Attila

Posts tagged with "Denmark"

Corruption

Thursday, 25. September 2008, 05:31:54

I have just heard on the the news that Denmark has come out on top of the list of the least corrupt countries for the second year in a row.

According to Transparency International, Denmark and New Zealand share the top spot with Sweden. The index looks at the level of corruption in public institutions and builds upon evaluations from experts and opinion polls. Denmark scores 9.3 out of 10. Norway drops from 8.7 last year to 7.9 this year. UK drops from 8.4 to 7.7.

At the other end of the scale is Somalia with a score of 1, closely followed by Iraq and Myanmar with 1.3.

If you're interested in seeing the full index, you can click here.

30 comments

Switching to Facebook?

Saturday, 20. September 2008, 04:16:57

Denmark, News, Internet

The Danish Ministry of Health's prevention commission is concerned about the legality of Facebook. The commission wants to know if the personal information posted on a person's profile is covered under Danish law when users log onto the Danish version of the website, or by California law, where the Facebook company is registered.

Facebook has around 700,000 Danish users, all of whom have agreed to the Facebook terms of use.

The terms and conditions of signing up to the website include a clause that allows for the terms to be changed without any notice to the user. The user also loses any right to the information they post of their personal profile.

Anette Høyrup, a lawyer with the commission, said that by agreeing to this condition, a user is giving Facebook the right to save and use personal information in the future, even if the user has removed it from their profile page.

This means that the things you write can haunt you many years later, without you being able to do anything about it. This term is in clear conflict with Danish personal data laws, because in Denmark it is illegal to save information about people for ever and use it commercially behind their backs.

Google faced harsh criticism when it was discovered that its new browser was launched with similarly dubious data protection terms and conditions as Facebook’s. Google later announced that it is changing the terms to offer consumers more privacy, and the prevention commission has urged Facebook to do the same.

I think I'll just stay here at MyOpera.

75 comments

Porn in Danish Supermarket

Wednesday, 17. September 2008, 05:31:24

Denmark, News

A displayed laptop in Bilka, a huge Danish supermarket, surprisingly showed porn recently.

A sly customer had the porn on a memory stick; He transferred it to the laptop and started the film. Then he started the built-in webcam to record people's reactions to the porn.

The result is a clip, that is now on Youtube.

Some of the filmed persons are hastily passing the computer, while others stop and watch the film for a while. There are even a guy who puts on his glasses and gets real close to the monitor. Among the recorded persons is also a 8-10 years old little girl.

The person who has placed the clip on youtube has been in contact with the supermarket - he says that it's not him who put the porn on the computer.

Here is the clip. I looked for it on tinytube for the phonies - but it's not there, sorry.

55 comments

Toonophobia

Monday, 15. September 2008, 04:08:53

Denmark, cartoons, News, Thoughts

I heard on the news that some fundamentalists are discussing on an internet forum how they can kill as many Danes as possible by poisoning our water supplies. All because of the infamous drawings of their prophet Mohammad.

I respect that other people believe in other things than I do. I don't have to understand what others believe in, and I don't have to have an opinion about either religion. I see myself as open minded, not judging others by their religion, but willing to listen and discuss things if requested.

I am raised to believe in the freedom of speech. It is very important to me that we are allowed to speak freely in Denmark. It is not ok to threaten other people because you think they said or did something wrong.

So please - it's not that our cartoonists actually killed Mohammad himself. All they did was drawing him. It's not such a big deal, is it!?

Ps. Don't bother. I stopped drinking water from today.

53 comments

More threats from terrorists

Friday, 5. September 2008, 19:34:45

Denmark, News

Denmark has yet again been threatened by the al-Qaeda organization in a video detected by the Site group that monitors Islamic websites.

We have warned previously - and we warn once more - the Crusader states which insult, mock and defame our Prophet and Quran in their media and occupy our lands, steal our treasure, and kill our brothers that we will exact revenge at the appropriate time and place. And we tell them: what you have seen and experienced in the Danish embassy and prior operations is but the beginning, God willing, if you don’t end your errant ways and aggression. (...)

That's what the high ranking al-Qaeda commander Mustafa Abu al-Yazid says in the video.

Personally I am sick of being threatened because some Danish cartoonists drew the prophet Muhammad. Come on. At least find something important to be angry about.

49 comments

I'm not responsible!

Tuesday, 2. September 2008, 04:59:07

News, Denmark, Thoughts

2007 set a new interesting record. Denmark had five brand new rules every day – or one every five hours.

After having been stable at around 1,000 rules per year throughout the 1990s, the law factory has begun to work at top speed.

The Danish government scored a record of 1,854 new laws and executive orders in 2007, compared with 1,475 new laws in Sweden in the same period. And we still call Sweden "Prohibition Sweden"!

I guess that means that that soon it will be official that Danes do not have to think for themselves. When everything is regulated by law, you remove the responsibility that people would otherwise have shouldered.

30 comments

Hans Christian Andersen in China

Tuesday, 5. August 2008, 11:04:23

Denmark, News, Thoughts

A Chinese clothing company specialising in H.C. Andersen merchandise has become a commercial success since it began three years ago.

