Warning:Don't come to Denmark!

Denmark annuls kid's citizenship, moves to deport him to ... somewhere

2011-04-07T13:35:00.004+02:00

It's a busy day here. This from Information

Daniel Hornstrup was born in Denmark. He's lived here all his life. His father is Danish, his Thai mother has lived in Denmark for all of Daniel's life. Daniel has even held a Danish passport, which he's had renewed 4 times.

Yet, now the Danish authorities are using an obscure old rule to nullify Daniel's citizenship, leaving him stateless. He has been ordered to apply for residence as if he were a newcomer to Denmark, or face deportation. It gets worse ... under the strict new immigration laws, Daniel would fail to meet the criteria for residence, because ... wait for it folks, wait for it, he's not Danish enough. Where they will deport him to is anyone's guess, because he's clearly less Thai than he is Danish.

Just another day in Denmark.

Denmark gives money to entrepreneur, then deports him for taking the money

2011-04-07T13:13:00.003+02:00

This is happening right now. From Ekstrabladet

Gus Murray is an Australian entrepreneur who works, no, worked in Denmark. The Danish government offered him money for one of his projects, which he accepted. Onl,y soon afterwards they said he shouldn't have been offered any, and demanded he repay it. He did. Now they're deporting him anyway for taking the money. Yes, the same money that they offered him.

Remember this, because it's a common occurrence for foreigners living and working in Denmark. The laws are a tangled, ever-changing morass, and inter-ministerial miss-communications and misinterpretations of the law are common. Plus, as we've seen many times before, the government always gets benefit of the doubt in these matters, and you the foreigner are responsible for all mistakes.

Leading Danish party wants all foreigners DNA fingerprinted

2011-04-07T11:31:00.004+02:00

From Politiken, April 3 2011

Yes, this is actually happening. Dansk Folkeparti, part of the governing alliance in Denmark, wants all foreigners in Denmark to be registered in a DNA database. This doesn't just count for all foreigners who enter the country, but also for all male children of foreign decent born in Denmark. How ... biblical. Other parties have rejected the idea, but the majority of Danes appear to favor the idea of a nation DNA registry, and that, combined with Danes' long-standing tradition of discriminating against foreigners, means this is probably not going to go away any time soon.

Denmark's international image cracking

2011-04-05T23:37:00.004+02:00

From EPN.dk (a leading commerce-related Danish site)

An internal study by Danish Industry (DI), a trade group representing major Danish industry, concedes that Denmark is having a tougher and tougher time attracting foreign workers, largely due to to Dane's cultural intolerance, a negative image abroad, and declining working conditions for highly qualified foreigners. The report claims that Denmark still leads on matters such as equality and lack of discrimination.

(ed : Where DI gets their information on a lack of discrimination is anyone's guess ; a UN report from last year blasted Denmark for failing to do enough to combat discrimination. This seems to be just another case of Danes trying to put some kind of positive spin on a dire situation of their own doing)

UN report condemns Denmark for failing to eliminate racial discrimination

2011-04-05T17:59:00.005+02:00

From Politiken, Sept. 26, 2010.

If there's one thing you hear a lot of from white Danes, it's that Denmark is a paradise for racial minorities. These Danes are adamant that they are not racist, and that they have created a model society devoid of racial discrimination. Unfortunately, white Danes also seem to have a tendency to ignore complaints of racism, so you are advised not to take what they say at face value.

The UN has issues a rebuke to Denmark, noting that Denmark favors repealing laws that outlaw racist/hate speech. Denmark has also passed a series of tough anti-immigration laws which also break up families, measures which are targeted overwhelmingly at non-whites.

I went and dug up the full UN report here. It's not a pretty read.

Denmark refuses to incorporate the ICERD (International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination)
The Danish government wants to maintain freedom to implement its own version of racial equality, without having to be bound by external rules.
Danish law tends to ignore most international conventions and focuses disproportionately on the European Convention for Human Rights (ECHR).
Denmark has refused to ratify the ECHR chapter outlawing discrimination.
Denmark refuses to outlaw racial profiling. The Danish police also have the power to set up arbitrary stop-and-search zones, allowing them to search anyone without cause, suspicion, evidence or warrants. This puts minorities in Denmark at a great risk for ethnic profiling with no legal protection.
Racial minorities in Denmark have a greater chance of being arrested without being convicted of a crime.
Denmark refuses to acknowledge the existence of a Roma minority in Denmark, stating that Roma have no historical ties to the country, and therefore do not to be protected from discrimination. A similar judgement was passed on the Thule tribe of Greenland.
Racial minorities in Denmark are much more likely to be victims of hate crimes, compared to native Danes.

And lots more, it's all there for you to read. As a member of a minority myself, I am extremely grateful to organizations like the UN and EU for constantly highlighting Denmark's attempts to hide its culture of entrenched bigotry. Unfortunately, Denmark is under no obligation to change its laws, and it has steadfastly refused to do so. Be warned, and don't get caught by Denmark's self-glorying facade.

In Sweden, wolves are more dangerous than foreigners

2011-04-03T21:57:00.005+02:00

From Politiken, Sept 8th, 2010

This is a story from last years's Swedish election, which attracted great international attention when the anti-immigrant Sverigedemokraterna managed to get voted into Swedish parliament. But while almost all Danish political parties need to have a strongly anti-immigrant agenda, Swedish xenophobia is largely limited to one party, and many Swedes seem to think that wolves constitute a greater personal threat to them.

(translated with Google Translate, apologies for inaccuracies)

Socialists struggle with internal conflict on immigration

2011-04-03T16:51:00.005+02:00

From Politiken, August 7th, 2010.

The Socialist People's Party's unified line backing tighter immigration restrictions is crumbling as some members back the Radikale's softer line. This weakens SF's standing in a future election however, where support for tighter immigration control is seen as all-important if the left-wing opposition is to win the popular vote.

(translated with Google Translate, apologies for inaccuracies)

Undoing the decade of Fogh

2011-03-12T14:26:00.005+01:00

Few Danish politicians have had as marked an affect on Danish politics as Anders Fogh Rasmussen. He was Prime Minister of the country from 2001 to 2009, and spearheaded a broad wave of changes. As leader of the economically-liberal Venstre party he succeeded in undoing decades of consolidated social democratic power, thus pulling Denmark markedly to the political right. Fogh retired early in his third term in office to head up NATO. I do not believe history will be kind to Anders Fogh. His party still clings to power in Denmark, and continues to maintain his personality cult, but much of what Fogh stood for has collapsed and is being openly questioned.

I would say that his biggest contribution to Danish politics was in trying to instill a kind of Reagen-esque national joy in his people. He was emphatic that Denmark was a great country, no, the greatest country, and that it was time for Danes to finally learned to enjoy the fruits of their labour. His time in office was paradoxically characterized by deep tax cuts and reductions in the public sector, yet also by unprecedented and irresponsible spending on pet projects. His first few years in office saw massive expansion of the Danish economy, but much of this proved unsustainable. Venstre for example deliberately allowed a real estate bubble to drive the economy, and when it inevitably burst, thousands were financially ruined. The standard of transport, healthcare and public education plummeted on his watch.

Fogh also ignored massive initial public skepticism when he signed on to G.W.Bush's War of Terror. He positioned Denmark as a central, albeit largely ceremonial ally of the then US policy. Adamant at the start of the Iraq War that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, he has since succeeded in blocking all calls for a public inquiry into the faulty intelligence he used to justify Denmark's entry into the war.

He also bungled the storm surrounding the Jyllands-Posten Muhammed Cartoons, succeeding instead in duping much of the world into believing the issue revolved around freedom of speech. The real controversy in the meantime was his botched diplomacy and deep-rooted islamophobia in his government that prevented it from availing itself of several Arab initiatives to defuse the crisis. Where am I going with this? Bear with me, I'm trying to establish character here.

Anders Fogh was responsible for one more very significant shift - it was he who hit on the idea of building an unbeatable ruling coalition with the strongly xenophobic Dansk Folkeparti. While even his own party balked at the idea at first, Fogh changed the entire immigration debate paradigm with his axiom that Denmark was at heart a morally perfect state, and that all immigration debate had to be framed against that. All immigration restrictions, no matter how harsh, had to be seen as an attempt to preserve Denmark's unique perfection. Furthermore, immigration needed be seen as inherently complex with no clear winners or losers, and that Denmark was morally justified in making sure it won a greater share. The resulting Foghish nationalism held that Denmark is so absolutely good that no requirement is too outlandish to gain entry to it, because once one did get in, absolute happiness was guaranteed. If happiness did not occur, the fault or responsibility could not rest with Denmark, which has always been perfect. The fault therefore had to rest with the foreigner, who could not expect everyone else to change to accommodate her needs. Classic Jante Law, reinterpreted for our globalized times.

Fogh's influence on Danish immigration has been his most enduring because there is still very little sign that Danes have realized its failure, even though fail it spectacular fashion it certainly has. Denmark is currently one of the worst western European countries for integrating foreigners, and its labour force hemorrhages qualified expatriates who refuse to put up with the country's bizarre demands. The question is, how long will it take for this, the last of Fogh's many enchantments, to finally wear off?

(This is an opinion piece)

Danish war veteran denied Danish residence

2011-02-01T10:51:00.004+01:00

This bizarre story courtesy of Politiken (full English translation via Google Translate)....

A 22-year old Afghani, who has lived in Denmark since he was 13, and who has served two tours of duty in Afghanistan as a civilian translator for Danish soldiers, has been denied permanent residence in Denmark. The reason cited by authorities - he has failed to demonstrate active participation in Danish society. Under new immigration laws, applicants must be involved in social activities defined by the Danish state - unfortunately for Barialai Hassanzai, that list does not include risking one's life while serving with Danish troops in an active war zone.

Spokespeople for the ruling Venstre Party, and their coalition partner the Danish Peoples Party, have commented on the case and insist that the rules are fair and work as intended, and that they don't see any need to address it further.

Since the new "points" system came into place we've been hearing plenty of reports of people being summarily rejected without valid reason, but this beats everything. If you still had doubts that the Danish system is a people-blind, bureaucratic meat-grinder, I don't see how this could not lay them to rest. The point system, far from streamlining Denmark's notoriously turgid immigration system, has made it even more confusing and arbitrary.

For starters, what kind of "free" society draws up a rigid list of mandatory social activities? Danes would never tolerate such an invasion of their privacy, but they seem to have no qualms with forcing it on foreigners. The list, the entire process, is also so blind that it has a demonstrated inability to fulfill its supposed intent, namely, giving foreigners a chance to prove that they can be active in Danish society. The list is nothing more than another mindless flaming ring that immigrants have to obediently jump through. It's not about what you jump through, as long as you demonstrate the willingness to jump.

Danish immigration law reduces us to faceless numbers : getting into Denmark is now like getting into an exclusive nightclub. You stand for ages in a line, and if the bouncer thinks you look cool or rich enough, you get plucked from the queue and admitted. That's how Denmark sees itself, exclusive and greatly desired, and therefore, in a position to pick and choose at its own fancy. Things that make real people, things like family ties, a willingness to work, respect for the law, and even risking one's life, those don't matter.

The there's the actual case of Barialai Hassanzai. Denmark loves to beat it's ideological drum, it loves to shriek shrilly about its great moral sacrifice in Afghanistan, but even in the midst of all the gunfire, ambushes and IEDs, Denmark never forgets that the war on immigration has a higher priority. I'm pretty sure that Hassanzai would be afforded greater respect in Denmark if he got himself killed on duty, if instead of coming back a 22-year combat veteran, he return a fatality statistic on a field report, a photo of a bloody pool in the sand outside some nameless village in Helmand. Oh how they'd love that - how they'd toast him, his bravery and his contribution to the war effort. He'd be one of the good muslims, one of those who laid their lives down for righteousness, and all the time what they'd actually be toasting would be themselves. And if there's one thing I've learned about Denmark, it's that it has plenty of adoration for foreigners who remain in foreign places. Once they cross the border into Denmark, they become something altogether different.

Denmark, your inhumanity disgusts me.

Free speech, for Danes only

2011-01-22T15:39:00.005+01:00

On the 21st of January this year, the Danish arm of the radical Muslim organization Hizb-ut-Tahrir hosted a public debate on the war in Afghanistan, of which Denmark, a NATO member, is an active participant. Points of discussion included the legitimacy of resistance by some Afghans to NATO presence there, as well as post-war political solutions to governing that ever-unstable country. To sum things up briefly, Hizb-ut-Tahrir hold that resistance to NATO is morally valid, being no different from Danish resistance to Nazi occupation in the Second World War. They also concluded that the only valid political solution to Afghanistan is a shariah-based Islamic caliphate. The validity of Hizb-ut-Tahrir's views are not really of much interest to me at the time of writing - they are a non-violent organization, therefore legal, and therefore entitled to whatever views they want.

What interests me more though is what transpired outside. The meeting has drawn considerable attention in Denmark because it was being held in a meeting hall at one of Denmark's main public libraries, and was therefore in affect being hosted by the Danish state, the same state which deploys the troops that Hizb-ut-Tahrir advocates killing. The Danish state is also a democracy, though I am loathe to call it that because Danish democracy is quietly reserved for white Danes of Scandinavian origin, but for this exercise let's pretend a real and universally-inclusive one ... Hizb-ut-Tahrir oppose that as well, as they are believe in the caliphate system of government. These inconsistencies have not gone unnoticed in Denmark, with about 80% of Danes calling for not only the cancellation of the meeting, but also the banning of Hizb-ut-Tahrir. Repeated attempts by the culture minister Per Stig Møller to pressure the library to revoke the meeting permit have failed, as library administrator insists that any legal organization has the right to use their public facilities. And repeated efforts by justice minister Lars Barfoed to then have the organization banned failed when constitutional analysts pointed that Hizb-ut-Tahrir, as a non-violent organization, enjoys guaranteed freedom of speech under Danish law.

But that is wouldn't be the end of it. Danes arranged a counter-demonstration outside the library, and of course they have every right to do so - this is after all, an alleged democracy. In attendance were several current and former government ministers, including Karen Jespersen, a leading architect of Denmark's strict anti-foreigner immigration policy. The ministers in attendance stated that they were there to make a personal statement against what Hizb-ut-Tahrir were doing, even though they had run out of legal options. They were in good company too - far-right, flag-waving Danes were out in full force in the same crowd, and there were reports of racist slurs being yelled at meeting attendants.

Hold the phone - some of this is sounding strangely familiar, yet strangely different at the same time. When the Muhammed cartoons were published, members of the Danish government made it clear, over and over, that they were in no way willing to distance themselves from the cartoons, because doing so would be seen as unacceptable government interference into private life and enterprise, as well as meddling with press freedom. Not ban, mind you, just take distance from. Like stating "The cartoons are legal, but they don't reflect my views" - empty words maybe, but at least diplomatic. Now we have a situation where despite repeated orders to back off in the interest of preserving constitutional rights, the same government just cannot help repeated interference. So much for objective distance and reserve. When Danes insult Muslims, the government has to keep things hands off because not doing so would be political suicide. Speaking up for tolerance hasn't won anyone a seat in parliament recently, but bashing Islam is still doing great stuff for the leading coalition. And now that Muslims are insulting back, the constitutionally-illiterate government has to be to be seen trying to defend Denmark, even if only as warm bodies in a mob.

I don't doubt the offensiveness of what Hizb-ut-Tahrir are saying - many Danish families have members serving there, and many of those members did not and will not return. But that's entirely beside the point. Like it or not, Hizb-ut-Tahrir broke no laws. They are no different from other offensive yet beloved Danish institutions. Take the the Danish National Front for example, the largest nazi organization in Denmark, one that calls for all non-white Danes to be permanently expelled from the country. There is no discussion about banning the DNF. Quite to the contrary, many Danes are proud that they have a society with relatively non-violent white supremacists, and see that as possible only because free speech allows hatred to be channeled verbally. By the same token, the cartoons that Kurt Westergaard drew were crude and derogatory to an entire religion, but to most Danes, Westergaaard is a hero of free speech. Far from being the work of one man gone rogue, Westergaard's work captures the crude way many Danes actually view Muslims, and Danes are fiercely protective over Westergaard precisely because if he is forced to recant, they will undoubtedly have to follow suit.

For people who love to dish offensive, Danes don't seem to be very good at taking it. What happened to their claims that nothing is sacred, that everyone has to learn to live with different opinions, that offensive is just another point of view, that words don't hurt people? I don't agree with Hizb-ut-Tahrir, but that's entirely besides the point. I think they are one of the greatest things to happen to Denmark in a long time. Finally, Denmark is getting some badly-needed payback, and true to the saying, bullies always cry the loudest. Cry more Denmark, please, cry more.

Another marriage destroyed by immigration policy

2011-01-17T22:44:00.003+01:00

The Danish government has made a big show about how their latest "smart" immigration law will make ease the processing of qualified and hard-working immigrants trying to get into Denmark. But what has really changed is that foreign spouses of Danes now have to meet the same criteria as green-card applicants, and a spate of deportations has shown us that yet again, what this government says and does are far from the same.

JP published a wrenching letter from the parents-in-law of a Japanese woman, who decided to leave her Danish husband and return to her homeland after local immigration rejected her long string of applications and appeals. This despite the fact that the woman's teaching qualification has been accredited in Denmark, and that she has learned Danish, and is fluent in English. She also has relevant work experience. All this because her husband sustained a work injury several years ago and went on social aid in order to be rehabilitated. She in turn, though fully capable, was barred from working in Denmark while her application was processed.

