Thursday, October 31, 2013

Crown Prince Frederik in Israel: Honouring the Danes Who Saved Their Jews in WWII

From Shimon Peres' Facebook page: "Denmark is an exemplary country in the world, a state based on peace, social justice and caring for people. I believe that's why you're admired. I want to express our profound thanks to your people for what they did during the Shoah. Among all other countries it was Denmark that made a supreme attempt to save the lives of the Jewish people in your country either by hiding them, defending them or shipping them to Sweden. Most of them were saved and we shall never forget it, we consider it a historic act."


Despite the scraggly beard thinggie that mostly announces his general mood, it seems fair to note that Frederik's head space in Israel is worlds better than it was just a few days ago in Sydney on Madam's latest Looker Me! Tour/taxpayer boondoggle. Is it kosher to be practically jolly in a Holocaust museum? In this case, he gets a pass. All in all, a visit to Yad Vashem is a stark reminder of the cruelty of humanity, the need to go forth with peace and tolerance, and a mission to live life to the fullest. It's also worth pointing out that the Danish king at the time, Fred's great-grandfather Christian X, contributed to the financing of the effort to row 7,500 of Denmark's Jews by boat into neutral Sweden.

Perhaps all these points ring true with Frederik! Hopefully, he'll have the strength of character to move on that final point not with comely blondes in nightclubs, aka "good family friends", but with his children, and if necessary, without his wife-thinggie, replacing her with a better crown princess and support system. And use his personal fortune for more than nice clothes and brewskis out on the town with friends. Quiet financial support for worthy causes would not be unwelcome. Call up a school with a large immigrant population and find out who can't afford football uniforms or shoes. Follow up with his Harvard JFK School of Government scholarship recipients and make sure no one's eating noodles once a day because they had to pay for a school related activity. Take hope away from Israel with you, Fred! You can do it!




Article: Jerusalem Post

Peres Thanks Denmark's Royalty For Saving Country's Jews in Holocaust

President Shimon Peres on Wednesday night expressed profound thanks to the people of Denmark for their supreme effort to save the country's Jews during the Holocaust.

Following the invasion of Denmark by the Nazis, more than 7,500 members of the Danish Jewish community were ferried in small boats to unoccupied Sweden to escape persecution, a measure financed by the Danish king at the time.

This was a courageous deed by Denmark's citizens from all walks of life who did not hesitate to act when it was necessary, Peres said. "We shall never forget this historic act," he told the prince.

Frederik's visit is in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the rescue. Earlier Wednesday, he attended a memorial ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, where he toured the site. It was "fantastic to be in Israel," Frederik said.

The president also thanked Denmark for its present day participation in the Middle East peace process, in particular its funding of a health project which trains Palestinian doctors in the treatment of illness for which they were previously unequipped.

The prince, who was accompanied by Danish Minister for Education Christine Antonini, is not only the first Danish royal to visit Israel, but the first Scandinavian royal.

In addition to the President's staff, the prince was greeted in Danish by fellow countrymen and former government minister Rabbi Michael Melchior, who is descended from seven generations of Danish rabbis and whose son is currently in Denmark working as a rabbi.

When Peres started to tell the prince about the Melchior family's history, the prince said he was familiar with his father Rabbi Bent Melchior, the former Chief Rabbi of Denmark, who was one of the keynote speakers at the 70th anniversary commemorations in Copenhagen.

Frederik later attended a special commemorative concert at the Jerusalem Theater marking the 70th anniversary of the rescue.







 
 


 
 
 

 
 
 
Photos: Office of the President (top); Nir Alon/Demotix; Amir Cohen
 
 

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Trine Villemann Goes After Countess Alexandra's Appange: Mazza Should Be Very Afraid and Reign It In, But You Know That Will Never Happen. Mwoah.




Trine Villemann is angry about a lot of things these days. Understandably so as she and her family have had their world turned upside down and their livelihoods threatened in the aftermath of her husband's ostensibly innocuous yellow fever jab and the subsequent ongoing legal battles thereof. She's also rightfully upset at this non-news on Alexandra, former wife of Joachim and one-time "perfect princess" for Denmark. However, she's not letting you know that Alex pays tax on her annual salary. Probably a touch more than 50%. So, that's money that goes back into government coffers.

