the commission’s members. The left-of-centre government is cautiously supportive of the proposal and wants to give it a trial run at the next European parliament elections in 2014. “We in the Radikale are not totally convinced, but we are very interested to try it out first as an experiment,” said the Radikale’s Zenia Stampe, a Valgretskommission member. “That would give us a more qualified foundation to base a decision on.” Officially changing Denmark’s legal voting age requires approval by parliament and passing a public referendum. But the public referendum is not required to allow 16-year-olds to vote in the European parliament elections. That’s why the commission feels it could be a good test case. The constitution states that anyone who can vote is also eligible to run for office, so unless the constitution is also changed, lowering the legal voting age

SCANPIX

JENNIFER BULEY

newspaper. “The crisis in public transport has now grown to such an extent that I no longer believe that a cheap, available and environmentally-sound alternative can be established in a few years,” Mogensen told Politiken, adding that presenting new legislation on the congestion zone by March was too rushed. Criticism from other mayors include overcrowded trains and a lack of parking spaces as well as the economic effect on regions bordering Copenhagen but placed outside of the congestion zone. But the traffic minister, Henrik Dam Kristensen, argued that many of the raised concerns only served to justify the need for greater investment in public transport infrastructure. “I want to point out that when I took over this ministry, there was only 200,000 kroner available for infrastructure investment,” Kristensen told Politiken. “And now the budget has set aside 800 million kroner to improve public transport before the congestion zone is created.” Kristensen added that the economic reality meant that public transport prices would not be going down anytime soon and that increasing capacity on buses and trains could not be addressed while also simultaneously tackling congestion in Copenhagen. (PS)

ITH ANOTHER cold winter about to set in, the outlook for the city’s homeless is as bleak as ever after Copenhagen’s social services announced that many shelters were already fully booked. Speaking to Information newspaper, the deputy mayor for social affairs, Mikkel Warming, said he was disappointed by the situation. “It’s exceptional that shelters have been fully booked from the summer until now,” Warming said. “I’ve not experienced that once in my six years as deputy mayor. It’s very worrying.” According to the National Centre for Social Research (SFI), the number of homeless in Denmark has been steadily rising. SFI registered 5,290 homeless individuals in 2011 - a rise of 292 from 2009 - though only 426 were registered as sleeping regularly on the street, a drop of 80 individuals compared to 2009. But without an adequate number of beds in the city, the number of those forced to sleep on the street may be set to rise this winter. “We are experiencing a marked increase in homeless people searching and becoming frustrated when they are re-

ferred to a night café, which is often just a mattress on the floor, a chair or a sofa,” Gertrud Sørensen from the shelter Herbergscentret Sundholm told Information. SFI’s numbers have revealed a worrying increase in the number of homeless young people in Denmark. While in 2009 there were 633 registered homeless between 18 and 24 year olds, in 2011 the number had risen to 1,002. “We can’t give a concrete reason about why there are so many more young homeless people, but many of them have said that they couldn’t find a suitable housing solution,” Hasselberg Laurtizen from SFI told Information newspaper. While Danes are entitled to use the limited spaces at shelters and other emergency housing provided by the council, foreigners without residency – otherwise known as undocumented migrants – are normally forbidden from being given beds. But one organisation, Missionen blandt Hjemløse (MBH), has managed to secure funding to provide beds for undocumented migrants through a pool of money called Satspuljen, which is distributed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Immigration. The money will be put towards running Nattely, a shelter that opens from 11pm to 8am at Bavnehøj Church in Valby, providing beds for undocumented migrants who, according to Mia Sørup from MBH, are most at risk during the winter. “I think there’s just as much need for beds this winter, especially after all

the shelters in Copenhagen have admitted that they are completely full,” Sørup told The Copenhagen Post. “We deal primarily with foreign homeless, and I don’t think the problem has diminished this winter, especially with the economic problems facing Europe.” While MBH is able to provide beds for undocumented foreigners using funding from private sources as well as Satspuljen, Sørup believes the problem is not being properly tackled. “We are basically in the same situation as last winter,” she said. “I think the government should recognise how severe the need is and open up the debate about the homeless, because there’s plenty of people who need help and often their stories are quite complex.” Sørup added that the problem of foreign homeless people in Denmark needs to be tackled on a European scale, as often the homeless are of African or Middle Eastern descent and travel throughout Europe. “We need to think about what we can do on a European level because this is not just a Danish problem. They are here, so not doing something about it is like putting your head in the sand.” While stocks of clothes and foods are high, Sørup said they still needed volunteers to keep watch during the long and cold nights, as well as donations to pay wages of the professional staff. If you want to help, head to hjemlos.dk or get in touch with Missionen Blandt Hjemløse by emailing mbh@hjemlos.dk.

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9 - 15 December 2011

still want your TV2? pay up Scanpix

Ray weaveR Beginning in January, TV viewers will have to pay for the nation’s most-watched channel

he dawn of 2012 brings with it, among other things, the knowledge that danish TV viewers will soon be required to pay as much as 12.5 kroner per month if they want to continue to enjoy reruns of ‘Beverly hills 90210’ on the state-owned commercial television channel TV2. earlier this year, the european Commission approved a plan by the danish parliament to allow the encryption of denmark’s most-watched television channel, paving the way for TV2’s changeover to a subscription-only service. TV2 began broadcasting in 1988. Until 2004, it was funded by a combination of licensing fees and advertising income. Since 2004, attempts to run the channel solely via advertising revenues proved unsustainable, even when combined with the income generated by the company’s pay channels like TV2 Sport, TV2 Zulu and TV2 Charlie. as of 11 January 2012, a rooftop antenna or rabbit ears alone will no longer be enough to bring ‘Vild med dans’ into the country’s living rooms. Pay TV companies are working overtime to convince their customers that the changeover will be painless ... almost. The antenna-based TV provider Boxer has an online brochure that makes the case for their service as the best and easiest way for customers to continue receiving TV2. Boxer also goes to great lengths to defend TV2’s decision to become a subscription-only service. “Running a large, nationwide public service TV channel through only advertising revenue proved to be an unsustainable business model,” says the Boxer brochure. “So that TV2 can continue to create and offer the quality programming, news coverage, sports and entertainment it is known for – and which has made it denmark’s most popular channel – parliament decided to allow TV2 to become a pay channel in 2012.” TV2’s debut as a pay channel could result in a large new customer base for Boxer. The company supplies the decoders and cards that viewers using antennas will need to decode the soon-to-be encrypted signal. It has been estimated that this opens the door for Boxer to reach nearly 300,000 people that do not currently use a pay TV service. all of the major danish TV companies – satellite, cable and IPTV – are attempting to assure customers that as long as they have the right equipment in place, they will continue to receive TV2. The only difference will be an ex-

Denmark second least-corrupt nation, new study reveals

Over a million viewers watched the debut of ´Voice´ on TV2 – how many will continue to tune in once the channel costs 12.5 kroner a month?

TV2 has a wide audience and a strong brand. I do not think they will lose any clients tra monthly charge. YouSee assures its 1.2 million customers that they will not have to make any changes to their current setup to continue receiving TV2, and that the channel will continue to be a part of every package that YouSee offers, including their basic service. They say their customers will see a price increase of 10 kroner per month. Canal digital also says that the change will happen automatically, and that they are charging customers what the service is costing them – 12.5 kroner per month. Boxer users who pay for their service in advance have already seen a 40 kroner bump in their quarterly bill. Critics question why TV2 decided on a subscription plan rather than licensing fees like other danish public TV channels. dr Morten egholm lectures on media at the University of Copenhagen. he does not feel that TV2 switching to a pay TV format will hamper the channel’s efforts to attract viewers or advertisers. “although this is the first time a channel in denmark has switched from a public to a paid format, TV2 has a wide audience and a strong brand,” said egholm. “They broadcast some of the country’s most watched entertainment shows, and their news programming has always been popular, especially to those that live outside of the capital region that find dR’s programming focuses too much on Copenhagen. I do not think they will lose any clients.” In a letter last month to Jyllands

Posten, TV2’s administrative director, Merete eldrup, defended the new plan, saying that both the subscription model and licensing were considered as potential solutions to the channel’s ongoing financial struggles. eldrup said that both the company’s owners and politicians had decided that a paid service was the correct path. “having ten to 15 percent of the main station’s revenue collected through subscriptions will allow TV2 to continue to generate the other 85 percent it needs to operate from advertising revenues,” eldrup wrote. “That effort would be greatly hindered if that percentage came from licensing fees.” She noted that in the past, the channel’s history of combining licensing fees with ad revenue was the target of much criticism and still unresolved lawsuits from competitors. She also reminded critics that since the original licensing fees were dropped in 2004, TV2 has been denmark’s only completely free TV channel and that the new subscription plan had been approved by a wide margin, both in parliament and by the european Commission. TV2 has information on their website explaining what customers with receivers of all types need to do to continue receiving the channel. The night between 11 and 12 January 2012, will also see the switchover in the digital TV signal for both dR and TV2 from MPeG2 to MPeG4. The new signal will provide a better picture and sound quality, but it will also render any equipment with only a built-in MPeG2 converter obsolete. Older televisions and dVd players will require a separate MPeG4 converter box. newer flatscreens are already MPeG4 compatible, and equipment supplied by the pay TV companies is already set up to receive the new signal. Local electronics stores sell MPeG4 converters, with most falling in the 600 kroner range.

enMaRK has been knocked off the top spot of the list of countries with the least corruption, according to a new study. Transparency International’s world Corruption Index found new Zealand to be the least corrupt country, with denmark slipping to second place after three years of topping the list. But according to the study, denmark has actually improved its transparency – moving from a score of 9.3 to 9.4 out of ten (a score of one being the most corrupt, ten being the least) while new Zealand moved up from a score of 9.3 to 9.5. Scandinavian countries dominated the top of the list, with Finland coming in joint second, Sweden fourth and norway sixth, with scores of 9.4, 9.3 and 9.0 respectively. The index is compiled annually by Transparency International, whose chair huguette Labelle told British newspaper the Guardian that corruption remains high on global agendas. “This year we have seen corruption on protestors’ banners, be they rich or poor,” Labelle said. “whether in a europe hit by debt crisis or an arab world starting a new political era, lead-

ers must head the demands for better government.” The index covers a range of issues dealing with access to information, bribery and law-enforcement, and it is compiled using information gathered by experts, surveys and independent institutions. In denmark, efforts to curb corruption are still ongoing, with the city of Frederiksberg announcing last week a new system to allow anonymous whistleblowers to report improper activities. “In the private sector, businesses are protecting shareholders’ money through whistleblower schemes, but at the moment we can’t protect tax payers’ money in the same way,” the deputy mayor of Frederiskberg, Katrine Lester, told public broadcaster dR. The new whistleblowing scheme is designed to catch out gross negligence, rather than minor violations, and it is hoped it will encourage people to come forward who otherwise would have been worried about reprisals. “I don’t expect we’re going to be flooded with reports,” Lester said. “But sometimes we discover cases of fraud where you wonder why nothing had been reported earlier.” (PS)

Businesses praise energy plan

USIneSSeS are resoundingly supportive of the government’s plan to make denmark independent of fossil fuels by 2050. The plan, which was unveiled last month and aims to create 6,400 new jobs by transferring energy production to alternatives such as wind and biomass, has been praised for benefiting both the climate and the environment. Both dansk Industri and dansk erhverv – the nation’s two largest business interest groups – support the plan that “sets a clear course that both strengthens our energy security and the long-sighted investment in the energy sector”. dansk Industri said that the plan’s positive initiatives would spread the burden of the switchover from gas, coal and oil to carbon-neutral energy sources, while also protecting businesses. The world wildlife Fund and Greenpeace have also praised the plan. however, at least one anonymous executive, from agricultural lobby group Landbrug og Fødevarer, said he feared the plan would cost businesses up to half a billion kroner in levies which could cost jobs and competitiveness. The executive, however, might not have realised that the plan paves the way for large-scale investment in biomass facilities that the agricultural and energy

sectors have long demanded. The plan will provide a 30 percent subsidy to establish a biomass facility, as well as an extra subsidy if the construction of the plant is promptly started. Other subsidies will be provided to those using biogas for powering transport or other industries, as well as those adding the gas to the gas network. If biogas power plants are not built, the government will force 25 to 50 heating power plants to use biogas in order to ensure that there is a market. The goal is to produce enough biomass facilities to convert half of denmark’s manure into energy. despite the benefits outlined by energy industry organisation dansk energi, the political opposition has not responded with much enthusiasm for the government’s plan. Lars aagard, the managing director of dansk energi, told Jyllands-Posten the opposition should realise the potential of a conversion to renewable energy. “we hope that the political parties can see that the plan unifies more than it divides. without this plan we would have no framework for investment in new windparks, biomass plants, and cables and infrastructure for electric cars. waiting will only make it more expensive for danes.” (PS)

onlIne ThIs week Vestager: euro is here to stay eUROPe’S leaders are determined to keep the euro alive, Margrethe Vestager (Radikale), the economy minister, said last week following a meeting of the eU’s finance ministers. The statement comes as insecurity about the future of the single currency deepens after the european bail-out fund, the eFSF, raised only two-thirds of the €1 trillion that was initially planned. Talks between the 17

eurozone finance ministers last week on Tuesday night ended with the decision to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rather than the european Central Bank to make up the eFSF shortfall, though in Brussels there is growing insecurity about how such a deal would be put together. despite these worries, Vestager underscored that there was a will to resolve the european sovereign debt crisis.

