This comes from a post on Substack, written by a woman in Canada:

Nothing seems to make me spout ugly language faster than detecting corruption and other unethical activities and attitudes.

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https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/25/world/julian-assange-plea-deal-explainer-intl-hnk/index.html

I bet that that is not what CNN called him twelve years ago.

Almost all countries have made or are making a worrisome shift to the far right.

Even the Netherlands feels extremely authoritarian these days. It’s creepy, frankly (but maybe I am mostly dealing with local corruption, which would be a different story).

It’s not just England, though. Protesting rights are being curbed everywhere, aren’t they? But perhaps more so in England than elsewhere. We’ll see what happens on 4 July. I want to see a real shift. I want to see the Green Party in power. I know that that’s not going to happen but it is the only real alternative to what we have now. Reform, Labour, the Conservatives, it’s all the same (and I suspect that Reform UK – aka UKIP – has only been revived in order to steal votes but I am not sure from which party it is supposed to steal those votes).

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(This also helps explain why I have little patience with dreamy rosy candyfloss people these days. You can’t live in England for as long as I have and keep seeing the world through pink-tinted spectacles.)

• https://www.avallone.io/resources/danish-documentary-den-sorte-svane-impact-global-compliance-industry (in English, published on 3 June 2024)
• https://cphpost.dk/2024-05-30/news/round-up/the-first-police-report-has-come-after-shocking-documentary/ (in English, published on 30 may 2024)
• https://nos.nl/artikel/2525372-witwassen-fraude-en-verborgen-camera-s-documentaire-schokt-denen (in Dutch, published on 20 June 2024)
• https://nyheter.sh/n/en/shocking-crime-documentary-rocks-denmark (in English, more or less a summary of the Dutch news item)
• https://en.365nyt.dk/2024/05/28/danish-minister-responds-to-the-black-swan-documentary-controversy/ (in English, published on 28 May 2024)
• https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/the-black-swan-controversial-documentary-exposing-organized-crime-in-denmark-premieres-in-sweden/ (published on 18 June 2024)

Here is an unedited ChatGPT translation of the Dutch news article:

A lawyer with connections to the Danish underworld feels remorse and offers to become an informant for a group of journalists. For ten months, every conversation in her office is recorded by hidden cameras. The result is a revealing look behind the scenes, showing how the upper and underworlds in Denmark are deeply intertwined.

The scenario seems perfect for one of the many acclaimed Scandinavian crime series. However, instead of fiction, “The Black Swan” is a documentary series that dominates conversations among Danes at the coffee machine this week.

Torture Chambers and Contract Killings

Central to the story is Amira Smajic, a lawyer who represents criminals from organized crime. After contacting a TV station, she opens a new office and equips it with hidden cameras. These cameras film officials, lawyers, and businessmen advising criminals on various matters, from money laundering through municipal funds to tax fraud and bribery. Criminals themselves openly discuss torture chambers and contract killings.

Everyone who visits the office believes they are unobserved and speaks freely. Financial-economic crime is facilitated by legal companies and service providers, resulting in millions of crowns, which belong to the state treasury, ending up in the pockets of criminals.

It all contradicts the self-image of Denmark, which is known for its transparency. For years, the country has topped the list of least corrupt nations. The public administration is highly accessible: every Dane has the possibility to inspect public decisions, while government agencies are obliged to accurately record communications around decision-making. That in such a society, lawyers and businesses consciously collaborate with criminals to circumvent the law and embezzle state funds, shocks many Danes.

This systematic undermining has caused a significant stir. Several complaints have already been filed against involved lawyers and businessmen, some of whom have already been dismissed or have resigned from their board positions. The Danish Bar Association is investigating multiple lawyers, some of whom work at the largest law firms in the country.

Uproar at the Highest Level

The issue is also affecting politicians. A local social-democratic politician has already resigned after it was revealed that he had connections with one of the businessmen featured in the documentary.

National politics is also abuzz with the documentary. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen publicly thanked the creators for their work, and the government met with opposition parties to discuss the documentary. The question arises whether the authorities possess sufficient economic knowledge to detect and prevent such crimes.

