ANOTHER MINISTER GOES (2)
Denmark's Government lost another Minister yesterday, its Foreign Minister Villy Søvndal. Admittedly it was because of health problems. Mr. Søvndal had suffered a minor heart attack a month or so ago and was on sick leave, and took his doctor's advice that he should stop for good, not only at the Foreign Office but also in Parliament. Nevertheless, it was the second ministerial resignation in three days and the third within a short period of time, leaving Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt with a difficult reshuffle, and an overriding impression amongst voters that the government is pretty rudderless.
In the three-party coalition the Foreign Ministry belongs to the Socialists. The problem is that they didn't want to give it up, but the party lacks an obvious candidate with the necessary pondus to take it over. Former party leader Holger K. Nielsen came out of retirement a year ago to become Tax Minister; now he has moved up to take on the Foreign Office, despite having been a leading campaigner against the Maastricht Treaty back in 1992.
The Prime Minister insists that this is the last reshuffle before the next election, but she has to say that. Whether it is or not remains to be seen. Personally, I have to say I doubt it.
Walter Blotscher
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
LEGALISING MARIJUANA
Uruguay has just become the first country in the world to legalise the production, sale and consumption of marijuana. Everyone over 18 will be able to buy up to 40 grams a month, the trade being taxed and regulated just like alcohol and cigarettes are.
I have long thought that marijuana should be treated in the same way as the other two, so hopefully this will be the first of many changes to the drug industry. Despite huge investments in the "war on drugs", marijuana is freely available today virtually anywhere in the world. So the current policy has failed. If Uruguay's experiment succeeds, then it could well provide the blueprint for everyone else. Hat's off to them.
Walter Blotscher
Uruguay has just become the first country in the world to legalise the production, sale and consumption of marijuana. Everyone over 18 will be able to buy up to 40 grams a month, the trade being taxed and regulated just like alcohol and cigarettes are.
I have long thought that marijuana should be treated in the same way as the other two, so hopefully this will be the first of many changes to the drug industry. Despite huge investments in the "war on drugs", marijuana is freely available today virtually anywhere in the world. So the current policy has failed. If Uruguay's experiment succeeds, then it could well provide the blueprint for everyone else. Hat's off to them.
Walter Blotscher
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
ANOTHER MINISTER GOES
Morten Bødskov resigned as Justice Minister this afternoon. His fate shows clearly just how careful politicians have to be.
Back in the spring of 2012 Parliament's Justice Committee decided to visit Christiania, the slightly lawless area of Copenhagen where hippies live and marijuana is smoked. The committee included Pia Kjærsgaard, the then leader of the far-right Danish People's Party. For some years, Ms. Kjærsgaard has had round-the-clock protection from PET, Denmark's intelligence service, because of threats to her person, so the visit was always going to be controversial. However, it could not take place at the time, since Copenhagen's police chief could not rearrange his diary in order to accompany them. However, it took place later that summer and without any problems.
So what's the story? On the face of it, nothing. The visit could not take place in February, it took place later. The problem is that the reason given, namely the police chief's diary, was not true; the Minister and the then head of the committee had made that up. The real reason was a threat evaluation by PET that the committee would be in danger.
This took a long time to emerge. The reason it did emerge was because of whistleblowers in PET, who were unhappy with the management style of the head of the organisation. They leaked that PET had looked at Ms. Kjærsgaard's personal diary and used that information for things other than her personal protection. Those leaks cost the head of PET his job last week. But as part of the digging associated with that, people started wondering exactly what the Minister had and had not done in connection with these famous visits. Nothing, said the Minister categorically and on many occasions.
Until last night, when prior to a meeting with the committee this morning, he gave written answers to the many questions they had asked him. And admitted that he had lied to the committee, the one thing which a Minister must never do. And so he had to go.
What is still unclear is why he went to such lengths to concoct something which was a complete lie. Why not simply say to the committee "I can't say why, but my intelligence sources have identified a threat, and my advice is that you visit Christiania at a later time when things are calmer"? What's so difficult about that? Doubtless at the time, there was some reason why this was not so easy, and the cock-and-bull story seemed like a good idea, whose truth would never be known. But as I say, Ministers have to be careful, things which seem nothing can become something.
