tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post570933144999115207..comments2024-03-28T20:14:01.928-05:00Comments on Althouse: Incredibly, this is an ad produced by the country of Denmark to promote tourism.Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-14125133742276363782009-09-19T22:41:21.350-05:002009-09-19T22:41:21.350-05:00Is that really her own baby or was the relationshi...Is that really her own baby or was the relationship acted as well? She doesn't seem to be terribly familiar with it.srfwotbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02549016134544876626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-40757307943341409082009-09-19T09:25:18.289-05:002009-09-19T09:25:18.289-05:00that danish actress has saggy
mommy tits and alrea...that danish actress has saggy<br />mommy tits and already is showing<br />wrinkles with that thin freckly skin<br />and being not as young as<br />they want you to think<br />plus you really don t wan to<br />see the stretch marks<br />i m an expert in nubile having<br />been a lech in my last life<br />hitting on all my grad students<br />now in this life as far as danish is<br />concerned i m content to hit on the<br />nice uneated bite dad dropped<br />behind the counter yesterday a m<br />on his way out the doorblogging cockroachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00899638590257384302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-37240337962932264472009-09-19T03:50:46.047-05:002009-09-19T03:50:46.047-05:00That was deeply weird.That was deeply weird.Revenanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11374515200055384226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-36201990379509017462009-09-18T17:15:21.865-05:002009-09-18T17:15:21.865-05:00That should be "I am" in the above comme...That should be "I am" in the above comment. My wife is an editor who spots typos at 40 meters. I don't.<br /><br />Anyway, I'd like to second David's excellent comments upthread. He followed through and married a Dutch wife, while I decided it really wouldn't work with my Dutch girlfriend. David's description of his Dutch relatives is also very true of my girlfriend's extended family, many of whom lived and worked in the States at various times. He sounds like he has had very much the same experiences I did.<br /><br />I think the world of the Dutch. As David says, they are hardworking, tolerant, fun, smart, and, from what I've seen, in many ways they have the most "American" outlook of Continental Europeans. But it's also true that I've never met one who really understood American life in a deep way. In point of fact, I've never met ANY Continental European who got this country. We live in a very odd place by world standards, and for all its problems, I personally want to keep it that way. Yes, solve our problems, but keep the American character.<br /><br />The Dutch healthcare system is typically impenetrable, obscure and complex, and, like many things in Holland, I think only works because of native Dutch goodwill and patience. Look at <a href="http://www.ecosante.org/OCDEENG/717.html" rel="nofollow">this chart</a>, and tell me how it functions. Boring politics and tedious bureaucracy have been the norm in Holland for hundreds of years, but it's allowed them to have a country where no one quite knows how anything works, but somehow it does. I suppose as an American I return the favor, and don't quite "get" Holland, either, preferring robust simplicity.<br /><br />My big fear is that the closest thing Obamacare resembles is, in fact, the Dutch system, with its hard-to-fathom web of relationships between private public sectors. The Dutch can make this sort of thing work tolerably well, but, as an American, I'm almost certain we won't. Given the history of American medicine, and the native inefficiencies of American bureaucracies, it's very likely to not save a penny in the end.<br /><br />My own personal favorite is the French system. But there are so many antecedents and bits of history that go into the health care systems of various countries, that it's very hard to copy what may work elsewhere. The French system is very dependent on French sociology and the French history of nation-sustaining bureaucracy. In other words, it's a French system for the French. I have no idea, despite everything, what an appropriate American health care system should look like, and I suspect a lot of other people don't either. Which is why Obama needed to go slowly, and build an actual consensus, rather than selling snake oil with the frightening sideshow act we've seen so far.<br /><br />Also, David is exactly right about taxes. If you count State and local taxes, not to mention mandatory fixed costs, such as that famous health insurance we all have to have, plus a private 401(K) or IRA of some kind, the average middle-class American, especially if he or she owns a small business, is already paying the equivalent of European levels of taxation. And we certainly are not getting European levels of social services, just more government that has created "swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance." Ask anyone who has tried to start or run a small business lately.<br /><br />Now I'm not opposed to public financing of health care in this country. It's just that we have to be very clear-eyed about it, very certain of the financing, and damned certain it is an American system based on American experience and principles.<br /><br />Oherwise, I suggest all those who get dewey-eyed about being taken care of in the European manner move to Holland or Denmark, and report back in a few years how it has worked out. In the mean time, that might allow the rest of us to work out something that might actually be suited to this country.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-41086928776390476742009-09-18T16:33:17.212-05:002009-09-18T16:33:17.212-05:00"Visit Denmark. Our women are sluts"......"Visit Denmark. Our women are sluts"...I like to think that this is an area where America can compete for the tourist dollar.Williamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07837540030934495651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-44569762387087546612009-09-18T16:19:51.282-05:002009-09-18T16:19:51.282-05:00Theo says the baby "is probably not of blonde...