Trine uses her Politiken column to react to the latest appearance of Alexandra, along with her second husband Martin, and her two sons Nikolai and Felix, in Billed Bladet, the court-adjacent weekly glossy with all sorts of shallow, sugary stories about the royals, celebrities and other public people. Alex appears every now and again in the press, usually little fluff pieces like this one, because there seems to be a small interest in her and her two sons, who are quite handsome and as the queen's oldest grandchildren, the first two "royals" the public will see grow from boys to men. It has always seemed very wise how Alexandra and Prince Joachim have raised these children to understand their quasi-public role, their family's special position, and that they will most likely have a lifelong relationship with the media, so better to get used to it, understand it, not be afraid of it so as to better know how it works, both in good and bad ways and for each party. Smart!

Trine argues that Alex doesn't even work for her money. True, in the legislation granting Alex an annual apanage there seems to be no link to work obligations. However, Alex has retained a handful of her former royal patronages, such as UNICEF and the Association for the Blind. Perhaps it's hush money? Maybe the state of Denmark would be topsy-turvy at the stench of the rot that could come from Alex telling the truth about her time in the seraglio, which itself could tumble over onto itself from all that ground up corruption? In that case is it money well spent? Trine mentions that Sarah, Duchess of York never got a divorce settlement from the British taxpayers. Well, the queen is richer than God and she didn't contribute much either. Maybe a lot of the pains from Sarah Ferguson on the loose could have been avoided if she'd - like Alex - had a lovely, comfortable home purchased for her, with an annual money drip keeping her in just enough cotton wool as to not embarrass the royals, or be an albatross around her former husband's neck. (If QEII's favourite son is indeed Andrew, you'd think the queen would be more interested in him having the emotional space to find a lovely new wife instead of a pathologically sick woman living under his roof because she can't fend for herself?)

Should Alex be more savvy about not letting the press into her home in Turkey? Or talking about Turkey in terms that favour it as an anti-Denmark? Yes, maybe, although these things can be blown out of proportion. The press (and Alex) could use anyone for any purpose, and mostly, that is what we are seeing here between the Billed Bladet sugar rush and Trine's sarcastic reaction to it. However, Trine makes excellent points about Alexandra being very much an ideal candidate for just about any job she would want; she has the social skills and connections, and the intelligence and an understanding of the business world that most people could only dream about.

Nikolai and Felix are still minors, and until Felix's 18th or 21st birthday, the idea that "Alex's Law" should be repealed immediately is a non-issue. Alex is vulnerable after Felix hits his majority, and the issue of her appanage could be addressed by the government at the time to be negotiated down (including all the way to nothing) with the court's cooperation. These are difficult financial times Denmark and the world are living through and governments that traditionally have money to spend on social safety nets need to make sure their budgets are balanced fairly, make sure that former royals like Alex aren't either left to free-fall, but also to structure the system so that the one-time Princess Alexandra isn't seen as on par with pensioners needing medical assistance, or immigrants wanting to create better lives for themselves, or single mothers who can't, as opposed to won't, find work and desparately need to make ends meet for themselves and their children.

Mary, let all of this be a warning to you! Getting out will not guarantee you a golden parachute. Keep sluurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrppping that money into ALERKA and shoplifting all the fashion freebies you want while you can!




Article: Politiken

Throw the Countess Off the Books

No other royal houses in Europe have sent the bill for a divorce to the taxpayers.This week's edition of Billed Bladet magazine exhibits in a brilliant way how much we are the laughing stock of our own tax kroner when it comes to the royal family.
 
This court-organ has visited the Countess of Frederiksborg in her fashionable villa in the luxury Resort Oasis Sky Club in Turkey.
Over a four-page spread, the sunburned former princess and her husband, sound engineer Martin Jørgensen, spoke among other things about the landscape around the couple's large villa - it is an excellent contrast to the flat Denmark, we are told.
It costs taxpayers more than two million a year to keep the Countess Alexandra in sunshine and mountain peaks.
We have been cheated for an explanation as to why the divorce - otherwise described as 'a private matter' - suddenly became our responsibility as payable.
 
If the countess arrives at the average lifespan of a Danish woman, she will have cost us more than 100 million kroner before she has finished soaking up the sun.
 