Another example of how twisted and inhumane the Danish immigration law still is. It's not that way by accident - despite everything the government says, they still want to discourage Danes from marrying abroad. They can't say so in as many words, so they've laid out a veritable immigration minefield around Denmark, full of hidden clauses and bizarre gotchas. Once again, someone got unlucky while traversing it. Whatever the Danish government claims about its sincere motives to make it easier for foreigners, experience shows that's all a charade. Why do I claim that? Because to date Denmark has had numerous political scandals : ministers' heads have rolled because of things like undisclosed loans and mismanagement of food quality, and the government has almost collapsed because of funding discrepancies for hospitals and a failure to log trivial expenses, but there has never ever been even a whiff of a scandal over immigrant inhumanity, and the Danish government is driven by the fear of scandal. Next time you hear a Dane ducking this issue by insisting that the government is out of touch with the morality of its people, you throw that back at them.

I can't help say this - historically, this level of inhumanity, this kind of evil has been changed only through violence, and I use the word evil here because I don't know how else to describe such an insidious attitude towards others. Something takes a society so far that blood is spilled, and it finally wakes up and realizes how lost it is. The fall of Nazism, apartheid, segregation in the USA; the moral impetus that brought about honest and heartfelt change to those systems came through violence and the threat of further violence. So where is Denmark heading? Will there be a violent climax, or will Danes simply bury this under the surface where it can linger like India's caste system? My guess is the latter. Either the current government goes on trying to dress up its laws in civilized clothes, or the left-wing coalition wins and rolls the policy back just a hair, which is about all their voters will permit. Either way, cases like this mean nothing to most Danes, and tomorrow will be business as usual. There is no moral introspection, no lesson learned, and no concept at all of wrong-doing. Denmark, you disgust me.

Denmark to deprive foreigners of welfare

2010-12-28T13:54:00.005+01:00

From Politiken ...

The Danish government seems to be on course for yet another infraction against foreigners living on its soil. This time, basic social benefits like unemployment compensation, medical care and schooling will be withheld from foreigners, who will first have to put in several years of work in Denmark before being given access. The rub is, foreigners will continue paying full taxes which fund those services. Medical insurance however is mandatory in Denmark, so all foreigners would have to take out private coverage, no doubt from a Danish provider. Basically, a double tax.

The official reason the government coalition has given is that this step is needed to stop unemployed foreigners from burdening the Danish welfare system, and in this they have a point. It's just that the solution they're offering is highly suspect, and one doesn't have to look far to find a more plausible explanation.

There are better and fairer ways to stop people from lazing away on the dole. The waiting period being proposed seems to vary, and could be anything from four to eight years. What about making it just one year? Better still, create yearly medical insurance coverage. If you've worked for a year, the state picks up your medical insurance for the next year, funded of course by your own taxes. If you're unemployed, you have to secure medical care coverage yourself, but you also don't pay taxes when you're unemployed, so it all evens out. Thus all new-comers pay for a year's insurance, and if they start working immediately, they in effect never have to renew it themselves. There also has to be some distinction between basic emergency services and more complex treatment. It's reasonable for Denmark to want to withhold treatment for chronic or long-term illness and prevent medical tourism, while it's as reasonable for foreigners to expect that the Danish state will pick up the tab for broken bones and the occasional gunshot wound. After all, at heart this is about trying to stop unemployed people from milking the system, right? Maybe not.

Welfare in trouble

It's no secret the Danish welfare system is in deep trouble. The issue swirls about in the media on an almost daily basis. Denmark's aging population has created an ever-increasing tax burden on its active work force, while at the same time Danish businesses outsource jobs to countries with more competitive labor markets, driving up Danish unemployment. Almost all politicians are being pressed to deliver a long-term solution, and none is forthcoming. Proposals include raising taxes, increasing the work week for all, and raising the age of retirement, but all of these are politicized issues with split support along the left-right spectrum. In short, it's a bill everyone in Denmark knows has to be paid, but which no one wants to personally foot. Enter the foreigners.

Danish society has long had an ambivalent approach to us. Businesses see us as a vital source of labor, while general Danish society often regards us with a measure of unwelcome distrust. The endless tug-of-war in immigration law between allowing qualified labor in and keeping foreigners out will attest to that. But now the government itself is stepping into the fray and officially treating foreigners as a resource, this time, a tax source for its welfare funding woes. If this new law holds, the Danish government will have found an important cash source for keeping services to native Danes running. Foreigners can now be taxed for services which are withheld from them.

What you see is not necessarily what you get

The Danish state, already notorious in recent years for cutting corners and minimizing budgets, will doubtlessly examine foreigner expenses with a microscope looking for new savings opportunities. And because we now have a precedent that foreigners are not legally entitled to the service they pay for, the balancing act for the government will be deciding just how much service to withhold before foreigners become so dissatisfied that they leave. In short, living in Denmark will feel even more like a vice, one that is constantly being tightened to just before the breaking point.

One of the central tenets of Danish society is the "fælleskab", togetherness, which translates to the concept of an equal and classless society where everyone, regardless of income or education, shares the same relationship with the state, and has the right to place the same demands on it. How this new law is supposed to instill that spirit in foreigners is anyone's guess. Far from integrating newcomers, this law further reinforces the glaring divide between us and them. History is replete with examples of immigrant labor being imported into countries where they toil indentured, unwanted but needed, to feed industry. I just didn't expect to see it happening in this day and age, and certainly not in the heart of Scandinavia.

Danish parties want to legalize hate speech

2010-06-24T18:13:00.009+02:00

From Politiken:

The Danish Peoples Party wants the Danish government to scrap a law that prohibits racist statements in public, and the ruling Liberals are not saying no. This is after DPP member of parliament Jesper Langballe had his special immunity from prosecution lifted, paving the way for charges against him after allegedly racist comments. The DPP wants to ensure this does not happen again. Liberal spokesman Kim Andersen says his party is willing to discuss the matter with the DPP.

The DPP is angry that politicians elected for their views are not allowed to publicly state these views. And Kim Andersen sympathizes with the DPP over the case against Langballe. "I am very much in agreement that there should be extremely broad tolerance for what members of parliament are allowed to say. There should be very few limitations on what a politician can say in a transparent society such as ours."

Prosecutors want to charge Langballe for comments he wrote in a debate when he claimed that muslim fathers routinely murder their daughters and turn a blind eye when their daughters are raped by their uncles. Andersen doesn't wish to comment on whether Langballe's comments should be punishable. "There obviously needs to be decency. We shouldn't say things just to harass individual of a religion or race. But a parliamentarian deserves very wide boundaries." The Liberal Alliance is also in favor of scrapping the law. The Liberals have yet to discuss the matter internally, but Kim Andersen hopes that there won't be further incidents such as this one.

"Personally, I don't like it when we in a democracy prosecute each other for things we say. It doesn't fit in with our culture. It is a last-ditch solution to be used seldomly, and only in serious cases".

Thanks for setting the record straight, Kim Andersen. You helped get a whole bunch of important things out in the open. Like, speak out emphatically for the bigot, and mumble under your breathe when asked about bigotry. You clearly come out swinging for one, and are all kinds of skittish when dealing with the other. The way Kim Andersen puts it, you'd think bigotry was a victimless crime. The EU and immigrants have been complaining for years that Denmark drags its feet when it comes to protecting minorities, and now we get to see how. First they give you a condescending scoff when you call it "hate speech" and refer you to the more positive term "transparent political view". And then they insist that they're still descent people and that they have great faith in their ability to behave properly. So why have laws at all?

Denmark has minimal legislation to protect against discrimination; prosecutors usually opt to interpret the accused's statements as "personal views", the standards for proving that you have been victimized is extremely high, and formal charges are rare. In cases which do go to court, convictions are rare. The result is that minorities simply learn to live with people like Jesper Langballe - live with, but not accept. You learn quickly that Denmark is full of Jespers.

I approve of free speech, even for haters, but I also think Denmark is being a bit too fast out of the block in crowing about its achievements. Free speech, like democracy, is a function of a civil and stable society. If a section of that society is routinely the victim of prejudice, there is no civility: your society falls out of balance, and the symptoms are a lack of trust, an unwillingness to vote, mass emigration etc., all of which are already clearly evident here. Something has to give : either Denmark admits that it cannot rid itself of bigotry and that minorities must all leave so that the society can return to harmony , or it accepts that bigotry is wrong and its own people need to be re-educated, forcefully if needed. But Denmark cannot have it both ways, and this is exactly what it wants. It doesn't want to have to deal with the sticky issue of reining in Jesper Langballe, but it also wants the world to see it as a model society devoid of people like ... Jesper Langballe. And right now, Denmark gets to have it both ways because it lies, a big bald-faced lie. A page on the government's immigrant portal doles out the usual saccharine.

In November 2003, the Government adopted an action plan for the promotion of equal treatment and diversity and to combat racism.

The initiatives in this action plan are intended to ensure that there is room for diversity in Denmark and that we learn to benefit from it. The plan includes financial support for dialogue meetings on ethnic minority participation in political activities, and local events that focus on diversity.

Just how do they plan on delivering all this when they repeal the laws that combat racism? Denmark has reduced "equality" and "diversity" to meaningless buzzwords - if combating racism is a Dilbert cartoon, Denmark would be the pointy-haired manager guy.

Danish politicians seem to be of the school of thought that free speech spontaneously fixes all other problems, and that being allowed to say ignorant things unchecked will somehow cause intelligence to spontaneously break out. In their hubris, they are either unable or unwilling to distinguish between free speech and malicious untruths. The real controversy here is not that Jesper Langballe said something offensive, it's that he said something that has no factual basis whatsoever. As other observers have noted, Langballe's views on muslims are not far removed from stereotypes of jews, such as the once-widespread belief that jews kidnapped and murdered christian boys during Passover. The purpose is the same : portray a group of outsiders as inhuman and barbaric, bereft of something as simple as compassion for children.

There are no credible studies to show that muslim fathers murder or allow their daughters to be raped - if we're going to start down that road, we may as well add that white Danes from Jutland are statistically most likely to sell their underage children to pedophile rings. But no one would dream of saying that, because then you'd be offending actual Danes, lots of them, and then they stop calling it free speech. For what it's worth, I think that Jesper Langballe and anyone else for that matter should be allowed to state The Facts, unabridged, no matter how unpleasant, as loudly and as frequently as they want. And by facts I mean hard and independently-corroborated data. If Langballe wants to spin harmless yarns about aliens or buried pirate treasure, that's fine - and it's not like his supporters are smart enough to sit up and notice anyway. But when he starts combining myth and bigotry, we have a problem, and that dear reader is why we needs laws, because unscrupulous leaders have a tendency to mobilize the gullible, and the gullible then have a tendency to ambulate in large groups and put pitchforks though the unfairly-maligned. Kim Andersen says that politicians deserve extra room to maneuver - well I say the exact opposite. Politicians, being in a position of responsibility, need to be kept on an extra-tight leash; their statements should be subjected to extra scrutiny and higher standards of credibility, and should it become evident that they are willfully misleading their public, they should be turned into ex-politicians. This is what has become a trademark of the Liberals and their voters; an utter indifference to the DPP's constant stream of warped facts, coupled with a smug arrogance that they can solve any moral dilemma merely by redefining all the words in the argument.

Of course the DPP are against the current law - it's their political lifeblood that's at stake here. They come right out and admit that people vote for Langballe because they want to hear him speak nasty. This is a party that built itself out of nothing in the space of just a few years by cornering the scared-and-irrational vote, achieved almost entirely by playing on ethnic, racial and religious prejudice. But being scared is a bit like pornography : you build up a tolerance to it, and then you need something harder to get you going again. The DPP's rhetoric has gotten increasingly tougher, all the time edging closer to the boundaries of what is legally permissible under current legislation. Finally, come 2010, the DPP is out of tricks and the Liberals are acting like they'd rather help out a reliable political ally than hang on to a piece of token legislation they passed for PR purposes.

Here's something else worth considering. Denmark's homegrown interpretation of "freedom" has greatly weakened the international standing of free speech, because here, free speech is frequently used as convenient cover for hatred against muslims, and through Kurt Westergaard's cartoons, Denmark hijacked the whole western world and appointed themselves

the de facto standard bearer. Which means every time we sit down at a table to talk freedom with islamic countries, Denmark's attitude towards muslims, the one defined by Danish leaders like Kim Andersen and Jesper Langballe, sits with us at the table. Danish attitudes are to free speech what Dick Cheney's waterboarding was to the Geneva Convention: fudged definitions, ulterior motives, and ultimately, the undermining of everyone's standards.

63% of immigrants in Denmark refuse to vote

2010-06-24T00:57:00.003+02:00

Berlingske reports that ...

A very large proportion of foreigners and people of foreign origin don't vote in Denmark, and the number is increasing. In their words, "we are opting out of democracy". From 1997 to 2009, Copenhagen saw an 11% drop in immigrant election participation, while in Århus the drop was 17%. This is according to results published by the Integration Ministry. This is harmful for democracy, says Kasper Møller Hansen, professor in political science at Copenhagen University, who authored the report.

"It is a drastic drop which is definitely not good for democracy." Negative socialization is occurring, where immigrants meet other immigrants who don't vote. It is a vicious circle. The Council for Ethnic Minorities is looking for volunteers to educate immigrants about the political process. "It is important that municipalities begin doing this proactively long before an election and help creative faith in the system amongst immigrants. I meet many immigrants who believe it's useless to vote" says Lally Harpal Parwana, the Council's chairman.

Integration Minister Birthe Rønn Hornbech of the Liberals is disappointed with the results, but maintains that the efforts made by the government to "get immigrants off the sofa" have been adequate.

So lots of immigrants don't vote, it's not really important why, as long as it's our fault. Our lack of faith in the system? Clearly a result of the standard immigrant failings like laziness and an inability to appreciate a democracy when one is thrust up us. Why, it's probably a good thing we don't vote, because if we did, we'd probably just break something, like those immigrants on a building committee who voted to block the sale of alcohol next to a school. Terrible stuff.

Who exactly is the Council for Ethnic Minorities anyway, and why are they always speaking on my behalf. I didn't vote for them - why would I support a toothless committee whose only function is getting other immigrants to drink the government Kool Aid? Since its inception this Council has done nothing to challenge the government's hard and unreasonable line on integration. I pay the same tax Danes pay, therefore I expect the same level of representation, nothing less, certainly not a committee that exists solely to serve the Integration Minister, when said Minister is the thing I most need protecting from.

Now the Council is looking for volunteers to advise us - on what exactly? What part of Danish politics have we misjudged all this time? Or they simply trying to placate us, tell us to be patient and have a bit more faith in our superiors, try a little harder because one day we'll see, it will all work out. Yes, in a strange arbeit macht frei kind of way.

Also, immigrants are very, very stupid. We shove knitting needles into a power outlets because other immigrants have tried it, and they say it's great fun. Additionally, we can contract political disaffection without realizing it, not at all unlike Danes catch chlamydia. It's never about issues, it's never that we may just have valid concerns. No, never listen to the immigrants. Never talk to them, never ask them why they don't want to vote, because doing so make you dirty, or even worse, politically apathetic too!

Sarcasm and ranting aside, this shows yet another serious failing in Denmark's integration process. Not just that immigrants aren't voting, but that the Danish government is clearly far from interested in finding out why. I'm sure they know - I'm sure the people behind this report did their homework and asked all the right questions and got all the predictable answers, but how can they publish that? How can they reveal that immigrants don't want to vote because they perceive all Danish political parties to be against us, and that it makes no difference if we vote, because at the end of the day it's not going to diminish the grip Pia Kjærsgaard has on us? Saying that would be admitting that the political gulf between Danes and immigrants is wider than ever, and will remain there for the foreseeable future, because Denmark's immigration policy isn't going anywhere. It's stable, it's what Danes want, and now we need to find ways to live with it. Or pretend to, at least.

Yes, a majority of immigrants not voting is clearly not good for democracy, though not nearly as harmful as a allowing a bunch of deranged bigots to hijack said democracy and use it as a legal platform to disseminate hate and intolerance. And probably not as damaging as ignoring all criticism and repeatedly shoving all the blame onto all things "non-Danish".

Immigrants can't be bothered to vote because all political parties in Denmark want tighter immigration control, along with the forced cultural scrubbing of existing immigrants, aka integration. What immigrant wants to vote for that? Yet Danes seem genuinely upset that immigrants can't accept that. These restrictions are part and parcel of Danish culture - they're as Danish as the flag and the Queen. Danes need immigrants to accept this, move on with life, and focus on the other shareable parts of life here. But the reality is that for many immigrants, getting here and terms under which we stay here are some of the biggest issues in our lives, they are issues that we know are entirely out of our control, and we don't see the point in putting on a show for the benefit of our flubbing hosts. The situation as it stands is like a marriage where one partner has all the money and power and insists that the other partner makes the best of it, even though said other partner feels trapped and completely taken for granted.

Immigrant voter apathy is hardly a new problem - Danes have been sounding off on it for years. But bizarrely, Danes have also gone to great lengths to withhold political power and influence from immigrants. Participation in local elections is tied to permanent residence, which has become extremely difficult to get, and citizenship is required to vote in Parliamentary elections. Each year the route to citizenship gets longer and more difficult. Denmark forces immigrants to wait nine years to vote, and then only after an offensively difficult and irrelevant test. How can you instill confidence and respect for a system when you consistently use the very same system to undermine people?

Denmark to ease residence requirements?

2010-05-25T00:46:00.005+02:00

I choked on my coffee when I read this in Politiken. All the way back in February.

The Liberal-Conservative government are planning to make it easier to get permanent residence in Denmark. Foreigners who learn Danish, send their children to child-care institutions, and become coaches in their local football clubs are to be rewarded by getting permanent residence much faster than is possible today. While it currently takes 7 years, that time will be reduced to 3 years, if you can demonstrate an ability to become integrated quickly.

Integration spokesman Nasser Khader from the Conservatives says "It's a good business-like approach that rewards the people who show initiative. So if one shows the willingness to integrate, one will be able to quickly get permanent residence. It's a form of carrot".

