Here are my favourite drawings by Jens Hage:

(My apologies for the image quality of these - they have been pinned to my bulletin board for years! These drawings all have appeared in the only real newspaper in Denmark called Berlingske Tidende.)

"Borgeren skal betale sagsomkostninger i skattesager, også hvis han vinder.

-Tillykke med sejeren! ""

"Congratulations on the victory" The citizen must pay court expences in battels with the Danish IRS, even though he wins the suit." - The tank bears a name "TROLD-SKRAT" (Ogre which roars with laughter) which resembles "TOLD-SKAT" - the official name of the Danish IRS.

"Statsministeren er draget til kamp for høje idealer om ansvar og moral. -Vær beredt!"

"The prime minister has entered into battle for high ideals about responsibility and morale. - Be prepared!"

In the back is seen a person (Svend Auken) from the PM's party. The PM ambushed (Foul play - something that boyscouts shouldn't do!!) him in order to get the PM nomination on the party convention. The banner says "The White Pigeons" and the sign reads "For the pure person, everything is filthy"

"Aktiv dødshjælp i USA vil efter en folkeafstemning nu kun være forbeholdt kriminelle..."

"Following a referendum in the United States, assisted suicide will be reserved for criminals only."

This one is a bit more tricky to translate. It relates to a referendum which was held in the united states (or in one of the states - i do not remember) on the subject of euthanasia (killing someone in an act of mercy or pity - which I believe is legal in places like Holland). I think that the background was the questions raised by Dr. Kavorkian's (aka. Doctor Death) practice. Dr. Kavorkian helped terminally ill people (in some cases pumped full of morphine just to bear the pain) to commit suicide very much in the same technical way as federal states kill people by lethal injection (two stages - first a tranquilizer to put people to sleep and then i.v. potassium chloride to arrest the heart). So life is so sacred and special that it is a crime to decide that you do not want to live anymore, but it's OK to kill presumed criminals - also when you take into account that you only get the right man 90 percent of the time... (In this little cozy, soft hearted, peoples socialistic republik of Denmark, we do not have the death penalty (at least not in peacetime)).

"Hør Melchiors mening - -Tryk her"

"Get Melchior's opinion - - Press here"

This is a caricature of a Danish Politician, which always used to have a controversial opinion on anything.

"High ranking civil servants lives life dangerously"

After a very embarasing episode concerning Salman Rushdies visit to Denmark, the danish PM (known from the boyscout cartoon above) had to find himself a scapegoat (In danish: A lamb to sacrifice). That unfortunate destiny fell on Federspiel, from the state department.

Feedback to: