Denmark isn't buying California. But if it did ...
Good morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
California would become New Denmark if backers of a recent online campaign can get buy-in from the Nordic nation (and the cash).
Dubbed Denmarkification, the recent petition aims to 'bring hygge to Hollywood, bike lanes to Beverly Hills, and organic smørrebrød to every street corner.'
'Rule of law, universal health care and fact based politics might apply,' it adds.
Under this unserious proposal, Denmark would buy California for $1 trillion, effectively making us a Danish territory (similar to Greenland).
'Let's be honest – Trump isn't exactly California's biggest fan,' petition creator Xåvier Dutoit wrote. 'He's called it 'the most ruined state in the Union' and has feuded with its leaders for years. We're pretty sure he'd be willing to part with it for the right price.'
Among the perks for Danes, according to Dutoit: Nearly year-round sunshine, unlimited avocado toast, and Disneyland — though that would be renamed 'Hans Christian Andersenland.'
Dutoit, who is not Danish himself, told me he launched the satirical scheme 'purely to make a point about how absurd Trump's claims to [buy] Greenland really were.'
I know what you're thinking: This is asinine. I agree and I'm here for it. We could use a little dumb fun right now.
And since the current administration is either incredibly serious or seriously joking about acquiring Greenland (and Canada), I'm taking the opportunity to be seriously unserious about the Golden State joining the Kingdom of Denmark.
But how do actual Danes feel about this? I asked Hazel Alva, a comedian and activist born, raised and currently living in Copenhagen, Denmark's capital city. While the petition isn't getting much traction among Danes, she told me the international reception has been encouraging.
'A lot of people are scared and it's important to connect over it in a humorous way,' Alva said.
Denmark is a famously happy nation. It's held a close second to Finland for years in the annual World Happiness Report, which ranks countries based on the level of happiness reported by their people.
The U.S., meanwhile, didn't make the top 20 last year. And a 2023 survey from the Public Policy Institute of California found fewer adults in the state reported being 'very happy' compared with previous surveys, and more said they were 'not too happy.'
Does Alva worry we'd bring Danes down?
She shared a joke from her comedian friend and American expat Abby Wambaugh: 'The reason we're so happy and having a cozy time in Denmark is because we don't have to worry that if we go to the hospital, we'll be in debt for the rest of our lives.'
'If we could bring public health insurance to California, then I think the happiness rate could go up for sure,' Alva said.
Another dilemma: Acquiring California would boost Denmark's population and GDP to among the world's largest faster than you could say 'så er den ged barberet.' Would California's supermajority change Denmark more than Denmark would change California?
That's a real risk, Alva said, though she's optimistic that the Golden State culture and Nordic way of life would meld more than clash.
'I feel like a lot of the stereotype of Californians and people in L.A. is the flakiness — people are very chill and don't stick to their times,' she said. 'Whereas a lot of both Danish and Nordic people in general are very on time. Maybe we could both learn from each other there. Danes could be a bit more relaxed and Californians could be more on time.'
Here's more from my seriously unserious conversation with Alva about the fictitious land deal (edited for clarity and brevity).
Ryan: Would we still be California? Because we love being Californians.
Alva: We would add the extra Danish letters. Instead of California, it would be 'Califørnia' and it would be 'Løs Ångeles.' The Danish language is a lot of just pretending you have potato in your mouth or pretending you just had a bit too much to drink. You would just have to have a bit of a slur in your speech whenever you said names of cities or states.
I visited Copenhagen briefly in late 2022. The bike infrastructure was incredible. Nothing like that here.
I have been there (Los Angeles) and tried to ride a bike as well. It was really dangerous.
How quickly could you get our bike infrastructure up to Danish standards?
One of the reasons Denmark has such great bike lanes is because we used to have the trams in the middle of the road, then they got removed. So we had all this extra space to make really big bike lanes, which is fantastic infrastructure.
Maybe in L.A. we just remove like half of the car lanes and then people just have to drive less. There'd be better buses, better public transportation and a whole car lane could just be for just bikes.
Would Solvang be our new capital city since it's already super Danish? Or is Legoland the obvious choice?
Wait, is there a Legoland in California?
Yeah, there's a Legoland near San Diego.
I think Solvang could just expand and take over all of California. Then you can have all the fun. Solvang has all these fun Danish treats and foods that are all mixed together. And then it could just be a really fun cultural confusion. I think it'd be amazing.
Would we have to get a new governor? Someone with Danish heritage, like Viggo Mortensen or Mads Mikkelsen?