The Liberals and Conservatives want to introduce a kind of point system similar to the one used in Canada. "This can be about your employment record, if you've gotten by without welfare support, your language skills, and if your children are in day care institutions. But you can also get points for cultural integration, for example if you train the local football team. This is about attracting foreigners to Denmark, because we need those who want to" says Karsten Lauritzen, integration spokesman for the Liberals.

Dansk Folkeparti strongly disagrees

Peter Skaarup from Dansk Folkeparti : "It sounds very strange. We decided in 2002 that the waiting time be raised to 7 from 3 years. To amongst other things send a clear signal to refugees from the whole world that they could be sent out of Denmark again, if the condition in their homeland should improve. We are therefore very skeptical about changing the period again. We don't negotiate through the press, but I want to make it very clear that changes in the immigration law shall be done with us in agreement. I won't deny that we are talking about a productive group of people who deserve to be rewarded for good integration, but it will then require further restrictions in other areas".

Karsten Lauritzen has already made it clear that there will in fact be additional tightening of the immigration law. Both he and Nasser Khader stress that the proposal marks a fundamental shift in Danish immigration politics, which since 2001 has centered around tightening entry into Denmark.

"This government has tightened and tightened immigration law in a range of areas, but these restrictions have hit everyone. In the coming year we will need workers, and we therefore need to reach out to everyone who wants to take part in the Danish society" says Lauritzen.

According to Khader : "Even though we want to make it more difficult to give residence to the foreigners who work against democracy and integration, we are reaching the limit to possible immigration restrictions. Therefore we're saying that we need everyone, and we're giving incentives."

I didn't expect to hear this. Well, it was becoming increasingly clear that we were reaching some sort of endgame. There several years' of pessimistic evaluation of the government's integration failures, and then Denmark's immigration laws were decisively trumped by the EU's, the latter being less restrictive. Then there were also growing signs that Dansk Folkparti were running out of political momentum. But this was the first time since 2001 that the government were formally conceding ground, so you'll have to forgive me for being swept up in the moment. Wow, they're actually making it easier? As in, less difficult?

On the surface, the proposal seems fair enough. It's not great, but after 10 years of no's, a maybe isn't so bad. I'm not happy that points are awarded to which institutions you place your children in : what happens if you don't have any? If you're scraping points together, each one counts, so that seems a bit unfair. Also, I'm just not comfortable with the government drawing up a list of "passable" activities, like ... coaching a football team. That stinks of McCarthyism, of a bunch of people on a hill telling us what's right and proper behavior. Well, I write a blog about Danish politics which requires that I'm well versed in Danish current affairs and can read the language. That, and I clearly seem to have a better grasp for democratic concepts than some Danes who think democracy is a window at a fastfood drive-through. Do I get special points for that?

Note that this proposal seeks to lower the waiting time : it doesn't affect the insane battery of language courses and exams you're compelled to take. It's also only about permanent residence : if you're wondering about citizenship, that can of worms stands untouched.

I'm happy the powers that be have come out and admitted a few things though. The Liberals and Conservatives are finally copping to the fact that their immigration restrictions have been overly-broad in their impact, and also, that they've run out of legal options. And Dansk Folkeparti, without shame and clear as day, lay out the bizarre rationale that it's okay to make everyone wait 7 years to get permanent residence, because that's apparently how long a war lasts, so they can still forcibly repatriating all the displaced people they don't want here. I'm starting to wonder if the expression "Kill 'em all and let god sort 'em out" originated here.

What's as telling as everything they're saying, is what they're not telling us : that integration and immigration are working well, thanks for asking. They've given up trying to put a positive spin on it because everyone knows integration works only as far as people can be shoved kicking and screaming into it. The right kind of immigrants are still not arriving in droves. And those who do arrive don't seem to need much encouragement to leave again. No one likes being made to jump through someone else's silly little hoops. It doesn't add up when a country desperately says it needs you, then tells you you're not allowed to stay if don't learn to look, sound and act exactly like them. Integration anno 2010 is probably worse off than it was in 2001, because now a lot of immigrants are running scared after seeing what Denmark is capable of.

Oh, has anyone else noticed the telltale signs of a well-functioning marriage here? The Liberals propose something, Dansk Folkeparti immediately pout, and the Liberals without missing a beat are right there with the necessary offerings. Yes, there will be restrictions, there always are. This is Denmark, and contrary to what some might think, you don't get anything for free in Denmark.

If it's good enough for Nick Griffin ...

2010-05-05T17:54:00.006+02:00

Did you know that in 2002 Nick Griffin from the far-right British National Party refused to support England in the Football World Cup because the national squad had black players on it? Yeah but wait, now it gets funny. Instead, the BNP opted to support Denmark. Why? Because out of all the countries in the tournament, Denmark was the only one with an all-white team. Ouch.

I checked to see if Denmark's 2010 squad still qualified for the Griffin stamp of approval. A search of the Wikipedia revealed Denmark's current national squad, and a check of the biographies of the athletes revealed that there was one person who originated in ... Montenegro (Rajko Lekic), while another, Kenneth Perez, was all of half Spanish. Ouch.

What can I say, it's a busy day and this is the best I can come up with between deadlines.

Come back, Germans!

2010-05-04T21:58:00.003+02:00

It's May 4th today, the 65th anniversary of Denmark's liberation from German occupation in the Second World War. In one of those cases of bizarre irony, had the Germans retained control of Denmark, foreigners and minorities would be better off here. Germany fares better at integration according to EU studies on xenophobia. Dansk Folkeparti's inflammatory nationalism and thinly-veiled racism would never fly down south : it's not illegal, just largely unsupported. Germany made an active and targeted attempt to do something about racism, while Denmark, once one of the world's most open and free societies, has slid back to apartheid-like laws, minority-bashing politicians and Nazi-like cartoons. Isn't life strange?

"Denmark loses tolerance" - Guardian

2010-05-03T21:23:00.005+02:00

I'm working my way through my collection of older articles : this one is taken from the Guardian from 2008, written after the Danish embassy in Pakistan was bombed. Here are some interesting quotes.

Marianne Vestager, the leader of the social liberal party De Radikale, pointed out that it is now time for Denmark to revise its foreign policy and its confrontational stance on Islam and Muslims...

Yes, and if you'll recall, she was skewered in the Danish press afterwards for daring to suggest this.

On the whole, it would seem that the bombing has not changed the Danes' already polarised views on Islam and coexistence. The tragedy in Islamabad only confirms the views of those on both sides of the argument...

While some Danes worry about similar attacks on Danish soil, it would seem many are proud of Denmark's newfound role as a "player" in the international conflict between the west and Islam. This is certainly not a position we used to pride ourselves on - nor is it one that is shared by other Scandinavian countries....

But let us not forget that a group of experienced and highly respected Danish ambassadors during the prophet cartoon crisis appealed to the Danish government to show more understanding of Muslim sentiment. This was not about appeasing, just people used to dealing with diplomacy on an international level providing sound advice.

It's not easy getting a rational view of the Muhammed cartoons inside Denmark these days. Sadly, they have become icons of Danish culture, and while I'm so sick of them that I'd rather just forget they ever existed, hardly a week goes by without them being dredged up by the Danish press in some way or another. Just today, the German tv station ZDF was excoriated in the Danish press for "chickening out of" doing a piece on Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard (details in Politiken). ZDF argues that the piece isn't entertaining enough to warrant showing; Erik Guldager, a Danish gallery owner who was scheduled to appear in the editorial countered that ZDF was exercising "self-censorship" out of fear for Islamic extremists.

There's that eye-rolling expression again, self-censorship. Is that the new and convenient contraction for "Wait, why have you stopped offending the people in the turbans?" Now I'm not sure who's right in this latest pickle, but I do get where ZDF are coming from when they say Westergaard isn't entertaining : the man barely makes likable. Why does every mention of him end up escalating to the tired "clash of civilizations" thing? Didn't we leave that behind us when GWB left the White House? If my civilization does end up marching off to Armageddon, I'd prefer it if our banner wasn't a wild-eyed Muhammaed with a bomb strapped to his dome. Whatever kind of message that sends, it's the wrong kind.

Hello, testing, is this thing still on?

2010-05-02T13:09:00.004+02:00

I'm back from my self-imposed blogging vacation. I took a long pause to catch my breath and re-evaluate a few things. Denmark is in a strange phase right now, where since the year's start there haven't been many significant policy changes regarding immigration. Whether that's good or bad is still anyone's guess. For a while it looked like Dansk Folkeparti had finally run out of hot air, but that isn't denting their support any. If anything, DF seems to have been accepted by mainstream Danish politics as a stable and reliable party that has earned its right to stay. Not quite what I was hoping for.

On a more personal note, I was getting tired of being constantly annoyed. Years of pent-up frustration got a chance to come out and it was great to see that people were agreeing with me, but after a while you start to realize that you're still annoyed. Ranting about stupid laws doesn't change stupid laws. I'm still a guy on the sidelines who feels like a tiny boat on a wild, angry ocean. I took a break from all the negativity and pretended I was somewhere else, and I enjoyed it so much so that I found it difficult to start writing again.

Sorry, but I can't email people directly. I know I promised I would, but it's too much of a security hassle. I try to do everything via proxy servers (yes, I'm that paranoid), but I doesn't work too well for emailing.

Once again, I want to point out that this is not and has never been an "anti-Dane" blog. I've explained the how's and why's several times before, so I won't do it again. But thanks to everyone who supported.

Don't correct Denmark - just, make it more perfect

2010-02-11T17:47:00.009+01:00

Today I go a little off-theme and relate an anecdote instead of a news story. Well, it starts with a story at any rate. There's a long article up on Information about how Danish cultural norms may be responsible for keeping immigrants out of professional Danish football. While Sweden has several high-profile footballers of "color", Denmark has practically none. I'll try to get around to translating it at some point, but its quite long and detailed, and you might want to save yourself the wait and run it through Google Translate. The article and study behind it are not clear-cut, though you do get a fresh and interesting angle on some of the specific mechanisms of culture which affect, and possibly slow, integration of immigrants. It's also possible to extrapolate problems with football to everyday life here, but how far that can be taken is very open to interpretation.

What I wanted to touch on though was an exchange I had with a Dane about the subject. To sum the results of the study up in one line, it says that footballers of immigrant origin frequently give up playing in Denmark because they feel that Danes run their teams as collectives with rigid rules and restrictions on personal playing style, which have more to do with culture than football itself. In the exchange I had, it was pointed out to me that if anything, the study shows that immigrants themselves are responsible for integration going wrong because they give up too easily. Which I guess is a valid point, depending on how your look at it. That interpretation will of course not get more immigrants to play football here, and in the end Denmark still won't have star immigrant players like Sweden does.

So I said something back, that ... this problem is not restricted to football, and that immigrants, myself included, withdraw from interacting with Danes because we are tired of all the cultural demands, demands which don't seem to be as prevalent in neighboring countries. The response was "well it's clearly in how you want to look at it. Stop being so negative and focus on the constructive". At which point I said cheers and bowed out of the discussion, demonstrating more of that quitter spirit immigrants are famous for. A fruitless exchange no doubt, but at least it allowed me to put words on something I've been trying to get out for a while.

I guess it's become socially acceptable in modern Denmark to automatically reject criticism, because a lot of Danes are insecure about the country and prefer to hear what's right about it, instead of wrong. Denmark is in the midst of sweeping social change brought about by the current government, and it's something that many Danes feel is needed, even though I guess many of them are not at all so confident about where it's taking them.

The way in which foreigners are expected to formulate their comments are so restrictive, much like playing Danish football is, that I for one give up - it's not easy to criticize something when you can speak only in the affirmative. A few years back I was told to stop complaining, get off my ass, and write a book or start an integration club. You know, something constructive. How can you possibly reply to that? That's not a suggestion, that's a blow off. How did my observation that we have an unfair immigration policy get turned completely upside and suddenly be about me not having enough drive to author a book? I guess a lot of government supporters are published then? As it turns out I took the man's advice to heart and started blogging, though I'm not so sure this was what he had in mind.

The rule of thumb seems to be, don't criticize Denmark, ever. Rather, suggest ways to improve it. Only, "improve" implies things could be made better, so that might also get people's backs up. Better yet, propose a different kind of perfect. That would be the diplomatic approach. There is never anything wrong with Denmark, only ways it can be made more right. When making your constructive suggestion/flattery, apologize first, and be sure to include clear proposals for how you will lead the way. And do get cracking immediately, because people will be watching intently waiting for you to fail. Janteloven, you have to love it. No I mean, you have to love it - that part's not optional.

Of course not everyone here thinks that way - Denmark is hardly without internal critics. But you won't find a lot of this coming from the people who voted for the ruling coalition. No, those seem to be ones who insist that any situation can be made to look completely right if you turn the world upside down. It's inconvenient, and Sweden calls a lot to ask why everything is suddenly falling upwards, but things will work that way. Besides, everything is relative, depending on how much effort you're willing to put into interpreting relativity. And you do want to make an effort, don't you? You don't want to be the one holding the team back, right?

A design for failure

2010-02-09T22:36:00.003+01:00

Recently Denmark's supreme court upheld a law that effectively blocks naturalized Danish citizens from marrying outside of the country. These are Denmark's 24- and 28- year laws. Amongst other things, they prohibit marriage outside of Denmark to anyone under the age of 24, and requires that a naturalized Danish citizen must have held citizenship for 28 years before being allowed to bring a foreign spouse into Denmark. The excuse, is that the laws prevents forced marriages amongst muslims - even though it applies to every Danish naturalized citizen, regardless of culture or religion. The law is as blind and dumb as a law could possibly get, and as such is a worrying reminder of the technical incompetence of the sitting Danish government, which has had a string of hastily-implemented popular yet flawed laws. There is no provision in the law for having a marriage "tested" for coercion, making it entirely unsuited for focusing on the actual problem. That's the blind for you. And now the government has admitted, in two different ways, that the law does not work. There's your dumb. Or maybe, there's a much simpler explanation : maybe the law is working exactly as intended.

First, forced marriage in itself hasn't diminished (article). Muslim girls are simply being shipped off to live in other countries, so the issue of entry into Denmark is moot, and had the government being paying attention to these poor women, they'd have seen the signs a while ago. The law has been in place for seven years, yet only now do we find out that the law has backfired disastrously in two directions. Not only are muslim girls being severed from their social network in Denmark, but all the other foreigners, the ones who weren't in forced marriages, have borne the brunt of this fiasco. Still, the government insists that the law has been good for Denmark, and will not be changed. Why go to all that trouble to maintain a law that is clearly making things worse?

Then, it turns out that there are mechanisms in place to shelter and support women who flee from forced marriages - the government has just never made any real effort to publicized these. Recently I wrote that the government doesn't care about the actual women in these marriages, that their real priority is to cut down on immigration, and ... thanks VKO for proving me right yet again. The Danish government has been extolling the effectiveness and value of this infamous "24-year" law from the rooftops -it's one of the crown jewels in their immigration-tightening crown, and just about everyone here has heard about it, and knows how it works. It's a pity that the government hasn't been nearly as enthusiastic about informing women in forced marriages that real help is available to them. Shame shame.

Then, there was this. "En ny lov, der retter sig direkte mod tvangsægteskaber, er efter mere end et år ikke taget i brug".

"A new law that specifically targets forced marriages, hasn't been used after more than a year in effect".

Say what, you mean there's another law, one that actually goes after the real forced marriages? Well that's great! But, why do we still have that first law that's been around for seven years, the one that treats all foreign marriages as forced? And why, pray tell, has the government seen fit to pass two different laws which block forced marriage? Doesn't that seem like a waste of taxpayer hours to you? Why, if we're getting a new and presumably smarter law that homes in on the specific problem, is the government still insisting on hanging on to the old, indiscriminant one? So many questions, yet such a simple and altogether likely answer. You go connect the dots.

Where there's a clown suit ...

2010-02-09T03:04:00.001+01:00

Here's a hilarious case of how the wonderful people over at Dansk Folkeparti handle cultural diversity, or the apparent threat thereof.

Right, so there's this Danish politician. We'll call him Kamal Qureshi. He was born in Pakistan, but he's a Danish citizen now. He gets invited to a royal gala or something by the Queen of Denmark, and decides to wear his traditional Pakistani garb, a kaftan. The royal gala recognizes kaftans as formal wear, and have expressed that they welcome his attire. But Dansk Folkeparti have decided their democratic mandate extends over Royal court protocol as well - they're now personally attacking Qureshi for wearing what they term a "clown suit" (yes, that was the exact choice of words) to a formal state dinner. This is what DF parliamentary candidate Kenneth Kristensen Berth had to say.

"That which offends me is not the clothing per se. It is, that it's on a Danish citizen. When he wears something from another country, it says to me that he doesn't feel at home in Denmark, but in Pakistan. Now that he's a Danish citizen, he should also have dressed in the same clothes as everyone else, namely a formal tuxedo, which men are meant to wear".

Don't laugh.This guy is up for election to Denmark's parliament, and hails from the party that directly sets the tone for Danish integration law. We treated to yet another glimpse behind the civilized facade Pia Kjærsgaard has created for her party, though lately these outbursts have grown so frequent that one starts to wonder if Pia has lost her iron touch. Qureshi is married to a white Danish woman. He is a licensed medical doctor. He is (or was, I lose track of these things) a member of Danish parliament from the Socialist People's Party. He is widely regarded as the role model for integration here. But that's clearly not enough - what Dansk Folkeparti want is something more along the lines of a full mind-wipe. You know, at least the Borg let you keep your clothes.

I've often felt that first generation immigrants here have a particularly difficult time integrating because of people like Berth - and I've had my fair share of run-ins with his ilk, right down to my in-laws. No matter how much you do, you just never seem to get there.

I really feel for Qureshi. The way I see it, in most parts of the world, wearing your "traditional" clothes in a situation like this isn't a sign of belligerence : it's taking an extra deep bow. Qureshi wasn't just paying his respects to the Queen : he was greeting her on behalf of everyone in Pakistan. That's two countries, for the price of one. But I guess the troglodytes at DF see things a bit differently.

