The Copenhagen Post | August 17-23

Family tragedy takes a bizarre turn

PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt admits missteps

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No porkies, just good honest puppets

5 G2

17 - 23 August 2012 | Vol 15 Issue 33

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper | cphpost.dk SCANPIX/NIELS AHLMANN OLESEN

NEWS

No, really, it’s art: Silkeborg gallery to battle porn’s pervasiveness by showing ... two people having sex

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OPINION

“The stench of power” Søren Pind argues that the left wing needs to speak up against the Obama administration’s use of drones

8 NEWS

Pia’s lasting legacy Historic move is in the works for all of the sea creatures that call Denmark’s national aquarium home

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HISTORY

Queen Margrethe II takes her name from a formidable princess who unified Scandinavia

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Media storm leads to police prosecutor reopening case days after announcing it was impossible to identify policemen charged with abusing power

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ONFUSION over a name was enough for a young couple and an elderly woman to get arrested on suspicion of terrorism during the COP15 climate conference in 2009.

The police soon realised its mistake and released all of them, but only after subjecting the man to hours of demeaning treatment in a police van – treatment that the man subsequently complained about.

But after two and half years, the Copenhagen Police’s public prosecutor,

Lise-Lotte Nilas, last week announced she was closing the case because despite managing to identify the two officers driving the van, the officers in the back of the van had eluded her.

“It has unfortunately not been possible to identify the people in the cell van,” Nilas wrote in a statement.

The announcement sparked a media outcry not least because the officers in questioned were clearly photographed escorting the man into the back of the police van. The question that rang out was how could it be possible for the police not to know who these officers were?

The incident in question occured one evening in December 2009 when the man – referred to as ‘Muhammed’ in some media reports – was stopped by police on his way to an apartment that he

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Police blunder in case of ‘unidentifiable’ officers PETER STANNERS

Denmark’s Iron Lady

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How the outgoing DF leader inspired rightwing movements throughout Europe

was employed to empty of its contents.

He was arrested when the name of one of the men he had taken with him to do the job was mistaken for that of an international terrorist.

Muhammed was placed in the back of a police van with several police officers, who he claims subjected him to humiliating treatment. They also denied him access to a toilet and forced him to urinate into plastic bottles – in the process, he ended up urinating on himself.

His wife was also arrested in their apartment, while a 61-year-old woman was arrested in the apartment that Muhammed had been employed to clear.

Speaking to Politiken newspaper, Muhammed’s wife described the harrowing experience and expressed anger at the public prosecutor’s findings.

“We experienced a nightmare when

we were arrested and suspected of being terrorists. Even when the police acknowledge that they have made a mistake, it is frightening that they can get away with saying they don’t know who they were. I can’t help but think that they are covering for each other.”

Speculation about the inability to identify the police officers focused on the police force’s culture of solidarity and their unwillingness to give each other up. Well-known defence lawyer Knud Foldschack argued that giving police officers visible ID numbers would be the best solution to solving identity problems.

“The best option would be to pass a law so that police officers would carry numbers so that they can be

Police ID continues on page 5

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Week in review

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

17 - 23 August 2012 Scanpix/Rune Feldt-Rasmussen

That time of year again

THE WEEK’S MOST READ STORIES AT CPHPOST.DK Police misconduct investigation scuppered by bad police work The princess rides!

Pia K to stand aside as DF leader Controversial neuroscientist faces fresh fraud allegations Danish dames in trouble abroad

FROM OUR ARCHIVES

TEN YEARS AGO. A drop in traffic tickets spells significant revenue losses for the municipal parking authority.

FIVE YEARS AGO. Danish tourists find that ‘home is best’ and increasingly pass up on holidays in southern Europe in favour of staycations.

Butterflies in the stomach, nervous sweats, and anticipation – but enough about the parents. The new school year started nationwide this week

now that Andersen has spilled the beans, he has faced criticism for breaking PET’s lifetime confidentiality agreement and for what some right-wing politicians say was an inappropriate way to treat the US, a close ally of Denmark, in the midst of the Cold War. Others, however, defended the action.

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.

Visit us online at www.cphpost.dk

Tight quarters

A 27-year-old man spent 12 hours stuck in a chimney at a Danske Bank in Frederiksberg last week on Saturday. After some time stuck in the chimney, the man was able to work free his mobile phone to call his father, who in turn called police. After police freed the man, it was determined that there was no criminal

President and Publisher Ejvind Sandal Chief Executive Jesper Nymark Editor-in-Chief Kevin McGwin Managing Editor Ben Hamilton News Editor Justin Cremer Journalists Peter Stanners, Ray Weaver & Christian Wenande

intent and that he was mentally unstable. “He hadn’t taken his medication and had taken some amphetamines instead,” Henrik Orye of the Copenhagen Police told Jyllands-Posten newspaper.

“Then some little green men came to him and told him that the chimney was the way to paradise. So he jumped down there.”

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

Scanpix / Cornelius Poppe

The Memoirs of Ole Stig Andersen, the former head of domestic intelligence agency PET, have revealed that Denmark expelled CIA agents from the country in the 1970s for illegally eavesdropping on the North Korean Embassy. The expulsion had been kept secret until now out of deference to the Americans, but

Scanpix7Claus Bech

Colourbox

Kicked out

ONE YEAR AGO. A health clinic for illegal immigrants gets the green light to open in Copenhagen’s Vesterbro district.

Lessons for us

The July 22 commission report that has lambasted the Norwegian police efforts during Anders Breivik’s murderous rampage in Olso and Utøya, which left 77 people dead, will be used

by Danish security authorities to avoid a similar situation from occurring here. The Norwegian commission indicated

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that many lives could have been saved had security at the government building been improved, the police communicated better and intelligence paid more attention to tip-offs. The Danish police have said that they will thoroughly study the 500-page report in order to enhance security measures at home.

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Cover story

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

17 - 23 August 2012

How Pia’s influence spread across Europe Pia Kjærsgaard’s impact extended far beyond the Danish borders that she fought so hard to keep closed

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ext month, Pia Kjærsgaard will stand down as leader of the anti-immigration Dansk Folkeparti (DF) that she has led since 1995. While the national media debated her impact on Denmark and politicians set aside their differences to praise her sheer determination, her departure also made waves abroad.

“Through Pia’s leadership and influence on Danish politics, Denmark has become a proud and self-assured country that has fought for the ideals of freedom against Islamisation and decrees from Brussels,” Dutch politician Geert Wilders told Ritzau. “Pia Kjærsgaard has been an inspiration for many of her political friends in other countries.”

Wilders is the leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV), an openly anti-Islamic party that has called for a complete end to immigration from non-Western countries. His open criticism of Islam and multiculturalism has made him an unpopular figure in the Netherlands and he now requires 24-hour police protection due to the number of threats against his life.

PVV has proven popular with many Dutch voters, however, managing to become the Netherlands’ third largest party at the 2010 general elections, in which it secured 24 seats.

Until it pulled its support and caused the collapse of the Dutch government in April this year, it supported the minority government in much the same way DF did between 2001 and 2011. According to Sarah de Lange, an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam, this is no coincidence as the PVV emulated many of DF’s strategies to achieve political power.

“Geert Wilders admired DF’s ideology and organisation and he’s always made that clear,” De Lange told The Copenhagen Post. “The ideology of welfare chauvinism [excluding immigrants from welfare benefits] was not originally one of their policies and only arrived later on as the party programme developed.

Then you started to see them

23 Feb 1947: Pia Merete Kjærsgaard is born in Copenhagen.

1963: Finishes Gentofte Skole.

From left: PR photo, Scanpix, Sverigedemokraterna

Peter Stanners

Pia Kjærsgaard through the years

1967: Marries Henrik Thorup.

1978: Becomes a homecare worker and joins Fremskridtspartiet (Z).

1984: Becomes an MP after replacing Z’s party leader at the time, Mogens Glistrup, who received a three-year prison sentence due to tax evasion.

1989: With Kjærsgaard as deputy chairman, Fremskridtspartiet begins moving away from a libertarian policy and towards opposing bureaucracy, income taxes and lax immigration protocol. Kjærsgaard is named politician of the year by landsforeningen for erhvervsinteresser.

1990: Kjærsgaard says that 90 percent of the refugees who come to Denmark are refugees of convenience who only want social benefits.

1995: Co-founds Dansk Folkeparti (DF) with Kristian Thulesen Dahl, Poul Nødgaard and Ole Donner.

1998: Dansk Folkeparti gets more than 250,000 votes and wins 13 mandates in parliament, their first big victory.

Mama Pia’s boys: the DF model has been used with varying degrees of success by Geert Wilders (left) in the Netherlands and Jimmie Åkesson (right) in Sweden

defend the elderly and healthcare while also speaking up for the rights of natives over immigrants. These policies weren’t there in the beginning.”

De Lange argues that the PVV and DF have a fundamentally different approach to traditional right-wing parties that used to pursue corporatist and neoliberal agendas. In the move towards the left, the parties captured voters who were scared by how immigration could threaten the welfare state.

“The combination of welfare chauvinism and anti-immigration appeals to less-educated voters. But it’s also an economic programme that better fits nationalism because neo-liberalism is about openness and free trade, whereas DF and the PVV are more inward-looking,” De Lange said.

Assistant professor Susi Meret from Aalborg University, an expert in far-right groups, also agrees that DF was one of the first right-wing parties to link xenophobic social policies, anti-Muslim rhetoric, and promises of generous public spending.

While this approach proved popular with voters, Meret also argues that the centralised control over the party message also contributed to DF’s success.

“DF have always been careful to show that they have no contact with extreme movements,” Meret told The Copen-

We have often thought: ‘If DF can do it, we can do it’ hagen Post. “It was a strategy they implemented before joining the government because they had to have a profile in parliament that could be relied upon.

Many people belonging to extreme movements were thrown out when their right-wing connections were made known.”

Wilders also recognised the need to keep a single strong message, according to De Lang.

“He saw it was important to have a tightly organised party, and if there were controversial members, they needed to be gotten rid of. Perhaps he even went further than DF because his party started out with only one member,” she said.

Not all DF-inspired parties have managed the same level of political success as DF and the PVV, however. The Swedish party Sverigedemokraterna shares some policies – anti-immigration, Euro-scepticism and the support of traditional family values – with DF, but has been less successful than its Danish counterparts in national elections.

In Sweden’s 2010 general

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election it captured 5.7 percent of the vote. While that almost doubled the party’s previous result, it is still far less than DF’s 12.3 percent from the 2011 election and not nearly enough to make any meaningful impact on Swedish national policy.

One of the problems may be that the party has an image problem resulting from its roots in the 1980s Swedish fascism movement. Anti-fascist organisation Expo revealed that 45 of Sverigedemokraterna’s candidates standing in the 2010 local elections had connections to far-right and white power movements.

While this may harm its image, the party has still made considerable headway since 1998 when it secured only 0.4 percent of the national vote. A boycott on printing advertisements for the Sverigedemokraterna was also lifted by two out of three major media publications in 2006.

Speaking to TV2 News after the announcement that Kjærsgaard would step aside at DF, Sverigedemokraterna leader Jimmie Åkesson explained how DF had operated as his party’s role model.

“Our respective parties have similar positions on many issues, and DF has often acted as a source of inspiration, not least because they are always a step ahead of the curve,” Åkesson told TV2 News. “We have often thought: ‘If DF can do it, we can do it.’”

2001: Following 9/11, DF is more popular then ever. They win a massive 413,987 votes that November and rise from 13 to 22 mandates in parliament.

2002: Kjærsgaard wins new friends when she stops the government’s proposed cutting of 650 million kroner for education. DF also begins to step up its strict immigration rules and Kjærsgaard is knighted as a ‘Ridder af Dannebrog’.

2012: Kjærsgaard announces that she intends to step down as head of Dansk Folkeparti after 17 years at its helm. She will assume the role of ‘values spokesperson’ and be replaced as leader

by Kristian Thulesen Dahl, her hand-picked successor.

Outspoken: Pia Kjærsgaard’s memorable quotes “It was been said that September 11 was the beginning of a struggle between civilizations. I disagree, because a struggle between civilizations would imply that there are two civilizations, and this is not the case. There is only one civilization, and it’s ours.”