Does the End Justify the Means?

However, part of the outrage in the country is also directed at the documentary makers themselves. The public debate, for example, questions whether the end justifies the means. Is it permissible to secretly record conversations with hidden cameras? Are crimes not being incited this way?

There is also the question of the extent to which lawyer Smajic should have been protected: when it became clear upon completion of the documentary that it would not portray her entirely positively, she tried to prevent its broadcast. She says she fears reprisals from the criminal network she helped expose as a whistleblower.

It took two court rulings before the documentary could be aired. Since then, Smajic has gone into hiding.

According to the documentary makers, the societal interest weighed more heavily. They aptly named the series ‘Black Swan,’ referring to the theory that an unexpected event with enormous impact can make people view the world differently. This certainly applies to the Danish government: after the summer vacation, they will present a bill to strengthen money laundering controls.

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Here.

https://nos.nl/artikel/2525383-ruimtepuin-steeds-groter-probleem-hoop-gevestigd-op-grijparmen-en-laserbezems

2009:

https://nos.nl/artikel/2525231-biologische-landbouw-groeit-in-europa-maar-nederland-blijft-achter

Particularly young people aren’t doing very well at the moment. They’re lonely. It seems to be a global trend now.

Brits used to be Europe’s loneliest people, according to studies. I figured that they were among the world’s loneliest because each time when I walked down an English street and heard lively animated chatting and some laughter and the clink clonk sounds of glass and cutlery, it always came from foreigners. It also often applied when I sat in Portsmouth’s Le Café Parisien, which was one of my favorite spots for a long time.

I remember reading an article by a young English person about twenty years ago. She was on a business trip, sitting in her hotel room and realized that there was nobody she could call.

Studying how this loneliness disease came about in Britain may contain lessons for how to combat the loneliness epidemic around the world. One of the solutions is surely to stop boxing people in according to age. It does not only isolate the elderly, it also isolates the other age groups and perhaps particularly young people.

There’s also this:

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/19/loneliness-is-on-the-rise-globally-here-are-5-ways-to-combat-it.html

Then again, a big part of the loneliness epidemic is also surely the idea that being on your own is bad. People may be ruminating too much about their perceived loneliness instead of living their lives. Blame social media? More and more young people are now ditching their smart phones because they want to have meaningful interactions in real life again.

This:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jun/18/state-pension-rent-how-one-man-became-homeless-britain

What is that?

Statements such as “it is very humiliating for so and so” when it was others – not so and so – who did something really stupid or embarrassing to someone else made me realize that “humiliation” is as ill-defined as dignity.

When I explored dignity, it became clear to me that dignity is so personal that it can only be defined by the person it applies to. A life in dignity hence is one in which one can make one’s own decisions and opinions and communicate them, also when communicating them is not easy.

Humiliation, on the other hand, has little to do with the person or persons it is about. It is fully defined by the person or persons who find something humiliating, for someone else. What it does is express the opinion that the other person is perceived as a lesser human or a lesser being.

It’s hilarious when a pet has something on his head or a person has a piece of paper on his back, just a friendly slap and presto. But the pet or person is not aware of it, so it’s got nothing to do with the being that is perceived as experiencing humiliation.

When someone is attacked, it can also be perceived as “humiliating” but it has nothing to do with the person who is attacked. It’s entirely in the mind of the perceivers. When I looked into related word, I realized that it seems to be connected to “to bring low”, so maybe it is about making someone appear less than the person actually is.

It’s a really baffling concept when you think about it.

Just consider someone who gets soaked in a rain shower. I once read that it’s an absolute faux pas to show up at a job interview looking as if you’d just been in a shower. That it could be seen as evidence of bad planning or not being very capable. But the fact is that you don’t control the weather and if you plan to get a taxi that will drive you into the parking garage of a building so that you can enter that way, you could get stuck in traffic or find the parking garage temporarily closed. Umbrellas have their limits.

Humiliation is a fascinating concept.

Why is this “humiliating” for the dog? It’s funny. But why do some people call this humiliating for the dog?

This is hilarious, in my eyes. I can’t tell you why the lower photo is hilarious, but it is. In the above photo, it is the discrepancy. Oh, wait, that also applies to the lower photo.

But if it is also humiliating, then why?

This one is terrific, and also hilarious. Is this one also seen as “humiliating”? I bet not.

So humiliation truly is in the eyes of the beholder and as such often says more about the beholder than about the person (or being) they are looking at.

It’s related to otherization, somehow. It’s got something to do with playing with boundaries. It could hold the key to some of the challenges the world is dealing with.

It’s why people like Nigel Farage sometimes get treated to a milkshake or a cake.

(Oh, it’s just happened again! In Clacton, on 4 June. I didn’t know that.)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6pp7yg0y3po

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/21/far-right-milkshake-nigel-farage-tommy-robinson

Is it intended to bring them down from their high horse in that case? It’s definitely intended to break their stride. Maybe it’s done to make them feel what they are doing to others. Because their rhetoric whips up a lot of hate and it leads to worse than people throwing milkshakes at them.

Not “retired” but the rest. Retired is for 9-to-5 salary junkies.

Where I am right now, it’s ridiculously similar to Portsmouth in some respects. 😁

What do you say, later, to explain the strange twist in your CV?

Do you know?

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https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/jun/12/spain-women-tackle-wikipedia-gender-gap-wikiesfera

I can’t help but wonder HOW MANY TIMES the victims asked for help and were dismissed.

Because would you believe someone if they tell you that:

• they were being pushed under water
• soap was squirted into their mouths
• urine was thrown at them ad over them

https://nos.nl/artikel/2524228-ruim-5-jaar-cel-geeist-tegen-eigenaren-zorgboerderij-wedde-om-mishandeling

Father and son-in-law have just been sentenced to five years, and to pay damages to six of their victims (which is very rare and usually very modest in the Netherlands). Sadism, said the court. These are people who enjoy hurting people, said others.

People who are this controlling and sadistic often are also experts at spinning tales about the people they are abusing, which makes it even less likely that anyone will believe them.

Complaints about sadism are often ignored.

In England, many people WATCHED as they saw a radiant young woman change in front of their eyes as she became kept as a slave and inundated with sadism. She was eventually found in a cupboard, emaciated and dead.

I know very well how this works. If you dare talk about what is going on, people will experience you as unpleasant, and as making things up.

People see what is happening, because it is essentially happening in front of their eyes, they know that something is going on, they know that what is happening does not add up, yet they CHOOSE TO LOOK THE OTHER WAY and blame the victims.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/shakira-spencer-ashana-studholme-shaun-pendlebury-court-b2462165.html

Things like this can only happen with the full cooperation of people who witness it and choose to blame the victims.

Many people become abusive or controlling or sadistic when someone else depends on them and has no recourse. Never never never ask people for help (if that means that you’d then depend on them) unless you are one thousand per cent sure that they won’t abuse you. Because you might end up in an even worse situation, otherwise.

Having (mostly) been inundated with hate for two decades, I know how strongly it can affect a person, how it can change you. It does not require you to have been a mentally weak or cognitively impaired person at the start.

1. ‘I need more time’

2. ‘I’m not available’

3. ‘I need help’

4. ‘Please speak to me respectfully’

5. ‘I have a suggestion’

6. ‘I feel underappreciated’

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/12/harvard-psychologist-how-to-set-boundaries-at-work-what-to-say.html

Citizens need to start taking personal responsibility, says advice council.

https://nos.nl/artikel/2524159-adviesraad-ook-burger-verantwoordelijk-voor-klimaatbestendig-nederland

In the Netherlands, people are extremely individualistic but they also rely heavily on local and national government and don’t necessarily like taking initiative. “Everything needs to be BIG. It can’t be small; that means that it doesn’t get taken seriously.” That needs to change. Every little step counts.

Most are still really into greenwashing themselves green as far as I can see, but people’s lifestyles need to change.

This is life. The weights never get lighter.

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