They'll let almost any clown into parliament these days, won't they?

Denmark : it cares

2010-02-06T17:47:00.007+01:00

There's a frantic, unpleasant debate in Denmark right now about how far the state needs to go criminalize Islamic headgear, because as most Danes see it, these symbols of muslim culture oppress women. It's become a mantra : "I can't support the wearing of clothing which treats women like the property of their fathers or husbands". It's all rubbish of course - Denmark doesn't give a toss about muslim women; they just can't stand to be reminded that these women are muslim. We know this because when Denmark can really do something to help a muslim woman in need, you get the following:

Hicaz Belek is a Turkish woman who married a (presumably) Dane of Turkish origin. Their marriage lasted ten years. They have three kids. In that time he raped and physically abused her constantly. She has now divorced him ... and will be forcibly deported from Denmark because immigration officials have deemed that her divorce breaks her "bond" with the country.

It is a requirement for residence here that a person must have some sort of current or historical connection with the country - it's called "tilknytningskrav". By divorcing her husband, Hicaz Belek has become just another nameless, faceless Turk who wants to get into Denmark to get a free ride, and she must therefore be removed. Never mind that she's lived here for ten years, and never mind that the man who brought her here abused her.Making it even worse, the divorce has caused her to receive threats from her hometown in Konya, Turkey. That doesn't make any difference.

Danish immigration services have thoroughly reviewed her case, and have decided to expel her. The Social Democrats, keen to show that they too can unquestioningly support the government's tough laws, are in full agreement.

Henrik Dam Kristensen from the Social Democrats : "I presume that Immigration Service have done their job. I am of course sorry that she has experienced these things. Immigration Service has certainly done their homework and investigated the case closely. They have enough evidence that she isn't seriously threatened in Konya."

Dam Kristensen feels there isn't a need for changes in the law in order to help victims of violence who are awaiting residence. According to him, the law works as it was intended to.

I don't really see the point in maintain a civil tone in this matter. If you think the law works, then you clearly never really cared about the people you claim to care about. You know, those poor oppressed muslim women who desperately needed your help in removing their clothes?

Denmark cares about two things. One, keeping as many of these dirty foreigners out. And second, making damned sure that the ones who do get in have their dirty foreign identities sandpapered off. But let's stop the farce and pretending already, because it's laughable when you say one thing while clearly meaning something completely different.

This was a chance for Denmark to put money where mouth is - to stop with the grandstanding and posturing, and help someone who clearly deserves and earned a break. She lived here for ten years for the love of god. The guy who brought her here was the one who abused her. For me this is the most clear-cut case possible - she should stay. Yet once more, all this does is allow the facade to fall for a second so we can see how heartless our hosts really are.

Right now, sitting here with clenched teeth, smashing into my keyboard, I know Denmark deserves all the distrust that gets heaped on it. You'll never do enough to be one of them, and if you fall, if you have problems, you're on your own. Oh sure, Denmark likes to brag about the foreign aid and make big shows of Ethiopia this and Haiti that. Sure, have some money, just stay far, far away.

Fuck you Denmark. I don't see why I should respect a society that is so inhuman that it cannot come to the aid of a human on its own soil who is clearly in plight. Hicaz Belek's case doesn't puncture a hole in your precious Chicken Little immigration law. And do note, this is not just a few whackjobs in Dansk Folkeparti making outrageous statements : an entire political system, every major political party in the country, is on-board for this.

And on a personal note, fuck you Henrik Dam Kristensen. From the bottom of my heart, with every bone and every cell in my body, I hope you get beaten and raped for ten years straight. Then, when you finally summon up the courage to leave, please get in touch so I can laugh in your face.

Copenhagen in a nutshell

2010-02-01T02:14:00.007+01:00

About a year old, but worth documenting for posterity, if nothing else than for the comments. And it's funny when Ritt Bjerregaard, the mayor of Copenhagen, says it :

"Only Poland ranks lower when it comes to integrating its foreign-born residents into the job market. Greater Copenhagen has half as many highly skilled immigrants as other capitals – apparently, they are not interested in coming here, or they are scared off by the rigmarole."

http://www.cphpost.dk/a-gift-in-times-of-crisis/172-a-gift-in-times-of-crisis/44805-a-gift-in-a-time-of-crisis.html

Scared, not interested, or just plain old prevented.

It's not easy being a Somali in Denmark

2010-01-31T17:34:00.002+01:00

Politiken reports :

An EU study has just revealed that physical acts of racism are much higher in Denmark than previously though. In fact, Danes are amongst the worst Europeans when it comes to racial abuse and harassment. One in every three Somalis experience personal persecution. After Romani in the Czech Republic and Somalis in Finland, Somalis in Denmark experience the most harassment in Europe, based on their race or religion.

The study in question is based on 27,000 interviews of minorities in Europe.

"Denmark has a large problem when it comes to discrimination" says Morten Kjærum, director for the EU's Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), which conducted the study. "We realized that the figures we had previously worked with represented the tip of the iceberg".

Mandana Zarrehparvar from the Institute for Human Rights is not surprised that Somalis are the most affected, and not just at the hands of Danes. "Somalis are lowest in the hierarchy, including amongst other ethnic groups".

Muhammed Maxamed Abshir, from the organization Somali Development Denmark, says "This is something we always hear from people. Most of them have experienced verbal abuse, but many also experience it physically". According to him, women report being shoved in the street, a boy was held in a chokehold, and many are yelled or spat at in buses or the street. A family was attacked in their house in Fyn. In many places in Jutland, racial attacks and threats are a daily occurrence.

The report also shows that only 80% of Somalis report these incidents.

"They are afraid the authorities won't do anything about it, and then things will just get worse for them. Many have complained without any result ... In the end many just learn to live with it." says Maxamed. Zarrehparvar also singles out the Danish police as a reason for victims not always reporting crimes. "Denmark has generally too little focus on hate crimes. The police need training to handle situations and investigate when hate crimes are reported". She also says that minorities need to know their rights and where they can report crimes.

Not only Somalis experience hate crimes. The national Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transexual organization (LGBT) reports attacks almost every weekend, while the organization for the documentation and counseling for race discrimination (Dokumentations- og Rådgivningscentret om Racediskrimination) reports that Jews and Turks are also hard hit.

The Socialists People's Party has proposed that a national task force be set up to train police to better handle hate crimes. The matter is currently being debated in parliament.

Once again folks, it's the EU protecting minorities in Denmark, not our beloved local government. Hell, the EU is currently protecting us from the government itself. And what do you expect from a police force which famously defends officers who get caught making outright racist comments in public? Who ya gonna call?

This is everyone's problem folks, not just Somalis. Somalis are being singled out because they're at the bottom of the pecking order. Most of them came here as refugees, and it's not like they have a country they can go back to. But if they weren't here, it would be some other minority who got jackbooted. Many of the people of color I know in Denmark say they've experienced some kind of racial abuse. I can attest to the same. Denmark isn't the only country in the world with racism - that's the excuse we're used to hearing anyway. But clearly racism in Denmark is actually worse than in most other European countries. It's as bad as many people have been saying it is. For a supposedly advanced, tolerant and affluent society, with a relatively young and small immigrant population, with relatively low crime and little history of racial conflict, it doesn't make sense that Denmark would be this kind of statistical outlier.

One of the things that really annoys me is how speaking out about racism usually elicits the same range of canned reactions. First they label you paranoid. Then they say you're culturally ignorant of the finer subtleties in Danish culture, and that that red-faced guy was yelling the racial slur in self-lampooning irony. Then there are the conflict avoiders, who say it isn't worth doing anything about anything. Finally, you risk getting labelled with the only really meaningful epithet in Denmark : politically correct. "This isn't America, over here we're allowed to be open about the truth without having to worry about offending people" : that's something I've heard plenty of times, only Danes get it wrong. People do get offended - it just seems to be part of Danish culture to disregard it.

What's doubly sad is, evidence shows that it is often immigrants themselves who are behind violence against homosexuals (reported here). That's shameful, but then, we live in a society that sets a terrible example. It's not that easy to tell Arab kids to stop picking on gays when Danes routinely pick on Arab kids. In a society where dog eats dog, there are only dogs and bigger dogs.

37 year waiting period to get your spouse into Denmark

2010-01-27T20:27:00.002+01:00

Are you from outside the EU and thinking of working in Denmark? Well, make sure you're already married and that your spouse gets in with you, otherwise you're in for one heck of a wait.

As reported in Politiken, the Danish Supreme court has upheld an immigration law which requires that naturalized Danish citizens must wait 28 years after attaining citizenship, before they are allowed to bring a foreign spouse in with them. Note that the naturalization period is nine years, so the total is ... 37 years. I went ahead and did some more math for you because I love big numbers. Let's suppose you come here as a 25 year old, that means you'll be 62 when you're allowed to bring a partner in with you. That's Denmark for you.

The case in point is Ousmane Biao, a Togolese man who came to Denmark in 1993, and became a citizen in 2002. In 2004 he tried to bring his Togolese wife into Denmark, but was turned down. The couple then moved to Malmö in Sweden to be together, and have since taken their case all the way to Danish supreme court. They lost. Their lawyer has indicated that they are willing to take the matter further on to the EU courts, where it is unlikely Denmark will prevail. I can't wait to see yet another inhuman and lopsided Danish law crash and burn, hopefully with a few political careers on board.

The law enjoys broad support in Denmark.

Integration minister Birthe Rønn Hornbech (V) : "We have had a case before the Supreme Court, and the court ruled in our favour. This has been noted now, and there is no reason to change anything in the 28-year law. The matter is closed. It would be very strange if the courts agreed with us, and then we changed the law."

The largest opposition party the Social Democrats also gave their full support to the law. SD integration spokesman Henrik Dam Kristensen : "There is no reason to stop or change the law. We created the 24-year and 28-year laws to prevent forced marriages".

This law does not apply to natively-born Danes over the age of 28, who are free to bring foreign spouses in. Effectively, there are two classes of Danish citizenship - the kind awarded to those born in Denmark, and then the kind awarded to those who apply for it. This is highly problematic in an "apartheid South Africa" kind of way, where all South Africans had citizenship, but where their government created separate legal sub-categories for them. South Africa did it based on race, Denmark is now doing it based on country of origin.

The Danish government has been trying for years to create a dual citizenship model like this, and it's always failed because, presumably, the Danish constitution prohibits it. Typically it would be the Supreme Court's role to catch mistakes like this, and it's worth noting the court's panel of judges was deeply split, but the government did win in the end. On a side note, a defeat for the government within the Danish legal system may have been better for the VKO government, because should this case fail before the EU it will be far more embarrassing.

Henrik Kristensen from the Social Democrats delivers the most interesting sound bite. He tries to remind everyone that a law which clearly seems unfair is actually working for the greater good. In other words, sometimes to fight big evils, you need small evils, right? There is nothing to suggest Ousmane Biao's marriage was forced, yet the Social Democrats have just indirectly disparaged it as just that, along with all marriages involving all foreigners. There is no mechanism in the law to separate the good from the bad - all Danish citizens who originate from outside the EU are affected. Denmark is hard at work fighting bigger issues, and your petty problems, like being unable to live with your spouse, why that's small potatoes.

If the government really wanted to do something about forced marriages, they could have designed laws which took actual evidence into account, but no, we know from experience the Danish authorities hate getting themselves dirty by having to talk to and try to understand foreigners. It's a lot easier for them to rule against everyone by default, and then take an early lunch. I put it to you that the Danish government doesn't really give a hoot about arranged marriages. Why? Because of the almost complete absence of state-funded programs to shelter women who flee from arranged marriages. What actually happened was that the authorities realized foreigners don't like marrying Danes - which meant that for every foreigner allowed in, Denmark invariably got another another one for free. For a country obsessed with fighting immigration, a doubling in immigration is serious business. But alas, Denmark has its vanity too - they enjoy their image as one of the most tolerant societies in the wold, and fighting arranged marriage has a better ring than stopping darky from doubling.

No society can call itself civil and fair when it passes laws which are deliberately victimize the innocent. If nothing else, history shows that societies like that invariably fail. One has to ask - how can a majority of Danes turn a blind eye to this? Keeping a total stranger out of the country is one one thing - Denmark has no obligation or duty to outsiders. But when an entire class of your own citizens are systematically and callously deprived of something as basic as the right to a normal family life, your county has passed the point of no return. The Danish state has effectively prohibited marriage for citizens with cultural ties outside the EU, and this is starting to stink an awful lot like the social engineering of Australia's Stolen Generation.

On a closing note, I haven't been that active blogging this month. It started off with some computer problems, and after that I got distracted by other things. I'm not out of the game, just a little lazy.

Danish Defense wins the war against integration

2010-01-04T01:54:00.000+01:00

The Danish Defense ministry spent millions of kroner over eight years trying to actively recruit employees with an immigrant background, and managed to net a grand total of 130. Out of its 25,000 employees, 1,1% are "non-western" in origin. The target was 4% (immigrants make up 9.5 % of the Danish population). That makes Defense the worst performing state employer when it comes to integration. The official explanation : they never attempted to figure out what they were doing wrong.

Several million kroner on a multi-year project, that no one really cared about. Your tax kroner, ladies and gentlemen. That's integration in a nutshell for you : a dead-end campaign. The real objective is just looking busy, because that keeps Hr. and Fr. Jensen calm.

Money is always the only tangible commitment to integration. Let's start a campaign, give it a large budget (the press like to report that sort of thing), hire a smooth-talking consultant, come up with a catchy slogan, and ..... and? Integration failed at Defense because they weren't arsed enough to talk to the actual people they were meant to hire. That seems to be how almost every other integration campaign is run, and what is at the heart of Denmark's problem. Asking foreigners to change Denmark's view of itself and the world around it somehow implies turning Danes into servants in their own home.

You can find the original article here on DR's english website.

Is there really a pot of gold at the end of the integration rainbow?

2010-01-02T21:11:00.004+01:00

Here's a story from the Swedish paper Skånskan (thanks to Agger for the link). The original is in Swedish, so hit Google Translate if you want it unabridged.

A muslim woman who was born, raised and educated in Denmark, is complaining that her daughter's school systematically separates muslim and Danish pupils, and reinforces in muslim pupils the notion that they are troubled underachievers. Her attempts to raise a debate with the school on the matter have been rebuked, as have her attempts to transfer her daughter to other schools, which all seem keen on curbing the number of muslims pupils. Furthermore, her attempts to alert the Danish press to the matter have also been ignored, which she claims is due to the latter's intent on negative portrayal of immigrants while ignoring failures on the part of the Danish system.

The woman, Shabani Ahmed, who is a university-educated chemist, says she considers her family no different from any other well-functioning Danish family, but adds that in Denmark there is no place for real cultural diversity, and unless one follows a narrow interpretation of mainstream Danish culture, such as alcohol consumption, one will always be treated like an outsider.

I don't want to know what this woman and her daughter are going through, trapped in a society that doesn't accept them. Sometimes I think expats got the luck of the draw - we often have an easy option for getting out, a lifeline back to the world on the outside. But what do you do if you're a second or third generation immigrant, your identity molded around a society which also refuses to accept you for seemingly petty and inane reasons? Shabani Ahmed's parents were immigrants, her daughter is third gen, and still there is no acceptance. Exactly how long does it take for the Danish dream to become unlocked, and more importantly, how much of your own identity must you give up first?

Oh I know what Shabani Ahmed is talking about, because I've also had beers thrust into my hand in that friendly yet firm way, "You do drink beer, right?". I'm sure many of you know what I'm talking about. "Sure I do ..." I mutter back trailing off, knowing I've passed one test, yet failed another. I don't like being told to drink, so much so that since moving here I've deliberately avoided social drinking. I stopped doing a lot of social things now that I think about it, because it always feels like a race to keep up, like a game where I had to constantly prove myself, and where the tests never seem to get any easier. Some people manage to integrate, but I haven't met any who got happy at the same time. I don't know Shabani Ahmed, but I've experienced what she's going through on a smaller scale, and I've heard the same stories from others. It really makes one wonder : do you ever really integrate here? Do you ever have days when you wake up, open the curtain and look out, and not see a foreign country?

Happy new year

2010-01-01T13:49:00.002+01:00

Best wishes to you all, and thanks for reading my rambles. I especially want to thank the evil scheming wenches who encouraged me to start blogging again. I'll try my best to keep the posts coming.

This being my first blog that actually got read, I was a bit overwhelmed by the size of the debate it unleashed. The original idea was to write about what I thought - there was no clear agenda or higher goal beyond that. I thought it would be nice to see Denmark change, but I don't at all see what I was doing as causing that. Maybe I can get a few more people to think twice about what they experience here, maybe cause a few others to choose another work destination. But this blog is just one of many, and therefore I want to limit it in some ways so it's both easier to manage, and easier to read.

I'll be using full comment moderation from now on, probably twice a day after office hours, so it might take a few hours before your comment gets through. You're still free to say negative things, but please stay on topic. Most other comments will be let through. Yes, go ahead, accuse me of running Denmark's biggest circle jerk, like I care. I want to blog about what goes on here, for the benefit of those who either share my views, or who are researching Denmark to see if it's a viable place to live. This is not another debate forum for right-wing Danes to muddy the waters of clear thinking - lord knows we have plenty of those already. If you really hate what I write, start your own blog, link to what I've said, and then you can bash me there, to your heart's content. I am not against people criticizing my writings, but I've noticed that many of the debates veer off topic and end up having little to do with what I wrote in the first place. Full moderation is an experimental solution to that. If it doesn't work, or if it kills the discussion off entirely, I'll try something else.

