I had a wonderful time in Copenhagen last night. I finally visited the newly built Opera House (seen in the top picture). For some reason, I haven’t been to see an opera in Copenhagen since the new house was completed in 2005. Shame on me! But last night was the premiere for me and I enjoyed a truly superb Tannhäuser.

Between the acts, there was time for some strolling on the outdoor balconies that offers a spectacular view over central Copenhagen. Seen in the picture above is the Royal Caste Amalienborg. Seen in the picture below is the Opera House’s baby sibling the Royal Danish Playhouse from 2008.

(The photo at the very top credited to Heinz-Josef Lücking. All other photos are mine.)

The official list of attendees for the upcoming Bilderberg meeting in England on 6 June is candy conspiracy theorists. There are five Swedes on the list, one being the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Stefan Löfven.

The list in full here.

Number five is underestimated. Religious freedom is often used as an argument by those in favour of discrimination, but as Lipp rightfully points out, true freedom of religion allows a person or group to pursue the practice of their religion without governmental interference. Both religious and secular fanatics get this wrong. Government should neither promote nor prevent people from practising their religion.

1. A very slim majority of Britons wants Britain to leave the European Union according to a new poll by Sky News. As expected, it’s xenophobia that fuels the opinion. Most people surveyed say they want Britain to stop immigration from other European countries. It’s so stupid. Britain thrives from open borders more than most.

2. The latest from science suggests humans have been easting meat for about 3.5 million years, but vegetarians live longer. Personally, I love meat.

At least according to this new ranking by The Economist Intelligence Unit (pdf).

America’s National Security Agency has direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple, and other Internet giants, according to a top secret document obtained by the Guardian.

I should be shocked, but I’m not. This is what to expect from governments getting too much power.

Portrait of Christian VII of Denmark by Alexander Roslin (1718-1793).

Yesterday, I visited Roskilde Cathedral, which is the burial place of must Danish monarchs. The Cathedral is on the UNESCO World Heritage List and is a magnificent building. One of its many tombs is that of Christian VII (1749-1808), who is the subject of one of my all-time favourite novels, The Visit of the Royal Physician, by Per Olov Enquist.

The King suffered from a mental illness and was brutally used by people in his court. His English wife, the infamous Queen Caroline Matilda (1751-1775), had an affair with the King’s personal physician Johann Friedrich Struensee (1737-1772), and she was subsequently forced to leave Denmark in disgrace for a reclusive life in Germany.

My photo of King Christian’s tomb at Roskilde Cathedral.

Today, during a walk through the Malmö to the city library, I snapped this picture of ducklings in a small lake. Inspired by the scenery, I borrowed the Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake from the music library.

The Moscow News reports about a new survey:

Negative sentiment towards homosexuality has grown over the last six years, according to the poll, which was conducted over the weekend. A total of 88 percent support the government’s bid to ban propaganda of homosexuality among children, a figure that has grown by two percent over the last year, ever since the proposals for the ban were introduced. A total of 42 percent said they believed homosexuality should be a punishable crime. In 2007, that figure was only 19 percent.

Meanwhile, the Russian Parliament approves a bill that bans “homosexual propaganda” to minors.

To me, it’s surrealistic that people can hate love between consenting adults so much only because the lovers have the same sex.

Picture: Rembrandt’s (1606–1669) The Stoning of Saint Stephen (1625).

American writer Leon Wieseltier says, “Unless there is a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there will not be a Jewish state for very long.”

This is what he’s talking about:

In the next few decades, the number of Palestinians is expected to exceed the number of Jews living in areas now under Israeli control. Those who agree with Wieseltier insist that if Israel maintains the status quo, where Palestinians in the West Bank can’t vote, but Israeli Jews can, it will end the country’s democracy but maintain its Jewish character. Or it could grant Palestinians equal rights, including voting rights, threatening the country’s Jewish majority.

The famous designer makes the dog tag for Stockholm Gay Pride 2013. Cool!

The three water-nymphs—Woglinde, Wellgunde, and Floßhilde—in a 1876 production of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. Splendid madness! I can’t believe anyone could sing in these merry-go-rounds.

So say a girl in an Guardian article about eyeball-licking, a popular Japanese fetish that is making teenagers ill. What a dull place the world would be with our Japan’s apatite for the more bizarre fringes of human sexuality!

I have a thing for maps. When I searched after some historic maps of Europe, I found this interactive version of our continent through the centuries. There are, however, a few minor mistakes in it. For example, Scania—the region at the southernmost tip of Scandinavia—did not become Swedish until 1658.

I snapped this picture when driving about the Swedish countryside a few days ago.

“If the Europeans deliver weapons, then Europe’s backyard will become terrorist, and Europe will pay the price for it,” the dictator was quoted as telling German daily the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Well that precisely the argument Muammar Qaddafi used to legitimise his reign of terrorism in Libya. It was wrong then and it’s wrong now. Europe will be safer with a democratic neighbours.

Overlooking the Sound and Kronborg Castle, known from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet as Elsinore, which is accurately the English name of the Danish town Helsingør, where the castle is located.

Blogging is slow nowadays. It’s summer, and I have things to do and places to see.

Researchers say there are remarkable similarities between Homer’s world and contemporary social networks, like Twitter and Facebook.

Madonna’s “Holiday” will be my last blog entry before my own holiday. It’s been 30 years since its release!!! I’m getting old.

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This is big news:

The federal Defense of Marriage Act defines “marriage,” for purposes of over a thousand federal laws and programs, as a union between a man and a woman only. Today the Court ruled, by a vote of five to four, in an opinion by Justice Kennedy, that the law is unconstitutional.

Update: Andrew Sullivan:

Some final thoughts after so many years of so many thoughts. Marriage is not a political act; it’s a human one. It is based on love, before it is rooted in law. Same-sex marriages have always existed because the human heart has always existed in complicated, beautiful and strange ways. But to have them recognised by the wider community, protected from vengeful relatives, preserved in times of illness and death, and elevated as a responsible, adult and equal contribution to our common good is a huge moment in human consciousness. It has happened elsewhere. But here in America, the debate was the most profound, lengthy and impassioned. This country’s democratic institutions made this a tough road but thereby also gave us the chance and time to persuade the country, which we did. I understand and respect those who in good conscience fought this tooth and nail. I am saddened by how many failed to see past elaborate, ancient codes of conduct toward the ultimate good of equal human dignity.

I second that!

Why is this interesting? Well, because she gained fame over the past week for doing this:

The Southern TV cook has faced widespread outrage and dwindling endorsement deals since a deposition was released last week in which she admitted to using a racial slur for African-Americans in the past, and discussed her wish to mount a “true Southern plantation-style” wedding.

True Southern plantation-style, eh? Well, here’s a text about life on a Southern plantation in 1854.

To make things even more distasteful—this:

In addition, five of the Top 10 books on the Amazon’s movers and shakers list of books that have jumped the most in the past 24 hours are Deen-related.

It seems racism is the new black (pun intended).

An Israeli Orthodox rabbi ruled that distributing and smoking medicinal marijuana is kosher, but using weed for fun is forbidden. Damn you, party pooper!