<i>Theo says the baby "is probably not of blonde, Nordic stock, either." There are plenty of brunettes in Danmark. Scandinavians don't all look like this actress. </i><br /> <br />My sample size of one guy I dated in high school who was from denmark says otherwise :)Shannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15709594638793030086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-9514057810115729242009-09-18T15:41:33.459-05:002009-09-18T15:41:33.459-05:00sierra: That's absolutely true, which is why ...sierra: That's absolutely true, which is why I made my point about there being so few pockets of "pure" European ethnicity.<br /><br />I and half Spanish, for example, and some of my relatives in Asturias had red hair and green eyes, relics, no doubt of the Celts who inhabited the area for a long time. My 6'2" Spanish grandfather looked like a prototypical Scotsman, again partly a relic of his Celtic and Basque ancestry. If you look at a modern pictures of the elementary school in my grandmother's village, there are plenty of kids with dirty blonde hair and big, blue eyes, descendents, no doubt of the Visigoths who showed up to replace the Romans.<br /><br />And then there were the Greeks, Phonecians, Jews, Arabs, and the odd African who drifted through the place in the ancient world. <br /><br />This very isolated part of Europe has obvious descendants of just about everybody who was floating around the Roman Empire and its immediate aftermath. And most of the rest of Europe does too.<br /><br />Plus, the Apostle James is supposedly buried up the road in Santiago de Compostela. <br /><br />So much for <i>sangre limpia</i>.<br /><br />The same holds true for Scandinavia, but, it's my impression from my travels there that a rather high proportion of people have the blue eyes, blonde hair and general ethnic cast traditionally associated with Nordics.<br /><br />That will of course change if it's true that Danish society has now produced blonde bimbos who readily bang anonymous tourists without a condom.<br /><br />But you know how tourist agencies always exaggerate.<br /><br />wv = trysting<br />I am not making this up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-37063565668848825932009-09-18T14:54:16.068-05:002009-09-18T14:54:16.068-05:00Theo says the baby "is probably not of blonde...Theo says the baby "is probably not of blonde, Nordic stock, either." There are plenty of brunettes in Danmark. Scandinavians don't all look like this actress.sierrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10711996695204401808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-30789603820164650952009-09-18T13:43:44.111-05:002009-09-18T13:43:44.111-05:00Hoosier Daddy:
I don't know the Danish tax sy...Hoosier Daddy:<br /><br />I don't know the Danish tax system but the Dutch system is brutal compared to ours. Strangely, they tax wages and salaries at the highest rate--up to 52% in the highest bracket on income above about 70,000 euros. Corporate taxes max out at 25% and the rate on dividends and interest is 30%. But if you own an interest of more than 5% in a company it's a 25% rate. Senior citizens get a considerably lower rate than others in lower brackets but not the top.<br /><br />Dutch also have the usual VAT of about 15%, a "wealth tax" that is about 1.2% of wealth and you pay an insurance premium of 6.5% on the first 30,000 or so of Euros.<br /><br />There is also inheritance tax. Not sure of the rate.<br /><br />But it's also easier to evade taxes if you are Dutch. For example, There's no worldwide taxation as in USA system so you can move and avoid the tax man.<br /><br />The Dutch understand that their medical care is not "free." They mean free in the sense that we call public education free--no direct charge.<br /><br />I'm not defending the Dutch system in my prior post. My point was that if they are in a pinch, my Dutch relatives prefer American medicine to their own.<br /><br />The Dutch have a comprehensive system of social services that far exceed our own. Prices are higher too, in part because of the tax cost that is leaning on the whole system. <br /><br />Note that there are no "state" taxes in Holland. When you factor in state income taxes and sales taxes for high tax places like California and New York, the difference is not as great as the federal rate suggests.<br /><br />This level of taxation is what we are looking at in this country if we follow the Obama path, I believe. It will be the most fundamental change in society since imposition of the income tax early in the last century.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17424384180201600935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-51042596177162955542009-09-18T13:34:33.011-05:002009-09-18T13:34:33.011-05:00So what is the Danish tradition they were talking ...<i>So what is the Danish tradition they were talking about -- Huegel, or something like that</i><br /><br />It's "hygge", which is an important part of Danish culture. It translates roughly to cozy, pleasant, nice.Amexpathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04763282445910603419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-41651187886116886492009-09-18T13:32:02.252-05:002009-09-18T13:32:02.252-05:00I thought it was real and the Danish Government ju...I thought it was real and the Danish Government just gave it some money to run it. I did not realize they actually produced it. Wow. <br /><br />Now that is pretty shameless!Fred4Preshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01574159710712259945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-34711125334593995702009-09-18T13:20:18.305-05:002009-09-18T13:20:18.305-05:00So what is the Danish tradition they were talking ...So what is the Danish tradition they were talking about -- Huegel, or something like that -- that she mentions in the video? Was is that? Just being real friendly to strangers, or something?MadisonManhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01212179466758420208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-32744628073654016012009-09-18T12:40:25.716-05:002009-09-18T12:40:25.716-05:00Denmark: Free whores and no child support!Denmark: Free whores and no child support!Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04450897654318345683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-87575957850217407532009-09-18T12:18:16.875-05:002009-09-18T12:18:16.875-05:00The baby did good too. He owns that 9-month-old th...The baby did good too. He owns that 9-month-old thing.Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14520113896946845614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-44678349044614670522009-09-18T12:06:44.663-05:002009-09-18T12:06:44.663-05:00Joan, sorry to have singled you out. Your response...Joan, sorry to have singled you out. Your response was one of several today that assumed this story was real, even though Althouse says that it's an ad, and among the tags is "fake." One didn't have to go to the link. <br /><br />But like I said, the actress did a heck of a job. It's a great 2 minute monologue.Peter Hohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06916196998855947137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-20284073796683521992009-09-18T11:54:25.636-05:002009-09-18T11:54:25.636-05:00They simply can not understand why our health care...<i>They simply can not understand why our health care is not universal and free.</i><br /><br />What is the tax rate in Denmark or Holland? It's not 'free', its paid for with tax dollars. I think we could have a lot of things for 'free' if we all thought a 50% tax rate was tolerable. <br /><br />I mean how many of the frothing Obama lovers would still be getting that tingly feeling in thier loins when their paychecks start looking like they did when they were 16 working at McDonalds.Hoosier Daddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12872965118921894534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-91349478630010719222009-09-18T11:46:10.308-05:002009-09-18T11:46:10.308-05:00Peter Hoh, like many reasonable people, I do my be...Peter Hoh, like many reasonable people, I do my best to avoid the Huffington Post, but given your admonishment and G. Joubert's link, I overcame my aversion and click the link in the original post. <br /><br />I confess I am a lazy commenter who failed to click the link after watching the nearly 3-minute video. Just lump me in with the great mass of people who will see the video without knowing that it was all staged. <br /><br />The whole thing is so icky that I can't even figure out if I'm more repulsed by the fact that someone imagined that this would actually be good advertising for Denmark. I mean, who does that? "Boss, I've got it! We'll hire an actress to tell a one-night stand story, and plunk a cute, non-Danish-looking baby on her lap, and she can say she's looking for the dad! Yeah, that'll get people coming to Denmark in droves!"<br /><br />Seriously, someone invented this scenario, and people all along the way -- scripting, casting, production, distribution -- signed off on it. WTF is wrong with those Danes?Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06093453920666892035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-61685500034856034952009-09-18T11:26:43.735-05:002009-09-18T11:26:43.735-05:00Somewhere, a businessman in Poughkeepsi is watchin...Somewhere, a businessman in Poughkeepsi is watching this video and thinking:<br /><br />"Oh, crap. I knew I should have packed my connies when I took that trip to Denmark a year and a half ago. Crap.<br /><br />You know, I could have sworn that that Danish chick was a ginger; but I was pretty crocked at the time.<br /><br />Crap!"Pastafarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09008215139954260401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-21169193502562086992009-09-18T11:25:27.382-05:002009-09-18T11:25:27.382-05:00Speaking as someone of Irish ancestry, PAYBACK'...Speaking as someone of Irish ancestry, PAYBACK'S A BITCH, AIN'T IT!!!!!???Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16517956537865658903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-73167432579242365392009-09-18T11:17:03.950-05:002009-09-18T11:17:03.950-05:00This pretty lady is a more or less average Danish ...This pretty lady is a more or less average Danish girl. That alone should bring some tourists.<br /><br />I married Dutch and have many Dutch relatives through marriage. They are accomplished people, most of them very diligent and hard working. Several have lived in the USA and a few have moved here. They like the USA and understand that in general economic opportunities are better here.<br /><br />They simply can not understand why our health care is not universal and free.<br /><br />On the other hand, when they have a serious problem, they come to the USA to have it treated if there is any way they can.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17424384180201600935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-53244365041716643862009-09-18T10:51:28.368-05:002009-09-18T10:51:28.368-05:00As for most of Europe, I wish them well as their p...<i>As for most of Europe, I wish them well as their populations crash and societies degenerate. There's some very nice real estate over there I'm sure less suicidal people will appreciate some day.</i><br /><br />Actually Theo, Europeans are rapidly being replaced by a demographic which tends to view suicide as a means to an end.<br /><br />The more I watch where Europe is going, the more I liken them to the Eloi.Hoosier Daddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12872965118921894534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-88992394549177744552009-09-18T10:38:09.494-05:002009-09-18T10:38:09.494-05:00This is how civilization ends.
Not with a bang, bu...This is how civilization ends.<br />Not with a bang, but with a whimper.<br /><br />Pardon the punsmillerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06288790458928188846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-69528442532676660292009-09-18T10:36:24.717-05:002009-09-18T10:36:24.717-05:00What do you expect from a bunch of filthy Scandis?...What do you expect from a bunch of filthy Scandis? (N.B. This is not a racist statement. If it was racist it would be about health care.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-46577239915969540342009-09-18T10:34:24.456-05:002009-09-18T10:34:24.456-05:00Damnit, G Joubert, you just ruined my day. I guess...Damnit, G Joubert, you just ruined my day. I guess I'll have to unpack my suitcases.AllenShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08848966772462502893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-87093872685912892392009-09-18T10:27:44.825-05:002009-09-18T10:27:44.825-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.G Jouberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00521745492112085630noreply@blogger.com