Roskilde adds Bon Iver to line-up

... and then gives something to hip-hop fans

eVen ThOUGh it’s only early december, the last ten days have been quite busy for the organisers of the Roskilde Festival. On Monday, Roskilde announced the addition of indie folk act Bon Iver, hot on the heels of last week’s announcement of Björk and Bruce Springsteen’s own revelation that he too would be playing the Orange Scene. Calling Bon Iver a “bearded folk hero”, Roskilde

FanS of hip-hop music were given a triple present on wednesday when the Roskilde Festival announced that american rappers wiz Khalifa, Royce da 5’9”, and Yelawolf would all perform at the July festival. Pittsburgh native Khalifa broke into the big time with his smash hit ‘Black and Yellow’, which hit the top spot on

revealed that the american act had been among the top 10 fan requests for the 2012 festival. Bon Iver is up for four Grammy awards this year, including Song of the Year for ‘holocene’.

the US singles charts. The other two names both have strong ties to eminem: fellow detroit rapper Royce da 5’9” was an early collaborator with Slim Shady and recently partnered with him as the duo Bad Meets evil, and alabama country boy Yelawolf ’s new album ‘Radioactive’ was released on eminem’s Shady Records.

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cover story

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9 - 15 December 2011

jennifer buley Former minister and cabinet member, top aides implicated

uST A WeeK Ago ‘Taxgate’ was a half-obscure story – a game of speculation for political wonks – about whether or not a top aide at the Tax Ministry, Peter Loft, had inappropriately fiddled in the personal tax audit of a top politician. But each day last week brought different information to light – and what a difference a day makes. Loft’s written explanation of his actions in the summer of 2010 in

connection with the tax audit of thenopposition leader Helle ThorningSchmidt (Socialdemokraterne) and her husband Stephen Kinnock, pointed suspicion further up the chain of command to the then-tax minister Troels Lund Poulsen (Venstre) and his spin doctor Peter Arnfeldt. Within a few short days, the intrigue was played out in the press. A Danish tabloid snitched on its highlyplaced source and Arnfeldt was reported to police. Poulsen, an MP, asked for a leave of absence from parliament. The top aide to Venstre chairman, the former PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen, admitted that he had also been involved in meetings about the audit. The new tax minister, Thor Möger

Pedersen (Socialistisk Folkeparti), and the centre-left government are now in the process of establishing a formal, independent enquiry into the case that increasingly appears to be one of the most blatant abuses of power by former cabinet members and powerful employees of the country’s largest political party. Many political commentators are saying that ‘Taxgate’ is one of the biggest scandals to hit Danish politics in recent times, with Politiken newspaper’s editor-in-chief Bo Lidegaard saying the case reeked of “political corruption” and “abuse of power”. The full details of the case may not be known for years, as the enquiry is only just beginning.

how it went down

The play-by-play on how Taxgate developed throughout 2010 and 2011

2010 early June: The Copenhagen office of national tax authority Skat audits opposition leader, Helle Thorning-schmidt (Socialdemokraterne) and her husband Stephen Kinnock, who works and lives in Switzerland during the week and has not been paying income taxes in Denmark. August - september: The Tax Ministry’s permanent secretary, Peter Loft, meets five times with Skat Copenhagen’s top manager, erling Andersen. At one of these meetings, Loft gives Andersen an anonymous memo, requesting Skat take it into consideration in Thorning-Schmidt and Kinnock’s audit. Andersen asks Loft who wrote the text, but Loft replies that he does not know and that “it had just turned up”. The memo concludes that Kinnock owes taxes in Denmark. By law, the Tax Ministry is not allowed to interfere in specific tax cases. september 15: Skat finishes its investigation, concluding that Kinnock does not owe taxes in Denmark, freeing him from tax liability. Afterwards, Andersen hears that then-tax minister Troels Lund Poulsen (Venstre) attempted to convince Skat Copenhagen to overturn its decision.

2011 september 8: one week before the general election, BT tabloid publishes a story with citations from the confidential nine-page tax audit of Thorning-Schmidt and stephen Kinnock. Loft reports the illegal leak to police. september 15: Centre-left parties narrowly win election, ousting the centre-right Venstre-led government. Thorning-Schmidt becomes prime minister. November 10: Politiken reports that Loft took part in the five meetings at Skat Copenhagen about the ongoing audit, and that he also gave Andersen a memo with recommended text to include in the audit. November 14: The new tax minister, Thor Möger Pedersen (Socialistisk Folkeparti), asks Loft and Andersen to give him their written explanations of why and to what extent the Tax Ministry interfered in Thorning-Schmidt and Kinnock’s private audit. December 2: Pedersen announces in a press conference that Peter Loft and erling Andersen’s explanations contradict one another. Pedersen underscores that he has full confidence in both Loft and Andersen, but that he is calling for a formal enquiry to investigate serious allegations made by Loft that either Poulsen or his special counsel and spin doctor, Peter Arnfeldt, wrote the memo that Loft gave Andersen. Poulsen, an MP, holds his own press conference, announcing that he has nothing to hide and welcomes the enquiry. December 4: The tabloid ekstra Bladet reveals it too was offered the report, and named Arnfeldt as the source. it reported that in october and november 2010 he offered to read paragraphs from Thorning-Schmidt and Kinnock’s audit to a reporter. Shortly afterwards, troels Lund Poulsen announces that he will be taking an unpaid leave of absence from parliament. Poulsen claims he has done nothing wrong, but needs time to clear his name; Venstre’s chairman, the former prime minister Lars Løkke rasmussen, says he has full confidence in Poulsen. December 5: Rasmussen says in a press conference that anyone who broke the law or tried to influence the outcome of Thorning-Schmidt and Kinnock’s audit has no future in Venstre. Rasmussen also claims that he has “completely clean hands”. However, he repeatedly refuses to answer reporters’ questions on whether he took part in any Venstre strategy meetings where Thorning-Schmidt’s tax audit was “on the agenda”. Commentators note that Rasmussen seemed uncharacteristically nervous and flustered, with Poliken’s political editor Mette Østergaard calling the press briefing “a catastrophe” for the former PM. The Tax Ministry reports Arnfeldt to police for the illegal leaking of Thorning-Schmidt and Kinnock’s tax audit. December 6: Berlingske newspaper reports that Rasmussen’s political adviser Mikael Børsting – who was Venstre’s press chief at the time – met with Arnfeldt in the summer of 2010 to discuss the ongoing audit. Børsting emphasises that he “never talked with Peter Arnfeldt about personal information in [Thorning-Schmidt’s] tax audit”. (jB)

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Taxgate scandal explodes

Poulsen has been at the centre of controversy before, but none quite like this

Just who is Troels Lund poulsen? jennifer buley The precocious – and controversial – career of Venstre’s prodigal heir

nTiL juST a couple of weeks ago, the 35-year-old MP Troels Lund Poulsen was considered by many insiders to be Venstre’s crown prince, the likely, if controversial, successor to party leader and ex-prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. But that was then and this is now. on Sunday afternoon, Poulsen announced that he was taking an unpaid leave of absence from parliament to deal with charges that, as tax minister, he – or his special counsel and spin doctor, Peter Arnfeldt – allegedly tried to influence the outcome of the tax audit of Venstre’s primary political opponent, now-PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Socialdemokraterne) and her husband Stephen Kinnock. According to the charges, Arnfeldt then, allegedly, illegally peddled the audit to the media in the run-up to the September election. if the allegations turn out to be true, Poulsen could go down in history for one of the worst abuses of power in modern Danish politics, as well as one of its worst-ever media scandals. “Denmark isn’t a banana republic … but since [last week on Friday] a lot of people are beginning to wonder,” wrote the financial newspaper Børsen’s commentator Helle ib. Poulsen first became politically active at 16, when he joined Venstre’s youth organisation Venstres ungdom. A few years later, he became its national chairman. His first and only non-elected jobs were as assistant to Venstre’s press chief, Michael Kristiansen, and as press coordinator for the Danish development firm Ørestadsselskabet – two positions where he presumably learnt the art of spin doctoring. in 2001, at the age of 25, Poulsen was elected to parliament. just six years later, he was appointed to his first of three ministerial posts. Yet despite his meteoric rise in Venstre, Poulsen’s political career has also been characterised by controversy. During his first cabinet post as environmental minister from 2007 to 2010, he brokered a deal to import and store the poisonous waste material hexachlorbenzene (HCB), a known animal carcinogen, from Australia. HCB is banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent organic Pollutants. it was also during that time that

Poulsen was widely criticised for accepting the gift of a 65,000 kroner Rolex watch from the king of Saudi Arabia, the leader of the world’s second largest oil-exporting nation – and for then refusing to release his tax return to prove that he had claimed the expensive gift. From 2010 to early 2011, Poulsen was tax minister – a job he had appeared to carry out without controversy until the current allegations surfaced last month. in March, 2011, Poulsen was made education minister. ironically, that appointment was the result of another Venstre-government ignominy – the immigration Ministry’s stateless citizenship scandal – which forced the thenPM Rasmussen to fire his immigration minister Birthe Rønn Hornbech (V), and reshuffle his cabinet.

Denmark isn’t a banana republic … but since [last week on Friday] a lot of people are beginning to wonder During his seven months as education minister, Poulsen – who left university without a degree after failing to finish his history studies – was lampooned as the ‘uneducated education minister’. Politiken’s Annelise Hartmann eskesen quipped that he just might have the opportunity to finish his history degree now that his future in politics is looking less promising. Venstre’s political spokesperson ellen Trane nørby said that to her knowledge the decision to take a leave of absence from parliament came from Poulsen himself – not Venstre’s top brass. The government is establishing an independent commission to investigate the extent of the tax ministry’s scandal and to determine how many others were involved in the alleged Machiavellian plot. “only a few days ago a story like this about political corruption in Denmark would have been treated as absurd speculation. now we know that it actually happened,” wrote Politiken’s editorin-chief Bo Lidegaard over the weekend. “What remains is to get to the bottom of the case, so that everybody who took part in the abuse of power, leaks and illegalities is held responsible.”

