News from Denmark

[Yoda Power]

Got the idea from another thread. The point of this thread is to show the world some stuff that happens in little Denmark. I'll start with two articles about the biggest current events. Anyone can ofcause post news, if they find something interesting about Denmark.

Politicians reported for racist remarks

Spoiler Article :

Three members of the Danish People’s Party have been reported to racial discrimination authorities over comments that Muslim women's head scarves present the same negative connotations as the Nazi swastika

A comment comparing Muslim headscarves to swastikas has resulted in PM Søren Krarup and two other members of the nationalist Danish People’s Party (DF) being reported to national racial discrimination authority DRC.

Krarup, along with Morten Messerschmidt, the party's EU spokesperson, and Mogens Camre, a DF MEP, was reported for a possible violation of anti-racism laws.

Krarup, who is also a vicar, said Wednesday the headscarves were a symbol of a totalitarian system and that ‘the symbols that represent Islam and Nazism are the same thing’.

Krarup’s comments were made during discussions involving guidance counsellor Asmaa Abdol-Hamid’s declaration that she would seek election as Denmark's first female Muslim MP as a member of the left-wing Red-Green Alliance.

After Abdol-Hamid, 25, who wears a headscarf, made her announcement, Krarup suggested that it was unconstitutional for MPs to address the assembly wearing a head covering. Parliament does have the right to determine appropriate dress, and in the past improperly dressed members have been barred from speaking.

The remarks have once again isolated nationalist DF and re-ignited the debate over the boundaries of free speech.

Pia Kjærsgaard, leader of DF, supported Krarup and his comments.

‘I agree that the headscarf is a symbol of ideology just like the swastika, which we all detest - namely Islamic extremism, communism and fascism,’ said Kjærsgaard. ‘I’ve said things along the same lines before, just as Karen Blixen and Salman Rushdie have.’

The response to Krarup’s statements has reached as far as Brussels, where Camre remarked that Abdol-Hamid ‘needed psychiatric treatment’ and that those who wear headscarves are ‘brainwashed little creatures’.

Krarup’s remarks were harshly criticised by politicians from parliament's other parties, including the prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

‘I don’t care at all for the comparison. The Nazi swastika is a symbol of the most totalitarian ideology the world has ever known while the headscarf is a religious symbol.’

The integration minister, Rikke Hvilshøj, has been also criticised the opposition for defending Krarup’s remarks as within the boundaries of free speech.

A leading law professor at the University of Copenhagen stated Thursday he believed the comments were a violation of anti-racism legislation. DRC will now review the case to determine whether charges can be filed.

I really think he went over the line, comparing a headscarf to the swastika, even though Asmaa Abdol-Hamid (the female politician in question) is a bit nutty.

It's a princess

Spoiler Article :

Crown Princess Mary gave birth to a daughter Saturday at 4:02 pm at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen. The child weighed 3350 grams and measured 50 cm. Is the second child for the Australian-born princess, 35, and her husband, Crown Prince Frederik, 38.

Both mother and child are doing well, according Per Thornit, the spokesperson for the royal family.

Like her older brother, 18-month-old Prince Christian, the little princess arrived two weeks early. The crown princess's due date was 3 May. Her most recent public appearance was Monday, during the Queen's birthday celebration.

The last princess born into the Danish royal family was Queen Margrethe II's youngest sister, Anne-Marie.

The Crown Prince was reported to be by the princess's side during the entire delivery.

This is horrible, the media won't stop talking about this totally irrellevent birth. Most people care though, so I posted it anyway.

 

[sysyphus]

How did the Danish crown princess come to be born in Australia?

 

[Yoda Power]

How did the Danish crown princess come to be born in Australia?

The crown prince married an Australian.

edit: Wikilink to her.

 

[sysyphus]

Still, wouldn't that not go over well with the Danish people?

 

[Yoda Power]

Still, wouldn't that not go over well with the Danish people?

Well the crown prince's farther is French, and his mother is half Swedish...

Short answer: Nobody cares.

BTW his brother used to be married to a half Austrian/half Chinese.

 

[sysyphus]

I guess you Danes are less picky about this kind of stuff than most other countries, good for you.

At least you have your own monarch, we've had to borrow somebody else's.