Walter Blotscher
Morten Bødskov resigned as Justice Minister this afternoon. His fate shows clearly just how careful politicians have to be.
Back in the spring of 2012 Parliament's Justice Committee decided to visit Christiania, the slightly lawless area of Copenhagen where hippies live and marijuana is smoked. The committee included Pia Kjærsgaard, the then leader of the far-right Danish People's Party. For some years, Ms. Kjærsgaard has had round-the-clock protection from PET, Denmark's intelligence service, because of threats to her person, so the visit was always going to be controversial. However, it could not take place at the time, since Copenhagen's police chief could not rearrange his diary in order to accompany them. However, it took place later that summer and without any problems.
So what's the story? On the face of it, nothing. The visit could not take place in February, it took place later. The problem is that the reason given, namely the police chief's diary, was not true; the Minister and the then head of the committee had made that up. The real reason was a threat evaluation by PET that the committee would be in danger.
This took a long time to emerge. The reason it did emerge was because of whistleblowers in PET, who were unhappy with the management style of the head of the organisation. They leaked that PET had looked at Ms. Kjærsgaard's personal diary and used that information for things other than her personal protection. Those leaks cost the head of PET his job last week. But as part of the digging associated with that, people started wondering exactly what the Minister had and had not done in connection with these famous visits. Nothing, said the Minister categorically and on many occasions.
Until last night, when prior to a meeting with the committee this morning, he gave written answers to the many questions they had asked him. And admitted that he had lied to the committee, the one thing which a Minister must never do. And so he had to go.
What is still unclear is why he went to such lengths to concoct something which was a complete lie. Why not simply say to the committee "I can't say why, but my intelligence sources have identified a threat, and my advice is that you visit Christiania at a later time when things are calmer"? What's so difficult about that? Doubtless at the time, there was some reason why this was not so easy, and the cock-and-bull story seemed like a good idea, whose truth would never be known. But as I say, Ministers have to be careful, things which seem nothing can become something.
Walter Blotscher
Monday, 9 December 2013
CHAINSAWS
When my father-in-law died some 10 years ago, I inherited his brand-new Husqvarna chainsaw, complete with protective salopettes, boots, helmet and tools. Since then. it has seen many good days of service, felling trees, chopping up logs, preparing wood for the stove, and so on.
What is interesting about it is that it is a classic case of learning by doing. I knew absolutely nothing about chainsaws when I got it. But after many hours of fiddling about, I now know quite a lot about what remains a very dangerous piece of machinery. I can clean it, oil it, change the chain, work out why it won't start and so on. I still can't start it by holding it in my hand, but that's because my left hand is weak after my cycling accident.
Today I learned a new thing about it. I thought that the round metal thing that slots inside the cover was to help the flywheel turn more easily, and that it had broken. However it turns out that I had inadvertently put the brake on while I was putting a new chain on it, and this had caused the the metal thing to jam. After a trip to my chain supplier and two minutes education, the problem was sorted and I could go to work again. the first victim of my new chain was an irritating sycamore tree, which had taken a lot of light from my kitchen garden. That has now gone and been chopped up.
Walter Blotscher
When my father-in-law died some 10 years ago, I inherited his brand-new Husqvarna chainsaw, complete with protective salopettes, boots, helmet and tools. Since then. it has seen many good days of service, felling trees, chopping up logs, preparing wood for the stove, and so on.
What is interesting about it is that it is a classic case of learning by doing. I knew absolutely nothing about chainsaws when I got it. But after many hours of fiddling about, I now know quite a lot about what remains a very dangerous piece of machinery. I can clean it, oil it, change the chain, work out why it won't start and so on. I still can't start it by holding it in my hand, but that's because my left hand is weak after my cycling accident.