INTERNATIONAL

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

9 - 15 December 2011

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PETER STANNERS

FGHANISTAN will continue to receive financial support from Denmark to support its military and police after the withdrawal of NATO troops in 2014, the Danish foreign minister Villy Søvndal said in Bonn on Monday. Søvndal was speaking before the start of an international conference of 90 countries who had gathered to discuss the future of the war-torn country. It was agreed that financial support for the Afghan security forces would continue until 2024, the year the IMF believes Afghanistan will become selfsufficient due to revenue from its mineral wealth. Before the meeting, Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai said the country needed $5 billion (275 billion kroner) a year, of which Denmark is reportedly going to contribute 20 billion kroner over the first three years to support its security forces. But after the meeting, Søvndal did not confirm how much money Denmark would contribute. “We have to invest massively

If we do not fund Afghanistan, we will put at risk all we have achieved in the last ten years in Afghanistan but it’s far too early to start playing with numbers,” Søvndal said. “It will depend on how quickly Afghanistan’s economy develops.” Søvndal added that Denmark would also continue to support health and education in Afghanistan. “Ten years ago, only a million Afghan children were in school. Now there are between seven and eight million thanks in part to the Danish support,” Søvndal said, adding that completely ending Danish support would “risk that everything that we have so far contributed would be wasted”. Despite pledges to continue support for the Afghan security forces long after the withdrawal of NATO troops, concerns have already started to mount about the effect of dwindling aid from donor nations due to the debt crisis. According to the Guardian, American aid has fallen from $3.5 billion to $2 billion (19

Danish forces will pull out of Afghanistan in 2014, though some worry whether the country will descend into civil war

billion kroner to 11 billion kroner), of which projects to support ‘rule of law’ have dropped from $43 million to $16 million (236 million kroner to 88 million kroner). Despite this, Simon Gass, Nato’s top civilian representative, told the Guardian that there were several reasons why NATO countries should continue to support the efforts in Afghanistan. “The first is that the costs after 2014 will be a fraction of what we are spending now because of the large number of troops. Second, Afghanistan will still be one of the poorest coun-

New Year’s Eve menu 31 December 2011

tries on Earth and would under any circumstances attract a lot of financial help. Third, if we do not fund Afghanistan, for example by not paying for the Afghan security forces, we will put at risk all we have achieved in the last ten years,” Gass said. “This is a matter of self interest, not philanthropy. If Afghanistan turned back to chaos, our countries would face flows of drugs and migrants, as well as instability in a sensitive part of the world.” But not everyone believes that merely providing financial support will be enough to preSCANPIX

After troops pull out in 2014, Denmark will pay wages of Afghan army and police

vent Afghanistan from falling into a civil war after the withdrawal of NATO troops. “The Taleban is just waiting for NATO’s withdrawal, and it’s likely that they will try to regain power,” Rashed Rahman, the editor of the Pakistani newspaper Daily Times, told Berlingske newspaper. “They will meet strong resistance from the part of the Afghan population that doesn’t support the Taleban, and then we will probably witness an extended civil war in Afghanistan.” Rahman added that a civil war would prove devastating, not only for the Afghan people but also for neighbouring countries who would also suffer from an extended conflict. “I think that the USA and NATO need to maintain a presence until one of two things are in place: either that the Afghan army becomes viable or, if that’s not possible, a political deal is put in place with the Taleban,” Rahman told Berlingske. While Rahman did not express much faith in the Afghanistan’s military to maintain control of the country, Søvndal still argued it was worth paying to “protect investments that have been made in Afghanistan that we have paid a high price for”. Denmark has lost 42 troops in Afghanistan since joining NATO forces in the country in 2006.

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Lake Bunyonyi in southwestern Uganda is a popular tourist spot

Young Aarhus teachers still missing in Uganda KATHERINE DUNN Local authorities believe Danish volunteers drowned in a lake

HE SEARCH continues for two Danish volunteer teachers who are believed to have drowned in a Ugandan lake last week. Thomas Svith, 21, and Sebastian Burtin, 20, from the Aarhus suburb of Åbyhøj, were volunteers at a primary school in the Kenyan city of Kinsii and on holiday in Uganda. The local police and armed forces began searching Lake Bunyonyi in southwestern Uganda last week on Thursday (December 1) after reports from locals that the two had drowned the day before. While the Ugandan police

have not speculated on the cause of their disappearances, the owner of the backpacking lodge at which the men were staying told Ugandan newspaper New Vision that the pair drowned after going swimming in their hiking boots. The Danish ambassador to Uganda, Nathalia Feinberg, arrived at the site over the weekend to help co-ordinate the search. Divers from the armed forces had been searching the bottom of the lake, and hooks had also been employed, but the method was reportedly stopped after the Danish Embassy protested. Bunyonyi is one of Africa’s deepest lakes – dotted with islands, it’s a popular swimming spot with tourists.

FILE PHOTO: SCANPIX

Denmark to support Afghan army after withdrawal Danish citizen Abdulhadi alKhawaja is jailed in Bahrain

Danish activist abused in Bahraini jail Foreign minister Villy Søvndal calls on Bahrain to convict those responsible for torturing and sexually abusing political activist

N INDEPENDENT report has confirmed that Danish political activist and member of the Bahraini political opposition, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, has been subjected to torture, violence and sexual abuse while jailed in Bahrain. In response, Danish foreign minister Villy Søvndal met his Bahraini counterpart in Bonn on Monday and demanded that those responsible be held accountable. “It’s completely unacceptable that a society that purports to be part of the international community subjects its citizens to such treatment,” Søvndal told TV2 News. “It’s humiliating and insulting and they must stop.” Søvndal met Bahrain’s foreign minister, Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, at an international conference on Afghanistan. Khalifa said he would investigate the situation further. Al-Khawaja – a human rights activist who sought political asylum in Denmark in 1991 and obtained Danish citizenship - was arrested this April in Bahrain after participating in anti-government rallies. He was handed a life sentence in June. The independent report, which was commissioned by the Bahraini government, outlined how al-Khawaja had been hit, kicked, thrown down stairs, had his jaw broken, and sexually abused while in prison. Al-Khawaja has previously worked for Amnesty International which has since called on the Danish government to push for his release. “We now have it in black and white that the Danish citizen Abdulhadi al-Khawaja has been subjected to torture, sexual abuse, violence and degrading treatment,” Lars Normann Jørgensen, the general secretary of Amnesty International Denmark, told Berlingske newspaper. “The Danish government needs to use every diplomatic opportunity to overturn al-Khawaja’s life sentence and have him unconditionally released,” Jørgensen said. “He is the definition of a political prisoner who has been tortured and sentenced simply because of his peaceful fight for reforms and human rights.” (PS)

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OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

Özlem and our work ethic

N POLITICS, they say, you’re wise to keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. For members of the cabinet in Denmark, that’s certainly no problem, since their enemy might be one of their closest employees. Case in point is the current tax minister, Thor Möger Pedersen. It turns out his permanent secretary – the leading civil servant at the Tax Ministry and the person responsible for dayto-day operations – is facing allegations that he was caught up in a plot to discredit the opposition leader with less than a year to go until the general election. Pedersen, like all cabinet members in Denmark, sits at the apex of a ministerial structure that sees civil servants at all levels remain in place from one administration to the next. That means that a person who was privy to the sensitive discussions of the centre-right one day could be advising a centre-left minister the next. Whether the allegations against Peter Loft are true or not, the existence of even the slightest shadow of doubt about whether the minister’s right-hand man might actually be more interested in backstabbing him, rather than helping him accomplish his political goals, should have us asking whether it’s even possible for civil servants to serve as non-partisan political eunuchs. The obvious answer is that they aren’t. It is unfair to expect that anyone – be they a civil servant, doctor, lawyer or journalist – can distance themselves entirely from their convictions. The question, then, is would we be better served with a system of politically-appointed senior ministry officials? When the stakes of top level politics are as high as they are, the answer has to be yes. It’s better to be transparent and partisan than consistent but occluded. The current system certainly has its merits in the form of stability and institutional memory – Loft, for example, has been a civil servant at the Tax Ministry since 1988, the past 20 of those years serving as permanent secretary. And even though consistent Transparency International corruption rankings show public officials here to be far from corrupt, Taxgate and various other cases of abuse of public office, large and small, over the years show that Danes aren’t immune to abusing power. Politically-appointed, legislatively approved senior cabinet officials aren’t a cure-all. The approval process can be time-consuming, partisan and downright dirty. And by definition they have an agenda to push. But as Taxgate underscores, non-political civil servants might have an agenda too. The only difference is that we might not know about it until we read about it in their memoirs.

MADS LUNDBY HANSEN

F YOU ARE interested in the debate over inequality and whether it can pay to go to work, last week was a good week thanks to Özlem Cekic (Socialistisk Folkeparti). Seeking to give us an insight into poverty in Denmark, Özlem introduced us to benefits recipient ‘Carina’ and her monthly budget. According to Carina’s budget, she receives over 15,000 kroner a month in public assistance – or about 190,000 kroner a year. Each year, Özlem’s example, a single mother, can afford to spend 6,000 kroner on cigarettes, pay off 7,000 kroner on her loans, spend 6,000 kroner on telephone fees, as well as other expenses, such as having a pet. After paying for all that, and an above average monthly rent of 7,400 kroner, she has 5,000 kroner a month to live on. This is not poverty – far from it. But it is, quite possibly, a reason to remain on benefits instead of finding a job. In Denmark, we have trouble

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Is anybody surprised by this? Political parties are letting their supporters down around the globe. Why should Denmark be any different. Looks like the dream is over. Welcome to NeverLand, Peter Pan. Bo Barbee via Facebook Euro not the way forward

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Don’t do it, Danes!! Kroner rule! Jan Tonnesen via Facebook Why would we go all in on a system that’s proven again and again that it’s not ready for implementation. NEJ TIL EUROEN! Christina Ackerman via Facebook I don’t see Denmark joining the euro now. Maybe when it gets over this rough patch. Abby Crispin via Facebook Fears of vigilantism after rape of young girl There’s a paedophile child abductor loose in my town but there have been no reprisals against the white community here. A&J via website

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The current government should make sure there is an incentive to seek work, the author says

In Denmark, we have trouble giving people a reason to find a job cap on benefits, as well as a programme of reduced benefits for new immigrants and a regulation requiring benefit recipients and their spouses each to work 225 hours during a 12-month period in order to qualify for benefits. According to the Finance Ministry, the changes will result in between 2,000 and 3,000 people permanently leaving the work force to instead survive on public assistance, since it would be more attractive to be on benefits. I urge the Thorning-Schmidt

government to reinstate the cap on benefit payments, the reduced benefits for immigrants and the 225-hour requirement. Meanwhile, the government should also pass a reform of the entire benefit system in order to ensure that people moving from public assistance to a typical, low-wage, unskilled position gain at least 2,000 kroner a month. That averages out to 100 kroner a day after tax, certainly not a lot of money but hopefully that’s at least some kind of incentive to take a job – and to keep the Danish work ethic intact. The author is the vice president and chief economist of the Center for Political Studies (Cepos), an independent think tank promoting a society based on freedom, responsibility, private initiative and limited government.