- Parliament debate, 2001 “It irritated me endlessly that immigrants joined [public broadcaster] DR who couldn’t speak Danish properly. It’s because I’m Danish and I like Denmark.”

- From her book ‘Magten og Æren’ (The Power and the Glory)

“I believe that Islam is a political movement. If you align yourself with Islam then you align yourself with law that is different to Danish law. That’s just the way it is. Otherwise you are a heretic in Mohammed’s eyes.”

- Jyllands-Posten interview, 2010

“Is it populism to help ensure pensioners no longer have to put up with toothache, bad vision and sore feet? If that is the case, then yes, I don’t mind being called a populist.”

- Weekly newsletter, 2003

“I think it may be surprising to many that some of my close friends are homosexual and that I’m a big fan of garlic and Asian food. It doesn’t quite fit the stereotypes about DFers.”

- Information interview, 2010

Online this week Air base excitement Rocket splashes down after safety test Two separate incidents involving F-16 fighter jets made it a dramatic week for Skrydstrup Air Force Base in southern Jutland. First, a Danish F-16 accidentally dropped a missile part into the North Sea. The following day, a Belgian F-16 was forced to make an emergency landing at the base.

The amateur rocket group Copenhagen Suborbitals launched another rocket into the sea near Bornholm last weekend.

The launch was designed to test the safety equipment of a manned space capsule that they hope will one day safely transport a person to and from space.

The rocket spun out of control soon after launch, detaching the capsule at a height that was too low for its parachutes to properly unfurl. The capsule splashed into the sea and left the test dummy, Randy, battered and bruised but ‘alive’, which was a better fate than the three previous tests.

Read the full stories at cphpost.dk

news

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

17 - 23 August 2012

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Jyllands-Posten Thorning-Schmidt: Enhedslisten should promote positive reforms instead of only criticising the government

Scanpix/Erik Refner

PM admits errors, Unemployment benefits central to slams Enhedslisten upcoming budget negotiations

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fter nearly a year at the helm, prime minister Helle ThorningSchmidt (Socialdemokraterne) has admitted for the first time that the government got off to a bad start and that she was mostly responsible.

“I take it very seriously that we haven’t managed to get more support for what we wanted and the results we have created,” Thorning-Schmidt said.

She identified three main mistakes that have led to Socialdemokraterne reaching its lowest polling results since its election victory eleven months ago.

The first mistake was letting the media debate about the government’s “broken promises” to develop so far. Thorning-Schmidt said it could have been avoided by making it clear earlier that compromises would have to be made in order to form a government.

The second mistake was pushing ahead with ambitious long-term reforms without explaining their purpose adequately.

“We jumped quickly to the future and started to discuss how we wanted Denmark in 2020 to look like,” Thorning-Schmidt said. “I have to admit that many people thought it was difficult to understand why we were talking about increasing the workforce, and that people should work more, when many people were having a hard time finding work.”

The government’s third mistake was pushing so many reforms through in such a short period of time that voters could not keep track of them.

“We have accomplished so much that it was hard to find the time to explain why we did the things we did and which problems we wanted to solve.”

The PM announced the government would take a change of course in the autumn, and postpone reforms on student financial support and cash welfare benefits, and instead focus on reforming primary schools and tackling youth unemployment.

Thorning-Schmidt also expressed dissatisfaction with the far-left party

Peter Stanners

Enhedslisten threatening to withdraw its support for the government’s 2013 budget unless something is done to help the thousands who stand to lose their unemployment benefits

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Helle Thorning-Schmidt blamed bad communication rather than bad policies for the terrible results in the polls

Enhedslisten, which has been a highly critical voice of the government despite also supporting many of the government’s reforms. Without Enhedslisten’s votes, the government cannot pass its legislation without first making compromises with the opposition.

“If Enhedslisten had used as much time speaking up our positive results, we wouldn’t be in this position. I’m not blaming Enhedslisten, I am just saying that I think it helps when the support party also speaks up about the results, which they have not been doing.”

Enhedslisten has been particularly disappointed with the government’s budget and decision to increase the top tax bracket for the benefit of the wealthy middle classes, while doing little to improve the conditions of the unemployed, who it contends cannot be blamed for being out of work during the current economic crisis.

Enhedslisten MP Johanne SchmidtNielsen replied by arguing that political substance rather than communication should be the focus.

“Taking money from the sick and unemployed and giving tax cuts are not Enhedslisten policies,” SchmidtNielsen said.

he government is split about what to do with the estimated 30,000 Danes who will lose their unemployment benefits in 2013 when the former government’s unemployment reform kicks in.

The unemployment benefit allowance (dagpenge) is paid out by unemployment funds, A-kasser, that workers pay monthly dues to. The former government’s reform halved the length of time that workers can claim the benefit from four years to two and doubled the length of time they have to pay into the system to become eligible from six months to one year.

The trade association of A-kasser, AK Samvirke, now estimates that more than 2,000 Danes will lose their dag-

Police ID continued from front page

identified,” Foldschack told Ritzau.

“It could just be an easily identifiable number. Police in other countries wear numbers.”

Politicians were split over the proposal – Enhedslisten supported it, Dansk Folkeparti were against it – and the head of the police federation Politiforbundet, Peter Ibsen, argued the initiative would be open to abuse.

“There is the risk that in critical moments a number will be misread, leading to an officer being charged for something they haven’t done,” Ibsen told Ritzau. “There is also the risk that during disturbances, anger could be directed at a particular officer. It would be easy for people to agree to throw stones at a particular number.”

Reopening the case The most scathing criticism arrived from the police’s own ranks when the former Copenhagen Police commissioner, Kai Vittrup, argued proce-

penge every month in 2013.

Far-left government support party Enhedslisten is now demanding that the government find the money to postpone the reform and is threatening not to support the government’s 2013 budget unless they do.

“If [PM Helle] Thorning-Schmidt wants to pass a budget with us, she needs to help people find work and improve the conditions of the unemployed,” Enhedslisten’s financial spokesperson Frank Aaen told Berlingske newspaper.

The unemployment reform was supposed to kick-in on July 1 this year but Enhedslisten managed to postpone the introduction by six months during last autumn’s negotiations for the 2012 budget.

The Employment Ministry has said that postponing the reform an additional six months will cost 800 million kroner.

This is money Aaen thinks the government can easily find in next year’s budget – especially after it cut a deal with the opposition to agree to tax cuts in exchange for its support for tax reform.

The government is split on whether to support Enhedslisten’s proposal,

however, with coalition partners Socialistiske Folkeparti (SF) and Radikale (R) directly disagreeing with each other.

“SF thinks that in the autumn we need to try and find some practical solutions to this problem,” SF’s political spokesperson Jesper Petersen told TV2 News. “We have to look at whether we can change the rules to help the many Danes that stand to lose their dagpenge.”

But the economy minister, Margrethe Vestager (R), has already expressed her opposition.

“Extending the point at which dagpenge ends only extends the point at which dagpenge ends,” Vestager told Berlingske. “It doesn’t result in new jobs that draw people back to the workforce.”

Thorning-Schmidt (Socialdemokraterne) is caught between her two coalition partners and told Berlingske over the weekend that the trouble was finding the money.

“We have already postponed the unemployment reform by six months, which was a good result,” she said, but added that she had a hard time making the sums add up: “It’s not about will but about finances.”

dures already existed for registering the whereabouts of police officers. He said it was “idiocy and completely impossible” that Copenhagen Police had not registered which officers were involved in the arrest.

“In a situation in which you are told that someone is wanted or charged with terrorism, it is certain that we would know exactly who was sent out and who was doing what, using the system I worked with,” Vittrup told DR, adding that the arresting officers could not avoid being registered.

Pressure on the police’s prosecutor reached a fore when Ibsen subsequently questioned the integrity of Nilas’s investigation after it came to light that some of the policemen involved in the operation were never interviewed despite having their names delivered to her.

Nilas subsequently announced that she would reopen the case.

“We are reopening the case and are asking Copenhagen Police to tell us whether, based on the new circumstances, it is possible to identify some of the people we are yet to identify,” she told Ritzau.

Colour codes?

The Justice Ministry is reportedly working with police on a plan that would use a mixture of colour codes and numbers on an officer’s uniform to identify their function, rather than a badge or collar number that reveals their identity. It is presumably an effort to avoid cops being individually identified.

The idea is the brain child of the police chief, according to JyllandsPosten newspaper. Officers themselves have long resisted the idea of numbers on their uniforms. The police promised in January 2011 to look at methods to better identify officers after a number of citizen complaints against the department had to be dropped because there was no way to identify the individual officers involved. Police said that they submitted the colour-coding scheme to the Justice Ministry “a long time ago”.

Morten Bødskov (Socialdemokraterne), the justice minister, promised to clarify the situation “within a few months”.

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Sheer driving pleasure

6 News Man who stabbed his daughters is English TV medium The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

Graham Bishop has appeared on several reality shows and claims to be possessed by the spirit of ‘Dr Karl’, a 19th century physician

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he man who stabbed his daughters in Rigshospitalet has been identified as a reality TV personality by tabloids B.T. and Ekstra Bladet.

According to the tabloids, the man is 58-year-old Englishman Graham Bishop, a medium/clairvoyant who has appeared in Danish television shows such as ‘Åndernes Magt’ and ‘Klarsyn’.

Bishop claims he can communicate with spirits by going into a trance and being possessed by someone who Graham calls

spirit-of-life.com

‘Dr Karl’. According to Bishop, Dr Karl is a German physician who was born in 1848 and began performing operations on people at the tender age of 12.

Bishop claims that Dr Karl is his “main spirit guide” who uses Bishop’s body to help “heal” people in need. Bishop claims to have helped “many thousands of people across Europe and the USA” through Dr Karl. Videos in which Bishop claims Dr Karl is speaking through him can be found online.

According to B.T., Bishop moved to Denmark from Swindon, southwest England, in 2000. He is described as being “active in the spiritual environment in Denmark”, which helped land him spots in the television shows ‘Klarsyn’, ‘Åndernes Magt’, ‘Troldmandsskolen’ and ‘Ånderne vender tilbage’.

Justin Cremer

17 - 23 August 2012

Mr Bishop and Dr Karl: Images from the website of Graham Bishop (left) show the TV personality and what he says is a drawing made by a fellow medium that shows the spirit ‘Dr Karl’

Bishop has a somewhat incomplete website, where he offers spiritual services, gives his personal background and de-

tails his connection to Dr Karl.

“All of my life I felt a bit of an outsider and I have experienced many things that seemed to have

DR’s Ramadan programming draws ire DR will mark the end of Ramadan with music and workshops, but its own deputy chairman compares it to celebrating the Hitler youth

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ublic broadcaster DR will mark the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, by organising a festive event that includes music and workshops inside Koncerthuset, as well as several radio programmes.

But not everyone is in a festive mood.

Ole Hyltoft, DR’s deputy chairman, calls it a terrifying gambit and contends that Islam has political and warlike beliefs aimed at all non-Muslims.

“I keep thinking about the many ignorant and naïve Danes who embraced the Hitler Youth in the 1930s for the healthy lifestyle, good food and fresh music that the young Germans embraced,” Hyltoft told Politiken newspaper. “Is it right that DR launch such a controversial project without discussing it with the board?”

Despite recently announcing that she would step down as Dansk Folkeparti’s leader, Pia Kjærsgaard showed she wasn’t going to pull out of the limelight

The Moussa Diallo Trio will be one of the acts playing when DR celebrates the end of Ramadan

and agreed with Hyltoft, who was appointed to DR by Dansk Folkeparti in 2007.

“I guess we have to be forcefed this stuff. Wherever we turn, we have to hear something about Eid,” Kjærsgaard told Politiken, referring to the three-day feast that Muslims celebrate when Ramadan ends. Kjærsgaard herself criticised a 2010 Ramadan dinner held in Snapstinget, a restaurant in the parliament building.

But Nihad Hodzic, the spokesperson for Muslim interest group Muslimer i Dialog, disagrees with Hyltoft’s outburst, saying that there is nothing wrong with DR focusing on the end of Ramadan.