Just so we're clear : this is not a debate blog, nor a blog for the good of greater Denmark. We're not ready to debate yet because foreigners first need to talk to each other and articulate their own thoughts and feelings about Denmark. Many of us are struggling to do even that. Nor is this an attempt to make things better for Denmark the country. This is a blog for the people who have been marginalized by the current political system in this country - that means a whole heap of foreigners, and yes, some Danes too. I'd like to shift the focus back to us thanks. If the eventual solution is we all decide to leave and Denmark loses out, I'm happy with that, as long as the target audience is better off. Happy 2010 people - make it an eye-opener.

Liberals will pay you for more stuff you don't care about

2009-12-27T14:43:00.011+01:00

A few months ago the Liberal-led government set everyone's tongues a-wagging when they announced they were going to pay third world immigrants to leave Denmark and never come back. If that was the stick, I guess this is the equivalent carrot. Before we do anything though, let's clean up some of the terminology for you. When this article talks about immigrant women, what they actually mean is muslim women. This is going to be another case of a broad immigrant law that is clearly targeted at a specific sub-group.

The Liberals are proposing giving immigrant women Kr 15,000 if they pass a test in Danish, democracy, family- and education-guidance. The money will be received if the women attend courses and pass an exam.

"We don't want to interfere in a family's choice, but we are making an offer, which both women and their husbands can understand. Some women want to be a part of the Danish society, but they are held out by their husbands through social controls" says Liberal integration spokesman Karsten Lauritzen.

The proposal is aimed at the approximately 10,000 women who live without contact with the Danish society, and aims to get them into the job market. The proposal has received positive response from both the left and right, with the Conservatives, Dansk Folkeparti, the Radicals and the Social Democrats backing it.

Kræn Blume Jense from the research institute AKF (Anvendt Kommunal Forskning) doubts the effectiveness of the proposal though. "I am not sure a bonus is the way forward. It might affect some, but I am not sure it will pull in the majority".

In other news, the Liberals plan to fight the rising tide of cocaine and heroin addiction by handing out free liquor at designated inner-city centers across the country. Addicts who fail a drug test can receive their hard tack of choice, though currently only whiskey and rum are available. A Liberal spokesman who declined to give his name said "This is an important part of our strategy for breaking the grip illegal drug dealers, especially Arab gangs, have on our society. It's obviously not an ideal solution, but it's better than doing nothing, and it shows that our party is willing to confront the problem head-on."

One of the things that immigrants get criticized over the most is that we are unmotivated and lazy, and want to do nothing but lie curled up at the teat of Mother Welfare. Getting immigrants to stop doing this was presumably one of the core aims of our current "reformist" government, yet they more than anyone before are perfectly happy to dip into state coffers to find solutions. Ah, money, the almighty coin, that fabulous moolah, buys the allegiance of even the most undemocratic mullah.

While I laud the goal of this, to emancipate immigrant women, I don't approve of the method. It sends the signal that we live in a society where your civic responsibility and expectations, are financially pegged. There will be no deeper understanding of democracy, and ultimately I can't see how this makes people function any better. If some muslim men are already preventing their women from working and bringing in extra income, how does offering a cash bonus help when it's already clear that money isn't the issue? And let's suppose they pass the course and get their bonus, what stops hubby from pocketing it and then locking wifey up again?

I could suggest my own solution : let muslims sort this out on their own. Focus on the muslims who are already willing to fit in, and make sure they are treated well. Like, you know, cut out the the demonizing and burkas-are-satan routine. Then let those people talk to the hardballs. Trust and time are going to fix this, not force and money. And we need to accept that there will always be a minority who refuse to fit in. If they were ethnic Danes, would anyone really care?

My guess is that the Liberals know this won't work, but are hoping that enough spring for it anyway. Enough to make for good campaigning in a few years when people have forgotten how much money had to be sunk into this. Let's face it, over the last decade the government has spent hundreds of millions of integration, and all they have to show for it at are depressing statistics. Yet that seems to be enough for voters, so why not generate more? The integration of muslim women is the holy grail in Danish politics. This is the most muslim, the most off-limits part of society, hence all the fevered discussion about tearing off their scarves and shoving them out of their homes. You don't even need to solve the puzzle to look good, just appear to be trying to almost get it right. Thank goodness for low expectations!

The islam debate : now with clowns.

2009-12-22T00:05:00.009+01:00

I know I'm trying to steer away from discussing islam because I'm fatigued on the subject, but now and then something too delicious passes by and I just can't pass it up. Behold.

The chairman of Denmark's Trykkefrihedsselskabet (free press association), Lars Hedegaard has gone on record saying Muslims have no conscience when they lie, they rape their own children, and think it's their right to gangrape Scandinavian women. Trykkefrihedsselskabet gained prominence before in connection with the Muhammed cartoon crisis (ed : yes, here we go again), and enjoys a great deal of support from Dansk Folkeparti.

Lars Hedegaard predicts a popular uprising against leaders who don't take a stand against "uncivilized and barbaric muslims".

"After the German occupation of Denmark, there were those who collaborated with the enemy, who found themselves in trouble. The same could happen now. Our ways of life are like water and fire. One of them must prevail".

Lars Hedegaard was unsuccessful in joining the author's organization PEN, which didn't agree with his strongly anti-islam views. This prompted him to form Trykkefrihedsselskabet.

The problem with the debate about islam is that it's always idiots like this who do the weighing in. Yes, Islam does have problems with democracy and blah blah, but people like Pia Kjærsgaard, Gert Wilders and now Lars Hedegaard aren't forwarding the debate with their baseless nonsense. If this was any less veiled they'd be forming einzats groups and rounding muslims up. Here's a guy who doesn't get into the nuts and bolts of why islam has a problem reconciling itself with the west, which means he has nothing to offer in the way of a solution either. He could never teach a muslim to be better, because he doesn't understand himself what being better means.

Lars Hedegaard claims that he is 100% right, and islam is 100% wrong, and anyone who disagrees is a traitor. He's not giving muslims anything to work with, but much like the muhammed cartoons, is content to tell a billion people to go get bent. And then what? If you follow this man's train of logic, and I use logic loosely here, what the west needs is another Final Solution, because it's either Us or Them. Now where have we heard this failed, discredited thinking before?

And what's with the penis fixation? Mass rape? Child rape? Wait, when did child molestation become a muslim issue? We live in a country where the media loves nothing more than giving graphic accounts of both pedophilia and muslim crimes. Yet I cannot recall a single scandalous account of muslim child abuse. If you have links, please, do send them in. Whenever a molestation story breaks, the children always seem to be white, and the mothers on welfare and heroin. Notice that when the police break up kiddie porn rings, it's never halaal butchers, taxi drivers and pizzeria owners they net. No, they bag other cops, and teachers, a church minister or two and other upstanding pillars of society. D minus Lars. This was a really poor attempt at inciting a race war. I expected more from a failed writer.

I'm not going to touch the gangrape thing, because that's getting old. We've seen enough statistics debunked : it doesn't happen. This is another unoriginal and outdated nazi-era trick. Poor muslims. Little do they know that when they finally succeed at integration, they'll be accused of stealing Denmark's money and being part of a vast global shadow conspiracy to enslave the Aryan race.

But wait - hooray, there's more! If those antics didn't delight you, we have clowns! The other members of Lars Hedegaard's committee were quick to back him. Well, sort of. Or not. You decide.

The remaining board members Lars Hedegaard's press organization will not challenge his leadership based on his strongly anti-islamic statements.

"We fully support our chairman. We think he's an excellent chairman. Trykkefrihedsselskabet is a free speech organization, not an opinion club, so people don't need to be in agreement with him" said vicechairman Katrine Winkel Holm. She doesn't see any reason to comment on Lars Hedegaard's comments, even if they fall within Trykkefrihedsselskabet's area of focus, namely criticism of islam.

"When you believe in freedom of speech today, you can't escape the issue of islam, because it's the biggest threat. But we don't have an official position on islam."

When asked if she agreed with Hedegaard, her reply was : "I don't know. I'm not familiar with the details. It was a fact-based discussion, which requires documentation. I'm not an expect, but Lars is. I have faith in his judgement...".

Jette Plesner Dali, also on the board, says "It's very taboo and very delicate, and one needs to approach the subject with some sensitivity, which is not what Lars Hedegaard is known for". But she still backs him up. "It is my judgement that an organization like Trykkefrihedsselskabet needs a chairman who can bulldoze his way through".

It's the People's Front of Judea. They managed to give this man their full and unequivocal backing, while actually dodging absolutely everything he said.

Look, if it's a free speech organization, one can assume that it's also acceptable to call Lars Hedegaard an offensive pig without getting booted. Or without booting him. They just admitted it anyway, only in as few words as absolutely possible. Maybe these gifted individuals are missing the point of freedom of speech. Yes, you have the freedom to say what you want : that doesn't make what you say right. Learn to tell the difference.

Here's what I think. Trykkefrihedsselskabet is an organization of cowardly bigots. They got together so they could network with other haters, out of the public eye. That way they tap into those lucrative Dansk Folkeparti private appearance gigs, where they can spout freely without all the awkward questions. In my experience, whenever people are so clearly uncomfortable with being associated with an open bigot, without actually wanting to take a stand against the bigotry, they're bigots too. The squirming contradictions are priceless. Like the sensitive bulldozer. Or the islam-critical society, not having an official position on islam. Oh I can't wait for Pia Kjærsgaard to walk into the big top!

Brian Mikkelsen and the amazing shrinking democratic rights

2009-12-21T03:43:00.000+01:00

As most people know by now, the Danish police came down with an iron hand on demonstrators at the failed Copenhagen Climate conference, COP15. Many of the demonstrators were taken aback at how untargeted and overzealous the police were, given Denmark's reputation for openess. Much of this happened within the framework of new laws put in place by the current Justice Minister, Brian Mikkelsen. Politiken ran this story on Dec 17th which helps to explain a bit about how dangerous Mikkelsen really is.

People are avoiding demonstrations for fear of being victims of the new anti-protest laws. This is due to the fear of being arrested without cause or warning, and held in a locked position on the ground for hours. 44% of people (ed : assuming Danes) say they would avoid protesting.

Henrik Stagetorn from the national union of defense lawyers says that people still have a technical right to gather, but in reality many are now scared to do so. The new laws reduce our freedom of expression. Christoffer Badse from the institute for human rights (IMR) agrees, pointing in particular to an incident on Saturday Dec 12 where a thousand peaceful demonstrators where arrested because the police felt they were going to cause disruptions. Eventually almost none were charged. Amongst the arrested were unfortunate bypassers as well.

"In the long run this can undermine freedom to gather, and people's belief in authority", says Christoffer Badse.

Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen says that the laws are not intended to scare people from using their right to protest. He says that between 50 and 100 thousand people demonstrated that day, proving that the will to protest is alive. He also says that those who feel they have been unfairly treated should lodge complaints and ask for compensation.

"One has to ask, what is the alternative? Was it violent protests setting the city on fire and attacking the police and ordinary people? Here the police stopped black-clad violent types, so that the rest of the demonstrators could proceed peacefully".

Of all the people in government, Brian Mikkelsen scares me the most, because if you measure ability vs responsibility, he is seriously overburdened. Here's a man who until recently was widely viewed as an incompetent fratboy who brownnosed his way to the top, yet could barely manage the cakewalk culture ministry. You know, that place where they decide whether it's going to be ballet or opera this year. He has never demonstrated any aptitude for leadership, but thanks to retirements within his party, he's now top cop. God help us.

Yes Brian, the law was not supposed to scare people off, but it clearly is. Guns weren't made to shoot kids either, but that doesn't seem to stop them from being both stupid and misused. But instead of admitting that the law is a mistake, as pointed out by several prominent legal organizations, Brian simply shrugs. No, worse. He tells people to write in and complain so they can get a refund, because in his luxury-addled mind, money fixes everything. Here's a man who's never had to protest for anything in his life - why would he? His wife is richer than he can count to, and he's connected. He's gotten everything he's wanted in life through kissing ass and writing letters, and now he demands to know why you aren't doing the same.

The whole point about protesting, Brian, and pay attention because you might learn something today, is that it maintains a direct channel of feedback between The People and government. Therefore it has to be kept free and at the discretion of The People. It's their right. It's not something the government regulates, because if the government is the reason people need to gather in the first place, then protest is out of reach and therefore moot. There, now you've learned something.

Public gathering, by itself, is never illegal, no matter how much of an inconvenience it is, and any attempt to criminalize it is an attack on democracy itself. If people are upset enough to gather on the streets, then whatever they're gathering about is important, whether you agree with them or not. Learn to live with it. What is illegal is vandalism, the willful destruction of property, and assaulting people. None of that stuff happened on Saturday, December 12th, but because police felt those people might commit actual crimes, they were treated as criminals. Gathering in public is still legal here, but for these people, it was enough to get them arrested. Denmark has implemented a Minority Report law, where simply being in the position to potentially commit a crime is as good as committing one. Is Denmark slowly trying to implement its own Patriot Act, suspended fundamental civil rights, placing them in trust with a "caretaker" government, that needs us to sacrifice so we can be protected from a nameless, shapeless enemy?

Notice Brian's choice of words : "black-clad, violent types". This is just more fear and smear tactics to force us into accepting that there are only two alternatives : him, or the city on fire at the hands of anarchists. Brian was doing more of the same a few days ago when he was caughtlying on national tv claiming that demonstrators had attacked police with bombs, even though the police said no such attacks ever occurred. I myself am not a supporter of anarchist vandals, but I also know that many of the people he's trying to pigeonhole here were activists who were willing to push past the police to prove a point. Pushing past the police in itself isn't a crime because there are no victims - it's at worst a misdemeanor. But during COP15, zero tolerance from the police made even verbal opposition a violent crime. In short, it's obviously the police were as eager as violent anarchists to escalate any confrontation into violence, and then use the violence as justification for the escalation. The police should have been on hand to arrest people when actual vandalism occurred, but instead they chickened out and chose the easy option of arrested anyone who could be a vandal, and whoever was standing next to them at the time.

Telling people to write in and complain is pointless in the extreme, because by then, your actual right to gather has been taken away from you. You're not going to do much protesting from inside a jail cell, even if you're released twelve hours later with an apology. The law is deceptive in that instead of fully taking away your right to protest, it disrupts it for just long enough to keep meaningful protest out of your reach. What good is monetary compensation then? You will still have to endure being arrested, which is violent and intimidating. If you physically resist, you risk being beaten or peppersprayed, and there is no compensation for that. We've already seen the police use unjustified violence at Brorsens Kirke, and their actions were cleared by the government. A lot of people will opt to avoid protest altogether for fear of this. Then, out of the unfairly arrested, how many do you think will actually make a case? Will there be lawyers and costs? How many people will actually have the energy to carry it all the way through? And assuming they win, what will they actually get? How much is a democratic right worth? Kr 500? Kr 1000? Kr 5000? How much money is Brian Mikkelsen willing to pay you off for the rights he mangled with his inept laws? Clearly not that much, given how calm he is about you filing a complaint - he's already budgeted for it. The whole point of compensation is that it's meant to hurt the perpetrator enough for them to think twice next time they're about to mess up. That is clearly not happening now.

Brian Mikkelsen, like many other incompetent douchebags in this government, are the real threat here. They're tampering with fundamental laws that have taken us centuries to build, laws they're creatively reinterpreting so they can have their perfect monoculture.. First they did it with foreigners, clipping off little bits of ours rights until we sit here today with no voice or power to influence a society we are equal contributers to. And now, they're turning on their own.

What went wrong in Copenhagen?

2009-12-19T15:58:00.004+01:00

I wrote this up two days ago, but decided to hold off posting until the conference was formally over, in the unlikely event of a sudden and major breakthrough. Now that it's done and has been universally declared a failure, I think it's safe to start kicking the corpse.

It's the 17th. The first thing I saw when I went online this morning was that COP15 negotiations had failed, more or less. All that was missing was a formal declaration of defeat from the Danish Prime Minister. This was both very good and very very bad. Good because Denmark never deserved to have the conference succeed, very very bad because I still live on the planet they were supposed to save. As the day wore on more stories of the chaos at COP15 emerged, none of which surprised. It was really just a matter of having lots of new people waking up to the signs that have always been there. COP15 was looking bad before it even got on the runway, and there was no way this turkey was ever taking off.

Lack of preparation

Accusations are swirling that the Danish organizers were badly prepared. They certainly failed to anticipate the opposition from the developing world, both in terms of reluctance to abandoning the Kyoto agreement, as well as willingness to form an impervious bloc,namely the G77. This "third world union" was able to derail climate talks from the very beginning, and keep them derailed, despite the host nation's horsewhispering and then fist shaking. Had the Danish government done its homework, it would have known this was coming, and had the necessary compromise plan in place from day#1.

Denmark expected the world to converge on Copenhagen in what can only be described as the biggest social,economic and political logjam of all time, and somehow everything would fall into order by itself. A summit of this magnitude would have required substantial pre-negotiation, but I don't recall Connie Hedegaard flying back and forth to anywhere. By failing to start early, identify the sticking points and have these on the table by the time the conference started, COP15 ended up being the pre-summit.

For those outside Denmark reading this, here's a little something I've picked up after years of living here, which despite sounding a bit cynical might help to frame the bizarre behavior of Danish delegation. The ruling Liberal Party are not used to consensus-building negotiations between disagreeing sides - it's just not something one sees in Danish society in general, particularly not these days, and the Danish government were clearly inexperienced at gaining trust or drawing factions together by focusing on common objectives.

The last ten years of Danish politics has seen the Liberals win every national impasse they've encountered, making them seem nearly invincible to Danes. But things are different out in the real world. Lars Løkke Rasmussen is a master of the art of "Danish negotiation", which is a mixture of smooth talking and carpet-bombing your opponent with semantics until they forgot why they disagreed with you in the first place. It's what Danes refer to as "settling disagreements over a cup of coffee". In Denmark when you agree to that, you in essence agree that by the time the coffee has run out, differences will have been settled -the coffee drinking is there to give you the time to figure out how. That style of negotiation came into play at COP15, and failed. Of course it would - the G77 referred to it as pushing a hidden agenda, breaking protocol, and using amateur diplomacy.