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giving people a reason to find a job. Just this week, the employment minister, Mette Frederiksen (Socialdemokraterne), released a report documenting that 3.2 percent of the labour force – 74,000 people – earns just 1,000 kroner more than they would if they were on public assistance. That’s less than 50 kroner per working day. I believe that the reason why people have reacted so strongly to Özlem’s example is because it is antithetical to Danes’ work instinct. And this instinct tells us that it should always pay to go to work. Denmark offers high levels of public assistance, and in some cases that makes it worthwhile to remain out of work. When the cost of working – such as transport – is figured in, there is often little or no economic benefit to working. And while Carina is living proof of this, Employment Ministry data show that if you and your spouse are both on benefits, and one of you has to find a job, that job needs to pay 30,000 a month if the couple’s total disposable income is to rise by a minimum of 500 kroner. The benefit of finding a typical unskilled job earning 18,000 kroner a month would be minimal. That’s unhealthy, and it is why the Venstre-Konservative government capped benefit levels in order to give recipients more incentive to find a job. In its proposed budget, the Thorning-Schmidt government would eliminate the

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Consistency is good, but transparency is better

9 - 15 December 2011

Really, I hope that the Danish are not deceived by the liberal media propaganda that seeks to defuse their anger against the Somalian rapist. I recognise the tone of the propaganda as the same rhetoric

that was used 40 years ago in the United States with such deadly effect on weakening the will of a people to resist the predators of other races. White Americans lost their dominant position in the United States because they succumbed to the siren song of the false humanitarianism that was consistently sung by the press and on TV. If the Danish people try to be reasonable, try to be fair, try to ‘work things out’ without vigilantism, then they will also lose their country. The rapists will become their government, and then what will they do? David Sims via website David Sims: What planet are you on! You are for people running around with whatever to dish out their own justice, WOW!!! Judge and jury in one package. That really scares me. Rugratzz via website I think the thing to do here is to relocate these criminal Somalis and other protected subspecies of human undesirables into the liberal lawmakers’ communities where their children and wives, girlfriends, boyfriends etc can experience first hand the beauty of cultural diversity. What on earth are Somalis even doing in Denmark - or Minnesota, or any other cold climate region? I hope the Danish people are remembering who it is that brought them this in the first place so

that when the days of reckoning come, they get their “comeuppance” served up nice and cold like the ones elsewhere should and will. Sheridan Crawford via website For one, I think the family of that young man being held is irresponsible. I come from a dangerous city in a dangerous country, and I would avoid sending any minor, least of all a relative, near where he/she can experience the worst of it. Lest he comes back in a coffin or seriously disturbed, you know. If the young man they hold now is guilty, it would be good to remind family and friends that because they did not keep tabs on him; a young man did something atrocious to an innocent and now is going to jail and have his prospects in life destroyed. Particularly if an idiotic pseudo-religious meme is to blame; whoever preaches them is definitely NO friend of theirs. Loroferoz via website Denmark draws group of death The only consolation is that DK’s opponents also have to play each other! Those games should produce a rash of injuries and yellow cards which might just affect DK’s chances of promotion. theoldjanus By website All the groups would be hard for Denmark because they have one

of the weakest teams. At least now Danes get to see three really good games against fantastic opposition. John Callow By Facebook They are not among the weakest teams in Europe, they are the world’s #10 on the FIFA list ... oh, and they won over Portugal this fall. Tanya Zinger By Facebook The FIFA rankings are a joke, really. How else could England get number 4? Anyway, I meant one of the weakest in this competition, which consists of just 16 teams. John Callow By Facebook I believe the Denmark team will survive the group – with difficulties though. Cheers from Japan. Yasuyuki Hata By website Why not just stay in Denmark if the next game is an “arduous 875km away”. I don’t think they are going to have to use their bikes or walk. Rugratzz By website New Copenhagen Post website It looks much better and modern than the old version of CPH Post. Congratulations. Keep up the good work. @DenmarkLeo via Twitter Not really liking it, but it will probably grow on me John Callow via Facebook

OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

9 - 15 December 2011

Pernickety Dicky BY RICHARD STEED English by nature – Danish at heart. Freelance journalist Richard Steed has lived in Copenhagen for nearly five years now. “I love this city and want Copenhagen to be a shining example to the rest of the world.”

Drunken Danes COLOURBOX

T A FRIEND’S recent birthday party, I had the pleasure of being told by an intoxicated teenager that young Danes hold the record for drinking to excess in Europe. His face lit up as he bragged that his generation drank even more than the Brits and that this was an achievement to celebrate. Declining another drink to celebrate this rather depressing fact, I left and took notice as I walked past the hordes of drunken Danes in the street, shouting and screaming, on their obligatory alcohol-fuelled night out. Initially, my first reaction had been to believe no-one could drink more than the Brits or the Irish, who are both well known for their heavy drinking habits. Though looking around the noisy Copenhagen streets that night, I did start to reconsider. Maybe his statistic was correct after all and a whole generation of young Danes were now drinking to excess. Drinking is very much a part of any culture, and here in the land of Carlsberg and Tuborg, alcohol has been around for the last 1,000 years. It’s the perfect drug to drop your inhibitions and helps make you an animated soul. So maybe that explains why the Danes love drinking so much – to help them get over their reserved and self-conscious, awkward manner. You could argue that every young person drinks to excess, then either grows up or becomes an alcoholic. So I am not here to preach about the benefits or dangers of alcohol or to discuss Denmark’s hospital bill for treating its future alcoholics. My issue right now is that the streets of Copenhagen are becoming a more violent and hostile place and in my opinion, alcohol plays a key part in fuelling this aggression. Back in the UK, heading to any city

Shouting, screaming, and fighting are common occurrences on the city’s streets, and alcohol is usually to blame

or town for a night out often turns out to be a hair-raising experience. At some point during the evening, you are normally guaranteed the spectacle of watching an alcohol-induced fight caused by drunken yobs. Brits are proud of the fact that if you haven’t included a doner kebab and beating someone up, then you haven’t had a good night out. What does that say about the Brits? I leave that one for you to answer! Thankfully Copenhagen is nowhere near that sorry state of af-

The streets of Copenhagen are becoming a more violent and hostile place, and in my opinion, alcohol plays a key part in fuelling this aggression

fairs, though it’s definitely getting a little meaner out on the streets. The new government could tax alcohol more, but that would go down like a lead balloon with the voters, so it’s often left to the poor police and frontline hospital staff to deal with the problems. Obviously the big breweries also have a responsibility to help educate people about the dangers of excess drinking. The trouble is, alcohol advertising has become such an integral part of mod-

ern Danish life – with brands sponsoring everything from music festivals to fashion shows and football matches – that sometimes it’s hard to separate the two. I still find it incredible, yet ridiculous, that Carlsberg advertise the fact they are part of the football game. Of course they are – they have spent millions and millions for that privilege. So the industy’s advice to be ‘responsible drinkers’ is in my view just empty words. And what about the parents, how are they dealing with their troublesome teenagers? Are parents now bad role models for their teenagers, or don’t they have the guts to stand up against the drinking culture? Fortunately more and more schools are organising programmes in which parents encourage each other to “say no” to alcohol parties amongst their children. That seems to be having encouraging results, though it does remind me of First Lady Nancy Reagan’s famous response to drug taking in the 1980s: “Just Say No”. I probably sound like a cranky old scrooge right now, complaining about the youth of today. Get a life, you’re probably thinking. Living in a city means having to put up with a certain amount of drunken and noisy behaviour and that if I have a problem then I should just move to the countryside. You could also argue that aggression and selfish behaviour is now part of the fabric of many societies and that the influences of greed, war, violent video games and the nightly American ‘blood and splatter’ gun movie on our TV screens is taking its toll and helping to desensitise all of us. So maybe nothing is new: it’s just me getting older and seeing a more selfish and cruel world out there that through excess alcohol consumption is showing its ugly face.

CPH POST VOICES

‘STILL ADJUSTING’

‘TO BE PERFECTLY FRANK’

‘MACCARTHY’S WORLD’

‘SO SAYS CELIA’

A proud native of the American state of Iowa, Justin Cremer has been living in Copenhagen since June 2010. In addition to working at the CPH Post, he balances fatherhood, the Danish language and the ever-changing immigration rules. Follow him at twitter.com/justincph

Born in 1942 on the Isle of Wight, Englishman Frank Theakston has been in Copenhagen 32 years and is on his second marriage to a Dane. Frank comes from a different time and a different culture – which values are the right ones today?

Clare MacCarthy is Nordic correspondent for The Economist and a frequent contributor to The Financial Times and The Irish Times. She’ll go anywhere from the Gobi Desert to the Arctic in search of a story. The most fascinating thing about Denmark, she says, is its contradictions.

Celia Thaysen is a British love refugee who landed on these shores six years ago. With below-par Danish, a tendency to tardiness, and a fondness for Marmite, she spends her time fumbling her way through unfamiliar territory as a working mother-of-two with a house in the ‘burbs.

10 NEWS

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

9 - 15 December 2011

There’s a fungus among us – and it’s toxic to cancer AMY CLOTWORTHY

AMY CLOTWORTHY A Chinese–Danish research team has identified a new class of compounds in a common mushroom that could be used to develop cancer-fighting drugs

CANCER diagnosis can cause many people to explore alternative, natural means for treatment, something their doctors may look down upon as a waste of time and money. However, within a few years it’s possible these same doctors will be prescribing natural remedies in the fight against cancer. Researchers at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen released details this week about their latest breakthrough – they have isolated certain active compounds from a mushroom that are particularly aggressive towards cancer cells. In an exclusive interview with The Copenhagen Post, Søren Brøgger Christensen, a professor of natural products research at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharma), discussed the findings and explained their significance for the fight against cancer. According to Christensen, the mushroom, whose specific species name has not been released for reasons of intellectual property and a potential patent application, is unique in that its chemical structure is different from that of any mushroom species previously analysed. “This is a completely new class of natural compounds, which makes the research results unique,” said Christensen.

Søren Brøgger Christensen and his team of researchers believe the mushroom’s unique chemical stucture could make it potent in the battle against cancer cells

This uniqueness is what makes the mushroom especially potent in the battle against malignant cancer cells. The mushroom was discovered a few years ago when Dr Ming Chen, a Chinese– Danish practicioner at Sønderborg Hospital and a specialist in Chinese folk medicine, was screening poisonous mushrooms. The mushroom is significantly less toxic towards benign human cells than malignant cancer cells – 100

times less active, according to Christensen. Based on this discovery, Xuemei Liu, a Chinese exchange student at Pharma, was able to isolate the active compounds in the mushroom in order to determine their unique chemical structures. However, this discovery is a long way off from hitting the market as a holy grail against cancer. Christensen emphasised that, as with all new

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products, taking the research results from the laboratory to pharmaceutical production is a long and complicated process. Even within the lab, a natural substance has to go through several steps towards development. For example, the analogue – synthetic compounds that fine-tune and even improve on a substance’s ingredients – that researchers produce must allow for the proper selectivity in the body, meaning that it has all of the natural substance’s beneficial characteristics and none of its harmful side-effects. Then it has to go through several stages of clinical trials and testing for safety and efficacy before it is approved by regulatory agencies for widespread use. Currently, the Pharma team is working to synthesise and refine the natural substances of the mushroom so that they might be used in future drug development. This is done by producing analogues that contain simplified molecules, but should have all the same properties and promising benefits as the natural compounds. The mushroom research at Pharma has received 2.6 million kroner to date from Protech Investment Ltd – a spinoff company of a large Chinese producer of natural medicines. It appears that China is willing to invest in the mushroom study because traditional folk medicines derived from plants have been used for centuries in Asia. And whether these traditional folk medicines will continue to make their presence known outside of Asia in places like Denmark may very well depend on further research into the cancerfighting mushroom.

Power plant ski slope may be axed

HE PLAN to redevelop the trash burning power plant, Amagerforbrænding, and wrap it in an artificial ski slope may not go ahead after the City Council opted not to provide a 2.5 billion kroner loan guarantee. The plant lost the guarantee after concerns were raised that increasing the incinerator’s capacity 30 percent to 560,000 tonnes of trash a year would significantly increase carbon dioxide emissions to 200,000 tonnes annually. The decision not to expand the plant’s capacity was met with approval from politicians as well as lobby groups. “Amagerforbrænding wants to burn far more trash at a time when there is less trash available to it, and when instead we should be recycling material and products and preventing the creation of large volumes of trash,” Christian Poll, from the environmental lobby group Danmark’s Naturfredningsforening, told Politiken newspaper. MP Ida Auken (Socialistisk Folkeparti) was also pleased with the announcement. “The government is working on a green switchover and I see Copenhagen’s decision as an important signal to the many companies working in recycling” she told Politiken But Mogens Lønborg, the chairman of Amagerforbrænding’s board, disagreed with the decision and said he would try to convince the City Council to change its mind, but will attempt to secure the four billion kroner loan even without the 2.5 billion kroner loan guarantee from the council. (PS)

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community

The Copenhagen posT CphposT.Dk

9 - 15 December 2011

hungry american expats give thanks to the hard Rock Cafe Photos & words: Jessica slicer & emily mclean Although the first Hard Rock Cafe was founded in London, the institution is the home of all things American and stayed true to their home country’s traditions by hosting a homely Thanksgiving last month. A full house made for a festive atmosphere, and the traditional food made all expat Americans feel right at home. Despite the large number of Americans, a range of nationalities were included in the feast. Diners from countries including Brazil, Romania and Canada enjoyed the foreign tradition surrounded by a surprisingly large number of Danes. The Hark Rock served up all the usual Thanksgiving trimmings from turkey to pecan pie ... it’s safe to say that everyone went home that night thankful for the Hard Rock Cafe!