I keep thinking about the many ignorant and naïve Danes who embraced the Hitler Youth in the 1930s “What is terrifying is that there is a man on the board that thinks it’s ‘terrifying’ to include people in a public service event,” Hodzic told Politiken. “The purpose of public service is to include the public, which Muslims are part of.”

The head of DR Culture, Morten Hesseldahl, dismissed Hyltoft’s objections by saying that it’s a shame that DR hadn’t properly covered Ramadan until now.

“And we aren’t force-feeding anything to anyone. But we do believe that it’s important to cover the reality out there. DR doesn’t side with any particular religion,” Hesseldahl told Politiken.

All of this week, the radio station P3 has been concentrating its efforts on a pre-party to Eid and on Monday August 20, it will all culminate in a concert at Koncerhuset. Meanwhile, the radio stations P1, P2 and P4 have also been debating Ramadan throughout the week.

daughters on Sunday afternoon.

His wife notified police that he had made threats with a knife.

After throwing himself out of the girls’ window, police kicked down the door to find that the girls had been stabbed.

Preliminary charges were issued against him in absentia at Copenhagen City Court on Monday, where the girls’ injuries were described as “lifethreatening” by the senior prosecutor Erik Hjelm. Bishop is being held in remand for 24 days and will face a judge once his physical condition stabilises.

He is also on a respirator at Rigshospitalet, due to having apparently stabbed himself in the stomach following the attack.

Bishop’s defence lawyer has indicated that his client will plead not guilty to double murder charges, but the lawyer said he has not yet spoken to his client.

Oh la la, it’s not Le Louvre A gallery in Silkeborg will attempt to tackle the taboo of sexuality with an exhibition featuring two people having sex

Jacob Crawfurd

Christian Wenande

no practical explanation,” Bishop writes on his website. “It has been many years now that I have been honoured with sharing a very deep personal connection with Spirit Dr Karl, and work in the state of ‘deep trance’ (from my viewpoint a totally unconscious state). This particular spiritual ability is rare and so I am one, of only a few, able to offer this unique service of providing such strong and direct access to those in the spirit world.”

Bishop is accused of stabbing his four-year-old twin girls multiple times with a kitchen knife on Sunday afternoon at Rigshospitalet’s paediatric ward, where one of the girls was being treated for a long-term illness. The girls are in a stable condition at Rigshospitalet but remain on respirators.

Bishop reportedly locked himself in the room with his

unstcentrum gallery in Silkeborg could have hundreds of original Michelangelo sculptures on display. Or better yet, the famous Italian artist could stroll into the gallery and tap dance while licking Van Gogh’s severed ear.

But on August 23, not many people will take notice.

That’s because Galleri Kunstcentrum will be showcasing their sultry ‘Blottet for skam’ (Bereft of shame) exhibition, which includes two people having sex.

According to theatre director Michael Iversen, the creator of the project, the goal of the exhibition is to convey the natural beauty of human reproduction.

“I’ve created the exhibition to show the world that I think sex is a beautiful, natural and splendid aspect of being human and alive,” Iversen said.

And that’s exactly the kind of message that Anne Poulsen, Kunstcentrum’s project leader, wants to focus on.

“We want to illustrate something about purity and the human point of origin, which is what human reproduction is,” Poulsen said.

Iversen wants to visualise the paradox that exists between a rampant porn industry and a society that considers physical love to be taboo.

“The exhibition has emanated from this paradox. The porn industry is massive while there are so many who have difficulty dealing with their own sexuality,” Iversen said. “There is porn everywhere, but there is another part which is pure, natural and beautiful.”

Poulsen pointed to the many enquiries that the gallery has received since the exhibition was picked up by the media. She has been pleasantly surprised at the interest that the exhibition has sparked, because sex and reproduction is a natural phenomenon, unlike porn.

“The art exhibition is actually already underway due to the many people that are now discussing it,” Poulsen said.

“The odd thing is that the porn industry is nowhere near as sensational. We only question sexuality when it is transfused in an established forum and not when it’s hidden away in the dark.”

Ironically though, Iversen has needed porn actors to complete his work of art.

The ‘Blottet for skam’ exhibition is a one-time event and can be seen at Galleri Kunstcentrum in Silkeborg on Thursday August 23 from 19:00 to 22:00. (J-P)

Online this week Police: Video surveillance doesn’t deter crime A trial of 40 CCTV cameras that were installed on central Copenhagen’s pedestrian streets will not be expanded, Berlingske newspaper reported on Monday.

The 40 cameras that are now keeping watch along the walking street Strøget will probably be Copenhagen’s only camera surveillance system according to the

head of Copenhagen Police’s investigative unit, Svend Foldager.

“We have had to objectively and cynically assess the outcome. It has had no preventative effect,” Foldager told Berlingske. “We can use it to solve the occasional case, and of course that is good, but video surveillance really makes little difference.”

Bomb found under car at Valby home Police dismantled and removed an explosive device from under a car at a home in the Copenhagen suburb of Valby on Tuesday. A handful of houses in the area were evacuated when the family in the home in question discovered the homemade device, which consisted of a petrol can, a battery and some ca-

bles. It is unclear how likely the homemade bomb was to explode or how dangerous it could have been, but police say that the intent was to kill and that they are treating the case as an attempted murder. The family reported having no enemies that might wish to harm them, but did mention a dispute with a labourer.

Cruel summer for national economy Danske Bank’s chief economist, Steen Bocian, has warned that despite a promising initial financial quarter, the nation is not out of a recession just yet. Some 3,000 people lost their jobs in the first three months of the year and a steady low number of on-

line job advertisements over the last three months indicate a dire future. Consumers have sensed the fragile financial environment and have been saving their money instead of spending it, increasing bank holdings by 27 billion kroner since March.

Read the full stories at cphpost.dk

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OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

17 - 23 August 2012

Police ID numbers now The stench of power surrounds the Foreign Ministry SCANPIX / PAUL J. RICHARDS

T

HE NUMBER of public complaints against the police has soared in the first half of this year, Jyllands-Posten reported on Wednesday. Unfortunately, scores of these complaints are dropped because the officers involved in the incident cannot be identified. By some estimates, that occurs in more than one in every six cases.

The most high-profile case, of course, revolves around a complaint lodged in 2009 by a man who claims he was treated unfairly while in police custody due to a case of mistaken identity.

This particular case has all the trappings of a farce. It occurred during the 2009 COP15 climate conference, where the actions of the police have already been deemed illegal. The case languished for two and a half years, was recently dropped and then only subsequently reopened due to a public outcry. It’s also emerged that some of the officers who were known to have taken part in the incident were never even interviewed by the public prosecutor assigned to look into the complaint. Those officers who have been identified certainly know the names of their colleagues with them that night. If they haven’t been asked to give up those names, it is incompetence on the prosecutor’s part. If they’ve been asked and refused, it is a cover-up.

Many have called for the Danish police to sport identification numbers, as in the case in many other countries.

This too is proving to be an example of gross inaction. For more than 18 months, authorities have been reportedly discussing the pros and cons of requiring police to wear ID numbers and after all that time the solution that is emerging is an unacceptable one. The Justice Ministry is reportedly considering a solution that would use a mixture of colour codes and numbers to identify an officer’s rank and function, but wouldn’t allow for the identification of individual officers.

It’s hard to see the argument against police identification.

A refusal to add ID numbers only gives the impression that the police have something they’d like to hide. If that’s not the case, why not make officers identifiable so that any bad apples can be properly weeded out and those cops who help make the community a better place can be duly recognised and commended?

Good police officers have nothing to lose by putting a number or their name on their uniform.

When a widely-circulated photo that clearly shows the faces of two officers and the partially obscured faces of three others hasn’t been identified in well over two years, it erodes the public’s trust in the police.

The obstinate refusal on behalf of the police to adopt clear identification only adds to that mistrust. (JC)

SØREN PIND

W

HEN THE constellation of power was known as BushFogh, there was simply no end to the misery: time after time our current foreign minister, Villy Søvndal, criticised our then-PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in general, and then the US president, in particular, for violating the Western world’s principles of due process and the rule of law.

Søvndal never held back his fire and insisted that Danish concerns over Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and waterboarding should be brought up with the Americans and that it should be done so with frank talk.

But since then, there has come a new US president. A president that many thought could walk on water, and one that would come and fulfil the entire progressive left wing’s most intense hopes for a new world order. There were perhaps a few who doubted, but

The use of drones to carry out targeted killings makes waterboarding pale in comparison, the author argues

not many. In general, Bush was evil and Obama was good. And he could solve the entire world’s problems simply through the virtue of his personality. Very quickly, he was awarded the No-

The sanctification that Obama has received has caused the “progressive” left wing to keep silent bel Peace Prize. Even he didn’t know exactly why. To this day, there are still not very many who have understood it.

The worst is that the sanctification that Obama has received has caused the “progressive” left wing to keep silent. All of the principles that are important,

whether you are a liberal or a socialist, have been abandoned – principles that were sacred when Bush was president are now irrelevant now that Obama is in the White House.

I refer here to assassinations, the number of which have exploded on Obama’s watch. Assassinations, carried out by air, with political considerations approved and overseen by the president himself, selected from socalled ‘kill lists’. We are, in other words, back in part to the world order in which the American president stipulates the right to initiate political assassinations, a la John F Kennedy and Lyndon B Johnson, based purely on political considerations rather than military decisions. There is no due process, and the assessment, according to Politiken, is that this policy has resulted in the killing of over 1,000 civilians.

And what is the foreign minister’s comment – that otherwise very critical and loquacious man

– to a situation that makes Abu Ghraib and waterboarding pale in comparison? His only response is that Denmark does not use drones itself and that he has no further comment. What?!?

No comments. To political assassinations. Just think, if it had been Bush.

It’s disgusting when a Danish foreign minister behaves in this way. It’s even worse when it is an earlier outspoken critic who, just because it is one of his icons who carries out the injustice, now refrains from criticism.

Yuk. I can understand that the left wing is on the verge of collapse in Denmark. There are no principles left. Everything is just the stench of power.

The author is an MP for Venstre and is the former immigration and development minister. This op-ed was originally published at sorenpind.blogs.berlingske.dk and has been translated and reprinted with the author’s permission.

READER COMMENTS Mamma Pia steps down as the leader of DF

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Not only did Pia not work on behalf of the little man, she managed to get some very nice vacations abroad, along with some other perks, on the little man’s tax dollars. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Misc Adverts by website This is great news for everyone!

Now, if only the party would actually cease to exist …

Christina Ackerman by Facebook Pia’s fascist party has dealt a severe blow for human rights and for Denmark’s international image over the last decade. I would like to think that by getting rid of her, fascism will lose at least some of its power in Denmark. However, half a million voters are simply too many to allow for optimism.

Allinthebrain by website Most of the world has not even heard of Pia Kjærsgård and her fringe views. She is, at the end of the day, a shrill politician in a Lilliputian country.

SNCO by website

www.cphpost.dk

Whether you agree with her opinions or not, Pia was the only Danish politician who had the guts to speak up and to have a real position on taboo subjects.

Thorvaldsen by website

Pia is not leaving, she’s just giving up the leadership role in the party.

She will still have a great influence on party politics. I personally think she’s done a good job.

Danishkeith by website Controversial neuroscientist faces fresh fraud allegations The problem is the classic Danish lack of management controls.

The slapdash liberal philosophy demands that workers co-operate without a boss. Authority is frowned upon. For evidence, just take a look at the public sector in general, and the local government in particular.

Mythirdotheralias by website Academic fraud happens, regrettably, in all corners of academia.

Researchers are at the forefront of learning and there is usually nobody who has the time or resources to follow up exactly what they are doing at all times – indeed that independence is one of the things about academia that compensates for the lousy salaries. On top of that, increasing competition for research grants has made it more tempting for academics to cheat in support of grant applications.

TheAuthorities by website I can’t help but focus on the number of published articles — 79! In what calibre of peer-re-

viewed scientific journals did all this alleged fraudulent research appear? That is what should be most startling to her scientific discipline, illuminating the quality and analytical attention span of her reviewers. Maybe all of her papers appeared in ‘Joe’s Journal of Danish Neuroscience’?