Even Scarlett Johansson could work. Mads Mikkelsen could do it. He's definitely got the accent down. I think it should be him.
That makes sense. You also have a royal family in Denmark. Would Californians be subjects of the Danish crown?
We had the same Queen for many, many years … but she abdicated last year, which was historic. A lot of Danish people really panicked when she decided to give up the throne to her son. It was a very dramatic ceremony — and it was really funny, because the only thing that happened was that they signed some papers and someone sat in a chair and it was very quiet.
Basically, as far as I understand, the role of the royal regents in Denmark is they have to put a signature if a big law is made. And if they refuse to sign, then they just can't be king or queen anymore. So it's kind of pointless … [It's] a big time mascot role.
I was reading about Janteloven. Can you describe that for me?
It's a word to describe the Danish culture that Danes can be very modest. You're not supposed to speak very highly of yourself or think too highly of yourself in public. Whereas one of my friends compared it to America, [where it's] very much in school that you get told like, you can be the president, you can be an astronaut, you can be all these things. In Denmark the culture is more to not try and outshine your neighbor too much. People get a bit shocked if you have news that's a bit too good or you talk a bit too highly of yourself or you dress very loudly.
Well, that would be a big culture clash. Do you think it'd be better if Danish people were a little more like Californians in that regard? Or do you think California should bring it down a notch?
I definitely think that there could be more forwardness or expressiveness [among Danes] and that maybe some Americans could also calm down a bit. But I also think there's strength in both … being modest and calm, and being very loud and expressive. It would just be an interesting mix.
Children's Hospital Los Angeles keeps limits on transgender care amid challenges to Trump's order
When it comes to elevating livelihoods, a CSU degree is tops in California
Beyond 'Emilia Pérez': Inside 7 of the nastiest Oscar campaigns in history
What else is going on
Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here.
Frustrated with crowded resorts, more skiers risk avalanche hazards in backcountry. Despite the obvious risks, there has been a steady rise in the number of people heading to the backcountry to 'earn their turns' in recent years. One reason is the eye-watering cost of lift tickets: A single day of skiing at Mammoth can cost as much as $219 this season. 'Another is the crowds: Despite the high cost, standing in a lift line on a holiday weekend can feel a lot like staring at taillights in rush hour on the 405 Freeway,' Times reporter Jack Dolan writes.
Other must reads
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
Going out
Staying in
Anne Lockwood writes: 'When things get really dark - as they so often do in our country today - my husband and I will tune into 'Everybody Loves Raymond.' It is really silly but some of the lines are just laugh out loud funny. The relationships between the family members is so real at times, and who but Marie captures the quintessential mother-in-law! It is such a relieving 'brain break' to the news chaos we face everyday.'
Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.
Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they're important to you.
Today's great photo is from Times photographer Allen J. Schaben near a master-planned community in Irvine where homes were planned and built to be fire-resistant.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Ryan Fonseca, reporterDefne Karabatur, fellowAndrew Campa, Sunday reporterKevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorHunter Clauss, multiplatform editorChristian Orozco, assistant editorStephanie Chavez, deputy metro editorKarim Doumar, head of newsletters
Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Barabak: Trump could help feed hungry people. Instead he's throwing a vanity parade
On Saturday, on the streets of Washington, Donald Trump will throw himself a costly and ostentatious military parade, a gaudy display of waste and vainglory staged solely to inflate the president's dirigible-sized ego. The estimated price tag: As much as $45 million. That same day, the volunteers and staff of White Pony Express will do what they've done for nearly a dozen years, taking perfectly good food that would otherwise be tossed out and using it to feed hungry and needy people living in one of the most comfortable and affluent regions of California. Since its founding, White Pony has processed and passed along more than 26 million pounds of food — the equivalent of about 22 million meals — thanks to such Bay Area benefactors as Whole Foods, Starbucks and Trader Joe's. That's 13,000 tons of food that would have otherwise gone to landfills, rotting and emitting 31,000 tons of CO2 emissions into our overheated atmosphere. It's such a righteous thing, you can practically hear the angels sing. "Our mission is to connect abundance and need," said Eve Birge, White Pony's chief executive officer, who said the nonprofit's guiding principle is the notion "we are one human family and when one of us moves up, we all move up." Read more: Barabak: Putting the bully in bully pulpit, Trump escalates in L.A. rather than seeking calm That mission has become more difficult of late as the Trump administration takes a scythe to the nation's social safety net. White Pony receives most of its support from corporations, foundations, community organizations and individual donors. But a sizable chunk comes from the federal government; the nonprofit could lose up to a third of its $3-million annual budget due to cuts by the Trump administration. "We serve 130,000 people each year," Birge said. "That puts in jeopardy one-third of the people we're serving, because if I don't find