The evening hosted an array of nationalities taking part in the great American tradition. From left to right Danish brothers Adam, Alexander and Andreas Fønss, with Sarah, another Dane and Brazilians Emily and Yuri.

A full house made for a fun night ... and set amidst a true American atmosphere enhanced the tradition even further!

Without their mums on hand to prepare a homemade Thanksgiving meal, American students (left-right) Miranda Gibbons, Chris Kelly and Helen Wahle left the cooking up to the Hard Rock Café, which served a special Thanksgiving menu to celebrate the occasion with all the traditional staples.

Pictured left to right, Thomas Kassel, Rachel Klotz, Rosie Henn and Duyen Tran - fellow American students - decided to go all out and enjoy a bottle of wine with their dinner.

Thankful for the perfect day together, Ketil Jacobsen and his Romanian love Alexandra Silvestro shared sweet nothings over sweet potatoes.

These two diners were a mix of nationalities, but the night brought out their American side. Bradford Challis (left) was born in Canada but is a citizen of the USA and the UK, while Nazaneen Pourkavoos was born in Iran but has lived in the USA, Canada and now Denmark.

Danes Morten Jeppesen and Louise Larsson were celebrating in true American fashion ... as most Americans watch football after the game they were about to follow suit – the only difference being it was European-style football.

New Zealand’s Emily McLean on the other hand took a more curious approach to her first Thanksgiving meal – the pecan pie for dessert was a new experience but enjoyable nevertheless

We ourselves enjoyed the feast too! All-American girl Jessica, from Wisconsin, savoured her main course of turkey, served with sides of mashed potato and gravy, beans, sweet potatoes, stuffing and of course cranberry sauce.

The American tradition that rubbed off on Denmark’s Tina Westergaard (who spent five months in the US) is now rubbing off on her dining partner Carsten Johansen.

When a mother takes time to visit a daughter studying abroad, it’s compulsory to eat drink and be merry as much as possible. Mother Jill Wickham (right) and daughter Anna Sholl (left), both American, were thankful they could celebrate a traditional pastime together.

COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

9 - 15 December 2011

ABOUT TOWN PHOTOS BY HASSE FERROLD UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED

The celebrations of the seventh cycle birthday anniversary of the king of Thailand on Monday December 5 at Børsen, the old stock exchange building, was a splendid, colourful affair attended by a wide range of dignitaries and members of the Thai community. Pictured in the first photo enjoying proceedings is the Thai ambassador Piyawat Niyomrerks with his American counterpart Laurie S Fulton, with Carsten Dencker Nielsen, the former CEO of the East Asiatic Company, standing directly behind them.

The theme of the Royal Copenhagen Christmas tables exhibition at its store on Amagertorv this year is famous Danish generations. Pictured here with their tables (left-right) are the world known lawyer Merethe Stagetorn and her daughter Marianne Stagetorn, who is the owner of the La Glace patisserie (hence the decorations); Uffe Elleman-Jensen, the former foreign minister, and his son Jakob, whose theme is inspired by fishing; and finally, Crown Princess Mary’s good chum, the actress Ellen Hillingsø, and her mother Bridget, who went for the traditional Christmas effect.

LIVING IN AN EXPAT WORLD Life is never dull at the national networking platform, Expat in Denmark. From questions regarding complicated tax issues to ones about the Danish psyche, Craig Till has heard it all. Here he shares his insights about the issues that mean most to our community.

There was a meeting of the Copenhagen Rotary Club at the Odd Fellow Palace last week on Wednesday where many rotarists of international renown gathered, including world rotary president Kalyan Banerjee. Pictured here are (left-right) Banerjee and his wife, Copenhagen Rotary president Merethe Stagetorn, Prince Henrik, Steen Malherbe, the rotary governor of District 1470, and Indian ambassador Ashok Kumar Attri.

The internationally well-known Japanese architect Tadao Ando is the subject of a new exhibition at the Danish Design Museum that lasts until 19 February. Among the visitors was architect Svend M Hvass.

T HAS been an interesting few evidence to make good policy, even if weeks for anyone interested in re- the evidence seems blindingly obvious search into attracting and retaining to many. expats in Denmark. Granted, it doesn’t So a welcome report from CBS, but change the immediate daily life of The especially welcome was a report pubCopenhagen Post reader, but it certain- lished the week before by the National ly gives food for thought for the new Centre for Social Research (SFI). Its government as we wait to see what new report made a comparative analysis of measures they will put in place. how five countries – Norway, Canada, The second of the Netherlands, UK and two reports, which was Denmark – recruit and covered by the Post in retain foreign talent. I issue 1447, showed had been looking forthat the mean expat So what to say to the ward to this report, as contribution to the Brits (like me) who I’ve long felt that the Danish economy was expat debate in Denapproximately a quar- assume that being an mark focuses too much ter of a million kroner expat in the UK is easier on what Denmark and per annum. A collecDanes do and don’t do, tive “I told you so” than in Denmark? Or and less on what other swiftly passed many the Canadian, or the countries, and more so an expat’s lips. Any other expats, do and fool knows that expats Dutchman?Remarkably don’t do. are significantly less Some fascinating similar challenges likely to avail themparallels are drawn up, selves of the many are faced by expats not least between those state-financed bencountries that are perefits of Danish soci- everywhere, so what is ceived to be traditionety (schools, pensions, the common theme? ally more open and health etc), but collectolerant toward expats; tive groaning rather misses the point: notwithstanding easier cultural and policy makers require such empirical language barriers, expats in other coun-

tries experience exactly the same barriers and problems which the comments sections of this paper attests to being common in Denmark. So what to say to the Brits (like me) who assume that being an expat in the UK is easier than in Denmark? Or the Canadian, or the Dutch? Remarkably similar challenges are faced by expats everywhere, so what is the common theme? Just as ‘The Xenophobe’s Guide to <insert country of residence>’ provides a giggle at the expense of one’s host country, at which point does the fact that there are 31 books in the series start to tell you the books are really about expat life. Expats are not recruited to Denmark for their ability to fit in with the social norms, they’re here because they possess a certain set of skills that are of great value to an employer. Whilst every country – Denmark included – has its anomalies, idiosyncrasies and plain bizarre quirks, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s not necessarily easy being an expat wherever you live. And there’s not a great deal that rules and regulations can do about that. Should interest or insomnia strike, all 247 pages of the aforementioned report are available to read at www.goo.gl/NCiB5.

COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

9 - 15 December 2011

Interweaving courage and good contacts into the fabric of their business Unperturbed by these financially uncertain times, British expat Michael Thompson and his Danish wife’s fabric workshop is flourishing against all the odds

COPENHAGEN FASHION WEEK

BILLED BLADET

DAVE SMITH

TARTING ANY business in a time of economic turmoil is risky, and some might say starting a business that is ancillary to fashion – a luxury in times of crisis – is just plain stupid. However, this didn’t put the Danish fashionista Charlotte Thompson and her British husband Michael off, who did just that when they started TøjProduktionsLab in November 2010 in the centre of Copenhagen in picturesque Nyhavn. After 15 years working in the fashion industry in London, where she was part of a small group of garment construction specialists used by labels including Betty Jackson and Clements Ribeiro (from 2007–2010 she worked as a technician for MA Women’s Fashion at the Royal College of Art), Charlotte felt it was time to return home, and it didn’t take long for her and Michael to spy a gap in the market. TøjProduktionsLab is a fabric workshop (systue) that offers technical assistance, smaller production runs, and sampling and bespoke orders. Its services include pattern cutting, pattern grading, first sample consultation, fabric consultation, fabric sourcing, limited production runs, design brain storming, centrallylocated showroom facilities, technical training and education. It has already been a great success, and Charlotte, who also teaches at the

Michael test-drives the new TøjProduktionsLab company vehicle

A blue silk creation made for Stasia (Spring/Summer 2012)

Creation made for Astrid Andersen (Autumn/Winter 2011)

Danish Design School, finds her skills and experience in constant demand. “I really want to share my collective experiences with design and technical fashion students in Denmark now that I am back home,” she said. Michael, meanwhile, has extensive experience in the newspaper industry. In London he worked for Associated Newspapers - the publishers of The Daily Mail, The Metro, and The Independent - for 15 years, and he has utilised his skills to drive the business forwards. “We have a Danish friend called Karl Friis in Bali, and before we came to Denmark and after we left London in July 2010 we went for a long tour of Hong Kong, Bali and Malaysia,” reveals Michael. “Sitting on a plastic-covered

continues with a rueful smile. “However, I definitely think that doing business here is a lot easier. Organisational structures are much flatter and the whole six degrees of separation really resonates with me. That also fits quite nicely with all the social media and consumer collaborative technologies that are becoming more important.” Contacts, Michael says, are key. “It is important to realise that if you have any contacts at all in Denmark you already have a network. You just might be one or two people away from the people you need to have business conversations with.” Michael recommends taking advantage of an extensive support network that encourages new businesses. “By being a

member of, for example, the Copenhagen Erhverv Centre, you can gain access to lawyers, accountants, tax specialists etc for free. And there are also business start-up and basic accounting courses run every month run on Islands Brygge.” And the business is thriving. TøjProduktionsLabs’s current clients include Astrid Andersen, Chrisitina Lundsteen, Stasia, Tabernacle Twins and ITA Textiles, while they act as agents for Basinghall, Biddle Sawyer Silks, Carrington Fleet and John Kaldor. The future outlook of many businesses may look bleak, but Michael and Charlotte are proving that a combination of courage, and a little advice from the state and help from their friends, can take a business a long way.

COMING UP SOON Photo walk and julefrokost

Østerpost Station waiting hall, next to 7 Eleven, Cph Ø; Sat 10 Dec, 10:3015:00; join at www.meetup.com/ photo-cph

The Copenhagen photo meetup group invites you to their traditional photo walk followed by a Christmas dinner. After meeting at Østerport Station, participants will journey through parks and along the lakes headed south. Passing through Nørreport Station, everyone is welcome to take photos and improve their skills, particularly at the small Christmas markets that can be seen throughout the route. Finally, after a day of photography, the group will end up at City Kroen where they will have a julefrokost. Seminar: Scandinavian trans-studies

University of Copenhagen, room 23.0.49, building 23, Njalsgade 120, Cph S; Fri 9 Dec, 12:00-18:00; no registration needed - open to everyone

Two international seminars on transgenderism will take place over the weekend as part of the volume Kvinde, Køn & Forskning. The first seminar focuses on trans-studies in academia, presenting Sysan Stryker, one of the founders of trans-studies, in addition to three other scholars. After the lectures, an open panel discussion will ensue between the four lecturers, followed by a reception.