Failure to lead

There is still a chance for a last-minute deal to be struck, but clearly no matter what, Denmark will see it from the sidelines. The Prime Minister's office had a "meltdown" (as the BBC put it), and on several occasions today Lars Løkke and former environmental minister Connie Hedegaard admitted that they had no more leadership to offer, and that other countries had to take over and solve the deadlock. In other words they were in over their heads. They were visibly and openly frustrated but also clearly without any kind of a plan for how to proceed. What are they doing hosting something this big and important if they lack the skill and clout?

On several occasions, Denmark's diplomatic skills have been openly questioned by other countries, dredging up memories of the Muhammed cartoon crisis where the same brash and arrogant style was also brought into play. Unfortunately, many in Denmark clearly misinterpreted the earlier episode as a victory for them, and when the same heavy-handedness and "I lead you follow" came up again, it was a disaster. Connie Hedegaard in particular seemed almost indignant that other countries were failing to grasp how obviously right she had to be.

Denmark's diplomatic reputation today lies in ruins, and deservedly so. Lars Løkke bears a large part of the responsibility for this - he's what Danes admiringly call a "gadedreng", but anywhere else he'd just be a hustler. In other words, he's smart-talking and slippery, preferring to use technicalities and tricks to win short-term benefits, with very little real long-term vision.

Pushing a first world agenda

Climate change is a function of CO2 emissions, which in turn is a function of industrialization. Wealth is also a function of industrialization, so CO2 and wealth go hand-in-hand. If reducing global temperature means reducing CO2, that means reducing wealth as well - in our current economic paradigm, that is inescapable. The thing of it is is, it's dead easy to reduce carbon output. The tricky part is figuring out who will do it. And when the world met in Copenhagen to discuss this, everyone tried to grab as much as they could, because carbon means prosperity for you, and rising sea levels to everyone else.

The problem was that the host/mediator always seemed to be pushing its own agenda, that of securing as much carbon as possible for the wealthiest nations. Denmark's unwavering insistence on abandoning Kyoto and replacing it with a much softer "carbon currency" system fatally undermined its neutrality, and left the conference without a credible leader. Ironically, Denmark would have actually been of greater value to the G8 had it not tried so visibly to help them, as the G77 would have been less likely to sense the trap.

Style above substance

As I said in my last post, COP15 feels more like a trade fair and showcase of Denmark than an international negotiation. Denmark's advanced society and technology have been the center of a carefully choreographed media spectacle. Perhaps Lars Løkke thought he could dazzle and awe visitors into buying into everything else he was doing. There's more of that hustler stuff - it's all about the act. And it didn't work.

One of the serious problems with Denmark's hosting of the talks was the obvious avoidance of serious question of who will cut, and how much, and by when. You know, the hard stuff, the brass tacks, the issues which should have been front and center months ago. Yet all we got was a barrage of fairytale Denmark with wind mills and bicycles. Great - it works here, any chance of trying to translate that into a plan that works for China, India and Brazil? You know, those other countries that are bigger and more important? Windmills and bikes are great, but they don't solve problems for developing countries who have plenty of rising sea and not a great deal of infrastructure. All of these countries have per-capita energy consumption far below the west's, and taking it even further, if you look at a country like China, most of its pollution is a result of industry that has merely been outsourced from developed nations.

The climate conference conveniently dodged another big issue : drastically changing our lifestyles. Not all that designer crap which tries to show you can live in luxury and reduce your emission at the same time, but starting to talk about global plans for eating less food, consuming local, putting hard limits on car usage, reducing freight, flying less, and in general, dismantling globalized industry. Such a statement from hosts Denmark would be unthinkable, because Lars Løkke isn't just trying to score one for the G8 club, he's also trying to jockey for a position where Danish industry can be amongst the main benefactors of the climate crisis.

Denmark has spent a great deal of time talking about itself, and not nearly enough talking about creating viable solutions for the world. When your primary argument for solving a global problems is "be more Danish like us", you have problems. Please, get off the podium and let someone else take care of this.

You cannot buy your way out of problems

The "third" in "third world" is there because of a lack of money, and for all those countries, poverty reduction through development is item #1 on the national agenda. COP15 organizers effectively told these countries that they'd have to give up industry and stay poor, so the world could escape drowning. Now that right there is a hard-sell, because the G77 clearly didn't come to Copenhagen to get fleeced. By escaping fixed emission reduction target of Kyoto and moving over to carbon currency, the developed world would effectively be buying their way out of emission reduction, at the expense of the third world : the latter would be paid off with funny money. Perhaps one of the advantages of the current global recession is that it's made many countries think twice about the actual value of money. People have finally started realizing that technology and collective bargaining are worth far more than cash loans, yet all they were offered at COP15 was a chance to lag behind for another few decades while rich countries drown in wealth.

Rather late than broken

COP15 has been billed as the conference to save the world. Well, it looks like the world will have to find a way to hang on a bit longer, because someone dropped the ball. This might seem like a serious setback, but at least we have a chance to realize that failure is also a real possibility, and that our divisions are a lot deeper than some of us may have been willing to admit. Now we can get down to the business of formulating a broader policy which will actually hold instead of being constantly undermined by its signatories. Let's just hope that whoever organizes the next, presumably Mexico, is actually up to the task.

Don't blame everyone in Denmark

Denmark as a whole did not fail at COP15, only its government and their supporters. A very sizable section of Denmark threw their lot in with the G77, or tried to remain neutral and build real consensus. Danes were out in full force, protesting and getting arrested. A small army of them assisted foreign NGO's and political action groups who participated in COP15, and it's unfair to tar them all. In fact, some of the most steadfast undermining of Denmark's leadership has come from within. What failed today is Denmark's current political establishment, with its outdated notions of the world and itself. In the last ten years Lars Løkke Rasmussen has been one of the main players in trying to reshape his country, but those efforts seem to have led Denmark into self-imposed global exile. His and Anders Fogh Rasmussen's grand experiment has failed. The hustling, the anti-intellectualism, the inability to criticize itself ... maybe ordinary Danes will finally wake up from this decade-long nightmare and realize where they are.

And then there's that cop stuff

COP15 wasn't just a fiasco indoors - outside the police and Justice Ministry were hard at work beating your democratic rights into a pulp. But that's a litany long enough for a post of its own. So much has been written about COP15, and so much more needs to be said, that I think we're going to be chewing on this topic for months.

Denmark, the little country that couldn't

2009-12-14T01:21:00.003+01:00

As expected, everything has hit the fan more or less simultaneously here in Copemhagen. The expected demonstrations have started, and the incompetently-written anti-protest laws are not working. While there have been several peaceful demonstrations in the Copenhagen without incident, there have also been consistent reports of police brutality and unreasonable response. Here's a quick list of some stories from Politiken - all stories are in Danish, so use Google Translate if needed.

Almost all major Danish media bodies are reporting harassment from the police, who are blocking access to mass arrest areas amongst other things (link).
A 51 year old hare krishna woman who was handing out dessert to activists was arrested for being part of a "violent protest" (link)
The police are using mass arrest as a way to control crowds. Arrested people are forced to sit on the freezing ground for hours, only to be released again because they cannot be charged (link)
Amnesty International have condemned the police response and called for the anti-protest laws to be scrutinized (link)

I'm not going to cover this in detail, not because I don't think it's important, but because there are many other sites who are doing it better. I would like to add a note though. I still have a great deal of respect for some Danes, seeing them out on the streets, exercising their democratic right to demonstrate peacefully, mixed in with people from all the corners of the world. But when it comes to the police and government, I can't say I've lost what little regard I had left, because I was already on empty. Let's just say that if a bunch of rampaging anarchists set a bunch more garages on fire tomorrow, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

It offends all my democratic sensibilities to know that they're using detention for simple control crowd. That's sadly typical of what Denmark has become, thinking they can outsmart the other guy by cutting corners and using shortcuts, because the only thing that matters is where you finish. Denmark has yet again failed to meet basic democratic standards. Of course Dansk Folkeparti and the "Justice" Minister were quick to fly a mission accomplished banner on this one, but Denmark the country isn't making any friends here. Sure, people will go home taking memories of the left-wingers who stood shoulder to shoulder with them, but now they've also seen the ugly side of the right. You just can't buy bad publicity like that.

The Climate Conference, for a lot of Danes further up the food chain, is not so much about climate as it is about showcasing the country. We've seen Danish firms out in full force, parading their technology, style and design. Half the time you'd think you were at a trade fair. Yes, tech is all good and well, but most of this stuff is just more plastic crap that we don't need. Someone in Fiji who faces the real prospect of having their grandchildren end up below sea level doesn't care how hip you are when you're saving power : just save the power already, how hard can it be? If looking hip is still the most important thing to you, you probably didn't get the memo that overconsumption is what got us into this mess in the first place. One can but gawk at the clumsy stupidity of a Danish fashionista, showing off her space-age eco-designer kitchen to a villager from Angola, telling her that they share the same climate problems.

That's point one. Point two is that the Climate Conference feels more like Roskilde music festival than a serious political summit. There's lots of fun stuff and everyone is supposed to chill and have a good time : that's what the security barriers and stern-faced guards are for. Get rowdy, and you'll find yourself outside soon enough. But this isn't a festival : it's real life, it's serious, and people are here to fight for the land they're living on. Using police to suppress that, to make sure everyone is fitting into the host country's private agenda, shows the government's inability to respect the gravity of the situation. This isn't about having a good time, it's about as serious as things can get, and if Denmark was unable to give people the room they needed to democratically express themselves, then Denmark shouldn't be hosting an event of this magnitude.

Which brings us to point three : the mass arrests. The police have arrested over a thousand demonstrators, and ended up charging less then twenty. That means the police clearly don't think detention is a serious matter, but it is. Using arrest as a way to scare people into "behaving themselves" is not what arrest is meant to be used for, at least not in a democracy. And it's very easy to get cynical about Denmark and democracy, because here is a country that has tried to turn its own racism into a rallying cry for international democracy, when it clearly doesn't even understand the basics. Like I'm going to let a country that rolled over and collaborated with the Nazis lecture me about democracy. Oh I'm sorry, did I just go drag that up again? It's hard not to, seeing how clearly enamored with control and order some parts of Denmark are. People like .... Brian Mikkelsen.

And point four : I've gone out of my way to avoid being anywhere near a protest. That's a democratic right I've already conceded to the Danish authorities. Don't forget, a technical conviction for impeded the police's work now means you lose your residence permit. The Danish government has done this before without trial, so I'm not taking any chances, and I would strongly advise other foreigners residing in Denmark to use similar caution. Dansk Folkeparti have stated that they see this as a good chance to get rid of more "troublemakers", so don't give them an excuse.

At the end of it all, I don't really care anymore. Denmark is now a lost cause to me, and sadly some good people are going down with it. A society that can turn on some can turn on any. If they treated foreigners badly and without logic, what is to stop them from doing it to themselves? My sympathies go out to all those people, Danes and foreigners alike, who were peppersprayed, forced to sit on freezing ground for hours, held in cages for hours more, only to be released with a scripted apology. One can only hope there is suitable comeuppance.

How long does it take to fire a racist cop in Denmark?

2009-12-07T23:53:00.003+01:00

The circus has finally closed : racist cop Diana Brälye from Amager Station in Copenhagen has been fired at last. In February 2008 Brälye wrote a racist diatribe on her private blog, using the Danish equivalent of the "N" word for Arabs, after she found out she'd have to work on her weekend off. Almost two years later, she's finally been fired. It wasn't her superiors who fired her though - they publicly supported her. In the end, the Justice Ministry stepped in and ruled her unfit for work.

Diana Brälye feels she has become a victim of the system, and plans to take her case to the Danish supreme court. She insists she isn't a racist, and has tried a defense tactic successfully used by other Danish police officers who made racist statements. The Danish anti-racism law targets statements or acts which "willfully target" people on the basis of race. Brälye was under the impression her blog was private and therefore not directed at anyone, but the Justice Ministry saw it otherwise :
Brälye's blog was in fact public.

"I am simlpy so angry over this case. I feel it is extremely unfair that I've been fired. I have never been a racist. I was just angry that I had to give up my weekend" she said.

(my text, based on information taken from Politiken)

Well Diana, next time you're out there not being a racist, remember to avoid exhibiting classic signs of racism, ok? Two years is what it took to get her fired, though in fairness I don't know when exactly her superiors found out. But maybe now we can finally revisit the infamous Lyngby case where two male officers successfully defended themselves on a technicality, because those two bedsheet-donning half-wits deserve to be strung up as well. Pity Diana's superiors who have egg on their face now, what with them publicly backed and refusing to fire her. And I hope there aren't any non-white officers in her former precinct, because between Amager's famous street thugs and the goons back at the station, that can't be a fun beat to walk.

It would make for a pleasant change if Denmark could stop dragging its feet on combating racism, and enact some meaningful anti-racism standards. And I don't mean passing more toothless laws - the courts don't seem all that willing to waste taxpayer money on this. It would be better if organizations like the police were able to set internal codes of conduct which showed they were serious about serving and protecting all members of society. No person who makes a racist statement, in public of private, should ever be allowed to serve in a position of authority over minorities. Diana Brälye should have been fired the day after her statements came to light, without the spectacle of her fellow officers having to indirectly implicating themselves as bigots too. Instead the case ricocheted all the way up the Justice Ministry, and hasn't stopped yet, leading to the inevitable question : how did firing an openly racist cop become a hot potato?

Coming to Denmark? Beat the rush and plan your departure now

2009-12-06T18:27:00.005+01:00

Berlingske ran an editorial today commenting on PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen's seemingly laughable plan to make Denmark the best integration nation in the world within ten 10 years. While the editorial contains the usual combination of navel-staring and blind optimism liberal Denmark has become famous for, a few interesting statistics were dropped.

An Oxford study from 2007 has revealed a third of educated foreigners working in Denmark perceive the Danish population as "not particularly open or forthcoming".
According to figures from the Economy and Business Ministry, 50% of immigrants who arrived in the 1990's had left Denmark again after ten years here. For immigrants who arrived in 2001, that time dropped to four years. [ed : my emphasis]

Four years? 50%? That's a shocking rate of attrition. But wait, Denmark has the world's best medical system. And there's that excellent public transport, and the highest standard of living. This is also the most progressive and open-minded society in the world - honest. And the happiest, don't forget that, it even made Oprah. Yet clearly top 10 lists are failing to make a lasting impression on immigrants, many of whom opt to leave again. This applies particularly to those who come here to study or work, as opposed to those who marry a Dane. Half of all people who are awarded green cards today don't even show up in Denmark. And Lars Løkke is talking about making Denmark the best in the world? Please, temper your expectations Mr Prime Minister.

What about the divorce rate for foreigners in a relationship with Danes? What about satisfcation level for foreigners working here? I'm pretty sure they have the data, it just wouldn't make for particularly good PR to release them.

It's noteworthy that Belingske's editorial talks about how Denmark wants to become a world leader at integration, and acknowledges that the closed and unfriendly Danish culture is a serious impediment for reaching that goal, but absolutely no mention is made of how the problem can realistically be addressed. Which come as no surprise, because for years the liberal government and its followers have been delivering fiery sermons about the perfection of this society, and how everyone else will simply have to do come around to doing things the right way, the Danish way.

The editorial does mention a cooperation venture, The Third Point, which gets immigrants and Danes working together on projects with fixed goals. See, this is what happens when you hire expensive team building consultants to solve national problems : you get solutions which work in tightly-controlled, laboratory conditions, and are easily packaged for reality tv. Reminds me of a stint I did in a Danish company a few years ago, which had an entrenched culture of bad leadership. The director couldn't fire his senior managers due to internal politics, yet his managers couldn't do their jobs, and lower-level workers routinely quit, greatly delaying project completion. When personnel presented a list of grievances, the Director ignored these and sent everyone on expensive team-building exercises. When the exercises were over, mismanagement went right and people .... quit.

Everything the government is doing right now seems to have more to do with skirting around the actual issues instead of facing them. Lars Løkke has to set these pie-in-the-sky goals because Danish industry demands it, and he needs to at least appear awake at the wheel. But we all know that as long as Dansk Folkeparti's is a fixture in his ruling coalition, Pia Kjærsgaard's dogmatic view of Danish culture is the only real goal we face. OM'er!

Nazi still guarding queen, racist cop still not fired

2009-12-05T03:11:00.003+01:00

If you're a tourist visiting Denmark and you stop by the Queen's palace to watch her royal guard on parade, take note that one of them is an open, self-proclaimed Nazi.

Ekstrabladet reports :

The 19 year old neo-nazi Daniel Carlsen is on active duty with the Queen's personal guard until April 2010. A spokesperson for the Guard, Christine Dahl, says the Guard does not official share his values, but that they will remove him only if he constitutes a security risk for the Queen.

Carlsen himself spoke to Ekstrabladet, and said that he feels he is the victim of personal harassment, and that several other members of the Guard share his views. When asked about the Holocaust he says "I don't deny the Holocaust. I can't after all deny something which I haven't seen evidence for". On his public Facebook profile Carlsen said, amongst other things,
Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" is his favorite book
He had a broad music taste but doesn't like "nigger music".
He advises against eating pizza because pizzerias are owned by "perkers" [ed: Danish slur, basically the N-bomb for Arabs]

And on aside, I haven't heard anything about the racist cop from Amager who used the "perker" word on her blog, so I'm assuming she hasn't been fired.

These two fine individuals are out there wearing the Danish uniform, representing authority and protecting the law. It's clear that they are completely morally incompetent to do so, but this gives you a good indication for how tolerant this society is towards open bigotry. Of course we can all guess that had Carlsen been named Ahmed, his Holocaust denial would have caused so much public outcry that not only would he have been fired, but probably harassed right out of the country. Don't come to Denmark folks - this racist crap is so routine it's starting to get boring.

Danish to suspend green card system?

