Lake Vaner: Forests, Rocky Shorelines, and Islands in Sweden’s Viking Land

West Sweden has been one of the original homes to the Vikings. With its rugged coastline and rocky islands, the region is the backdrop to early Viking life. Forests and lakes further inland also provided a habitat for these early settlers, with numerous relics of the era still visible today. From the Kattegat coastline to Lake Vaner, Europe’s largest body of freshwater outside Russia, to Southeastern Norway, historic sites and places of early settlements can be found almost everywhere. Further afield and scattered across Norway’s more sparsely populated areas, there are equally interesting locations to be found. [Excerpt only — To view the full article, please e-mail.]

 

©2015, Mark Mage. Publication or any re-use only with prior written consent.

Solar Equipment Theft on the Rise

Solar Panel theft has spiked in the U. K. over recent weeks. From Somerset in the south of England to Derbyshire in the north, police are reporting break-ins to numerous large-scale solar farms throughout the country. [Excerpt only — To view the full article, please e-mail.]

©2015, Mark Mage. All rights reserved. Publication or any re-use only with prior written consent.

Europe: De-Facto Bitcoin Haven

Europe continues to be a hotspot for Bitcoin opportunity. Despite all those “warnings” and misrepresentations by a totally clueless EBA, European countries themselves continue to be  mostly Bitcoin-friendly. Many have established rules the Bitcoin industry can reasonably rely on. Most notably, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands as well as the three Baltic states have developed into “very Bitcoin-friendly” places.

On top, if a European country happens to be less than what you expected in Bitcoin-friendliness, then in comes that general rule of freedom to do business in all of the EEA (European Economic Area, which includes not only the EEC or EU member countries but also the additional EFTA countries plus Switzerland), and an affected Bitcoin business would be able to re-locate to another member country offering “greener pastures”.

Still, this business and innovation-friendly situation should not be taken for granted either: it is something to be cherished and to be defended against possible future deterioration. Particularly during the early Bitcoin years its significance is not to be under-estimated, for it allows Bitcoin “room to breathe” and to develop largely unhampered by needless bureaucrat intervention.

 

©2015, Mark Mage. Publication or any re-use only with prior written consent.

Canada Re-Considering BTC Policy

Canada, while being hailed as one of the best countries worldwide for Bitcoin businesses, is on record for having a hands-off and very open approach to the overall Bitcoin and digital currency phenomenon.

Still, the country recently appears to be moving toward more regulation. This would be in line with the country’s track record to steam ahead and then revert in order to please its southern neighbour, the overregulated and increasingly stagnant United States.

Whether or not it is good news then, the Canadian Senate is hearing witnesses and experts on Crypto currencies in order to decide future legislative action. Although the committee chairman appears to be enthusiastic and very open about economic and technical chances brought about by Bitcoin, the fact that at least some regulation will result from the hearings is bad news for Bitcoin already. For no regulation is always easier than some regulation, however well-meaning it may be. Had the internet been regulated or censored in the early 90s, it is doubtful that it would have evolved to the ubiquitous tool it is today.

Expert testimony delivered by Andreas Antonopoulos is included below (a full-length recording of the hearings). During his testimony, Antonopoulos made it very clear that the very structure of Bitcoin as a push payment system does not need any regulation and that imposing regulation derived from the conventional pull payment systems that are common today (banks, credit cards etc) would mean a fundamental misunderstanding of both Bitcoin and also the individual’s ability to act in their own best interest, generally without any government interference whatsoever.

 

©2015, Mark Mage. Publication or any re-use only with prior written consent.

TV Series “Ritter’s Cove”, CBC (Canada) / “Die Kuestenpiloten”, ZDF (West Germany)

A TV series from the early 1980s, co-produced by Canadian CBC and West-German ZDF networks, starring Hans Caninenberg (Karl Ritter), Susan Hogan (Kate Ashcroft) and others.