SNCO by website Just as she is being discredited by the entire academic world and investigated for pretty much every possible academic misconduct, she declares: “No-one is perfect, not even me.” That’s exactly the kind of humility you need to be showing in your situation!

DanDansen by website Retraining of workers only way out for manufacturing This is a Western problem. Danish industry may have problems competing with Eastern Europe – they certainly can’t compete with China or India, so the question is – what can we do that can’t be done cheaper in China? And for a young person, what area of work can I go into that won’t be offshored to China? Suddenly the Media Studies graduates are the ones with job security!

TheAuthorities by website I write as a manufacturing exporter to the Far East. What ex-

actly does the DTI know about small and medium-sized enterprises? Not much, I think. Furthermore, what have they done to encourage development or the transfer of new technology to the SMEs? I wouldn’t let them in the door.

BoredWitless by website Danish businessmen are weak entrepreneurs – in the areas where they can make money, they do not take action. Similarly, HR professionals have failed in selecting and training employees because they think that it is sufficient to rely on software and technology.

NY by website Ramadan show draws ire As long as DR is living off of taxes collected from working Muslims in Denmark, DR has the responsibility as a publiclyfunded broadcaster to cover their cultural events. Alternatively, they could stop the coverage and give Muslims a tax break by exempting Muslims from paying media licenses.

Tom by website Does DR plan to celebrate the end of Lent too? Why not? This is PC rubbish, funded by yours truly. mythirdotheralias by website

OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

17 - 23 August 2012

What I learned over summer holiday

T

Still Adjusting

BY JUSTIN CREMER The CPH Post’s news editor, Justin Cremer, is an American who has lived full-time in Copenhagen since 2010. Asked often if he likes it here, his usual response is “It depends on the day.” Follow him at twitter.com/justincph

HANKS TO parental leave, for the first time since I was 13, I had a full summer off. Back in those days, one of the first things you’d be asked to do upon returning from summer vacation would be to write a ‘What I did this summer’ essay. Following those lines, here are five things I learned this summer: 1. Danish summers suck. Barring an extended late-August heat wave, summer 2012 will go down as the coldest and wettest in over 20 years. But even though this summer is worse than normal, the average Danish summer just isn’t very good. This surely comes as no news to those who have been here longer than me, but I’ve spent my three summers in Denmark always hoping that the weather will turn out better tomorrow.

Now I know that it won’t.

2. Denmark is more than Copenhagen, but Copenhagen is the best.

Another thing that falls in the non-news category for locals, I know, but I had the privilege of getting out into Udkantsdanmark a bit over the summer, and it was lovely. Life seemed simpler, the people friendlier. Still, when I had a random visit from some American friends and took them around the city, it renewed my appreciation for Copenhagen. With

so much to see and do, it’s easy to see why our fair city set a tourism record this year. And while visitors can go to a lot of places in Europe and see old churches and the like, if you want to show visitors something that will stick in their memory, Christiania is the place.

3. The Danish media is very interested in my penis. Not much happens in Denmark over the summer. As a result, the media engages in what is known as agurketid (cucumber season) in which stories are fabricated out of thin air. The biggest non-story of this year was all about penises. If you are a subscriber to Politiken, you’re forgiven for thinking that the absence or presence of one’s foreskin is the most pressing issue in the entire world.

4. The revolution is not coming, and Pia is not going. Another agurketid story was Enhedslisten’s ‘revolution’. Party officials gleefully shared their vision of a utopia in which there are no police, no military, and the 15-year-old kid working the counter at 7-Eleven earns the same salary as the chief physician at Rigshospitalet. Johanne Schmidt-Nielson, the public face of the party, promptly put an end to the revolution talk, but after EL’s more extreme views were aired, it wasn’t a surprise that the party’s support dropped by

The biggest non-story of this year was all about penises three percent in the latest Megafon poll.

On the other side of the political spectrum, the ever-shrewd Pia Kjærsgaard dominated headlines and front pages last week when she announced that she would step down as Dansk Folkeparti’s leader and instead assume the self-created role of ‘values spokesperson’. It was a brilliant tactic.

Newspapers nationwide (ours included) looked back on Pia’s career and gave her a grand send-off even though she’s not going anywhere. She demonstrated that clearly by jumping into the fray over DR’s Eid programming just days later.

5. The ‘Danish model’ has its plusses and minuses. As I spent many days during my nine weeks of paid leave feeling sincerely grateful for a public welfare system that allows such a thing, a couple of high-profile examples reminded me that the system is rife for exploitation.

Take, for example, the motherdaughter duo in Hvidore that lived in

9

their own filth for 13 years. Both on early retirement (førtidspension), they allowed their home to turn into one giant dumpster, with trash stacked from floor to ceiling. Already having their livelihood provided by the public dole (and having already been moved from a previous home in similar condition), the clean-up of their befouled apartment cost the authorities a minimum of 600,000 kroner.

As I read Politiken’s well-written three-part story about the Hvidore mess, another story caught my eye. This one detailed the ‘dilemma’ of Kennet, a 249 kg man, also on førtidspension, who wasn’t content with having stomach stapling surgery paid for by the state, but instead wished that others’ tax kroner would send him on a 12-week ‘lifestyle’ course.

At a time when the Danish welfare model is under extreme pressure, it makes you wonder how much taxpayer money is being diverted from better causes. And with the current uproars surrounding Vejlegården restaurant’s collective bargaining agreement and the changes to the dagpenge system scheduled to kick in on January 1, it seems inevitable that certain aspects of the vaunted Danish model are going to be under intense debate in the near future.

Nothing stops a Viking

I

Crazier than Christmas

BY VIVIENNE MCKEE Vivienne McKee, Denmark’s best-known English entertainer, is this country’s most beloved foreign import. Over the last 30 years, hundreds of thousands of Copenhageners have enjoyed her annual Crazy Christmas Cabaret show at Tivoli, marvelling at her unique, wry Anglo wit and charm.

T’S SUMMER and we’re all out and about. In between the downpours of rain of course. But, unlike the Brits who discuss the weather endlessly, the Danes just shrug their shoulders. Nothing stops them charging off to their summerhouses, marching along windswept beaches and invading parks armed with umbrellas and waterproofs. They are Vikings after all! And Vikings don’t let anything stop them from their dread purpose.

They seem so mild-mannered when they’re sauntering down the street with their rucksacks bobbing up and down on their backs, don’t they?

But, if you are on the walking street, don’t expect them to swerve to let you pass – oh no – theirs is always a straight, clear path. I saw it myself the other day: two pretty Danish girls, deep in conversation (not with each other but into their mobiles), forced a group of tourists to scatter before them like birds on a runway. And just as the frightened Japanese re-grouped, a large man, determinedly wheeling his Christiania bike, sent them splattering

against the shops windows for safety like a scene from a bull stampede on the streets of Pamplona.

But this is nothing compared to a Viking behind a wheel, or for that matter on two wheels!

I remember when I first moved here from London, a Danish friend of mine was amazed that I, a total newcomer to the city and a Brit, dared to drive on the wrong side of the street around the busy streets of the capital city, without being sick with fear. At the time I laughed. After London, Copenhagen seemed like a sleepy village.

But I quickly changed my mind.

London is teeming with traffic at all hours, but you can always get out of a side street into a main road without a second’s thought. A motorist will stop and wave you kindly into the traffic flow. You smile and wave back and everyone lives happily ever after.

But not here in the land of fairy tales. Here you can sit for hours waiting for a traffic accident before you’re able to get out, and if you’re trying to cross the flow of the traffic ... then just give up and go home. If you’re brave

When I moved here after living in London, Copenhagen seemed like a sleepy village.

But I quickly changed my mind. enough to take the risk and edge apologetically forwards, you will be greeted by an assortment of angry looks and closing of the ranks. Not to mention the hordes of helmeted cyclists (those Viking helmets again!) who will unnerve you with their cacophony of bell-ringing, incoherent shouts and even the occasional hard thump on the roof of your car.

If you’re foolish enough (as I am) to play the female card and smile sweetly and toss your mane of blonde

hair, which in London would instantly make a taxi driver screech to a halt and say: “All right darlin’ – off yer go”, instead of getting a thumbs up, you’re more likely to get another finger raised in salute!

Perhaps it is not so strange that Denmark was the first country in the world to create a walking street – it was the only way to avoid motorists and cyclists.

It also explains why pedestrians are so quick to reprimand a motorist for the smallest misdemeanor. A French visitor told me he happened to throw a piece of paper out of the window of his car while he was waiting at the lights. An elderly woman picked it up, approached the car window and said: “Do you want this?” “No thank you,” he replied. She said: “Well neither do we!” and threw it back.

We shouldn’t blame the pedestrians too much though. Statistics say that in Copenhagen a man is run down by a car every 30 minutes - and apparently he is getting bloody fed up with it!!!

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10 NEWS Copenhagen’s grand old aquarium preparing to ’sleep with the fishes’ THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

Danmarks Akvarium getting ready for its move from Charlottenlund to Kastrup

I

F YOU’VE ever been to Danmarks aquarium next to Chartlottenlund Fort, just off Strandvejen, the coastal road that winds its way up north to Helsingør, you’ll know that some off its inhabitants are living in tight quarters.

There are reef sharks patrolling a vastly undersized main aquarium, a massive alligator snapping turtle in a tiny tank, and a large school of piranha that probably have to devour one another in order to get some breathing room.

But things are going to improve for the residents of Denmark’s oldest aquarium, which dates back to 1939, because soon they’ll be moving to a new home.

And it’s not small.

On October 31, Danmarks Akvarium will close its doors to the public for the last time before opening up as Den Blå Planet (The Blue Planet) on 22 March 2013.

It will be the first time in history that a major aquarium has moved and moving preparations are already afoot, in the

basement of the old aquarium and throughout the world even.

That’s because the animals and plants currently residing in Danmarks Akvarium will only take up 20 percent of The Blue Planet. The rest are being located and some even trained in various parts of the world.

But the move

presents its own set of problems. Many of the creatures constantly require their wet environment and some, such as the sharks, must constantly move in order to survive. The biggest dilemma is acquiring and transporting the new creatures and plants to The Blue Planet.

Jesper Horsted, who will oversee all animal matters at the new aquarium, maintains that the move must be sensitive to the animals, be sustainable, and follow international guidelines.

“We have been negotiating for a while to get a sea parrot egg for hatching in our Faeroe Islands facility, but it’s in the balance still,” Horsted told science website Videnskab.dk. “The sea turtles [that we take in] must

also be injured so that we can rehabilitate and release them again.

Every year, young sea otters, close to extinction, are stranded in Alaska and the plan

is to get some of the ones that can’t be released into the wild again.”

The new aquarium will become one of the few in the world where live coral will be used and the water capacity of the new aquarium will be 25 times greater than the old one, totalling an astounding seven million litres.

The massive ocean aquari u m

will be eight metres high and 16 metres wide and need four million litres of water, four times the amount of water that Danmarks Akvarium uses in total. That much water will generate 600 tonnes of pressure so the aquarium glass will be half a metre thick and weigh 60 tonnes.

And with the size of some of

its inhabitants, thick glass stands to good reason. Danmarks Akvarium has a few small sharks and rays, but The Blue Planet will contain large manta rays and hammerhead sharks.

The rays and hammerheads will come to Denmark from Taiwan and will be just over a metre long when they arrive. It is easier to transport them at this size, and younger animals have an easier time adapting to new surroundings.

“We have researched what species belong to which ecosystems so we can recreate an environment as correctly as possible,” Horsted told Videnskab. dk. “And at the same time, everything must be sustainable, including our importation of plants and animals.”

And there will be plenty of new experiences ready for the public as well. Visitors will be able to walk through a 16-metre glass tunnel allowing a 360 degree view of the wildlife.

There will also be hydrophones (underwater microphones) installed so the public can listen to the sounds the ocean creatures make.

A final possibility that is being examined is allowing visitors to actually dive with the animals. They will be accompanied by a guide and must have a diving licence though, as of yet, no decision has been made.

Factfile | The Blue Planet • The tropical aquariums need five million litres of water and 140 tonnes of special salt to emulate a real tropical ocean setting.

• All water will be filtered once an hour and is reused in a process that also sterilises the water using ultraviolet light.