2009-12-02T00:25:00.003+01:00

Berlingske reports :

The Danish Prime Minister may speak of lofty ambitions to make Denmark a desirable work destination for the highly educated, but his own immigration minister is now undermining him. Birthe Rønn Hornbech (Liberals) and Dansk Folkeparti now want to suspend the so-called Green Card system which allows foreign specialists to work in Denmark. The official reason is that the Immigration Ministry is unable to handle on time the many requests it gets, and applications may take up to six times longer than normal to be processed.

The Radical Left and Social Democrats are opposed to the proposed suspension, which they say works against Denmark's need for qualified workers.

According to DF however, there is systemic cheating with Green Cards, as half of the people who receive one never actually come to Denmark. They also feel that there are so many applications already that it should either be suspended, or only the first 1000 processed [ed:no, this is not a typo, they really reason that way].

Danish industry is also opposed to the suspension, pointing out that foreign works in turn create jobs for other Danes.

Wow, half don't even show up? I almost feel bad for Denmark. It's like an unpopular kid that throws a party and no one shows up. Granted, the unpopularity is due to it being prone to sudden, violent outbursts, but still, shame.

Still, I guess that means I just won. No need to warn people about coming to Denmark if the government makes it all moot anyway. Dansk Folkeparti have never been happy about the Green Card system - hear that Green Card people? These are the people who are waiting for you. You're going to be neighbors with them. Gitte from Human Resources at the company that hired you, Gitte votes for these nimrods, and she's going to dream up all sorts of schemes to make your life hell. I speak from personal experience. Gitte demanded that I hand over my original university degrees for her safekeeping, yes, as in, that really happened to me.

Look just, don't come here, alright? I hear Poland needs people - go there.

Going-out-of-ethics sale : everything must go

2009-12-01T01:03:00.005+01:00

Conservative Suzanne Bjerrehuus wrote a short editorial in Ekstrabladet which I think very astutely demonstrates how a lot of people feel about Dansk Folkeparti. Here's a brief summary

During the 2009 municipal election campaign, Klaus Bondam (Radical Left) did everything he could to demonize Dansk Folkeparti, but changed his position when he realized he needed their support to retain his mayoral post. His voters should be happy that he was willing to do this, as he secured their influence.

Politics is about influence, not morality or honesty. The Radical supporters are angry now, but soon all will be forgotten.

The New Alliance party started with serious political issues like tax, education and asylum, but was ultimately reduced to merely an "anti-DF" party by misguided leadership.

DF are like what the Social Democrats used to be - a party for the little guy. With DF's good results, they deserve influence, and they should be allowed to discuss integration without being accused of being racists.

Hating DF has become indicative of visionless politicians. It is easy, safe and politically correct.

"I am ashamed of being Danish" has become one of the most prevalent phrases in the Danish cultural debate, but this has just become an easy way saying "I am good and you're a racist", and has become the catchphrase of "intellectually elite" artists, journalists and other apologists.

So what Bjerrehuus is saying is

You cant beat them, so join them. If you don't, you're a fool.
Politicians have a responsibility to ensure they have power, at any legal cost.
DF enjoy healthy and consistent support from the Danish population, and it is therefore wrong to morally oppose them. Because they are democratically elected, they deserve to be worked with.
People who are morally opposed to DF are weak, foolishly idealistic, and politically correct. DF makes an easy target and being anti-DF is a convenient agenda in lieu of not having a real one.

Bjerrehuus' comments are increasingly common among Liberal and Conservative backers, as well as many Social Democrat supporters. She's clearly tired of being labeled a villain for collaborating with DF, and now she's turning the whole question of morality on its head.

Ten years ago no party would openly advocate cooperation with DF, but then Anders Fogh Rasmussen had a plan: he realized that DF's votes could be hijacked and used to secure a parliamentary majority for his right-of-center minority bloc. At first even his own supporters were horrified at having to pose next to known baby-eaters, and there are still occasional anti-DF outbursts, but Fogh held a steady course. Soon others came around to the idea that DF, while unsightly, could be washed off, put on a short leash, and taught simple tricks. Yes, they broke free once in a while and mauled a token black kid or crapped on the carpet, but that's a small price to pay for loyal companionship.

DF still carries a stigma though - many on the left refuse to cooperate with them, and DF are still openly reviled in intellectual circles. Alas, the poor Liberal and Conservatives, for they have to endure such cruel jibes about their freakish pet. Now Anders Fogh was the kind of guy who had single-minded focus and could ignore sticks and stones - that was his style, and people admired him enough for it to look past how he often forced them into painful positions they clearly didn't like. In other words he wasn't much for convincing and more for just doing. And in his wake follow lesser politicians like Suzanne Bjerrehuus, feeding on the leftovers.

While Fogh could endure and shrug off criticism, Bjerrehuus wants to be seen as right, and her way of achieving that is to start throwing mud into what was once the clear water of moral conviction. Fogh smashes his way through solid brick walls - Bjerrehuus follows and slowly undermines the entire structure. She does it by chipping away at society's values, slowly diluting and blurring. She says a whole lot of nothing, but does it with her head held high, and suddenly the big question is not if she's doing something wrong, but what right you have for calling her wrong in the first place. Without you realizing it, the tables are turned, and what you once thought was a simple argument has been stood on its head without any of your issues being addressed at all.

We know DF are wrong. It's easy to scratch through their thin veneer and see the ignorance and the fear underneath. But that's the easy part. The difficult question is, how does a party with only 15% of the popular vote manage to corrupt the rest of society? Well apparently, there are politicians who aren't fettered by inconveniences like morality or honesty. For them, the end fully justifies the means, and Dansk Folkeparti is a just another way to secure power - had DF been eco-terrorists or religious fundamentalists, I'm sure the Liberals and Conservatives would be singing whatever tune was necessary for the orchestra to play, and the Social Democrats would be trying to cut in by playing louder. Ten years ago Danes were clear sold on the idea that their society was founded on the principles of tolerance and live-and-let-live, but things are somehow different. Between then and now, there have been no watershed intellectual or cultural changes which would cause a seemingly advanced society to so radically alter course. Yes, there were the 9/11 attacks, the War on Terror, and the cartoon crisis. But these were not Danish events - they were things which largely happened outside of Denmark, and Denmark has always reacted, never leading. This really begs the question : who's at the wheel? Who formulated the change in direction of the last decade? And what are the new rules and borders, norms and conventions? Where are the books or papers which embody the thinking of modern Denmark? Or could it be that there aren't any, because Denmark was hijacked by an anti-intellectual movement who think a 'logical treatise' is something you really want to sign because a neighboring country invaded you again?

Danish politics is no longer about learned people standing on podiums convincing audiences. It's become a noisy market place, a souk, where everything is for sale and where you don't postulate but haggle. There is no right or wrong, just how much you can get, and how quickly it can be delivered.

Shock! Mr Manky bans the discussing of islam on his blog!

2009-11-29T21:26:00.002+01:00

It's great that people want to talk about stuff on this blog. The trick is staying on topic. This is a blog about Denmark, the Danish media, xenophobia, and racism. Because Denmark is engaged in a fevered attempt to reduce the size of its immigrant population, muslims in particular, many of the articles I post invariably involve laws which target muslims. But this blog was never supposed to be about religion, and really, I am not interested in discussing whether islam is good or bad, right or wrong. Really, I'm not. Discussions about Denmark get turned into pointless shouting matches about a religion. Islam is to Denmark what communism was to McCarthy-era America. Please, stop running around screaming about how "they're coming!" and go soak your head in a bucket.

Just so you all know where I stand on this, I'm an atheist, and fairly open about it. But I'm also a democrat, and I believe in the idea that a democratic society can accommodate any person who is willing to respect the law. That's the duty of the individual. I think there are some muslims who clearly don't respect that. But just as the individual has a responsibility, so does the State in which she lives. The State has to present laws which are unambiguous and fair, and I think Denmark, with its vague and badly-codified laws, fails in this regard. I am not willing to get into a discussion about the failings of muslims or islams in Denmark, when Denmark itself is clearly a flawed democracy. This blog discusses Denmark, and I make my stand for all other democrats who support the rule of law. Yes, that includes muslims - we know there are many, I walked past one not half an hour ago when I went to buy dinner.

So, you are welcome to discuss here, but please stay on topic. The democratic merits of muslims is absolutely not a subject for this blog, and if you persist, I will delete your posts. Yes, the horror, censorship in Denmark, how did this ever come to pass? I'm sure an alarm at P.E.T (Denmark's secret police) just went off. If you want to discuss islam itself, there are are other blogs which are better suited, so please take it there.

Danish school forbids foreign languages

2009-11-28T18:29:00.003+01:00

Politiken reported this today ...

A school in Odense has prohibited the use of languages other than Danish during recess because of several episodes where a few Arabic-speaking pupils harassed other pupils and teachers in Arabic. At the school in question, about 30% of pupils have a first language other than Danish. Pupils who violate the ban will have their parents summoned to the school for a disciplinary meeting with teachers.

Education Minister Bertal Haarder (Liberals) has no plans to intervene in the matter, and says that one should always respect teacher's wishes to maintain order at school. He feels neither the ban nor the punishment are unreasonable, as long as the problem with harassment is stopped.

Not everyone supports the ban. Brit Bremer Christoffersen from Fyens Stiftstidende, says the the ban is close to the limit of what is acceptable, and several experts have called it discriminatory and divisive.

In Denmark the tool of choice is the hammer. The hammer solves everything - beat it until you

break it. The teachers who brought us this "solution" may not have realized it, but they're giving us a laboratory-ready example of how things work in Denmark. You start off with a real problem, in this case a few bad students disrupting a school. No one wants that and rightfully, it should be stopped. But somewhere between the problem and solution the principles of logic get warped, probably something like this :

Denmark is perfect (taken as already proven).
Therefore, all things non-Danish must be imperfect.
Therefore, the causative agent in this situation must be non-Danish.
The troublemakers spoke Arabic, and Arabic is non-Danish, therefore Arabic must be the causative agent.
Arabic is a non-Danish language, therefore all non-Danish languages are the causative agents.
Solution : prohibit all languages other than Danish. QED.

Maybe identifying the troublemakers is just too complicated. Maybe it would make them feel unfairly singled out. And maybe some other students who hadn't caused problems yet were planning on causing trouble, and needed some preemptive discipline. That's an awful lot of uncertainty there, and in an uncertain world, you need firm and certain solutions, right?

Banning entire languages at school might solve this. But why stop there? Why not just deport the students, and their families too? Don't laugh, we're not that far from that. It's already common practice to evict a family if a minor in it has committed a crime, and the idea of collective deportation on the family level has been floated several times before.

It comes as no surprise that Bertil Haarder gives this his blesssing - the man was the first integration minister for the VKO regime, and was instrumental in introducing some of our most ground-breaking xenophobic laws. He is a heartless control freak who has never shied away from reducing immigrants to stereotypes and ignoring the individual. I fondly remember the changes he made to the Danish language tests which disregarded your results and focused more on how willing you were to sit through classes. Haarder is all about bending, breaking and obedience.

There are many ways to solve problems. Denmark has just given us a good demonstration of the psychotic, genocidal Nazi approach. Thank you Denmark, you can return to your desk. Now, would anyone else like to suggest something that smells less of ethnic cleansing?

Sweden gripped by epidemic of muslim rape!

2009-11-27T01:21:00.007+01:00

Yeah, right. More like Sweden gripped by epidemic of Danish insanity!

You've heard Dansk Folkeparti bemoan it. You've read it on countless Danish forums and blogs. You've even seen it right here on my blog : Danes emphatically stating that Sweden is descending into the black pit of muslim-driven rape and crime, all because those idealistic, politically-correct Swedes weren't brave enough to take a stand like Denmark did. Why, if only Sweden had a party like DF, they might be spared this tragedy. Well, it turns out that Sweden does have such a party. They're called Sverigedemokraterna (SD), and they sound an awful lot like DF. Danes are jubilant because SD can pull Sweden down into the same racist mud Denmark has been wallowing around in for years, and really, who likes having clean, know-it-all neighbors to the north anyway?

SD are running exactly the same campaign that DF ran in 2000, on the "oh my god vote for us or get gang-raped" ticket. Remember that? Watching Rune and Jacob's open letter to Obama and some of DF's earlier election posters sure brought back memories. There's just one problem. SD lied. During a recent public debate in Sweden where SD were given a chance to state their goals and reasons, certain facts were put forward. And it turns out that out of 21 points made by party leader Jimmie Åkesson, 10 were derived from 100% pure air. You can read about it here on Aftonbladet, where Åkesson cops to it.

If your Swedish is as bad or worse than mine, Google translate does a good enough job on making the linked story readable. I also used it to pull some random replies to the article (check under "Läs mer"). Stuff like

Vice-Chairman of the Swedish Muslim Council, Mostofa Kharraki, becomes very upset when he hears Jimmie Åkesson reasoning.

- This is pure hate and nothing else. It is hate speech and can not be interpreted as anything other than sheer racism, "he says.
"It's a lie"

Jan Hjärpe, professor emeritus of Islamic studies, says that much of the argument based on false allegations.

- It is more dubious claims. And it would have ten terror organizations in Sweden, in short, a lie.

Jan Hjärpe, draws parallels to the Nazi anti-Semitism.

- It's the same type of propaganda. This is also racist undertones, because this rhetoric implies that religion is crucial to how people act. This is clearly hate speech. This is really, really scary, "said Jan Hjärpe.

[source]

Fancy that. A few years after VKO won Denmark on the back of DF's "fear the brown love", a report came out that stated that muslims and immigrants were not overrepresented in crime statistics after all, once real factors like poverty and education were taken into account. The article is no longer available on Politiken, so I'm risking pasting the full text up below.

What's noteworthy here is the pattern of consistency between Denmark ten years ago, and Sweden today - the whipping up of fear and misinformation. And as many scholars and historians have pointed out, this takes a page straight from the nazi-era antisemitism handbook. DF and SD are very quick to point out that they have no swastikas, ergo they cannot be bigots. Because everyone knows only goose stepping, German-talking, tank-driving, monotesticular vegetarian painters can be racists. Some, like Søren Espersen, even go to great lengths to curry public favor with Jewish groups, thinking this somehow washes away suspicion. But none of the details change the underlying mechanism at play here. Like the nazis, these politicians are using the same base ingredients all over again : false information, national romanticism, intimidation, rigid control, and a fear of being taken over by someone different.

http://politiken.dk/VisArtikel.iasp?PageID=338135

28. sep 2004

Indvandrerkriminalitet overdrives

Udlændinge er ikke mere kriminelle end danskere, når der tages hensyn til, at de er dårligere uddannet, har ringere job og tjener mindre, viser undersøgelse fra Danmarks Statistik.
Af Henrik Kaufholz
Indvandrerkriminaliteten er først og fremmest et socialt problem.

Det viser en undersøgelse fra Danmarks Statistik, der har korrigeret kriminalitetstallene fra 2002 for social baggrund, uddannelse, indkomst og social status.

Når der alene tages hensyn til aldersforskelle, er kriminalitetsindekset for udenlandske mænd 138 og for udenlandske kvinder 134. De tilsvarende tal for danskere er 96 for mænd og 97 for kvinder.

Espersen: Bogligt svage skal hjælpes
Korrigeres tallene for sociale forskelle, falder indekset for udenlandske mænd til 104 og for udenlandske kvinder til 101 - lige over det samlede indeks på 100.

Derfor, siger justitsminister Lene Espersen (K) til Ritzaus Bureau, »skal indvandreres kriminalitet forebygges ved at lære dansk samt en indsats i institutioner, skoler, lærepladser og på arbejdsmarkedet«.

»Regeringen prøver at sikre, at unge, som ikke er bogligt stærke, får en uddannelse. Det ændres ikke med et snuptag, men kræver et langt, sejt træk«.

Justitsministeren har fundet tallene frem i et svar til Dansk Folkepartis næstformand, Peter Skaarup. Han havde bedt om en undersøgelse af, om indvandrerkriminaliteten skyldes sociale problemer eller kulturelle forskelle.

DF tror ikke på tal
Peter Skaarup er meget utilfreds med svaret og fastholder ønsket om en egentlig undersøgelse:

»Det er ikke et problem, man kan skubbe ind under et gulvtæppe. Jeg tror ikke på undersøgelsen. Jeg vil for eksempel gerne vide, hvordan Danmarks Statistik har defineret udlændinge. Er andengenerationsindvandrere med?«.

Peter Skaarup »medgiver gerne, at noget af indvandrerkriminaliteten er socialt betinget«.

»Men vi ved jo også, at der er en overkriminalitet blandt unge indvandrere i kvarterer, hvor der også er socialt svage danskere, for eksempel Vollsmose i Odense«, siger han.

DF: Kan hænge sammen med kvindesyn
Dansk Folkepartis næstformand peger også på, at den meget store overrepræsentation af indvandrere i voldtægtssager »kan hænge sammen med deres kvindesyn, altså noget kulturelt«.

I sommer nåede Det Kriminalpræventive Råd i en rapport til samme resultat som Danmarks Statistik: Dårlige sociale vilkår er en af de vigtigste grunde til, at unge indvandrere begår mere kriminalitet end unge danskere.

[This article is sourced from Politiken. It is being posted here for historical and educational use. If the copyright holder wants it removed, I shall comply]

Denmark to deport foreigners for trivial offenses

2009-11-26T16:06:00.012+01:00

Just when you thought it was safe to take to the streets again. This story broke today on Politiken and Information?

The government and Dansk Folkeparti want to beef up the "anti-protest" laws being introduced to safeguard the Copenhagen Climate Conference. The changes will make it possible to expel foreigners on any kind of residence permit, regardless of how long they've lived in the country. This is part of another "immigrant control" agreement between the Liberals, Conservatives and DF.

