The plot thickens

The Nord Stream pipeline sabotage is back in the news. Media: German police have located mysterious boat on Christiansø. Was used for attacks on Nord Stream, they claimMikkel Danielsen, Berlingske.dk, March 8 Long story short: five men and a woman using false passports rented a boat from a Polish boat rental agency in Poland. The…

He shoots, he scores!

In a comment on last week’s post about the Great Chinese Balloon Caper, I wrote: My fear now is that Biden or his babysitters will do something stupid to prove how tough and resolute they are… I’m gonna go ahead and give myself a bingo on that. Here’s the article Danmarks Radio (DR) published this…

Free speech for Putin—but not for you

On Sunday, Berlingske published an editorial in which they came out in support of free speech—arguing against the censorship of fake news on the basis of sunlight being the best disinfectant. Here’s the lede: “Instead of censorship, Western democracies should bet on freedom of expression as the best antidote to the information war.” That should…

BREAKING: Opinion host caught expressing unauthorized opinions

It’s commonly believed that on September 26—more than three weeks ago—the Nord Stream pipelines were sabotaged. Three weeks isn’t a lot of time in most circumstances, but in warfare it’s an eternity: time enough to fight the whole Six Day War three times and take a long weekend. New Yorkers woke up to a beautiful…

“Eliminating the impossible”

It’s still a truth universally acknowledged that nobody knows who sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines earlier this week, but the vaporous fog of ignorance has been coalescing into two general assumptions in the establishment media. The first is something like “We still don’t know who’s responsible, but it was obviously Russia.” The second: “Anyone who…

Whodunnit?

Things are getting kinetic in the Baltic Sea. On Monday, two underwater explosions caused three leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines carrying natural gas from Russia to Europe. The explosions and leaks occurred to the northeast and southeast of the Danish island of Bornholm. Quoth Danmarks Radio (DR): According to…

“You’re not haggling properly.”

Energy prices are skyrocketing in Europe and the natives are getting restless. The situation absolutely requires that a really stupid and futile gesture be done on somebody’s part—and you know what that means: The EU summit will fight skyrocketing energy prices:  “Russia’s manipulating our energy markets”Per Bang Thomas, DR.dk, 7 Sept Is it boring and…

The lights are dimming in Denmark and the government’s not getting any brighter

The lights have literally begun to go out in Europe, even in little Denmark. Several municipalities are considering saving electricity by dimming street lightsRitzau, Berlingske.dk, Sept 6 Energy prices have skyrocketed, and this has caused several municipalities in the capital area to discuss whether street lighting should be dimmed or switched off during the night…

Meanwhile, in China

Remember when hating Russia and Russians was the hot new thing? Vladimir Putin had just invaded Ukraine (“basically, that’s wrong,” the American Vice-President helpfully explained) and we therefore had to chuck not just Russian gas and Russian oligarchs, but also Russian literature, Russian music, and Russian people. Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Pushkin, Bulkagov, Tchaikowsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky—out…

Notes from the Algarve: II

If you’re a full-throated left-wing extremist—if you still want George Bush and Dick Cheney hog-tied before a Hague war crimes tribunal, for example, and if you believe American news media are biased to the right, and if you simply cannot understand why Donald Trump still hasn’t been taken out and shot— then Poul Høi is…

Notes from the Algarve: I

(Remember: the name Algarve is derived from the old Arabic Al-Gharb, meaning “the west,” so to speak of “the Algarve” is to speak of “the the West.”) We’ve been here a couple of days now, Herself and Youngest and I, on a brief southern getaway while Eldest holds down the fort and tends Dog back…

The Continuing Relevance of Sovereignty

Some things are so stupid only an intellectual could believe them.—George Orwell (apocryphal) Sovereignty is irrelevant.—Intellectual The new think pieces are here, the new think pieces are here! American professor: The Danish yes is part of a new world orderSolveig Gram Jensen, Berlingske.dk, Jun 2 Yesterday, as expected, Denmark voted overwhelmingly (roughly 2:1) to drop…

Will China vote to expel Russia from the UN Human Rights Council? Will North Korea? Libya?

China, yesterday: Control your soul’s desire for freedom. Do not open your window. Do not sing. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. Imagine living somewhere, some big modern city, where drones fly around giving you orders. There are 26 million people in Shanghai. That’s a fact. It’s a thing we can’t deny. And…

The Zelensky Gambit

Having been a resident of New York on 9/11, I’ll always think fondly of Rudy Giuliani. His performance as mayor that day—ironically enough an election day on which his successor was to have been chosen—is surely remembered warmly by everyone else who lived in New York City at the time. Amidst all the confusion and…

Marchons, Marchons!

The big news over the weekend was the lack of assaults at the Grammy Awards. Also interesting: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stunned the Grammy Awards on Sunday night with a surprise message in which he told the audience to “fill the silence with music.” DR has roused itself to meet Zelensky’s challenge: they’ve prepared a…

On The Famous Oligarchs

Let’s talk about those sinister oligarchs we keep hearing about. Let’s talk about the men—they’re all men—of vast wealth who control whole industries and exist in perfect symbiosis with their regime: a regime that grants the oligarchs regulatory favors so they can make more money, in return for which favors the oligarchs throw the full…

Say It Ain’t So, Joe

Ole Puddinhead outdid himself last week. His visit to Europe to attend the NATO summit in Brussels and deliver an address on NATO’s eastern flank in Warsaw presented an excellent opportunity to lay down some serious foreign policy markers and persuade Vladimir Putin that Russia is still welcome back in the community of nations if…

The Children’s Crusade

I always figured kids had a pretty easy time of it during war. Thanks to TV2 News, my eyes have been opened. A kid’s-eye view of war: “It’s all Putin’s fault”Sofie Synnøve Herschend & Alexander Østerlin Koch, TV2 News, Mar 19 Herschend & Koch are only writing about one particular set of children whose experiences…