Today I learned a new thing about it. I thought that the round metal thing that slots inside the cover was to help the flywheel turn more easily, and that it had broken. However it turns out that I had inadvertently put the brake on while I was putting a new chain on it, and this had caused the the metal thing to jam. After a trip to my chain supplier and two minutes education, the problem was sorted and I could go to work again. the first victim of my new chain was an irritating sycamore tree, which had taken a lot of light from my kitchen garden. That has now gone and been chopped up.
Walter Blotscher
Sunday, 8 December 2013
CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING (2)
Why are the Norwegians so good at cross-country skiing, I asked back in March 2011? I could have asked the same question again today. Idly watching the TV during a coffee break from chopping up wood, I watched the end of a team cross-country World Cup race held in Norway. Other countries had one 4-man team, but Norway showed up with three, who were all very good. So good, in fact, that they nearly had a clean sweep. Instead they came second, third and fourth, only losing out to the Russians. But still miles ahead of anyone else.
Walter Blotscher
Why are the Norwegians so good at cross-country skiing, I asked back in March 2011? I could have asked the same question again today. Idly watching the TV during a coffee break from chopping up wood, I watched the end of a team cross-country World Cup race held in Norway. Other countries had one 4-man team, but Norway showed up with three, who were all very good. So good, in fact, that they nearly had a clean sweep. Instead they came second, third and fourth, only losing out to the Russians. But still miles ahead of anyone else.
Walter Blotscher
Saturday, 7 December 2013
EDUCATED FOREIGNERS
All European countries face ageing populations and increasing welfare burdens. One solution is to bring in foreigners to do the work and pay the necessary taxes. But not just any old foreigners, because that tends to get people hot under the collar. No, clever foreigners, who will earn a lot, pay a lot of taxes and then (crucially) go home to retire.
Danish politicians talk about "uddannede udlændinger" (educated foreigners) ad nauseam. They think that there are vast queues of them beating down the door trying to get in. As an educated foreigner who has lived here for thirteen years, I think this is rubbish, for reasons I have said before. What is new is that foreigners outside Denmark tend to agree.
The OECD has just done a survey of 30 rich countries, looking at their ability both to attract educated foreigners and to keep them (not the same thing; Britain comes second in the first category, but only seventh in the second). Unfortunately for Danish politicians, Denmark comes 19th out of 30 in both categories, behind not only Norway, Luxembourg and the United States, but Chile, Korea and Israel. Basically, Denmark sucks at this.
Top of both lists, somewhat surprisingly, is not America or Australia or Holland, but Switzerland. It may have a reputation for being a bit boring, but it obviously knows what people want and goes out of its way to ensure they get it.
Walter Blotscher
All European countries face ageing populations and increasing welfare burdens. One solution is to bring in foreigners to do the work and pay the necessary taxes. But not just any old foreigners, because that tends to get people hot under the collar. No, clever foreigners, who will earn a lot, pay a lot of taxes and then (crucially) go home to retire.
Danish politicians talk about "uddannede udlændinger" (educated foreigners) ad nauseam. They think that there are vast queues of them beating down the door trying to get in. As an educated foreigner who has lived here for thirteen years, I think this is rubbish, for reasons I have said before. What is new is that foreigners outside Denmark tend to agree.
The OECD has just done a survey of 30 rich countries, looking at their ability both to attract educated foreigners and to keep them (not the same thing; Britain comes second in the first category, but only seventh in the second). Unfortunately for Danish politicians, Denmark comes 19th out of 30 in both categories, behind not only Norway, Luxembourg and the United States, but Chile, Korea and Israel. Basically, Denmark sucks at this.
Top of both lists, somewhat surprisingly, is not America or Australia or Holland, but Switzerland. It may have a reputation for being a bit boring, but it obviously knows what people want and goes out of its way to ensure they get it.
Walter Blotscher
Friday, 6 December 2013
WAR AND MURDER
It may seem odd to think about murder when you are talking about war. After all, the whole point of war is to kill people, and to kill them with intent, isn't it? Yet since time immemorial, people have been wrestling with this issue. In mediæval times jurists tried to square violent behaviour with the very clear biblical prohibition "thou shalt not kill"; the result was the concept of the "just war", which handily covered anybody who wasn't Christian. In more modern times, the bible has been replaced by conventions, regulating behaviour. It is OK to kill people, but not in every circumstance. Civilians, the wounded, and soldiers who have surrendered are covered by these rules; killing them is not an accepted part of a soldier's life, but murder.