 

[Volum]

Our crown prince married a 30-something single mother.....People up here don't really care that much.

 

[The Last Conformist]

Royals marrying furriners is a proud tradition going back to the Viking Age. It's what they're supposed to be doing.

 

[Azale]

Well, there goes 5 dollars...thats why I'm not a bettin man.


Just how bad is racial/religious tension in Denmark right now? I remember it being at the center of the comic controversy a while back.

 

[Sidhe]

I guess you Danes are less picky about this kind of stuff than most other countries, good for you.

At least you have your own monarch, we've had to borrow somebody else's.

I tell you what you keep her

 

[storealex]

Just how bad is racial/religious tension in Denmark right now? I remember it being at the center of the comic controversy a while back.

Same as always. It's there, but it's not that bad anyway. Unless the media lacks something else to write about... then it's big news.

 

[Zuffox]

Well, there goes 5 dollars...thats why I'm not a bettin man.


Just how bad is racial/religious tension in Denmark right now? I remember it being at the center of the comic controversy a while back.

Non-existant, albeit a recurring subject in the newspapers; The Danish People's Party make a racist remark about foreigners now and then, but it's really not that big a deal. Whenever they do this, charges on the basis of these racist statements are pressed against them, although they never lead to anything.

We have some paragrafs in our constitution that are pseudo-counter-racial and -free-speech, but whenever they are used to press charges against people, they never result in anything, so they are merely leftovers from obsolete opinions. I assume that it is only a matter of time before they are officially removed.

 

[bhsup]

So um, how does the average Dane feel about the whole "something fishy in Denmark" euphemism?

 

[Zuffox]

So um, how does the average Dane feel about the whole "something fishy in Denmark" euphemism?

Mostly, it's an over-used cliché. Just as papers in other languages use horrible alitterations, rip-offs from literature and stupid puns, so have we endured a horrible lot in our little duck pond (which is actually almost starting to be an annoying expression, too).

And the Hamlet references have therefore naturally lost their novel ha-ha effect a looong time ago.

 

[bhsup]

Mostly, it's an over-used cliché. Just as papers in other languages use horrible alitterations, rip-offs from literature and stupid puns, so have we endured a horrible lot in our little duck pond (which is actually almost starting to be an annoying expression, too).

And the Hamlet references have therefore naturally lost its novel ha-ha effect a looong time ago.

Circa 1620? IF it makes you feel any better, my poor neighbors to the west (Kansas) will probably have to deal with Dorothy and Toto references for decades, if not centuries.

 

[Zuffox]

Circa 1620? IF it makes you feel any better, my poor neighbors to the west (Kansas) will probably have to deal with Dorothy and Toto references for decades, if not centuries.

In general, I try to refrain from using those ooold, worn out comments - you'd be surprised about the lame and completely similar comments you get, when you tell people that you are studying Japanese; they immediately start acting like fools, pretending to imitate the spoken language (even though they mistake the speech for Chinese) and begin to sum up the Japanese brands just on top of their heads, resulting in something like "ni hou, chi chau, ching chang, Toyota, Nissan" etc. etc.

Horrible.

 

[Mirc]

In general, I try to refrain from using those ooold, worn out comments - you'd be surprised about the lame and completely similar comments you get, when you tell people that you are studying Japanese; they immediately start acting like fools, pretending to imitate the spoken language (even though they mistake the speech for Chinese) and begin to sum up the Japanese brands just on top of their heads, resulting in something like "ni hou, chi chau, ching chang, Toyota, Nissan" etc. etc.

Horrible.

Don't tell me, when I tell a foreigner that I'm a Romanian they start imitating a vampire.

 

[Zuffox]

Don't tell me, when I tell a foreigner that I'm a Romanian they start imitating a vampire.

Classical.

 

[Phlegmak]

Don't tell me, when I tell a foreigner that I'm a Romanian they start imitating a vampire.

I heard the same from some Romanians I met in college. They constantly had to deal with those stupid vampire stereotypes. Other Europeans they met said, "All I know about Romania is vampires come from there."

 

[Leifmk]

Our crown prince married a 30-something single mother.....People up here don't really care that much.

They weren't actually 30-something yet when they married, though they both are now.

Marrying a woman proven to be fertile is a good move for ensuring the succession, anyway.