• The Blue Planet will house 20,000 creatures from 450 species, which will be allocated to 53 facilities.

• An estimated 700,000 visitors a year will visit the new aquarium complex, more than triple the 200,000 that annually visit Danmarks Akvarium.

• As opposed to its predecessor, The Blue Planet’s location will cater well to tourism as it is situated close to Copenhagen Airport, the Øresund Bridge connection, the city Metro and the Amager Strandpark beach area.

• The size of the aquarium will be 9,000 square metres, with

a 2,000 square metre outdoor facility and a parking lot.

• Aside from the main project contributors, Realdania, Knud Højgaards Fund and Tårnby Council, Queen Margrethe and the Prince Henriks Fund have also donated to the construction of The Blue Planet.

SEVEN NEWS

CHRISTIAN WENANDE

17 - 23 August 2012

Thomsen was found struggling in the water by Australian television

Dane survives 20 hours in shark-infested waters Kim Thomsen was one of three men who had been on a fishing trip when their boat capsized off the coast of Australia

W

HAT BEGAN as a jovial fishing trip for Kim Thomsen and two other men turned into a living nightmare after a rogue wave capsized their vessel off the west coast of Australia.

The 49-year-old Dane, who has lived in Australia since emigrating there with his parents in the 1980s, was spotted by a Seven News station helicopter, which was reporting on the rescue search, 20 hours after he was washed overboard off the coast of Leeman, about 270 kilometres north of Perth.

He’s just happy to be with us and with his family An exhausted Thomsen was found floating on his back, stark naked, frantically waving to the news helicopter while a large Hammerhead shark circled only 20 metres away. But there was nothing the news chopper could do except hover close to Thomsen in order to keep the curious

See a video of the dramatic rescue by scanning this code

sharks at bay.

Fortunately for Thomsen, a rescue boat soon pulled up next to him and although he was initially too tired to even notice it, he was finally yanked aboard before collapsing in a heap and being seen to by rescue workers.

“He’s just happy to be with us and with his family,” inspector Peter Foley of the Mid WestGascoyne District Office told The West Australian newspaper.

Thomsen’s two fishing compatriots have not been as fortunate. His 23-year-old nephew, Sean Coffey, is still missing while Coffey’s friend Bryce Weppner, also 23, died in hospital after being found floating unconscious in the ocean.

The chances of finding Coffey alive are rapidly decreasing On Tuesday, the search was scaled back but was still continuing.

“Naturally, being in the water this length of time is gonna have a massive impact on his conditioning, but we are hopeful that he is still out there,” Foley said. (CW)

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COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

17 - 23 August 2012

11

Samba boys clean up at Celtics summer party, Brazilian-style

BY BEN HAMILTON

It was another triumph for Copenhagen Celtic. Its summer party on Sunday August 6 featured nine teams, attracting a widespread turnout from the international community, who enjoyed a keenly contested tournament, a splendid barbecue, a bevvy or three, and one of the longest penalty taking competitions in living memory

In the end, the day belonged to Joe’s All Stars, a team of teenage Brazilians put together by long-term club member Joe Muholland, who rather bizarrely wore the Celtic strip – to solicit the home support perhaps. They sailed through their group, and in the final a fantastic long-range effort was enough to beat Ad People 1-0

Joe Muholland was well supported in his bid to take the crown. Pictured with him here are (left-right) his daughters Angelica and Iona, who’s just turned 13, and their friend Nicole. And let’s not forget Diesil the dog

And also cheering Joe on were visiting friend Gary McIsaac (second left), Joe’s brother Mark (centre), Gary’s sons Corey, 4, and Conar, 10, and their friend Lucas (far right)

We heard they were Brazilian and took their photo before the tournament started, anticipating the win – we were right. Joe’s All Stars: (top row, left-right) Joe, Serginho, Luan, Tomaso, Alex, (bottom row) Kevin, Thiago, Stevan, Igor

The Dutch dynamite Ton Baks and the Portuguese man-of-war Bruno Pais enjoy a few post-match sherbits

The Copenhagen Post’s lads – distributions manager Dima Paranytsia, sales account manager Mark Millen, journalist Christian Wenande, and food blogger Simon Cooper – try to put a brave face on it after finishing bottom of their group

Nadia Matveeva from Russia and Lisbeth Vogensen from Peru/Denmark look like the best of friends here, but soon crossed swords when their beaus lined up against one another in the Copenhagen Post-Scandinavia clash

Globe landlord Brian McKenna, supporting Ireland, and Kieran …

Scotland’s Davie Eugene …

It was a real father and son’s affair, featuring the Rest of the World/Spain’s Miguel Angel and Altor …

England’s Adam Lipscomb and Christopher …

Ad People’s Chris Myers and Leo …

McCurdie

and

and finally, Ireland’s club founder Aidan Coogan and Sean, who won the penalty competition

12

COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

17 - 23 August 2012

ABOUT TOWN PHOTOS BY HASSE FERROLD UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED

Margrethe Vestager, the economy minister, was happy (a goody bag probably helped) to give the opening address to mark the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek’s involvement in Fashion Week, which kicked off on Wednesday (right: CIFF Press Show) and concluded on Sunday after an exhausting 50 catwalk shows and 14 designer shows, featuring 2,706 brands

Bolivia celebrated its national day on August 6 with a reception at the Marriott Hotel.

Pictured here (left-right) are Israeli ambassador Artur Avnon, Mexican ambassador Martha Bárcena and Bolivian ambassador Bishop Eugenio Poma

Sir John Stuttard, a former lord mayor of London, was a visitor to Copenhagen over the summer on the Rolls Royce UK Ghost Tour. He also had time to address the British Chamber of Commerce crowd, and here he is pictured at Tivoli with BCCD president Mariano Davies (right)

The South Korean Embassy last month marked the 110th anniversary of relations with Denmark with a special concert at Dronningesalen in the Black Diamond featuring the Hwaum Chamber Orchestra. Pictured here (left-right) are Børge Dahl, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Denmark, his wife, Benedicte Federspiel, and Geun-hyeong Yim, the ambassador of South Korea

‘Matisse: Doubles and Variations’, originally shown at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, is now on display at the Statens Museum for Kunst until October 28 (see G4 in InOut for more details). Pictured here enjoying the opening are (left-right) museum director Karsten Ohrt and the editors of the catalogue he is holding: Danish curator Dorothy Aagesen and Rebecca Rabinow, a guest contributor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

COMING UP SOON Indian Independence Day StengaardSkole, Triumfvej 1, Lyngby; Sat 25 Aug, 16:0021:00; free adm The Indian Danish Association and All India Cultural Society of Denmark are teaming up to host a huge party in celebration of the 66th Indian Independence Day next Saturday. With a predicted 900 guests, the mega event begins with refreshments and an entertainment programme including traditional dance and drama performances, followed by a prize ceremony and a sit-down dinner.

Pub quiz at the Globe The Globe Bar, Nørregade 45, Cph K; Thu 16 Aug, 19:00; free adm Round up a group of friends and head to the Globe Pub tonight (Thursday) for the chance to win 1,000 kroner in cash, or just to have some fun and mingle with some of Copenhagen’s expat community! The Irish bar is once again hosting its pub quiz night, so form a group of five and see if you can win the grand prize, or drown your sorrows in Guinness when you lose.

Auditions for ‘Aladdin & his Wonderful Lamp’ VerdensKulturCenter, Nørre Allé 7, Cph N; Sat 18 Aug, 14:00 Auditions are being called for Copenhagen Theatre Circle’s traditional British Christmas pantomime, this year entitled ‘Aladdin & his Wonderful Lamp’. The show will take place at Krudttønden Theatre from 9-27 January for a total of 15 performances. So if you think you have an Aladdin, a dragon empress or maybe a dumpling seller lurking inside you, come by and audition!

Stand-up paddling on Amagerstrand Nautic Surf & Ski rental shop, Amager Strandvej 110, Cph S; Sat Aug 18, 10:00; 150 kr/ hour; www.meetup.com/CopenhagenAdventureGroup Bring the whole family and join the Copenhagen Adventure Group as they take on Amagerstrand’s laguna on stand-up paddling boards. The price to rent equipment includes life vests, but you might want to bring a wetsuit to protect yourself from the Scandinavian water climate.

Limitless Mind, Limited Potential – Day course Salen, NørreVoldgade 7, Cph K; Sat Aug 18, 10:00; 350kr (includes lunch); www.meetup.com/ Buddhist-Meditation-in-Copenhagen Kadam Morten Clausen, the resident teacher at the largest meditation centre in New York, will be for the first time holding seminars in Copenhagen.

The day course will focus on the exploration of time, space and Buddha nature.

Malaysia Day Clipper House, Sundkrogsgade 19 Cph Ø; Sat Sep 1, 18:00-00:00; 150kr for members, 250kr for non-members Come and enjoy Malaysian hospitality and Danish hygge all at once during ‘HariMerdeka’ — Malaysia’s 55th Independence Day. Clipper House, or the honorary consulate for Malaysia, will be playing host to an evening of food, drink and traditional entertainment for the entire family.

LINN LEMHAG

AN ACTOR’S LIFE A resident here since 1990, Ian Burns is the artistic director at That Theatre Company, and very possibly Copenhagen’s best known English language actor thanks to roles as diverse as Casanova, Oscar Wilde and Tony Hancock.

Just like old times

T

HE LONDON Olympics seem to have converted even the most hardened cynic into embracing its ideals, making us smile and proud to be British. What a difference a year makes eh? Riots last summer, but now it seems that GB is at one with itself.

We have many reasons to hold our heads up high, as a lovely Greek lady I met at the Acropolis last week told me as we chatted in some welcome shade in the very hot midday sun. She was an unapologetic Anglophile and started to mention the many things we have given the world – a sense of fair play being high on her list.

However, her daughter is studying law in London and this Greek mother often finds herself passing by the British Museum whenever she goes to visit. She has never been in to see the infamous Elgin Marbles

that are on display – those stun- ing well at the Olympics is a ning marble sculptures acquired reminder of the good old days in dubious means by the then when we were top dogs. Bradambassador to the Ottoman ley Wiggins has also brought Empire, Thomas Bruce the sev- Dickensian/rock ‘n’ roll sideenth Earl of Elgin – and this, in burns back into fashion, and acfact, is the only thing about our cording to the British press that nation that makes her lose her might be his lasting legacy more than his cycling triumphs. own marbles.

The Olympics dominate, She feels that the Greeks are more than capable of look- but the empty seats syndrome leaves a bad taste ing after these marbles and gives a bad themselves and that the impression, but argument given by us do the privileged that we’re just “looking after them for them” We know what’s care? The postOlympic world is a thin one. I am best for you will see the contempted to agree with her. If they were in their right tinuation of a medieval-type and proper place, they might trial in Moscow and a year after provide a much-needed boost the riots, the police have yet to for the Greek tourist industry. explain why they felt the need The banks were open by the way to shoot Mark Duggan on that and the food was fine, as was fatal day in Tottenham, while the public transport, and the Murdoch, the Dirty Digger is sun shone and the waters were still not off the hook.

Just like old times eh? Oh, crystal clear.

Our stance of “we know did I mention that’s the title of what’s best for you” and do- our next production?

13 The city’s best bookstore is strictly a one-day affair COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

17 - 23 August 2012

Every year the St Albans Church Summer Fete proves a mecca for foodies, bookworms and Anglophiles

I

’M NOT sure I should be filling you in on my little secret. But with great reluctance, here it is. Books!

Thousands of English-language books are available this Saturday at the St Albans Church’s Summer Fete – at 1970s prices.

Sure they’re second-hand, but they’re not clothes. The words don’t diminish after every use or because someone left a pink felt-tip pen where they shouldn’t.

“We’ve got oodles of books this year,” enthused one of the fete’s organisers, Mary Pay, who spoke to The Copenhagen Post just moments after leaving a city address where a team are busy making jams and marmalades for the produce store.

“It’s particularly a great place for students to pick up books cheaply.”

And some of the titles are really, really new, mostly donated by the generous parishioners of the Anglican church.

So forget the competition, this

HUGH MAYO

is the best bookstore in town, open for just one afternoon only, in a little corner of England just outside the church on Churchillparken.