The act on annuities for Princess Alexandra, signed by Crown Prince Frederik on 24 November 2004, is one of the largest royal and political scandals in recent times.


We Danes were not only ordered to pay alimony to Prince Joachim's ex-wife, we were also cheated out of an explanation as to why the divorce - otherwise described as 'a private matter' - suddenly became our responsibility as payable.

No other European royal houses have managed to lubricate the bill for a royal divorce onto their subjects.

The 170 million kroner the English princess Diana, for example, was presented with when she and Prince Charles were divorced, were taken from Charles' private assets.
The British taxpayers contributed not a single penny to Prince Andrew and Princess Anne divorces.
In Spain, King Juan Carlos' eldest daughter, Infanta Elena, divorced her Duke Jamie without their financial balances have ended with the Spanish taxpayers.

It is therefore a quite extraordinary unusual arrangement , Alexandra was with her ​​when she left in 2004 Amalienborg.

It would suit our reformist prime minister, if she immediately set in motion efforts to ensure that Danish taxpayers no longer have to support a woman who, with her background, education and social circle certainly should be able to fend for themselves.

It was no less unusual in 2007 that Alexandra married sound engineer Martin Jørgensen and thus lost her position as a member of the Danish royal family.

I often hear the argument that Alexandra has million to ensure that her and Joachim's sons , Princes Nikolai and Felix, growing up in a position-related conditions.

That's what Joachim took care of already in the divorce.

For as it says in the notes to the bill that formed the basis of the law on Alexandra's millions, child benefits were agreed upon between the parties.

Furthermore, gave Joachim his ex-wife an unencumbered villa in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Copenhagen, free of charge, just to make sure that the two numbers in succession should not grow up in a two-room concrete slum on the outer Nørrebro overlooking the back patches and burnt out cars.

Yet a majority in parliament were elected in November 2004 to vote for a highly educated, working- woman with a superior network and a myriad of skills to be awarded lifelong luxury dependent on everybody's behalf. Only SF and Alliance voted against it.Perhaps it would have been easier to justify an exorbitant state performance to the countess if she toiled for it, but she does not. It is now very little that we see Alexandra at work, unless, of course, giving an interview with Billed-Bladet belongs in that category.

No, there is no reason to maintain Alexandra on the government financial sheets. The law, which grants her our tax millions until she dies, should simply be scrapped. Period.

And it would suit our reformist prime minister, if she immediately set in motion efforts to ensure that Danish taxpayers no longer have to support a woman who, with her background, education and social circle certainly should be able to fend for herself.



Photo: Thomas Borberg


Monday, October 28, 2013

Looker MeMeMeMeMe! Tour #9,582, Day Five: Yrma Fails In Her Efforts to Be a Shining Global Star of Any Consequence, Nor to Finally Get a "The Killing" Jumper From Sophie Gråbøl

Breast cancer survivor, actress and all-round rock star Sofie Gråbøl for the win!
 
 
Yrma is such a silly, shallow, competitive little narcissist. It's all about having all of those court-approved photographers Photoshop her ugly mug before public release into one that has skin so young and dewy, you'd think she were 10 years old. And buying the exact same kind of dress that she wore in Oz a couple of years ago but this time in a whiter white than the other dress's creamy white. And pulling Sofie Gråbøl into the picture to make sure she was photographed with the woman who presented Camilla with a Killing jumper but not one for herself, and haha Mary probably makes fun of Sofie's short hairdo. Guess what, Mary, Sofie is a rock star: her short hair is growing back in after having undergone chemo treatments for cancer. A million kroner says that Camilla has written a note to Sofie herself expressing her care and concern about her cancer diagnosis, and Mary has not. Mary is such a stupid cow.
 
The Mary Show continues in Oz, with the Crown Prince Couple's Prize being awarded outside of Denmark for the first (and hopefully last) time. All for Mary. Mary is the only one at the podium. Mary has orchestrated this entire Looker Me! Tour to showcase Her Mazzaness! Except it's just so sad - no one cares. Except for the poor Danes who are being force-fed a bunch of really bad and sugar-sweet articles that appear in the Danish press, even the serious Danish press. The collusion of the Danish Royal Family and the press is just revolting in Denmark. Unless of course, it will come back to bite a surprised Mary in her flat ass. Bread and circuses until then. And what a sad delivery system: Mary is a nothing and a nobody. She's shallow and vacuous and ill-mannered and self-centred and probably kinda stupid and definitely kinda dumb and very likely even a hard drinker herself given her Pictish roots, Danish location and pressure-filled life.
 