Seminar: Trans Politics: Rights, Activism, and Studies

The Danish Institute for Human Rights, Wilders Plads 8K, Cph K; Sat 10 Dec, 12:00-15:00; no registration needed; open to everyone

After an evening of lectures and a wide array of information, this seminar will host an open discussion between academics, activists, and human rights workers about the challenges and possibilities of trans-politics. The itinerary includes an introduction given by Susan Stryker on the connections and movements between academia and activism followed by two short lectures on the trans-politics in Europe and Denmark. There will be an open discussion and comments hour to wrap up the afternoon where everyone is welcome to give their input on the situation and ask constructive questions. Copenhagen Business Centre: Start Here - Doing Business in Denmark

Københavns Erhvervscenter, Njalsgade 13, Cph S; Tue 13 Dec, 16:00-17:30; contact Shahriar Shams Ili at shs@okf. kk.dk or 3366 3275 to register or for more information

Thinking about starting your own business or stuck in the initial phase of doing so? Join this CBS seminar and learn the ins and outs of successfully opening and running a business in Denmark from professionals.

sofa outside the home of the leader of a remote village on Java, Indonesia, I asked Karl his secret to business.” It was simple but effective advice. “‘Don’t be afraid to take a risk; you cannot do everything yourself; don’t be afraid to ask for help.’ This was good for someone like me to hear and I have tried to follow these three simple points.” Initially it was tough. Charlotte worked at Magasin and Michael at the airport as a cashier in a food shop to pay bills and keep food on the table. And in their spare time, they started to grow the business. “This is my first attempt at running a business, and I have chosen to do it in Denmark – a country in which I am not fluent in the language … yet,” Michael

Beginner runner training session

Meet at Forum Metro Station on the platform; every Thu, until 22 Dec, starts 17:30; 40kr per session

Join a certified running coach on a weekly run through Copenhagen to get into shape and learn tips and tricks to run more effectively from a trained professional. The coach promises to take runners from 0 kilometres to 5k to 10k within ten weeks. During the run, everyone is welcome to ask questions about running and how to stay fit. If you wish to join the training session at least five times, you will receive a complementary personal training schedule based on your own needs and goals. Personal training is also offered. Global Goddess Leadership

SoulHouse, Hørsholmgade 20, 3. Sal, 2200 Cph N; starts Mon, 9 Jan 2012; registration details and more information at www.globalgoddessschool.com

This training course is a unique opportunity to make the most of your stay in Denmark. Organised by the bestselling author, corporate speaker and leading mentor, Kirsten Stendevad, the course will cover the area of personal feminine leadership, making use of an inspiring international network. Participants meet for a whole day, once a month, and stay in touch between sessions.

Christmas at the Fish Shop Fisk & Færdigt, HC Ørstedsvej 37B, Frederiksberg; Sat 10 Dec, starts 13:30; www.simonfisk.dk Head down to Fisk & Færdigt, the makers of the best fish and chips in the whole city, to take advantage of some great special offers and tastings, mingle with others, drink some gløgg, and listen to some traditional Christmas songs courtesy of the Chorus Jubilis choir. Fisk & Færdigt stocks everything you might need for your Christmas dinner: from traditional herring, salmon and pork, to the more exotic foie gras and au gratin oysters, plus some fantastic Barbery duck, which is arriving on 22 December. Expat Cafe Cafe Cadeau, HC Orsteds Vej 28, 1879 Frederiksberg; Wed Dec 14, 10:00-12:00; tickets 40kr include coffee/tea and light serving; register at suraiya.kasim@gmail. com; www.cafecadeau.dk Come to Cafe Cadeau for coffee and conversation to discuss expat life in Denmark. Mette Weber will focus the discussion on possibilities for personal and professional growth while living in another country. Weber will lead the conversation and defines herself as a world citizen. She is Danish and has lived for 17 years in Asia and Africa. Visit her website at www.metteweber. dk.

JESSICA SLICER

BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN DENMARK So you’ve seen our events and been impressed, but you can attend as a non-member so there’s no reason to consider joining, right? Except... You don’t get to come to our Christmas Reception You pay 125 – 350kr for each event you attend You are peripheral to the network – would you refer business to someone you don’t know?? Wouldn’t you rather... Make an active contribution to BCCD? Attend seminars and on the way home meetings free of charge? Attend lunches and socials either at cost price or free of charge?* Profile your business, news and events via our website and newsletter (1200 subscribers and growing)?*

*Membership benefits vary by membership category. If you would like to know more about Corporate, Small Business or Individual membership of BCCD,then please contact Nina Norheim: Nina@bccd.dk or call +45 3118 7558.

• official media partner Denmark’s only English-language newspaper

sport

The Copenhagen posT CphposT.Dk

9 - 15 December 2011

how lacrosse has come across the pond to find a home

Denmark draws group of death

sport owes its success to a dedicated few who have introduced it to the uninitiated - at the clubs, international schools, and even stag nights

Ben haMilton

Melissa Jay

Matthew Grant anson

portugal, germany and the netherlands are the opponents in a euro 2012 group made even more difficult by geographical factors

Melissa Jay

ow does a sport that was developed by Native Americans 4,000 years ago make its way out of North America and across the Atlantic ocean before finally finding a small but passionate home in denmark? on the backs of some dedicated world travelers. while lacrosse has found varying degrees of popularity in North America – it’s the national sport of Canada but is limited to regional popularity within the United states – and to a lesser extent in the UK and Australia, it hadn’t made a blip on the sports radar of the rest of the world until relatively recently. But with more students from the Us and Canada studying in denmark, and more danes studying in North America, the sport that involves using a netted stick to throw a ball into a goal has slowly made its way in denmark. danish Lacrosse Federation president Ronnie Mathiesen’s love affair with lacrosse started during his own studies in the United states. “I was an exchange student back in ’96 in Baltimore, Maryland. I’d never heard of the sport before, and I was playing soccer for the school,” he said. “A couple of my friends said I should come and try this sport during the fall season, and what’s when I started to play.” Although there is a passionate lacrosse fan base within denmark, it’s extremely small. “In terms of popularity, it is a grassroots sport in denmark,” Mathiesen said. “Currently, we have three teams: two in Copenhagen and one in Aarhus. we have around 60 active players.” According to Mathiesen, lacrosse in denmark is limited by the fact that there are no professional leagues and it’s not played in schools. There is also a limited amount of equipment. “The limitation here is that we have about 25 to 30 sets of equipment in the entire country. That puts a limit on how much we can do,” he said. “You can only have the equipment lying around in one place, so in Aarhus they sometimes don’t have the equipment to do large events.” And with lacrosse not receiving any government money due to its small size and lack of a youth programme, this is an ongoing problem. “The funding is all paid by membership fees,” Mathiesen said. “we don’t get any subsidies at all.” Because of this, danish lacrosse has to get a little innovative in their fundraising. “we teach lacrosse at bachelor parties for funding, because we have to look into different ways of getting financial aid,” he said. “we do half an hour of teaching, and then they normally play for about an hour against each other.

Lacrosse in the states is keenly competitive at university level, but not played professionally

Most of them enjoy it and have a lot of fun because none have ever tried it before and because everyone is at the same level.” In Mathiesen’s eyes, this is one of the benefits of lacrosse. “That’s an advantage here – 95 percent have never tried throwing with a lacrosse stick here, whereas if they were to play a more common sport, some would be way ahead of others because they’ve been playing it for five to ten years. People that are normally not that athletic are more on the same level as those that are.” despite financial setbacks, the federation has been able to compete in international tournaments, albeit with a

limited degree of success. “we’ve been competing since 2003 in men’s national tournaments as a national team,” Mathiesen said. “we have a lot of Americans and Canadians helping us out, because the rules are a little bit different: you can be a non-danish passport holder and play as long as you have danish heritage.” And Mathiesen and other members of the federation have tried to at least improve on the limited awareness of the sport by giving lessons to school children. “we just started this year a programme with the Copenhagen International school for kids between eight and 13, where they have classes once a

week,” he said. “Twenty percent of them know what the sport is about, and for the rest it’s a totally new sport.” But they do catch on, and quickly. “Kids, when they’re very young, just pick it up,” Mathiesen said. “They say ‘oh, this is how you throw it’ - so they do it, and they don’t think about it.” In the end, all the effort comes down to a love of the game. “Most of us just do it because we want people to enjoy the sport as we have,” Mathiesen said. “The camaraderie ... it’s such a close-knit, tied-together sport. People feel they’re connected around lacrosse, and I think that’s the joy we want to share with a lot of other people.”

eNMARK learnt last week on Friday that it will need to negotiate the toughest group by far at next year’s european Championship in order to qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament. Germany, many people’s favourites to win heading into the draw, the Netherlands, the world Cup runnersup, and perennial rivals Portugal are standing in the red and white’s way at a tournament that is being co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine. Peter schmeichel, who took part in the draw as a representative of denmark’s triumphant euro 1992 team, could only look on bemused, ruefully shaking his head as denmark was first drawn with the Netherlands in Group B instead of one of the co-hosts then, the best third seed, Portugal, and finally the best second seed, Germany. while denmark’s recent record against the countries isn’t terrible, the draw is pretty much the worst-case scenario. Although the Netherlands comfortably beat denmark 2-0 in their opening group game of the 2010 world Cup, the danes qualified ahead of Portugal in qualifying for both the 2010 world Cup and euro 2012, and many will remember a certain victory against Germany in 1992. danish fans will also be disappointed that Group B’s games are taking place in Ukraine, a much harder country to get to than Poland, which via the ferry most fans can easily access. while denmark’s first game is against the dutch on June 9 in Kharkiv, its second game is 875km away and just four days later in Lviv against a Portuguese side scheduled to play their first game at the venue. denmark will then remain in Lviv for their final group game against Germany on June 17. one saving grace for denmark is that should it make it through to the quarter-finals, its opponents will come from Group A – co-hosts Poland, the Czech Republic, Greece and Russia – which is by a long way the easiest of the four groups. The other groups are Group C (spain, Italy, Croatia and the Republic of Ireland) and Group d (Ukraine, France, england and sweden). Following the draw, denmark are 125/1 rank outsiders to win the tournament and 14s to win the group. spain are 5/2 favourites to win the tournament, ominously followed by two of denmark’s group rivals, Germany (7/2) and the Netherlands (8s).

sporTs news anD briefs Caroline’s new coach CARoLINe wozniacki has employed Ricardo sanchez as her new full-time coach, claims ekstra Bladet tabloid. The spaniard has 23 years worth of experience, and his previous charges include serbia’s Jelena Jankovic and spain’s Carlos Moya, both of whom are former world number ones. “Richi will be in

Crashing out of europe charge of practical matters,” wozniacki told the tabloid. “he is good at doing those things which need to be done during training.” sanchez said he was seeking a 30 percent improvement in wozniacki’s game in a bid for “self-confidence so that she will play in a more relaxed way at grand slams”.

BoTh FC Copenhagen and oB will treat their final europa League group games next week as dead rubbers following their respective failure to beat Ukrainian outfit FC Vorskla Poltava and Polish champions wisła Kraków last week. Both sides have only managed one win in five games. oB lost 2-1

at home – their goal was their only effort on target all night. Their final game is away at Fulham on december 14. FCK, meanwhile, were held 1-1 in Ukraine thanks to strikes by their star striker dame N’doye – one at each end. Their final game is on december 15 against standard Liège.

a tale of two keepers

Curlers going strong

The NATIoNAL team’s keepers enjoyed mixed fortunes over the weekend. while the number two, Anders Lindegaard, impressed in Man United’s 1-0 win away at Aston Villa – his third Premier League start of the season – the number one, Thomas sørensen of stoke City, suffered a concussion in his side’s 1-0 win at everton.

AT The time of going to press, the men’s national curling team headed the table alongside fierce rivals sweden at the european Curling Championship in Moscow with five wins out of six, while the women’s side sat in second, one place behind sweden, with six wins out of seven.