The merchandise featuring logos and images of the famous Danish writer brings in a turnover of 60 million Chinese yuan, or 5.438 million Euros a year.

120 specialist shops sell H.C. Andersen clothing today, and they hope to increase it to 300 in China and open their first stores in Europe by next year.

Company director Chen Song Ru explains that the company is not just driven by its commercial success but also by an ethical policy: Parents who buy the clothes can get 10 percent of the purchase price refunded if they deliver the clothes back to the shop when they become too small for their children. The firm then donates the clothes to poor children and orphans, with a greeting from their former owner.

I tried to find some images of the H. C. Andersen clothes, but I haven't been able to. It makes me wonder, if this is the story of the Emperor's new clothes once again.

I also read that H. C. Andersen has been given a Chinese name – An Tu Sheng – and his famed story of the little matchstick girl has been edited to avoid mention of the little girl freezing to death on a New Year's morning.
Come on! Don't change the fairy tales. That's not right!

9 comments

Soft Lips

Friday, 1. August 2008, 04:56:08

News, Denmark

It has been proved that construction workers are more liable to get lip cancer than other workers. A big labour union here (3F) has just made a coorperation with the Danish Cancer society to make their building constructors wear lip sunscreen in order to decrease the number of cancer cases.

The labour union made a phone number for the workers to call. When they call they reach Miss Hotlips, who has a very sexy voice. She says:

Hey Handyman! *moan*
I am sooo glad you called. I have waited for you. Are we all alone? *moan* It's hot in here don't you think? Are you also warm, all over? *moan* I am just rubbing my soft smooth lips. *moan* They get soo smooth and wet... *moan* What about you, bad boy? Do you have any protection? Are you already wearing it? *moan* Press "1" for yes and "2" for no.
<dialer presses "1">
Ooohhh that was good. Woooow! You are already wearing the protection! *moan* You are such a naughty boy. *moan* When you wear sunscreen on your lips you'll have just as soft and smooth lips as mine. *moan* And you'll also avoid lip cancer. *moan* Mmmmmhhhh (...)

So, the building constructors labor union thinks that their members don't understand a regular message without disguising it as phone sex. I would be offended if I was a member of that union!

15 comments

Counting the Cattle

Wednesday, 30. July 2008, 04:56:13

Denmark, Song

I want to share a song by the Danish group D-A-D. Originally their name was Disneyland After Dark, but the Walt Disney Company thought that was an awfully bad idea, so they had to change it. D-A-D makes rock music, and have been playing together since the early 80s.

Sometimes they make something completely different. This song, "Counting the Cattle", were made for fun on the album "Call of the Wild" from 1986, and the group has said in interviews afterward that they were very surprised when they saw the fans' positive reactions to the song.

Discover D-A-D!

Here is the link for you phonies that can't use the player up there. Remember it's illegal to keep the file!

Here is the lyrics to this crazy song:

I'm countin' the cattle: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...
I'm countin' the cattle
Just to check if there alive
I'm countin' the cattle: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
I'm countin' the cattle once again.

Well, the first little cow she went for a climb,
Fell off the mountain
- and then we were 9
The second little cow, she went out for a date
Discovered it was Wolfie
- and then we were 8

I'm countin'...

Well number 3 & number 4 they were longhorned chicks
- Met some horny bulls
And now I'm only countin' 6

Number 5, 6 & 7 went out without their key
They're hanging at the butchers
And I'm only counting 3

I'm countin'...

Well the 8 & 9 said: - We're never havin' fun!
They packed their things and left!
And I'm only countin' 1!!

Well here we are
Me and Molly
She is brown-spotted, cheerful
And she's jolly
She milks herself every day
And she promised me that she will stay!
Our son is a muuhtant
- But who gives a damn
- I mean, when the folks
Downtown, calls us:
Mister and mam!!

I'm countin'...

19 comments

Weird Danish Laws

Thursday, 24. July 2008, 04:51:09

Denmark, Fun

A while ago I made a post about some weird laws. Unfortunately two from my friends list decided to post almost the same before I got to post mine, so I deleted it again. Now I got something similar, but this post is only about weird Danish laws. I don't think anyone will beat me on this one.

So here is the first one:

• Before starting your car you are required to check lights, brakes, steering and horn.

That sounds reasonable to me, after all it's about traffic security. But problem is that is goes really bad with this rule:

• You are not allowed to honk your horn unless it is to warn other road users of a danger ahead.

How can I check the horn before starting when I am not allowed to honk unless there is danger ahead?

• Restaurants may not charge for water unless it is accompanied by another item such as ice or a lemon slice.

I remember when this rule was made. It was when some restaurants bagan to charge like 7 Euros for a jug of water from the tap.

• Attempt to escape from prison is not illegal; however, if one he is caught he is required to serve out the remainder of his term.

That's weird. It's not against the law to flee from prison. You can try as many times as you want without consequenses at all.

• No one may start a car while someone is underneath the vehicle.

What can I say? Some of our laws really makes sense!