Poor, dumb Maz. She could have just relaxed and set about balancing all of the requisite glamour PR that goes along with royalty with support for her husband, and a thorough delving into Danish culture, language and lifestyle. But you can't change a narcissist's focus: herself. Mary will never have anything remotely resembling charisma or charm or gravitas or care or concern or compassion. She will never draw the world's spotlight to her as she so desparately wants. It's not just a funny trainwreck, a portrait of extreme hubris to be used as an example to us all. It's a sad commentary on the state of royal Denmark. Daisy's always been defensive and self-protected, but as a woman of intellect and culture and with a full knowledge of the power of history, there has been reason to be proud of her as a monarch, if not feel fully warm towards her as a person. Mary's got nothing, and she forced this family to be kind to her, to take her in, not to help them and live a comfortable, charming life, but to suck them dry, beat them up and spit them out. Careful, Daisy. You've got to take matters into your own hands and get rid of her before you are too old and weak to do it. Fred with help can be better, and if not, Joachim is your truly royal son, the Schackenborgs will make you proud. Denmark will survive.
 
 
 




























Photos: Keld Navntoft, William West, David Gray, Brendon Thorne/Scanpix

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Looker MeMeMeMeMe! Tour #8,503, Days Three and Four: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

"Uh, why am I being ignored? What just happened? How is Fred suddenly the most charming of us two? Why aren't people paying attention to me? I AM CONFUSED."
 
 
 
Sad little outing for Mary at the Alannah and Madeline Foundation today. Then one all about twins rights or some such bull hokey. Ostensibly. This is still The Mary Show. Not for Denmark, not for Australia. Not for twins, nor for children. Everyone and everything is a prop. A motherfucking prop. Even Fred. But Fred knows it, and he knows now to just let this all play out for Mary to take centre stage. This could play very well into his hands. Fred and Daisy must play the long game. Mary is only concerned about now and herself.
 
For Mary to make sure Lene Balleby (the palace PR flunkie who is in Oz with the couple, as you will see from the Sunday's photies) has sent out all the proper signals to the Aussies on the ground to buy plenty of flowers, make sure the paper Dannebrog flags that were loaded up onto the plane in Copenhagen are distributed to every stop's rent-a-crowd. You know, to give the Danish audience back home the idea that every single Australian is always ready to greet Princess Mazza with the orchids and Danish flags that they have hanging around the house, or that they can buy at the corner market as soon as they hear that this dainty, humble, precious creature is in town. Even when their house is a smoldering pile of ash. Because that's how loved the Danish crown princess really is. Oh, Danish media! Oh, Mary's PR team! The stupid! It burns!
 
Because yes, Mary cut short Saturday's activities - which weren't going well anyway being with children types - in order to re-group and pow-wow with the team on how to get their arses over to the fire zone and be what even Diana couldn't be: Saviour of NSW Families. It's all so bloody cynical, and yet it's all so fucking true. Dis.gust.ing. But that's our Mary, Narcissist Extraordinaire!
 
So Sunday before the Opera House celebrations - pretty low key looking at most of the assembly sitting on Opera steps, or in plastic chairs, all in fairly casual clothing - Mary and Fred went north of Sydney to a fire zone a couple of hours after Lene and crew (maybe even including Amber for some extra cash?) went up there to hand out Danish flags and some boxed flowers (orchids are Madam's favourite) and get someone to start a big "Hip Hip Hooray" for Princess Mary. Not even fucking Derfie. Joizus. What a nasty circus. Then Mary is ugly and self involved enough to tell everyone that she was happy that she could bring a smile to their faces. Holy scuzballs. If this weren't actually true, and something that someone had made up, you'd think it were a lie, it's so grotesque and disgusting and vile and revolting and absolutely reprehensible. But truth is stranger than fiction, and Mary is stranger than most people, so there you have it. A total, absolute nutcase is what Mary is showing the world (or the teensiest percentage of the world who gets these news stories) she really is.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 



**********

Sunday, 27 October