It’s a great occasion to reacquaint yourself with the summers of your youth and to introduce the quaint customs of English village life to your new family, be it your children or your Danish in-laws. Give your daughter her first Curly-Wurly, sink an Irn Brun with Uncle Mogens and see how many Hula Hoops your family can fit on their fingers – sharing the simple pleasures of yesteryear has never been this much fun.

Those items, and many more, are all available at the store run by Abigail’s, the city centre shop that for decades has been keeping the expats in Copenhagen supplied with Oxo cubes, Bisto gravy and Branston pickle. “It’s got everything except Marmite,” promises the local Anglican priest, Archdeacon Jonathan Lloyd.

And then along with the bookstore, which was last year selling three books for ten kroner, there’s a splendid tented area selling cream teas and cucumber sandwiches, several bric-a-brac stores (there are ‘gift’ and ‘treasure’ stores), a cake stand, a children’s activities area, a grill serving burgers

BEN HAMILTON

The British ambassador Nick Archer and Archdeacon Jonathan LLoyd (bottom left) survey the little corner of England created in the city centre

and hotdogs, a beer tent, the aforementioned fresh produce store, and musical entertainment, including danceperformances from a local Jane Austen appreciation society.

And expect some surprises as the archdeacon always has a trick or two up his sleeve. Last year’s affair included the dramatic arrival of three cyclists who had travelled all the way

from the UK, and while they’re not promising the miracle at the wedding of Cana, anything could, and often does, happen.

It might also prove to be the last public appearance of

DAVE SMITH

Put them on the stage at one of the free trials offered by the Scene Kunst Skoler international theatre school

T

H

AS LITTLE Johnny got talent, or are you a tiny bit biased? Because maybe it’s time to take his acting chops out of your front room (we know, he makes his own tickets and choreographs the applause) and onto one of the stages at Scene Kunst Skoler, an international theatre school for children, which is offering free three-hour trials on Saturday 18 and 25 August.

Scene Kunst Skoler is quickly establishing itself as Denmark’s leading drama school for children. Earlier this month, it announced yet another big success after six of its students landed roles in ‘Love never dies’ at Det Ny Teater in Copenhagen.

This follows roles in ‘Mary Poppins’ and ‘Annie’ at Det Ny Teater, ‘Peter’s Juul’ at Folketeatret, various TV series including ‘Forbrydelsen’ (‘The Killing’) and a large number of television commercials.

Scene Kunst welcomes everyone and there is no audition

Uni economist joins AmCham

HUGH MAYO

Could your child be the next star of the future?

British ambassador Nick Archer who is shortly leaving Denmark for pastures new.

The fete starts at 10am and continues until 5pm, this Saturday, August 18.

Oliver Ternstroem, coming to screens soon in the ‘The Killing 3’

process. Because of the high level of teaching on offer (all the teachers are working professionals), their students are fast gaining a reputation for their performance skills and professionalism.

Scene Kunst teaches students from four to 18 years old in the performing arts. Classes take place on Saturdays and all the students from the schools undertake lessons in dance, singing and acting (one hour in each discipline for the main schools, and 30 minutes for the mini schools, which are attended by children aged four

to six). The students then perform one demo show at Christmas and a big summer musical, which is produced at a professional theatre.

“It’s just amazing the level of performance students can reach when given the opportunity – it’s as good as any-

The school recently put on a splendid summer show, ‘Olivia’, at Taastrup Teater

All the children love being creative, and performing to a live audience really improves their selfconfidence as well as bringing great joy to both them and their families

thing I’ve seen in the theatre,” says its English co-founder Russell Collins.

“All the children love being creative, and performing to a live audience really improves their self-confidence as well as bringing great joy to both them and their families.

We continue

to unearth and develop exceptional talent, and our continued success in the professional world is testament to this.”

So if you think your child could be the next Johnny Depp or Meryl Streep, or they would just like to learn new skills in a safe and fun environment, then come along to one of the free trial days on either Saturday 18 or 25 August.

The school is based at Rygaards Skole in Hellerup and the trials start at 13:45 and last three hours. To book your place, contact Scene Kunst Skoler

HE AMERICAN Chamber of Commerce has named Ole Schmidt, an economist from the University of Copenhagen, as its new policy and communications manager. Ole has worked extensively with managing the political interests of companies and has experience working for both government and business organisations.

Meanwhile, in other news, Shawn Waddoups, the economic officer at the US Embassy, has been named AmCham’s 13th ‘Honorary Member’ in recognition of his outstanding service as AmCham’s ex-officio liaison board member from February 2010 to August 2012.

“During his tenure in Denmark, Shawn has been extraordinarily generous with his time and personal commitment to the Chamber and made important contributions during a pivotal time in AmCham’s growth and development as the “The Voice for International Business,” noted AmCham chairman Kim Østrup.

Waddoups, a career diplomat, is leaving Denmark this month for a new assignment at the Department of State in Washington DC.

14

sport

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

17 - 23 August 2012

christian wenande Half the national side are clubless heading into the new season, which is bad news for their chances in the World Cup qualifiers

scanpix/IAN KINGTON

They’re Morten Olsen’s cream, but they don’t have a team

M

anchester City’s 3-2 victory over Chelsea in Sunday’s thrilling Charity Shield did not only live up to the hype of an intriguing match-up, but it also heralded the beginning of football seasons throughout Europe.

The Premier League kicks off this weekend with two fixtures that neutrals will find particularly interesting. Newcastle take on Tottenham on Saturday that will see a match-up of last season’s 4th and 5th-placed finishers, while Danish fans will be hoping that Anders Lindegaard gets the nod between the posts when Everton host Manchester United on Monday night.

And the other major leagues are chomping at the bit to get going as well. Bayern Munich beat

Fernando Torres (left) got the first goal of the English season on Sunday

league winners Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in an action-packed German Super Cup, their version of the Charity Shield, and fans can look forward to Dortmund taking on rivals Werder Bremen in the opener on August 24.

Spanish champs Real Ma-

drid open their defence on August 18 against Valencia, but even more tantalising is the Spanish Super Cup – yes, their version of the CS – in which champions Real Madrid take on arch nemesis Barcelona over two legs.

Other noteworthy leagues

have already begun, such as Ligue 1 in France and the Dutch Eredivisie, while Italy’s Serie A starts on August 25. Throughout Europe, it promises to be a great season.

But for the Danish national team looking to build on their Euro 2012 success in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers that kick off in September, the summer period has opened up a can of worms.

Because not only have two of their stalwarts retired from the national team – keeper Thomas Sørensen and midfielder Christian Poulsen – but at least half a dozen regulars are still in the process of finding new clubs.

Left back Simon Poulsen, striker Nicklas Bendtner, centre backs Simon Kjær and Daniel Agger, and midfielders Michael Krohn-Dehli and Thomas Kahlenberg have been unable to finalise moves to a new club with the European transfer deadline rapidly approaching at the end of August.

It’s certainly not an optimal situation for coach Morten Olsen, who needs to organise a squad quickly before Denmark

begins its World Cup qualifying campaign against the Czech Republic on September 8. And it won’t get any easier with Bulgaria and Euro 2012 runners-up Italy following a month later.

One plus for Olsen, however, is that a number of transfers involving Danish players are already in place, with especially the Dutch and Belgian clubs moving early.

Jesper Jørgensen and Jim Larsen have moved to Club Brugge, FC Copenhagen’s Champions League victims, while Mads Junker, Thomas Enevoldsen and Nicklas Pedersen all moved to KV Mechelen.

And the Dutch League continues to be a favourite destination for Danish players: Zanka Jørgensen has moved to PSV Eindhoven, Lasse Schøne to Ajax, Andreas Bjelland to Twente and Søren Rieks to NEC Nijmegen.

Yet, the players mentioned above are fringe players and Olsen must be getting a bit nervous that the transfer statuses of Agger, Bendtner and Kjær remain in the balance approaching the deadline and the qualifiers.

needed to get past Lille,” Lyng told Bold.dk.

FCK are guaranteed a place in the Europa League even if they lose, but the CL is where the real money and coefficient points are. FCK could use the big bucks, and Denmark is desperate for the points.

With the European football season kicking off, Denmark sits in 13th place in the coefficient country standings, just behind Belgium and Turkey. FCK has helped by beating Belgian Club Brugge, but realistically overtaking Belgium this season is a mission impossible because the Belgians are defending such a meagre amount. However, Turkey are defending a veritable cricket score and can be overtaken.

The first leg will be played in France on either August 21 or 22, while the return leg in Copenhagen is slated for the following week.

Meanwhile, in the Europa League draw, AC Horsens, who brought home some much-need-

T

ed coefficient points by knocking out Swedish outfit Elfsborg in the previous round, face a much studier challenge in the form of last season’s Europa League semifinalists Sporting Lisbon.

It’s the third straight year that Sporting will play Danish teams in Europe, and they don’t mind at all. They beat FCN in

the Europa League qualifiers last year and amazingly also beat them the year before, along with Brøndby.

FC Midtjylland was the luckiest in the draw, getting Young Boys from Switzerland, who have Danish midfielder Michael Silberbauer playing for them. (CW)

scanpix/LAURENT DUBRULE

F

C Copenhagen’s reward for eliminating Belgian side Club Brugge from the Champions League last week – if you can call it a reward – is a perilous trip to Lille, which finished a daunting third in last season’s French Ligue 1.

Following Michel Platini’s shake-up of the qualifying process to ensure more champions qualify for the group stage, this is invariably what happens to teams who don’t finish top: they end up needing to beat a team from one of Europe’s top leagues.

If it hadn’t been Lille, it would have been one of Fenerbahce, Malaga, Borussia Mönchengladbach, or Udinese.

Needless to say, Club Brugge, who FCK beat 3-2 on aggregate to advance, is a walk in the park compared to this lot.

Although Lille have sold a couple of key players, includ-

ing top scorer Eden Hazard to Chelsea, the team from northern France will prove to be a difficult opponent to overcome, although they failed miserably in the group stage last season after qualifying directly as French champions.

“It was what I feared, personally. We have met French teams before, such as Marseille, and we have seen the strength French teams possess,” FCK sporting director Carsten V Jensen told Bold.dk. “The French league is quality, and Lille has been one of the teams to dominate it in recent years.”

Lille has a Danish connection who can vouch for the pressure FCK will come under.

Lille’s Brazilian striker Tulio de Melo scored six goals in 19 appearances for Aalborg BK back in the 2004-05 season, while FC Nordsjælland winger Emil Lyng is currently on loan from Lille.

“FCK has a chance for sure.

They were fortunate and good against Brugge, and player for player they have the quality

Ruby Davy he national rugby league side have failed to defend the Nordic Cup title they won in 2011.

Denmark’s 122-8 defeat of the Swedes in April boded well for their chances, but they knew that the more powerful Norwegians (19 in the world, eight places above Denmark), on home soil, would be a different proposition.

And Norway quickly scored to delight the crowd at the 15,000-capacity Bislett Stadium, who were already in good spirits due to an unusually hot, sunny day.

Denmark responded well, though. Strong runs by props Uraia Vucago and Loic Poulain presented a try-scoring opportunity to Mark Hojelsen, who duly converted.

Still, Norway continued to dominate, and only some last gasp defence kept the score down to 12-6 at halftime. And the one-way traffic continued in the second half, with the Danes failing to score and the Norwegians sealing a 36-6 victory.

“I was very proud of the boys’ effort today.” said team captain Martin Pedersen-Scott.

“We came to Norway missing a few players and feeling slightly undercooked and I thought in parts we were pretty decent.”

“The individual will and tenacity of the players is outstanding, and it’s just inexperience at key points that lets us down and puts us under pressure.”

While rugby league has only been played in Scandinavia for a few years, Norway already has a well established domestic league and its Nordic Cup title underlines its top dog status in the region.

“A big well done to Norway. They were very physical and well drilled and they are worthy Nordic champions.

Their domestic competition is something we aspire to and it’s clearly paid dividends for them.”

Denmark’s next match is a home tie against Malta at Gladsaxe Stadion on 29 September.