Plot Outline

The Ritter family run an air taxi business using an iconic DHC-2 “Beaver” floats-fitted airplane along the scenic coast of British Columbia, Canada, and run into numerous adventures and situations in the process.

Plot Summary

Karl Ritter’s (Hans Caninenberg) runs into many an adventurous situation operating his Canadian air taxi business along the British Columbia coastline featured in this TV series, co-produced by Canadian CBC and West-German ZDF television networks (German title “Die Küstenpiloten”) in the early 1980s. Featuring a legendary DHC-2 “Beaver” fitted with floats as a  seaplane — and sometimes the competition’s Bell 212 helicopter, piloted by Kate Ashcroft (Susan Hogan).

Synopsis

The stories and adventures while running Karl Ritter’s (Hans Caninenberg) Canadian air taxi business along the British Columbia coastline are at the centre of all episodes of this TV series, co-produced by Canadian CBC and West-German ZDF television networks in the early 1980s. German official title was “Die Küstenpiloten”. One of the legendary DHC-2 “Beaver” fitted with floats as a seaplane is featured throughout all the episodes of the series. There are some interplays of a Bell 212 helicopter, operated by a competing neighbor and piloted by Kate Ashcroft (Susan Hogan). Individual episodes in this series feature a dramatic first flight by one of the Ritter family’s children, a bush-fire and rescue operations, third-parties engaging in criminal activities, and surprise bad weather situations, all leading to different kinds of adventures or critical situations for the Ritter family and others involved. Central to resolving these is usually their trusted-and-proven yellow “Beaver” aircraft which is hailed as a reliable tool off which they make a living in their beautiful, but sometimes difficult, surroundings in Canada’s Pacific province of British Columbia. The entire TV series consists of 20+ episodes, all of which have been aired in the early 1980s in Canada and (translated) in West Germany. Despite being in the memories of millions of viewers in both countries, there has not (yet) been any re-release of it despite a real possibility of gaining some traction not only among TV viewers but also airplane enthusiasts interested in the cult DHC-2 pattern built by DeHavilland during that time.

Tagline

Air courier service running a DHC-2 “Beaver” in B. C., Canada (“Die Kuestenpiloten”, co-produced with W. German ZDF TV).

Published: IMDb.com, see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251529/?ref_=ttrel_rel_tt (28 October 2017).

Vereinfachung des norwegischen Gesellschaftsrechts

Die norwegische Regierung hat heute einen Gesetzesvorschlag zur Erleichterung der Errichtung kleiner Gesellschaften vorgelegt. Demgemaess sollen die in etwa einer deutschen GmbH oder einer britischen Limited entsprechenden kleine Aktiengeselschaften (oder norwegische AS) mit nur Kr 30.000 zu errichten sein. (Bisher waren dafuer Kr 100.000 erforderlich. Das neuerdings verminderte Stammkapital von Kr 30.000 entspricht ca €4.300, idR muessen 100% voll eingezhlt sein; Sacheinlagen sind jedoch unter bestimmten Voraussetzungen zulaessig.)

In einer gesonderten Vorlage wurde ueberdies bereits beschlossen, dass Aktiengesellschaften mit weniger als jaehrlich Kr 5 mio Umsatz von der Revisionspflicht (durch externe und vereidigte Buchpruefer) befreit werden. Allein der Wegfall dieser Regelung bedeutet fuer ein kleines Unternehmen eine Kostenerleichterung von durchschnittlich Kr 10.000 bis Kr 30.000 pro Jahr.

Mit dem Vorschlag soll Norwegen zu einem fuer die Gruendung von Aktiengesellschaften attraktiven Land werden. Die einfachere und billigere Errichtung einer norwegischen AS kann zur vermehrten Errichtung neuer Aktiengesellschaften und auch dazu fuehren, dass fortan auslaendische Gruender sich fuer die Errichtung einer Aktiengesellschaft (AS) in Norwegen entscheiden.

 

©2015, Mark Mage. Publication or any re-use only with prior written consent.