The news about the US financial bailout have been roaming the World for the past few days.
I understand that the US government are buying "bad papers" in order to restore the financial markets. A solution which have been debated much - and for good reasons too. If I were taxpayer in the US, I would be very dissatisfied.
A similar plan has just been launched in Denmark, my home country. A plan which, for me, seems more reasonable and fair.
The Danish government has just made an agreement with the banks (maybe agreement is a wrong word, since it was obvious for everyone that hadn't the banks and financial companies agreed, the government would simply have made a legislation implementing the exact same principles), an agreement that the banks will now have to go together and form an insurance company for their own money. An insurance company that will guarantee that every bank costumer will get all the lost money back in case of a bank losing it's liquidity. Plus that bank executives will no longer be able to receive part of their salaries in futures and options in their own companies. And a few other things on top of this.
As a tax payer and a bank costumer as well as owning bank stocks I must say that I am very pleased with this agreement. It seems fair to me that the financial corporates will have to keep their backyard clean and tidy - collectively and for their (our) own money.
Seems to me that this agreement will make the upcoming crisis go easily over my country. We don't have any foreign debt and we have a more than comfortable surplus on state finances. Maybe we'll have to save a bit here and there, but I guess that'll be it.
Now, let's see 'bout that. I may be wrong, though.
Today the finishing story about my day in the wetlands.
I finally arrived at the castle - or the fortification - you could see from far away. The castle was originally built in the year 1313 for the Danish king Erik Menved. The purpose of the castle was to have soldiers permanently stationed in this area of the country in order to control rebellious peasants. The peasants were struggling against the high taxes - and the king needed to fight it down before it got out of hand.
The castle and the tower was built on an "island" slightly elevated from the surrounding wetland. A narrow, cobblestoned road was made across the wet areas - so the soldiers would only have to defend the road, since it would be impossible to move an army through the surrounding mud. Good idea, and it worked just as planned.
Most of the bricks and stones were later moved away, since the peasants weren't any threat to the establishment a hundred years later, and used on other large building sites - but the foundations and most of the tower is still standing.
Here you see the tower - or what's left of it. A few hundred years of wind, frost and rain can be seen on any building - also on this one. I think it looks majestic, though. And I keep thinking "if only walls could tell tales".
If you'd like to see a 360 degrees panoramic view (not made by me)over the castle, click here
I am having a belated week of summer vacation at the moment. Right now where autumn begins.
That suits me fine. I can do with it. I enjoy it tremendously.
What I'm doing is slinging my camera over my shoulder, putting a pair of extra lenses in my rucksack, driving away from the city and wandering in the direction of the horizon in a carefully selected outdoor space.
In other words, I'm doing photo-hikes. Photo gear, a lunchpack, 8 hours of slack time and a bottle of beer plus a bottle of water is all a middle-aged man needs these days.
I like walking in wetlands. Water all around me - and above me in the shape of clouds. I've got a thing with water. I love the sound, the sight, the smell and everything else about it.
Above you can take a look through my lens. This landscape a 45 minute's drive north of my town is what I've been enjoying recently. Ain't it grand?
45 minutes and I was in a place where I could walk for hours without seeing more than a few people other than myself. I could hear the wind, the birds and the water. The smell of wet soil tickled my nose. The flat landscape showed me a full 360 degrees horizon.
After walking a certain amount of time I felt that the air and the water somehow, maybe by osmosis, became a part of me. Water and oxygen inside, water and oxygen outside. The essentials of life. And a beer and a cheese sandwich.
Today I felt completely happy for hours. And that doesn't happen every day. My batteries have been recharged. I am all life now.
I remembered to thank my creator for the setting and the opportunity. Life is precious.
(If you look closely at the horizon, you just might be able to see a tower. It's actually part of a 800 year old castle - and that was where I was heading. More to follow)
I have watched three news programs on my TV today. One in the morning and two in the evening. All of them having a special piece of news that seemed utterly important.
Was it about the ongoing conflict in the Darfur Region of Sudan? No, not a word.
Maybe about the fact that the rising prices on food and fuel (which these days are often one and the same thing) make people all over the planet experience new poverty - particularly people in what we use to refer to as "The Third World"? Nope, sir. Not that one.
Oh, I think I've got it! Must be an in-depth review of the situation in Chinese-occupied Tibet now that The Olympic Games are about to commence in Beijing in a few days? Naaah, not really.
I'll let you know about what seems to be one of the most important pieces of news today here in Denmark.
Brace yourselves; here it comes.
Ladies and gentlemen - Paris Hilton is in Denmark, and a journalist asked her about some traffic-conviction she's had in the past, which made the woman so mad that she left the press-conference. Plus we avid viewers were informed that she'll be spending the night in The Tivoli Garden in Copenhagen.
Paris Hilton! I was flabbergasted. A Very Important Person I knew nothing about is embellishing my country with her presence. I must have missed something, I told myself. How come I didn't know about her? Was she a writer of great literature? Or a musician touring with a fantastic variety of works? Or maybe she's a politician with world-importance?
I turned to The Internet. The Primary Oracle of This Day And Age. And found a lot about her - except what made her so famous. Ok, something about her dad and some hotels all right. But anything other than that? Well, a CD and a movie I've never heard about either. Plus a few other things. Also unknown to me.
I understand that I must be one of the few people in this world who don't know (about) Miss Hilton. And I'm truly ashamed of that. But I'm equally puzzled over the way the media treat the arrival of a person in my country - a person who's got nothing much to provide except from a particular handbag - a handbag one eager microphone-holder had the courtesy to shout something about through the TV screen in my otherwise peaceful living room.
I have turned the TV off now. Reading my boring newspaper instead. Something about Danish immigration legislation overruled by The European Union.