Champions League presents a Lille chance for FC Copenhagen Danish runners-up face stern French test to make the Champions League group stage

League side fails in Nordic Cup defence

Cesar Santin (left) got a last-gasp goal to seal FCK’s defeat of Club Bruges

Sports news and briefs Birdie blitz short-lived

Hands-down the TV winner

Top talent Spain-bound

Woz is semi-happy

Riis signs legend’s son

Lions getting stronger

Thomas Bjørn birdied his first four holes on day three of the US PGA Championship, the final major of the golf season, which ended on Sunday at the Kiawah Island course in South Carolina with a win for Caroline Wozniacki’s boyfriend Rory McIlroy. But three consecutive bogies followed, ending his brief challenge. Bjørn finished 48th, 21 places behind Thorbjørn Olesen, who shot a final round 69.

Handball was the country’s most popular sport at the Olympics, grabbing the top four TV ratings in week one, and top two in week two. The most watched game was the men’s group match against Spain (1.42 million), followed by the quarter-final against Sweden (1.365). The most watched individual was swimmer Lotte Friis in the 800m freestyle final (0.672), and the top nonDanish moment was the men’s 200-metre final (1.086).

Rasmus Glarbjerg, considered by many to be this country’s brightest ever basketball prospect, has signed a fouryear contract with the Spanish side Manresa. The Catalonian outfit, which plays in Spain’s EBA, persuaded Glarbjerg that despite its limited budget it was the best club for him as it would be a “good development space” where “the wait for action wouldn’t be as long” as other EBA clubs.

Ahead of the final major of the season, the US Open, which starts on Monday August 27, Caroline Wozniacki has been in action at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, where the world number eight reached the semifinals, losing 6-3, 2-6, 3-6 to Czech rival Petra Kvitova, the world number five, on Sunday.

A day earlier, she had needed to play twice, contesting 49 games to move on from the last 16 to the semis.

Ahead of the Vuelta a España, which starts on Saturday in Pamplona, Bjarne Riis, the manager of Danish side Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank, has signed Ireland’s Nicolas Roche, 28, an all-rounder who finished 12th in July’s Tour de France and is the son of 1987 winner Stephen, and 23-year-old Slovenian all-rounder Marko Kump. The Vuelta marks the return of Saxo’s star rider, Alberto Contador, following a two-year ban.

Following his loan acquisition of left winger Nicolai Jørgensen from Bayer Leverkusen, FC Copenhagen’s new Belgian coach Ariël Jacobs has made his first signing, snapping up 26-yearold left back Michael Jakobsen from Spanish Segunda Liga outfit UD Almeria. Jakobsen, who has five caps, joins a FCK side that is so far undefeated this season and currently leading the Superliga, five points ahead of last season’s champs FC Nordsjælland.

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CONTACT: bhargavipsk@gmail.com; Mobile: 50376689 SPOUSE: Clémence Arnal FROM: France SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen; Region Sjælland QUALIFICATION: Wastewater/drinking water (processes and treatments, building design, water sampling and pollution rate measurement); environment protection ( river basin management, waste management).

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PARTNERS:

SPOUSE: Jawon Yun-Werner FROM: South Korea SEEKING WORK IN: Healthcare, Hospitals, Elderly/Child Care (in Greater Copenhagen Area).

QUALIFICATION: B.A. in Nursing, Masters in Public Health. I am AUTHORIZED to work as a Nurse in Denmark. (Have Danish CPR and work permit).

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IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office, SASS Statistical Software CONTACT: cuteago@yahoo.com Tel: +45 30 95 20 53 SPOUSE: Heike Mehlhase FROM: Berlin, Tyskland SEEKING WORK IN: A job opportunity in Copenhagen (administrative position, research assistant or psychosocial care).

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CONTACT: heike@mehlhase.info SPOUSE: Lorena Augusta Moreira FROM: Brazil SEEKING WORK IN: Great Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Interior Designer.

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IT EXPERIENCE: Basic knowledge about computer (Windows), Office 2010 (Word, Excel, Power Point),Statistical software (SPSS) CONTACT: sadra.tabassi@gmail.com, Tel:+4550337753 SPOUSE: Francis Farias FROM: Venezuela SEEKING WORK IN: Greater København QUALIFICATION: Master in Spanish Studies from Universidad de Cadiz, Spain, as a Spanish Teacher and BA in Teaching English as a Second Language. Diplomas in Digital Photography (from Venezuela and Spain).

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CONTACT: carolina1928@gmail.com, Tel: +45 50814073 SPOUSE: Clotilde IMBERT FROM: France SEEKING WORK IN: Greater Copenhagen Qualification: Master of town planning and development and master of urban geography (Paris IVSorbonne) EXPERIENCE: 5 years in field of town planning and development: - Coordinator in urban project in a semi-public company: supervised a major urban project in Paris area (coordination of studies, acquisition of lands, worked with Planning Development of the Town Council, architects, developers to define the master plan and implement the project...); - Officer in research and consultancy firm (urban diagnosis, environmental impact assessments, inhabitants consultation...).

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IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office, Abode Illustrator, AutoCad (basic), PC and Mac. CONTACT: clotilde.imbert@gmail.com SPOUSE: Maihemutijiang Maimaiti FROM: China SEEKING WORK IN: Aarhus area, Denmark QUALIFICATION: M.Sc. In Computer Science, Uppsala University, Sweden; Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science, Southwest University.

LOOKING FOR: IT jobs.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Chinese, Uyghur.

IT EXPERIENCE: 1 year experience in Java programming and modelling in VDM++.

CONTACT: mehmudjan@live.se SPOUSE: Monika Sysiak FROM: Poland SEEKING WORK IN: Greater Copenhagen / eastern Zealand QUALIFICATION: Master degree in Environmental Engineering from Cracow University of Technology. Major in Water Supply, Sewage and Waste Treatment and Water Quality Protection.

Completed one semester in Environmental Engineering at Engineering College of Aarhus.

EXPERIENCE: Internship during studies in designing water supply systems and sewerage systems.

LOOKING FOR: Graduation programme, internship, training, part time or full time job related to mymqualifications.

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CONTACT: EMAIL: monikasysiak@gmail.com Tel: +45 50 43 70 43 SPOUSE: Shilpa Lingaiah FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense and nearby areas of the mentioned cities.

QUALIFICATION: PG Diploma in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (JSS University, India); Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (RGUHS, India). Danish agency for international education has assessed the above qualification and corresponds to Danish Master’s degree in Health Sciences.

LOOKING FOR: Research related to health science, jobs in pharmaceutical industry or new challenging career opportunities.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English(fluent written and spoken), Enrolled for Danish language classes, Indian languages(Kannada and Hindi).

IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office.

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SPOUSE: Isaac P Thomas FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: East Juthland preferably Århus QUALIFICATION: Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Science).

EXPERIENCE: Process Consulting, Quality Assurance, CMMI, ISO, Quality Audit, Process Definition, Software testing, software development, data analysis, best practice sharing, quality gap analysis and “sharepoint” expertise.

LOOKING FOR: Process Consulting, Quality Assurance, CMMI, ISO, Quality Audit, Process Definition LANGUAGE SKILLS: Danish beginner, English, Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil.

IT EXPERIENCE: 8 years experience in IT Industry in software quality assurance, software quality control, software development.

CONTACT: isaacpthomas@gmail.com, Tel: +4552225642 SPOUSE: Debjani Nandy Biswas FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Would like to join in kindergarten, School teacher in English, official work in English.

QUALIFICATION: B.A., M.A in English literature and language (American, European and Indian).

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LOOKING FOR: A possibility in getting practical experiences in kindergarten or any international school, official work (administration) in English, voluntary work also.

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IT EXPERIENCE: Diploma in basic computer applications.

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SPOUSE: Katarzyna Szkaradek FROM: Poland SEEKING WORK IN: Mental hospitals, voluntary(Ngo) organisations, kindergartens, nurseries, babysitting QUALIFICATION: Ma in Psychology (2008), post graduate studies in psychotherapy (4th year/ 5 year).

EXPERIENCE: I am a highly motivated and creative individual with excellent communication skills.

From January 2010 till August 2010 I worked independly in private practice. For the last 2 years (January ,2009 -October, 2010) I worked with children (also with special needs -Autism, Asperger, Down syndrome etc) and their families as a psychologist. My duties included organizing games, monitoring children’s development , consulting teachers and parents where appropriate and providing individual therapy. For the last 10 years I was member of NGO organisation and I was a volunteer in Israel, Italy, Portugal and Romania.

LOOKING FOR: Internship in mental hospitals, part – time or full time jobs in kindergartens, nurseries, job as a babysitter, voluntary job in hospitals.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English–advance level (C1), Danish – (module 3 /module 5), Polish-native speaker IT EXPERIENCE: MS Windows, basic MS Office, Internet.

CONTACT: szkasienka@gmail.com Tel: 50828802 SPOUSE: Kamali Ganesan SEEKING WORK IN: Jylland, Denmark QUALIFICATION: IT engineer.

EXPERIENCE: LEGO systems.

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IT EXPERIENCE: 3 Years in LEGO systems.

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FROM: India

SPOUSE: DR TESSA KATE ANDERSON FROM: UK SEEKING WORK IN: University, education, research, social science, geography, GIS, spatial analysis, urban geography.

EXPERIENCE: PhD from UCL (UK) in GIS and road safety, Assistant Professor at University of Canterbury, New Zealand for 3 years, Assistant Professor in GIS at University of Queensland for 1 year, Research Fellow at University of Hong Kong for 3 years. I have experience in project management and working in both the private and public sector. I have taught up to Masters level and have design courses and taught extensively.

LOOKING FOR: Research, teaching, consultancy positions.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, French (small amount), Chinese (beginner), I am enrolled at Danish language school IT EXPERIENCE: ArcGIS, MapInfo, GeoDa, Global Mapper, GWR, Python, Image J, SPSS, Excel, Work, PowerPoint, Access, Dreamweaver, Adobe, SAS, open source GIS programmes.

CONTACT: tessaanderson@gmail.com SPOUSE: Rita Paulo FROM: Portugal SEEKING WORK IN: Great Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Architect .

EXPERIENCE: I am an architect and I have experience in Project and in Construction Supervision.

In the past 7 years, I have worked mainly in housing, masterplanning and social facilities buildings.

My last employer was a Project and Construction company where I had the opportunity to complement my experience in projects together with construction related tasks, developing myself as a professional.

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LANGUAGE SKILLS: Native Portuguese, Proficiency in English, Basic user of Spanish and Danish IT EXPERIENCE: Strong knowledge of AutoCad and ArchiCad. Experience in Studio Max, CorelDraw, Photoshop, Office tools.

CONTACT: rita.vaz.paulo@gmail.com, Tel: +45 2961 9694 SPOUSE: Chao Wen FROM: China SEEKING WORK IN: Great Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Language teacher (German, Chinese.

EXPERIENCE: Teaching Chinese as a foreign language by offering company-course for 2 years, in Germany; teaching Chinese to native speaker in private school for 4 years, in Germany; teaching German as a foreign language by offering private course; exhibition interpreter; translator.

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18 is ...

Wasn’t much not to like at Hamlet’s castle Who Gustav CULTURE

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

17 - 23 August 2012

As You Like It 

I

F THE WORDS ‘Shakespeare at twilight’ spawn visions of some sci-fi horror abomination a la ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’, then have no fear, because Hamletscenen’s mini Shakespeare festival at Kronborg Castle this month was the real deal – with one of the oldest and most prestigious Shakespeare companies in the world putting on a version of ‘As You Like It’ to please both Billy purists and novices.

It is believed that after the Lord Chamberlain’s Men performed for Denmark’s King Frederik II at Kronborg in 1580, one of its performers, a certain Will Shakespeare, was inspired to use the castle as a home for his most famous angst-ridden protagonist prince. So what better setting to host what is considered to be the world’s oldest authentic Shakespeare tradition, than Hamlet’s own courtyard?

Encircled by Kronborg’s castle walls and the sparse open-air staging that mirrors the original Globe Theatre in London – the feeling is truly one of Shakespearean safari – the only thing missing is Lawrence Olivier’s bleached head peeking out from

The Shakespearean guide to cross-dressing: waistcoat: check; pocket handkerchief: check; clenched fist: check

a stained glass window.