another way to raise that money, then we'll have to scale back programs. I'll have to consider letting go staff." (White Pony has 17 employees and about 1,200 active volunteers.) "We're a seven-day-a-week operation, because people are hungry seven days a week," Birge said. "We've talked about having to pull back to five or six days." She had no comment on Trump's big, braggadocious celebration of self, a Soviet-style display of military hardware — tanks, horses, mules, parachute jumpers, thousands of marching troops — celebrating the Army's 250th anniversary and, oh yes, the president's 79th birthday. Marivel Mendoza wasn't so reticent. "All of the programs that are being gutted and we're using taxpayer dollars to pay for a parade?" she asked after a White Pony delivery truck pulled up with several pallets of fruit, veggies and other groceries. Mendoza's organization, which operates from a small office center in Brentwood, serves more than 500 migrant farmworkers and their families in the far eastern reaches of the Bay Area. "We're going to see people starving at some point," Mendoza said. "It's unethical and immoral. I don't know how [Trump] sleeps at night." Certainly not lightheaded, or with his empty belly growling from hunger. Those who work at White Pony speak of it with a spiritual reverence. Paula Keeler, 74, took a break from her recent shift inspecting produce to discuss the organization's beneficence. (Every bit of food that comes through the door is checked for quality and freshness before being trucked from White Pony's Concord warehouse and headquarters to one of more than 100 community nonprofits.) Keeler retired about a decade ago from a number-crunching job with a Bay Area school district. She's volunteered at White Pony for the last nine years, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. "It's become my church, my gym and my therapist," she said, as pulsing rhythm and blues played from a portable speaker inside the large sorting room. "Tuesdays, I deliver to two senior homes. They're mostly little women and they can go to bed at night knowing their refrigerator is full tomorrow, and that's what touches my heart." Keeler hadn't heard about Trump's parade. "I don't watch the news because it makes me want to throw up," she said. Told of the spectacle and its cost, she responded with equanimity. "It's kind of like the Serenity Prayer," Keeler said. "What can you do and what can't you do? I try to stick with what I can do." It's not much in vogue these days to quote Joe Biden, but the former president used to say something worth recollecting. "Don't tell me what you value," he often stated. "Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value.' Trump's priorities — I, me, mine — are the same as they've ever been. But there's something particularly stomach-turning about squandering tens of millions of dollars on a vanity parade while slashing funds that could help feed those in need. Michael Bagby, 66, works part time at White Pony. He retired after a career piloting big rigs and started making deliveries and training White Pony drivers about three years ago. His passion is fishing — Bagby dreams of reeling in a deep-sea marlin — but no hobby can nourish his soul as much as helping others. He was aware of Trump's pretentious pageant and its heedless price tag. "Nothing I say is going to make a difference whether the parade goes on or not," Bagby said, settling into the cab of a 26-foot refrigerated box truck. "But it would be better to show an interest in the true needs of the country rather than a parade." Read more: Arellano: Trump wants L.A. to set itself on fire. Let's rebel smarter His route that day called for stops at a middle school and a church in working-class Antioch, then Mendoza's nonprofit in neighboring Brentwood. As Bagby pulled up to the church, the pastor and several volunteers were waiting outside. The modest white stucco building was fringed with dead grass. Traffic from nearby Highway 4 produced an insistent, thrumming soundtrack. "There are a lot of people in need. A lot," said Tania Hernandez, 45, who runs the church's food pantry. Eighty percent of the food it provides comes from White Pony, helping feed around 100 families a week. "If it wasn't for them," Hernandez said, "we wouldn't be able to do it." With help, Bagby dropped off several pallets. He raised the tailgate, battened down the latches and headed for the cab. A church member walked up and stuck out his hand. "God bless you," he said. Then it was off to the next stop. Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond, in your inbox twice per week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Associated Press
27 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Democratic governors will defend immigration policies before Republican-led House panel
WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump spars with California's governor over immigration enforcement, Republicans in Congress are calling other Democratic governors to the Capitol on Thursday to question them over policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform posted a video ahead of the hearing highlighting crimes allegedly committed by immigrants in the U.S. illegally and pledging that 'sanctuary state governors will answer to the American people.' The hearing is to include testimony from Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois, Tim Walz of Minnesota and Kathy Hochul of New York. There's no legal definition of a sanctuary jurisdiction, but the term generally refers to governments with policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Courts previously have upheld the legality of such laws. But Trump's administration has sued Colorado, Illinois, New York and several cities — including Chicago and Rochester, New York — asserting their policies violate the U.S. Constitution or federal law. Illinois, Minnesota and New York also were among 14 states and hundreds of cities and counties recently