I am sure that throughout history there have been a lot of deaths in war, which legalistically would be classed as murder. People run on adrenalin in a firefight; judging when the fighting has stopped or whether the guy who was just trying to kill you has in fact surrendered must be extremely difficult. And even if you get that call right, there must be a terrible temptation to finish the job, to make sure that your opponent not only loses today but never has the opportunity to attack you again. I have never been in that situation, but I can well imagine that it happens.
Armies have muddled through with these problems for the past 100 years or so. However, in recent times, a new element has come into the mix, namely the technological development known as the battlefield camera. Brilliant at allowing people far behind the lines to see what is going on up-front (and so bring in air support, artillery or other things), it also records incidents that in the past would not have been recorded. Soldiers have to be aware that what they can see, so can others.
I have been thinking about this because of the conviction for murder this week of a British marine sergeant, who shot a badly wounded Afghan fighter. The fight was over, the threat was over. This was an execution, as the sergeant himself recognised; turning to his colleagues, he said "I just broke the Geneva Convention". Unfortunately for him, the incident was recorded on one of those colleagues' helmet-mounted cameras, setting in train what eventually led to a prosecution. Murder in the U.K. carries an automatic life sentence; though when it comes to sentencing, he will probably end up serving a lesser term than whole life.
What is interesting is that the marine was not convicted by civilian judges with no idea of the realities he faced. This was a Court Martial board, in which seven officers and NCO's - his peers - judged his conduct and found it wanting. As the head of the marines said succinctly, murder is murder; the judgment this week shows that this is true, even in war.
Walter Blotscher
It may seem odd to think about murder when you are talking about war. After all, the whole point of war is to kill people, and to kill them with intent, isn't it? Yet since time immemorial, people have been wrestling with this issue. In mediæval times jurists tried to square violent behaviour with the very clear biblical prohibition "thou shalt not kill"; the result was the concept of the "just war", which handily covered anybody who wasn't Christian. In more modern times, the bible has been replaced by conventions, regulating behaviour. It is OK to kill people, but not in every circumstance. Civilians, the wounded, and soldiers who have surrendered are covered by these rules; killing them is not an accepted part of a soldier's life, but murder.
I am sure that throughout history there have been a lot of deaths in war, which legalistically would be classed as murder. People run on adrenalin in a firefight; judging when the fighting has stopped or whether the guy who was just trying to kill you has in fact surrendered must be extremely difficult. And even if you get that call right, there must be a terrible temptation to finish the job, to make sure that your opponent not only loses today but never has the opportunity to attack you again. I have never been in that situation, but I can well imagine that it happens.
Armies have muddled through with these problems for the past 100 years or so. However, in recent times, a new element has come into the mix, namely the technological development known as the battlefield camera. Brilliant at allowing people far behind the lines to see what is going on up-front (and so bring in air support, artillery or other things), it also records incidents that in the past would not have been recorded. Soldiers have to be aware that what they can see, so can others.
I have been thinking about this because of the conviction for murder this week of a British marine sergeant, who shot a badly wounded Afghan fighter. The fight was over, the threat was over. This was an execution, as the sergeant himself recognised; turning to his colleagues, he said "I just broke the Geneva Convention". Unfortunately for him, the incident was recorded on one of those colleagues' helmet-mounted cameras, setting in train what eventually led to a prosecution. Murder in the U.K. carries an automatic life sentence; though when it comes to sentencing, he will probably end up serving a lesser term than whole life.
What is interesting is that the marine was not convicted by civilian judges with no idea of the realities he faced. This was a Court Martial board, in which seven officers and NCO's - his peers - judged his conduct and found it wanting. As the head of the marines said succinctly, murder is murder; the judgment this week shows that this is true, even in war.
Walter Blotscher
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