Copenhagen â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Phuket 3 times weekly 10 weekly flights to Thailand from November From November 2011 THAI operates 3 weekly Boeing 747-400 non-stop flights from Copenhagen to Phuket. With a daily non-stop flight between Copenhagen and Bangkok it amounts to 10 weekly non-stop flights to Thailand during the winter season. Welcome on board! Your trip to Thailand and beyond begins with THAI

buSineSS

The Copenhagen posT CphposT.Dk

9 - 15 December 2011

Torben ChrisTensen

Business failures predicted to cost 26,000 jobs in 2012

The job centres will get increasingly busy during 2012

Jennifer Buley The eU’s economic problems could make 2012 a catastrophic year for Denmark, say analysts

Ome 26,000 Danish workers stand to lose their jobs in 2012 due to their employers going bankrupt, according to the latest prognosis from the unemployment insur-

ance and pension fund Lønmodtagernes Garantifond (LG). “We thought that we were just about done with all the bankruptcies, but then things took a turn and began to go the wrong way,” mogens Højland, an LG account manager, told Politiken newspaper. Analysts expected that the number of bankruptcies would taper off in 2011 – and indeed that was the case at the end of the

summer. but then the trend line took a u-turn. For the past couple of months, the number of employees who have lost their jobs because of business bankruptcies has been rising with unsettling speed. “We have to admit that the very serious problems in several eU countries will rub off on Denmark. We are therefore now expecting that in 2012 we will be helping 26,000 Danes who have

reuTers/Chip easT

krugman weighs in on Danish take on euro

lost their jobs,” said Højland. He predicts that LG will spend some 800 million kroner in unemployment insurance payments next year. In 2009, LG paid out some 1 billion kroner in benefits to 31,000 unemployed people. Alarmingly, this record-high outlay nearly emptied LG’s own bank accounts. The head advisor at the Danish economic council, Det

on top of a string of bleak prognoses we’ve been getting. LG’s prognosis underscores that the Økonomiske råd, confirmed prudent thing to do is to supLG’s worrying prognosis. port growth and employment in “LG’s numbers suggest that 2012 with the kickstart,” Corythere hasn’t been any growth in don said, referring to the governthe job market,” said Hans Jør- ment’s 17 billion kroner package gen Whitta-Jacobsen. “At the be- to stimulate job growth through ginning of the year, we thought public works projects. that we would see a slow recovery nevertheless, the minister that would gradually bring us out for the economy and the interior, of the crisis. but since summer margrethe vestager, emphasised there’s been a shift. We’re headed that without improvements in into the danger zone again.” the other european economies, nordea’s senior analyst Hen- the Danish kickstart would only rik Drusebjerg have a limited efsaid that LG’s fect. forecast was a “The Danish worrisome indicakickstart alone tion for the econcan’t bring higher The Danish kickstart growth to Denomy in general. “neither poli- alone can’t bring mark. We’re deticians in the US pendent on the nor europe have higher growth to european councome up with Denmark. We’re tries making desolutions for the cisions that will debt problems. dependent on the create stability in now we’re paying european countries europe,” vestager the price,” Drusesaid in brussels making decisions bjerg said. last week. The finance Denmark is that will create minister bjarne among the five Corydon (Social- stability in europe european coundemokraterne) tries where busiagreed that 2012 would, in all ness bankruptcies have risen the likelihood, be a tough year eco- most since 2007. The other counnomically. tries in that group are Ireland, “The figures from LG come Spain, Italy and Portugal.

Carlsberg to lay off 150 worldwide sCanpix/Torben Åndahl

Kathrine Dunn Company blames “uncertain market conditions” as it seeks to “focus on fewer, but more important activities”

Krugman noted that while Finland is now a “risky debtor”, Denmark is a “haven”

Jennifer Buley Leading economist sees advantages to Denmark’s ambiguous relationship to single currency

He nObeL prize-winning American economist and new York Times columnist Paul Krugman noted last week on Thursday that “there is something not rotten in the state of Denmark”. Krugman was referring to the fact that Denmark has maintained its own currency, the Danish krone, while nevertheless pegging it to the troubled euro. Popular support among Danish voters for fully

adopting the euro hovered near the 50 percent mark until the current debt crisis tipped the scales decidedly against it. In the heated, everlasting debate over whether to be or not to be in the eurozone, the critics of Denmark’s current half in-half out status have liked to note that Denmark has the worst of both worlds by pegging the krone to the euro, without gaining a voice in euro negotiations. but Krugman appeared to see the situation in a different light. In a comparison of Danish and Finnish bond rates, he noted that Finland was being penalised in the form of higher borrowing rates due to its membership in the eurozone, while

Denmark was chugging along fine with low bond rates – even though the krone is pegged to the euro. “Denmark is being treated as a ‘haven’ country, while Finland – which is very close in terms of both its deficit and its debt performance – is being priced as a risky debtor,” Krugman wrote in his new York Times blog. He concluded that the reason Denmark had thus far escaped the euro-taint – despite the krone’s tight connection to the euro – was that lenders might presume that Denmark could cut the cord, let the krone float free, and print money (guaranteed, of course, by the central bank, nationalbanken) should the euro hit the fan.

ven beer wasn’t recession proof this year. Carlsberg has announced plans to lay off 150 staff across europe - 95 of whom have already been notified in Denmark, Switzerland and Poland. 2011 has been a challenging year for the world’s fourth Some of the redundancies will be in Denmark largest brewery group, the company said in a statement, and it rasmussen. “This also means will be based in Switzerland and that there will be should be up and running by expects “difficult activities that we late 2012. and uncertain choose not to do Carlsberg has been expandmarket condior become a lesser ing into newer markets in retions” in europe priority.” cent years, with Asia accounting over the coming This also means The company for 9 percent of its operating years. that there will be said this means profits. The company also owns “Our regreater co-ordi- one of russia’s largest breweries, sponse is to fo- activities that we nation between but the company’s profits have cus on fewer, but choose not to do markets will be been hit by sharp tax hikes and more important necessary, as well a poor harvest. activities and ex- or become a lesser as a new supply Carlsberg employs more ecute them with chain organisa- than 41,000 people worldwide greater impact,” priority tion to oversee and its headquarters are in Cosaid Carlsberg’s chief executive Jørgen buhl the european market, which penhagen.

Exchange Rates Australian Dollars AUD

Canada Dollars CAD

Euro EUR

Japan Yen JPY

Russia Rubles RUB

Sweden Kronor SEK

Switzerland Francs CHF

UK Pounds GBP

United States Dollars USD

Sell

5.46

5.28

7.34

0.07

0.17

0.79

5.90

8.50

5.42

Buy

5.95

5.71

7.57

0.07

0.19

0.83

6.09

8.84

5.68

Price in kroner for one unit of foreign currency

Date: 7 December 2011

EMPLOYMENT

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

9 - 15 December 2011

Boost your sales career…

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper

Administrative Intern The Copenhagen Post is seeking an Administrative Intern to join our team in early January. You will be assisting with various tasks including administration, events and customer service-sales support.

… and use your language skills

We are looking for a candidate who has completed or is currently pursuing a marketing-related or other relevant degree. You must have excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and be able to work daily for approximately 20/25 hours per week. You should be an enthusiastic teamplayer with the ability to work independently at times. It would also be an advantage if you have a driving license.

InOut

The CPH Post Entertainment Guide August 19 - 25

The internship is unpaid. Don’t miss this Dolly fixture Forum: Thursday 20:00 Tickets 415 - 815 kr

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Free access to 65 museums and attractions in the entire metropolitan area

See more at copenhagencard.com

Please send your application and CV to jeanne@cphpost.dk noting ‘Administrative Intern’ in the subject line. For more information please contact Jeanne Thames, jeanne@cphpost.dk, tel.: 3336 3300

Looking for the perfect place to unfold your sales talents and your international language background right here in Copenhagen?

Are you our new

Bunker trAder? Rechnitzer.dk

International Sales Associate – ready to hunt prospects worldwide? Do you have an international background? Are you looking for the perfect place to unfold your sales talents? You already know how to sell ice to an Eskimo. Just imagine what you can do when we arm you with the most powerful security software on the market. Join Secunia. Excel in sales. And be handsomely rewarded. The world is your playground As our International Sales Associate, you operate from our brand new headquarters in the heart of Copenhagen. Your main weapon is your office phone, which you use to contact potential customers in your assigned region, which may be Germany, the UK or North America (working hours start 2:30 pm) depending on your language background.

Dan-Bunkering is currently looking for an experienced Bunker Trader for an international position with our Copenhagen office.

• A competitive salary package which matches your qualifications • Great opportunities for personal and professional advancement.

We expect: • Proven record of previous experience as a Bunker Trader or from a similar sales position • Excellent communication and negotiation skills • Advanced English – other languages an advantage.

It is essential that all of our employees are skilled people who are committed to the business, and share our desire to create sustainable success in order to preserve our position as one of the world’s leading and powerful players.

The perfect candidate is: • Performance oriented and perfectly able to set and meet the required targets • Fast thinking and talented within the field – a quick decision maker with a certain energy and drive • Independent as well as a team player • Prepared for a high degree of travel activity. You can expect: • An attractive and challenging position with a high level of freedom and responsibilities

The candidate will be positioned at our Copenhagen office, Strandgade 4a, 1401 Copenhagen, starting beginning of 2012. If you are interested, please send your application and CV in English by email to Henrik Jansen, hej@dan-bunkering.dk before 23 December 2011.

You uncover the prospect’s unrealized and realized needs, inquire about their current security solution, map their organization and their network security – and make the sale. Then you hand the prospect over to one of our International Account Executives, who negotiates and closes the final deal. To keep you on your toes, we offer a lucrative commission scheme and exciting career opportunities. Hunter by nature A hunter by nature, you are self-motivated and ambitious, and you possess a strong drive enabling you to pursue excellent sales results. You thrive in a highoctane sales environment where we encourage each other to get better all the time. Finally, you speak either English or German at a native or near-native level. Learn more about the job A whole world of potential Secunia customers needs to stay secure. They might not know it yet, but we are counting on you to deliver the message. To learn more about your future sales career at Secunia, please contact Recruiter Carl Gustav Lehmann at +45 3338 5714 or glehmann@secunia.com

For further information about the position, please contact Manager Claus Bulch Klausen on +45 3345 5420.

More than 140 ‘Secunians’ representing over 22 nationalities work at our Copenhagen headquarters. As a world leader in IT security, Secunia helps businesses and private individuals worldwide manage vulnerability threats.

A/S Dan-Bunkering Ltd. has been leading in the bunker business for more than 3 decades, arranging bunker supplies; fuels, lubricants, and other related products and services for vessels all over the world. The head office is situated in Middelfart with offices in Copenhagen, Shanghai, Kaliningrad, Singapore, and Monaco with more than 60 dedicated and service-minded bunker traders ready to guide the customers. A/S Dan-Bunkering Ltd. is part of a professional and financially strong group with interests in shipowning and shipping activities.

Strandgade 4A, DK-1401 Copenhagen K P +45 3345 5410 · copenhagen@dan-bunkering.dk www.dan-bunkering.com

Learn more about life at Secunia:

secunia.com/careers

The Copenhagen posT CphposT.Dk

9 - 15 December 2011

‘Melancholia’ named best film in europe

eMily McleAn

culture

zentropA

ben hamilton Haervaerk’s piece in the tunnel under langebro in Amager with the clue ‘Are you afraid to travel on the Boulevard, then go underground’.