listed by the Department of Homeland Security as 'sanctuary jurisdictions defying federal immigration law.' The list later was removed from the department's website after criticism that it errantly included some local governments that support Trump's immigration policies. As Trump steps up immigration enforcement, some Democratic-led states have intensified their resistance by strengthening state laws restricting cooperation with immigration agents. Following clashes between crowds of protesters and immigration agents in Los Angeles, Trump deployed the National Guard to protect federal buildings and agents, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused Trump of declaring 'a war' on the underpinnings of American democracy. The House Oversight Committee has long been a partisan battleground, and in recent months it has turned its focus to immigration policy. Thursday's hearing follows a similar one in March in which the Republican-led committee questioned the Democratic mayors of Chicago, Boston, Denver and New York about sanctuary policies. Heavily Democratic Chicago has been a sanctuary city for decades. In 2017, then-Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, signed legislation creating statewide protections for immigrants. The Illinois Trust Act prohibits police from searching, arresting or detaining people solely because of their immigration status. But it allows local authorities to hold people for federal immigration authorities if there's a valid criminal warrant. Pritzker, who succeeded Rauner in 2019, said in remarks prepared for the House committee that violent criminals 'have no place on our streets, and if they are undocumented, I want them out of Illinois and out of our country.' 'But we will not divert our limited resources and officers to do the job of the federal government when it is not in the best interest of our state, our local communities, or the safety of our residents,' he said. Pritzker has been among Trump's most outspoken opponents and is considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate. He said Illinois has provided shelter and services to more than 50,000 immigrants who were sent there from other states. A Department of Justice lawsuit against New York challenges a 2019 law that allows immigrants illegally in the U.S. to receive New York driver's licenses and shields driver's license data from federal immigration authorities. That built upon a 2017 executive order by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo that prohibited New York officials from inquiring about or disclosing a person's immigration status to federal authorities, unless required by law. Hochul's office said law enforcement officers still can cooperate with federal immigration authorities when people are convicted of or under investigation for crimes. Since Hochul took office in 2021, her office said, the state has transferred more than 1,300 incarcerated noncitizens to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the completion of their state sentences. Minnesota doesn't have a statewide sanctuary law protecting immigrants in the U.S. illegally, though Minneapolis and St. Paul both restrict the extent to which police and city employees can cooperate with immigration enforcement. Some laws signed by Walz have secured benefits for people regardless of immigration status. But at least one of those is getting rolled back. The Minnesota Legislature, meeting in a special session, passed legislation Monday to repeal a 2023 law that allowed adults in the U.S. illegally to be covered under a state-run health care program for the working poor. Walz insisted on maintaining eligibility for children who aren't in the country legally, ___ Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Mo. Also contributing were Associated Press writers Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, N.Y.; Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minn.; and Sophia Tareen in Chicago.
27 minutes ago
China appears to downplay US trade deal Trump said was 'done'
HONG KONG and LONDON -- A spokesperson for China 's Ministry of Commerce on Thursday appeared to downplay what President Donald Trump said Wednesday was a "done" trade deal addressing export restrictions on rare earths and semiconductors. Speaking at a press conference, the spokesperson characterized the outcome of this week's trade negotiations in London as a "framework" to consolidate what was agreed to at negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, in May. This week's talks in the U.K. represented the "first meeting," the spokesperson said. The spokesperson did not offer further details on what was agreed this week, telling reporters, "New progress was also made in addressing each side's trade concerns." On rare earths, the spokesperson said China would issue export licenses based on "reasonable needs" and noted that "compliant applications have already been approved." Trump on Wednesday framed the talks as having reached a deal. "Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me," Trump said on Truth Social, adding that the relationship between the world's two leading economic powerhouses was "excellent." Trump said that the U.S. would get "a total of 55% tariffs" with China's tariffs set at 10%. Trump added, "Full magnets and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China. Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!)." Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick referred to the agreement as a "handshake for a framework." Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping will now have to approve the framework, Lutnick said. That step would appear to mean there were some concessions that both leaders did not give their negotiating teams authority to negotiate away. "Once that's done, we will be back on the phone together and we will begin to implement this agreement," Lutnick said. "The two largest economies in the world have reached a handshake for framework."