As the sold-out audience quietens and the players launch full steam ahead into song, one actor takes a dramatic headlong tumble from the scaffolding (which left this reviewer unceremoniously chuckling – it’s a comedy after all!). Despite the interruption, the cast champion on with undeterred energy after only a short interval.

‘As You Like It’ follows the most traditional of Shakespearean comedic formulas: lads and lassies of the court fall madly in love, prance around in the for-

est while engaging in a few cases of mistaken identity and crossdressing, and then everybody gets married at the end. Yet director James Decre manages to breathe new life into the production with the help of a sterling cast and some hilarious modernisations, while staying true to the traditional format.

Following a wrestling match that could have been lifted straight out of a Bridget Jones film, fair Rosalind falls in love with the brooding Orlando.

Soon after, she is banished from the court by her evil, usurping

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uncle, but luckily there’s a tenement of exiled noblemen shacking up in the forest of Arden. Rosalind and cousin/BFF Celia don disguises, and with their entry to the forest begins all kinds of confusion and comedic happenings.

With the exception of Orlando, Rosalind and Celia, the rest of the cast take on multiple characters (and accents), with character shifts happening as quickly as a costume change will allow – ultimately culminating in the hilarious and schizophrenic merging of two very mismatched characters. In-

terlaced between the fast-paced, dialogue-heavy scenes, Dacre allows for slow, wistful musical numbers in which the cast act as both choir and band, many of them playing up to three different instruments.

With the multifarious crossdressing of both female and male actors, we harken back to the Shakespearean days when male actors would play women who would pretend to be men. Dacre celebrates this gender confusion by casting a woman as the melancholy Jaques, played by a brilliant Emma Pallant, who delivers the only serious, if not most poignant, portion of the evening – the ‘seven ages of man’ soliloquy, which is a lament on the fragility and cruel cyclicality of life – all while a flock of seagulls pass noisily by overhead.

It is in the mixing of the traditional and the innovative where this production soars. The blank verse is beautifully recited with wily innuendos, while the orthodox gender jokes are speckled with modern poignancy. The only real criticism must go to the Danish climate – a bit too unaccommodating for a four-hour evening performance!

Shakespeares Globe’s production of ‘As You Like It’ played at Kronborg Castle from August 1-5 as part of a mini Shakespeare season organised

by Hamletscenen.

Butchered down, but bloody good FRANCISCO PEREZ

Macbeth

A

DAPTED CLASSICS can often be disconcerting experiences for audiences, and particularly so when one attempts to dust off timeless masterpieces such as Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’, introducing dances and choirs in doing so. This was director Benoit Malmberg’s gamble, as he led his troupe, the Romeo and Julia choir, in a perplexing display of ‘The Scottish Play’ at Helsingør’s Kronborg castle earlier this month.

Yet the perplexed audience – witnessing a six-hour play performed in just over 70 minutes, skipping many emblematic scenes – will not be able to deny it was witness to a stunning delivery.

Malmberg and his crew offered graceful singing scenes with compelling vocal performances from the entire cast, drawing from the repertoire of 16th century composer Clément Janequin. The lyrics of Janequin’s most famous composition, ‘La Guerre’ – depicting the rise of French King François I as he vanquishes the Milanese troops in 1515 at Marignan – are a perfect match for themes so famously depicted in ‘Macbeth’: the lust

for power, anger, and ambition and its vanity.

The physical performance of the cast was also noteworthy. Dancing scenes, though somewhat tacky in their choreography, were lively and intelligently placed within the play, mostly taking place during the banquet at which Macbeth encounters Banquo’s ghost.

The austere and humbling decorum of the courtyard of Kronborg Castle further highlighted the cast’s acting. Urban Wedin, appearing mostly shirtless in the icy Helsingør winds, depicted an elegant and vibrant Macbeth, while Johana Tibblin flawlessly enacted the deranged and emotional wife of the Scottish general/king.

First-time Shakespeare audiences might be lost in translation while the purists might take offence at some of Malmberg’s unusual directing – he appears in costume, throughout the play, waving his hands as an orchestra maestro to guide his cast through song and dance. But the final product remains a pleasant and finelooking show, contributing further to the timeless stature of Shakespeare’s most hardened tragedy.

Benoit Malmberg’s production of ‘Macbeth’ played at Kronborg Castle from August 7-8 as part of a mini Shakespeare season organised by Hamletscenen.

Salinas?

SCANPIX/ TORKIL ADSERSEN

KIM AGERSTEN

LINN LEMHAG

LINN LEMHAG He is a 21-year-old gay Danish professional reality TV star who rose to fame in 2009 when he participated in the TV2 dating programme ‘Dagens Mand’ (Man of the Day).

I feel like I’ve seen him before You probably have. This little half-Chilean diva is the realitydarling of TV3, having been on ‘For lækker til love’ (Too hot for love), ‘Divaer I junglen’ (Divas in the jungle), and ‘Wipeout’. This autumn he stars in yet another reality TV show with fellow trashTV star Linse Kessler (also known as ‘Scandinavia’s largest silicone breasts’).

Classy. So what’s this new reality show about then?

It’s called ‘Gustav og Linse på udebane’ and follows the divalicious duo as they squeal their way through menial jobs both in Denmark and abroad. Think Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie a la ‘The Sweet Life’, but with more sex jokes.

That makes five different reality shows. What does he do that’s so entertaining?

Gustav is best known for his quest to find the perfect man on ‘for lækker til love’. His trademark qualities include having a wonderfully fluorescent tan, making bitchy comments about his suitors, a pout that puts Angelina Jolie to shame, and a serious penchant for Burberry, which he pronounces ‘Bebborie’.

Does he do anything other than reality TV? He used to be seen waiting tables or tending the bar at the Imperial Hotel, but those days are long gone for Gustav. He’s promoting Fresh Fitness gyms at the moment, with a slogan that directly refers to him as an idiot as he pouts in the mirror.

So he’s not the sharpest tool in the reality-star shed?

Probably not, but he has been known to make a sharp comment or two. Among them was when he pronounced his love for the Danish Royal Family, and how proud he was that we have a gay prince.

So has he found love?

Not yet – he is ‘too hot for love’ after all. But we wish him and his three-piece, pink-plaid ‘Bebborie’ imitation suit the best of luck as he continues his search for love and TV ratings this autumn.

DENMARK THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

17 - 23 August 2012

19

Maggie the throne-snatcher

WWW.DENSTOREDANSKE.DK

– a Nordic match for Mrs Thatch

Queen Magrete with her adopted son, Eric of Pomerania

JAYA RAO At a time when queens just sat dutifully next to their husbands, one princess outwitted her male counterparts to unify and rule Scandinavia

M

ARGRETHE II of Denmark and Elizabeth II of Britain, two of Europe’s longest-serving monarchs, share a great deal in common beyond their kindred and the number two. Both married foreigners, both defied extreme odds to be crowned queen, and both were named after their countries’ finest ever queens. But while the history books remember the greatness of Elizabeth I all too well, her Danish counterpart was just as formidable in her own right.

In the turbulent times that reigned across late 14th century Scandinavia, Margrete I was the ruler who ultimately prevailed.

Over her life she consistently out-manoeuvred her rivals, successfully uniting the regions of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, to leave a powerful legacy for her heirs.

But like Margrethe II, she never expected to be queen. She was the youngest of Valdemar IV of Denmark’s six children, and in 1359, at the age of six, her childhood was cruelly interrupted by the news she was engaged to be married to Håkon VI of Norway, the youngest son of the SwedishNorwegian king, Magnus (IV or VII, depending on where you were), as part of a political alliance. Håkon was 13 years her senior and was used to rude awakenings himself – he had been named king of Norway by his father when he was just three.

Magnus wanted Valdemar’s help to deal with his second son, who had proclaimed himself ‘Erik XII of Sweden’ after taking control of Southern Sweden.

And in return, Magnus would give Valdermar the strategically important Helsingborg Castle

on the southern tip of Sweden.

Valdemar wasted no time and, shortly after the agreement, invaded Scania with a large army and gained control of the region. But then Erik unexpectedly died, and as far as Magnus was concerned, all bets were off.

He dissolved the betrothal and all the other arrangements. But Valdemar liked the view from Scania – a region that had been mortgaged to Sweden back in 1332 following the bankruptcy of the Danish state under the reign of Valdemar’s father Christopher II – and continued conquering, starting with the south-eastern Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. In 1361, Valdemar conquered Visby, a German-dominated town in Gotland.

This provocation was staunchly opposed by both Magnus and the Hanseatic League – a confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns that dominated trade in northern Europe – which signed a trade restriction against Denmark and resolved to take military action. Meanwhile, Magnus was in talks with Henry of Holstein to marry Håkon off to Henry’s sister Elisabeth – an alliance hotly disputed by the archbishop of Lund, who said it was a violation of church law.

But their resolve weakened.

Magnus and the Hanseatic League discontinued a siege of Helsingborg, and Margrete and Håkon married in April 1363 in Copenhagen, producing an heir, Olaf, in 1370.

Valdemar died in 1375 and was, after a vote by the Danehof (the equivalent of parlia-

ment), succeeded by Olaf, who also stood to inherit the Swedish crown after Margrete saw off the claims of her elder sister’s husband, Duke Henry of Mecklenburg, and their son.

Upon Vald e m a r’s death, Margrete became

Olaf became king of Norway and Margrete ruled both kingdoms on his behalf and then, after Olaf unex-

ereign lady and ruler’. Among them was a condition that stipulated the Swedes must accept any king she decided to crown.

Still keen to hold onto his crown, Albert returned with an army of mercenaries in February 1389, but he was defeated and imprisoned at Aasle near Falköping. He was shortly set free on the condition that if he paid a fine within three years, the Hanseatic League could hold onto Stockholm, which w a s

regent and immediately sought to expand. She bought the island of Gotland from its owners Albert of Mecklenburg and the Livonian Order, and also acquired most of Schleswig, which she eventually bequeathed as a hereditary fief under the Danish crown to Count Gerhard VI of Holstein-Rendsburg, the grandson of Gerhard III, on the condition he swore allegiance to Olaf.

When Håkon died in 1380,

pectedly died in 1388, as queen.

And Sweden was very much in her sights. Before Olaf ’s death, she knew there was discontentment among the nobles with their king, Albert I, and that they wanted her to help them dethrone him. Her army duly invaded in 1389 and soon she was in control of the whole country. At the Dalaborg Castle conference, the Swedes complied with all of Margrete’s demands and elected her ‘sov-

then an independent Germanpopulated city. But Albert failed to pay the stipulated amount and the Hanseatic League surrendered Stockholm.

Margrete, meanwhile looking to the future, adopted the grandchildren of Henry of Mecklenburg: Eric of Pomerania and his sister Catherine. And at a congress of the three Councils of the Realm in Kalmar, Eric was announced king of Denmark, Norway and Sweden on Trinity Sunday, 17 June 1397. Until he came of age, Margrete ruled

as regent, and she remained de facto ruler until her death.

But there was more to Margrete’s reign than claiming back lost Danish territory and uniting the kingdoms. She reformed the Danish currency by substituting

Valdemar wasted no time and, shortly after the agreement, invaded Scania with a large army and gained control over the region silver coins for the old copper coins, and she was also a noted philanthropist who gave away much of her wealth to charity.

And she knew where to draw the line. A proposal in 1402 from King Henry IV of England for a double-wedding alliance (Eric to marry Henry’s daughter Philippa and Catherine to marry Prince Hal, later Henry V – Eric did eventually marry Philippa) to united the Nordic kingdoms with England, which would have drawn them into the Hundred Years’ War against France, was rejected.

Margrete died unexpectedly of plague on board her ship in Flensburg Harbour in October 1412. She bequeathed a property to Roskilde Cathedral in her will on the condition that it held a regular mass for her soul. This was eventually discontinued during the Reformation in 1536. However, a special bell is still rung twice a day in honour of the first lady ruler of Denmark.

And while Denmark eventually lost Sweden (finally in 1521) and Norway (1814), and the bloodline she established on the throne of Denmark ended with the death of Frederick VII in 1863, her name (albeit with an extra ‘h’) lives on in the current monarch – a fitting tribute to one of this country’s most astute and able rulers.

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

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