If Banksy made advent calendars ... emily mclean Forget about lame pictures and chocolate snowmen, these doors are worth the chase

lue NuMBer one: Are you afraid to travel on the boulevard, and then go underground? It’s not your typical advent calendar but that’s the whole idea ... as some of the world’s best street artists are hoping to give residents some gifts of the nontraditional kind. Since the first of this month,

the ‘street artists’ advent calendar’ has been sending both young and old on daily treasure hunts to discover a new piece of art at a secret location. The clue to the location of the piece is posted on the STreeTHeArT website each morning where you open an interactive door. You then embark on a wild goose chase to find the artwork, take a picture of it, and then send it in to see if Santa will knock on your virtual door with gifts. This is the third year the artists are bringing Christmas to the streets. STreeTHeArT co-

www.MetAllicA.coM

matthew Grant anson Lars Ulrich and bandmates will help turn former prison into a music arena

eTAllICA’S recent collaboration with lou reed, ‘lulu’, was so critically panned that it has landed the band in prison. However, considering that the prison in question can fit 40,000 people spending upwards of 695 kroner a pop, the uS thrash metal band certainly isn’t hurting. Horsens, in its seemingly constant attempt to rebrand itself from prison town to music mecca, has taken this effort full circle, turning the now-vacant prison into a music venue – simply known as Prison – where Metallica has been handed the inauguration duties. The fourpiece will be playing their most commercially successful album in its entirety at their June 6 concert. Their self-titled fifth album, affectionately (or disdainfully, depending on which Metallica fan you talk to) known as The Black Album, contains hits like ‘enter Sandman’, ‘Sad But True’, ‘Wherever I May roam’, ‘Nothing else Matters’, and ‘The unforgiven’. The album is a controversial one, as it saw Metallica ostracise much of the fan base they had

Learn more at www.streetheart.dk

The Copenhagen Post text 38 Quick Crossword No 375 No 375

Who is ... Cecilie Thomsen? victoria steffensen

She was a model and actress, who is now a professional music Across: 1 Quiver; 4 Censor; 9 Expostulation; 10 Strayed; 11 Patio; 12 Build; 14 Repel; 18 Robot; 1 producer. rassment; 22 Treble; 23 Reason.

Down: 1 Queasy; 2 Imperturbable; 3 Essay; 5 Example; 6 Shiftlessness; 7 Random; 8 Guide; 13 Broad; 17 Beaten; 20 Paste.

I think I recognise her name … but from where? Maybe because Thomsen was a ‘Bond babe’, starring briefly opposite Pierce Brosnan in the 1997 film, ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’. She played his language instructor, which prompted Miss Moneypenny to tell Bond that he “always was a cunning linguist”.

Metallica cover ‘Jail House rock’

cultivated on the backs of seminal records ‘ride the lightning’ and ‘Master of Puppets’ in favour of a more polished, commercial sound. The decision was beneficial financially, as it saw Metallica sell 25 million copes of ‘The Black Album’ worldwide. But it also saw them put out less-than-stellar offerings in the wake of that album: see the aforementioned ‘lulu’. The show is a homecoming of sorts for Metallica, as drummer lars ulrich was born and raised in Gentofte before moving to the united States to play tennis. “Back to the fatherland. After five great concerts in Forum in the summer of ’09, we shall meet again with our Danish friends, inaugurate a new concert venue in Horsens, play ‘The Black Album’ in its entirety, and even serve a stint in jail!” enthused ulrich. “I’m as excited as a little kid. See you in June.”

ANISH cinema was a big winner at the 24th european Film Awards in Berlin on Saturday night, with lars von Trier’s ‘Melancholia’ leading the way. It took home the top prize of best film along with awards for cinematography and production design. Susanne Bier won best director for ‘In a Better World’ to add to the best foreign language film Oscar the film won earlier this year. And actor Mads Mikkelson was also recognised by the 2,500 voting members of the european Film Academy, picking up the award for european achieve-

Art MAnAgeMent ApS

Metallica to spend a night in horsens jail

owner Christina Bennetzen says the aim is about “getting people to remember to play more in the city”. She wants to counteract the usual ‘shop until you drop’ attitude that results in December ending up as a stressful month for most. “We want to do something for people that isn’t about purchasing … the emphasis is on appreciating the little surprises in everyday life that the artists create.” The little surprises have so far included a piece from artist Haervaerk. Working from recycled materials, he proves the

things we throw away can live again. His piece this year was door number one and beautified the dark tunnel under langebro in Amager. Door number two was a long wooden pink and red spoon by artist Bert. He’s best known for using discarded pieces of wood found on construction sites and returning them to their original spot after finishing his creation on them. So if you’re bored of opening paper doors to find chocolate Santas, go and open the doors to some of the best street art this city has to offer.

Von Trier maintains his media silence and sends his wife to pick up the award

ment in world cinema 2011. Melancholia’s success completes an eventful year for Von Trier, who was ejected from the Cannes Film Festival in May after saying he could “sympathise” with Hitler at a press conference. The comments caused a furore, causing the director to apologise, and then retract his apology later this year, in a succession of statements and interviews. The director’s wife Bente Froge accepted the award on his behalf, saying Von Trier had chosen to say silent on the matter. He said in October that he would not speak to the media ever again. “I should say from lars that he has no statement for you,” she stated at the podium. “But he did ask that I should wave to you in a kind and gentle way.”

I haven’t even seen that film, but I still think I know the name ... Perhaps because Thomsen dated Canadian crooner Bryan Adams for 12 years.

Across 1. 4. 9. 10. 11. 12. 14. 18. 19. 21. 22. 23.

Tremble (6) Expurgate (6) Remonstrance (13) Wandered (7) Courtyard (5) Construct (5) Hold off (5) Automaton (5) Repartee (7) Confusion (13) Threefold (6) Motive (6)

Down 1. 2. 3. 5. 6. 7. 8. 13. 15. 16. 17. 20.

Feeling sick (6) Always calm (13) Attempt (5) Specimen (7) Inefficiency (13) Haphazard (6) Conduct (5) To the letter (7) Minister (6) Wide (5) Defeated (6) Dough (5)

Post Quick Crossword No 374 Across: 1 Putting green; 7 Appal; 8 Lithe; 9 Nip; 10 Arrogance; 11 Locate; 12 Cobweb; 15 Trappings; 17 Tor; 18 Exact; 19 Sloth; 21 Playing field. Down: 1 Plain clothes; 2 Imp; 3 Galore; 4 Religious; 5 Eaten; 6 Reverberated; 7 Aspic; 10 Antipathy; 13 Watch; 14 Unison; 16 Avail; 20 Oaf.

How did they meet? Who’d have thought Adams was a cradle snatcher – he spotted the 16-year-old Cecilie at one of his concerts and invited her up on the stage for a dance! Why did they split? British newspaper The Daily Mail said Thomsen claimed that Adams had an affair with none other than the Princess of Wales! Thomsen said “ours was a stormy relationship and Bryan’s affair with Diana didn’t make it easier”. Adams commented that Thomsen knew nothing about his friendship with Diana.

Was Adams happy they split? Not at all. He spent many years after whining about how no other woman could live up to Cecilie. However, the rest of us should have been delighted, because Adams admitted that Thomsen was the inspiration for all the songs he wrote when they were together. She is therefore vicariously responsible for the most irritating love song of all time, the 1991 hit ‘(everything I Do) I Do It For You’ (I guess ‘everything’ included picking up the then 17-year-old Thomsen from school!), and also the pathetic 1995 tune, ‘Have You ever really loved a Woman’. To be fair to Adams, the lyrics of the latter song don’t state that ‘really loving a woman’ forbids affairs with other ladies, even royal ones. So what does she do now? After modelling she studied both acting and art history. Today she’s a music producer. She is the executive producer and music supervisor for the Danish 2011 film ‘Noget I luften’.

9 - 15 December 2011

DENMARK THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

How the advent countdown on the family sofa has become an institution DR.DK

JANE GRAHAM The Julekalender festive television series have been a part of the Danish Christmas package for almost four decades

VEN IN today’s digital era, most people still picture an advent calendar as a 2D cardboard affair, with 24 small windows filled with surprises – chocolate or visual – to open daily from December 1 until Christmas itself. An older tradition is to light an advent candle, which burns a little more each day, all the way until Christmas. In Denmark, however, the advent countdown became an audiovisual adventure as far back as the 1960s. The theme is always Christmas, but how this topic is handled, as well as the target age group, varies considerably. There is a huge rivalry between the two major broadcasting companies in Denmark, Danmarks Radio (DR) and TV2, while even some of the smaller channels now offer their own Christmas alternative: in 2009, no less than eight advent or Julekalender series were shown throughout the month of December. The first ever Julekalender show, ‘Historier fra Hele Verden’ (Stories from around the world), was broadcast by national broadcaster DR in 1962. The inspiration came from neighbouring country Sweden, where something similar had started two years earlier. However, it wasn’t until 1967 that the concept really began to collect the nation around the family television sets, when the irresistibly happy mouse Magnus Tagmus appeared in ‘Kender du Decembervej?’ (Do you know December Street?) with his catchy song ‘My name is Magnus Tagmus’. It proved so popular that a sequel was shown the following year: ‘Besøg på decembervej’ (Visit to December Street). Like most TV programmes of the

‘Magnus Tagmus’, the mouse credited with starting it all

time, these first series were in black and white, and it wasn’t until 1971 that an advent series in colour hit Danish screens. The Julekalender TV series was supplemented in 1977 by the Børnernes U-landskalender, a standard cardboard advent calendar with the same theme as that year’s series, which was sold to support projects in developing nations. It’s an initiative that has continued ever since. In 1990, TV2 started both a rival Julekalender series for children and, for the first time, a more adult-themed 24-part series. DR1 was not slow to follow and offered a grown-up advent series in 1991. Still popular 20 years later, the advent calendars for grownups tend to be shown at around 10pm and are highly satirical, like the bizarre, beer-swilling characters of DR2’s 2003

series ‘Jul på Vesterbro’ (Christmas in Vesterbro) to DR2’s current Christmas psychosis-fuelled ‘Hjælp, det er Jul!’ (Help, it’s Christmas!). Perennial favourites include TV2’s ‘Alletiders Jul’ (Great Christmas), featuring the highly popular character of Pyrus, which has managed three repeats since it was first shown in 1994. The last of these was in 2000 and coincided with the feature film ‘Pyrus i Alletiders Historie’. A modern update of the traditional nisse or Christmas imp with a wisecracking, streetwise attitude, Pyrus is hugely popular throughout Scandinavia – yet somehow hasn’t managed to break through into the foreign market, despite an English version of the series retitled as ‘The 25 Days of Christmas’. In contrast, acclaimed series ‘Jesus & Josefine’, which was shown first in 2003 and is one of the

slot is too late for its youngest viewers. “Nissebanden is an important part of our children’s Christmas culture,” said the children and youth editor for DR, Ulla Katrine Hæstrup. “Our decision to repeat Nissebanden i Grønland was made because we wanted to screen something for families with small children.” Scheduler Helle SchønnemannPaul has no problem with the later slot, explaining: “Julekalenderen should function as a family calendar, which is why we’ve stuck to a scheduling slot when parents have time to sit down and see it together with their smaller children.” In contrast, TV2’s bid for this year’s viewers, ‘Ludvig og Julemanden’ (Ludvig and Santa) - which is shown at 8pm and aimed at slightly older children – is a brand new series.

few occasions that the Christian message of Christmas has made it into the television Julekalender, has been shown in 20 different countries. This year’s DR Julekalender, ‘Nissebanden i Grønland’ (The nisse gang in Greenland), features another favourite team, the nisse gang. First made in 1989 and last shown in 2002, this month will be the ninth time since 1984 that the red-and-white clad Christmas imps or nisser (familiar to all Danish families for their love of risengrød and mischievous, yet harmless pranks) Lunte, Skipper and Puk have filled the nation’s screens, along with the villainous farmer Fig Fig Jørgensen. ‘Nissebanden’ is quite clearly aimed at younger viewers. Shown at 7.30pm, something of a debate has been raging on the DR website about whether this

WWW.ARTPEOPLE.DK

TV2.DK

DR.DK

TV2’s ‘Ludvig og Julemanden’ is brand new TV2.DK

‘Historier fra Hele Verden’, the first ever Julekalender, aired in 1962 DR.DK

‘Jul på Vesterbro’ is remembered fondly as one of the best adult versions

‘Nissebanden i Grønland’, made in 1989, still being shown in 2011

Pyrus the virus himself

The Copenhagen posT CphposT.dk

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