The law targets "vandalism" and acts which "impede the function of the police or fire department". These offenses currently carry only a fine. Indefinite arrest will be possible, along with deportation. The Liberals feel this will help to send an important signal.

The European Human Rights Convention does not allow for deportation on the grounds of offenses which carry short prison sentences or fines. Deportation is deemed reasonable for example in cases where a person enters the country with the sole purpose of committing a crime. Those who have lived in Denmark for several years would thus be expected to serve time inside the country.

According to Line Barfod from the Red-Green Alliance, the government "is trying to scare people from using their constitution rights .... The government can hope that the [EU] judges go along with this, and that the people who are thrown out don't have the resources to start a case against the system".

Every time the Liberals, Conservatives and DF huddle in a room together, you know they're going to emerge with something like this. It's like a plot turn in a cheap soap opera. What's going to happen this week? Brain-damage? Coma? An evil pregnant zombie twin back from the dead?

Every day Denmark slips closer towards a Soviet-era police state with vague and aggressive laws which self-stifle any complainants. Don't bother protesting if you think it's unfair - you need government permission for that, and they file it under "T" for trash. And don't you even dare think of sidestepping the permission, because the Danish police now consider even passive civil disobedience as a violent crime.

While details of the new law are sketchy, I'd hazard a guess that in keeping with most of the other laws they've introduced, it will be up to the police and government to define what constitutes "vandalism" or "obstruction". Does this include graffiti? And what about talking back to a police officer? What happens if an officer tells you to move and you politely say "no"? You have just impeded him - sounds like a threat to national security to me. Karsten Lauritzen from the Liberals says

"When one is a guest in a country, one has an obligation to behave oneself".

So as long as you don't have citizenship, you are a guest. And they make it really tough to get citizenship. So as long as you're in Denmark, just shut up and do your job, and be thankful that you are allowed in the greatest country on god's earth. With lots of hard work, a spotless record and a bit of luck, you might be deemed fit enough to stay for good.

This stupid "guest" routine has to end. When I have guests over, I don't make them cook dinner and wash the dishes afterwards. A guest who was born in your house is just another term for your kids. So learn to be better parents already. And as for the guests who happen to pull a salary and pay tax, kindly refer to us as the staff, thank you. That's right bitches - we have the same right to organize and protest as Danes do. Get used to it, because that was part of the deal when you shipped us in to work. We refer you to the fine print on the EU membership form you signed.

Clearly, we are facing yet another law that aims to do something other than its stated purpose.

Some math guy must have worked out that X% of foreigners are defacing things or getting in the way of a uniform, and this presents a convenient opportunity to catch and remove them. The punishment may be inhumane, and it scares all immigrants from legitimate protest, but hey, what's a few constitutional rights between friends? Don't think of Danish immigration law as a series of "right vs wrong" gates -they're more like sand traps. Each one is a legally-acceptable way to eliminate a projected number of foreigners via friction. More traps, equals more difficulty, equals fewer foreigners. That has always been the self-stated primary goal of Pia Kjærsgaard and her chorus in the Liberal and Conservative parties. Process of integration? Yeah right - try process of elimination instead.

Open letter to President Obama on Danish racism

2009-11-24T19:47:00.003+01:00

Looks like our favorite blogger Rune Engelbreth Larsen (from Politiken) is at it again. This time he and Jacob Holdt wrote a public letter to US President Obama, in the form of a Youtube video. Jacob Holdt, some of you might know, is a Danish photographer (yes, he of amazing beard fame) who traveled extensively in the southern USA documenting racism and social hardship.

This was linked to me by Eigil - thanks!

Danish police threaten to arrest more or less everyone

2009-11-24T18:59:00.007+01:00

From Berlingske ...

The Danish police are using alternative ways to scare Danes away from taking part in any unrest surrounding the Copenhagen Climate Conference. They are printing up free post cards which will be placed in cafés, restaurants and pubs throughout Copenhagen. On the front of the card is the phrase "KLOKKEN ER ...." [ed : literally, "The time is now..."].

"... that is the statement police make when placing you under arrest. We hope that this doesn't happen to you, but our experience shows that one risks being arrested if one is too close to unrest." is the remaining message on the card.

For once it's nice to be supportive of Danes, and we can sympathize with them as their government relieves itself all over their civil rights. "KLOKKEN ER ...." is the Danish equivalent of Miranda "You have the right to remain silent..." in the USA. And going so far as to throw this in everyone's face as a casual threat is a bizarre example of just how far police power abuse has gone under the Liberal/Conservative government.

But I better be careful what I say, for real this time. A video on youtube which encourages protesters to come to Denmark, and then shows images of burning cars and street riots, is being classified by the Danish police as a formal call to violence, and is being investigated as a criminal act (as reported in Politiken). I'm not telling people to burn anything, but I think protest without government permission is a democratic right, and the government can't run the conference like a game of Sunday afternoon lawn bowling. But that's not how the Danish police sees it. You get a Kr 6000 fine for doing anything the police determine to be protest without a permit. And with the cops strutting around shaking their fists at pretty much everyone in the city now, I think it's safe to say that even questioning them puts me on the wrong side of the thin blue line.

Another good reason to avoid Denmark : no schools for your kids

2009-11-24T17:00:00.004+01:00

If you've been offered a job in Denmark and you have kids, you have the following options:

1) Leave them in your homeland where they can continue schooling

2) Bring them with and tutor them at home at your own expense

3) Bring them with and put them in a Danish-medium school

Why? Because Denmark has no real international schooling system. Berlingske is reporting that there is still a critical shortage of places in the countries few international schools, which in turn is only adding to the growing problem of attracting qualified foreign workers to Denmark.

The shortage is getting worse, not better. 55% of businesses who want to import foreign workers with children cannot arrange suitable schooling. This is expected to get worse in the coming year when 85% of Danish companies project the need to bring in foreign workers.

"We have noticed more foreign candidates are rejecting us because there aren't good conditions for their children" says Karina Boldsen, recruitment director from Vesta. Charlotte Mark, managing director at Microsoft, agrees, saying "It is a growing problem which could have serious consequences for our business in Denmark".

Jørgen Huno Rasmussen from FLSmidth & Co says it simpler : "Fewer foreigners are coming to Denmark". Denmark is in a hard competition for foreign workers, and the lack of school places negatively affects this.

Education minister Bertel Haarder (Liberals) will propose a new law that will allow for more international schools in Denmark. Danish industry welcomes this, but wants additional steps.

This is not a new problem, in case you're wondering. It's been reported in the press for at least two years, the same dire warnings were projected before, and the same education minister in the same government has promised fixes but delivered nothing. You have to wonder why increasing the number of international schools in Denmark would require government involvement in the first place. Is "international education" classified as an ordinance that must fall under strict government control? Based on how threatened Denmark feels about foreign culture on its soil, the answer seems to be yes.

If you're thinking about coming to Denmark to work, please, reconsider. That is a serious and emphatic suggestion. By Denmark's own admission, this is a country that's losing in its quest to get qualified foreign workers. The lack of school places is not an isolated issue : it's part of the general Danish attitude towards keeping all things foreign out of the country unless absolutely necessary. Denmark doesn't have international schools because the government has actively worked to limit them, in much the same way it would rather not have qualified foreigners here either. These are all stop-gap measures being reluctantly implemented because of frustrated demands from Danish business. Once you are in Denmark, you'll notice that difficulty placing your kids in a school is just the first of many headaches.

And for the love of god, please don't think about putting your kids in a Danish-medium school. The Danish schooling system has a battery of rules which clamp down on options for multilingual kids. Your children will be treated like potential juvenile offenders and forced through the same arbitrary and maddening integration tests as local troublemakers. Why? Because Denmark has only one standard for handling foreigners who are part of its internal system; that standard is rigorously fair by treating everyone the same, which is as badly as the worst foreigner in the system.

Don't listen to the companies trying to recruit you - dig a bit online, and talk to foreigners who have actually worked here for a while. Find out what you're getting yourself into. And if in doubt, why risk putting your family through it all? All the nasty stories about Denmark can't possibly be made up.

So are there any non-racist cops in Denmark?

2009-11-23T20:57:00.010+01:00

Here we go again. What is it with Danish cops and the "p" bomb?

A Danish police officer who wrote "fucking perker" on her blog faces the possibility of dismissal. She was found guilty of racism and fined Kr 4000. She is however still on the force. The Copenhagen police administration feel she should be dismissed.

In her defense the officer admits "I made a terrible mistake, but I feel I am being unfairly punished for it". Her superior, Vice Commissioner Henrik Borris Jensen at the Amager police station where she works, thinks that dismissal is wrong, and that a fine and warning are enough. "This case would never have been raised if she wasn't a police officer. It is mainly about her job".

For those of you new to Denmark, "perker" is a slur against Arabs. It's as loaded as the "n" word is for blacks. There have been many cases of it being used in public by white Danish police officers, and it is for all intents and purposes illegal to "formally" use it as Denmark has a law that forbids racism in public. It's just that to date there have been almost no convictions stemming from its use, as accused officers usually get off on technicalities. A famous example of a "technical" dismissal was a few years back when two Danish officers referred to an Arab suspect in the aforementioned way, admitted to doing so, but claimed that the conversation was not meant for his ears - the judge ruled that it's only racism if willfully directed at the victim. The cops are, as far as I know, still in the business of dispensing justice. In another celebrated case, an officer was filmed yelling the epithet at an Arab on the street, but he denied it, claiming he had been misheard calling the man "perle", which is colloquial Danish for "dear" (lit : pearl). Oh those clever Danes.

For the record, I think most Danish police are racist. They can afford to be - after all, they come from a society where open racism is seen as "ironic humor" that only the politically-correct would take offence at. They themselves admit that slurs are commonplace on the force, and the Danish police has always had a problem recruiting non-whites. I also suspect that most of the people who become cops see it as their job to protect white Denmark from the resurgent Ottoman Empire. You can't really change that, fine, that's the way it is, great. The same story repeats in many, if not most other countries. What makes Denmark noteworthy is how contemptibly and openly unprofessional the police are allowed to be.

Let's draw two parallels. Last year someone leaked a list of British National Party members. Several police officers were on it, and they were immediately and summarily fired. No hearings, no trials, no appeals process. Donald Trump couldn't have done it faster. There was a code of conduct, the officers in question were clearly questionable in their ability to act fairly and without prejudice, so off they went. That doesn't happen here. In Denmark, openly racist police officers are openly defended by their superiors, all the way up to the Justice Minister. Everyone knows they're racist because, well, they said something racist. In other countries, being an officer and saying something brazenly racist is so simple to figure out that the coppers in question usually don't bother to show up for the work the next day. But not in Denmark. Over here, racists have rights. Lots of rights.

And speaking of rights, here's the second parallel. When two Arabs were suspected of planning the murder of Kurt Westergaard (he of muhammed-with-bomb-for-turban fame) in 2008, they were slated for expulsion from Denmark, without trial. One of them had permanent residence in Denmark, which (I assume) guaranteed him due process. The decision to deport was taken in secret and almost immediately after his arrest, and the deportation itself was to happen right away. This all caused yet another procedural crisis because the government was acting to punish without using the courts, which is forbidden under the Danish constitution. I'll leave the details for another day. Pesky things those, constitutions. But it shows that the Danish government is not just willing, but enthusiastic, to dispense with trials and processes ... as long as the right people are in line for an ass-kicking.

Denmark is not serious about fighting racism. At all. How else could you explain an officer who thinks she can continue to function after what she said, and a superior who thinks she's being persecuted only because she's a cop. Of course it's because she's a cop you idiot! With all the openly racist cops on the force these days, it's getting so we need a public registry for them, like sex offenders have. That way if you get pulled over you can at least cross check the badge number and avoid having a Rodney King moment.

As Anders Fogh Rasmussen famously said, "There is no racism in Denmark". See, in a country full of clever people, you can make problems go away by renaming them so they become unproblems. "Poverty" becomes "opportunity". "Prejudice" is now "challenge". And "you dumb nigger" is magically transmogrified into "God, stop being so sensitive, can't you take a joke?"

So in closing, and on behalf of non-white people everywhere, up yours Ms Piggie from Amager Police Central. You're a disgrace to your uniform, badge, nightstick, gun and all the other tools of the trade you keep minorities in check with. I should however also wish you a long and happy career with the Danish police force, because based on its track record, you have a pretty good chance of twirling your cudgel until you retire.

Be the best at integrating people you don't really want

2009-11-22T19:02:00.006+01:00

Berlingske reported that Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen has announced ten long-term goals for Denmark up to 2020. Skipping straight ahead to point eight on his list ...

"Denmark needs to be the best country in the EU at integrating non-western immigrants and their descendants, measured by workforce participation.

Every person has resources to offer. All too often have immigrants been a burden on the society, where they should in fact be a benefit - both economically and as people. Integration via working is one of the most crucial assumptions of an equal society and an essential part of a democracy".

He's off to a cracking start too. On the same day Berlingske also published a report that only 25% of Danish municipalities are following the official plan for getting these same immigrants into the workforce. And this all comes a few days after the same prime minister announced that these same foreigners will be paid to leave the country anyway. Maybe he really wants to fix the situation .... or maybe he's just running through the motions because he needs to at least appear to have a plan. Lars Løkke has been a central part of the current government since it came into power in 2000. He's one of its key strategists, and if he really was intent on coming up with a workable solution that didn't involve blowing everything up, I think we'd have seen it by now.

Aiming to be the top country in the EU is also typical of a career politician who specializes in selling big but delivering small, or sometimes not at all. Right now Denmark is amongst the worst EU countries when it comes to integration (if you take the EU's word for it). Maybe he should temper expectations a bit? Aim to be mediocre Lars, because if you manage to get that right, you'd still have made significant strides.

Maybe now is also a good time to broach the subjection of integration of western migrants, because judging by the general level of dissatisfaction and high rate of emigration, that isn't going too well either.

Housekeeping

2009-11-19T00:00:00.003+01:00

Some blog-related notes.

You may have noticed I changed the format of my translations - I no longer directly translate word-for-word from the source. The reason is potential copyright infringement, as I was warned it may not be legal to do verbatim rewriting of a news story if all I'm doing is translating. If anyone knows more about this, let me know. For now I'm playing it safe. Denmark was one of the first countries in Europe to make even linking to copied material like mp3s an expensive mistake, and I know Danish newspapers have come down hard on deep-linking of their content too. I'd like to think that what I'm doing counts as protected free speech because there's an obvious social/political motive, but I have no idea if the courts would see it that way. Hell, today the infamous "football idiot" who ran on the field during the Denmark/Sweden match got a Kr900,000 fine, all because DBU lost some money. You'd think the much-vaunted constitution here protects against cruel and unreasonable punishment. It seems there's no limit to how hard the authorities will be on you if you cause lost revenue.
It's great that there's so much active discussion going on - it really feels like it's helping to let off some steam. I don't always have the time to keep track of each comment and reply (I have a pretty grueling schedule), but don't let that stop you. If however you feel that the tone of the discussion is getting out hand or is spoiling the overall mood, shout me, and I'll look into it. Comments are unmoderated, and I like that it's open for everyone, but obviously it needs to be steered in the right direction. I really don't mind occasion flaming or profanity as we're here to discuss annoying/unpleasant subject matter anyway. If people get angry it's usually because they have something to angry over. But let's try to keep it heading in the constructive and inclusive direction.
And ... thanks for reading, really. Thanks to all the regulars - I think I love you guys. It's a bit overwhelming at times, some of the comments and accounts hurt to read because they hit very close to home. But that's surely a good thing - I feel like I've spent the last ten years with a ball-gag on, and now I realize I wasn't alone.

Language test of my patience

2009-11-17T20:10:00.010+01:00

I went poking around looking for the citizenship language test (Dansk Prøv 3). I'd heard it's been beefed up substantially as per Dansk Folkeparti's demands, but I wasn't prepared for this.

Most of the test seems to be oral, but there is a considerable amount of reading and writing too. A good deal of it is also taken together with another applicant, and you have to solve problems together. In addition to that, the test is not something you do just by showing up at the exam venue. You have to pick up your assignments a week in advance, and, I'm guessing solve these in a group too. Then you have to present your results in a small talk. If I'm way off base with this, give me a shout, will you?

I took a quick look through the material, and here's some of the stuff that really stuck out:

Page 62, task 2
This is done in pairs, in other words, you and another person taking the test, will test eachother. You will ask eachother questions based on photos. One of the modules requires that you receive exam material a week before the time to prepare.

Page 67 task1A
You will have to read and discuss extracts from amongst other things a novel.

Page 68 task 2
You and another applicant conduct a conversation/interview with each other.

Page 75 task 1a, 1b
Write a letter, and a fictitious account of something.

Page 75 task 2
Argue for or against something, in writing, in a short essay.

Page 76 task 1B
A week before the test you'll be given a task, which it seems you may have to solve in a group,then you have give a 5 minute presentation on how you solved it.

page 77 task 2
Another paired task with other applicant. One of you pulls a subject from a hat, then you have a back-and-forth conversation involving an exchange of ideas around the subject. You must demonstrate the ability to respond to and follow up on eachother's statements.

What exactly are we establishing with this? Living in any country requires that you have some kind of command of the local language, but when exactly did novel reading, essay writing and team work become mandatory? Am we being recalled to academia? These questions aren't just difficult and unreasonable, they're down invasive. Hell, my high-school finished exams weren't this complicated, and high school actually mattered to me.

Then again, maybe this test isn't really meant to test anything. Maybe, like so many of the other "criteria" here, it's just another brick wall with a statistical chance to end up with X% of applicants smeared on it, and that means X% fewer people to challenge the status quo.

If you think that Denmark is thee greatest place on earth, this test makes perfect sense. Clearly, most of us don't. Work on the sales pitch people - we're already struggling to think of reasons to stay here and put up with the negativity, and this doesn't help. Other countries offer more, so get over yourselves. Sweeten the deal, like implement dual citizenship, because my current country is as good as yours, and I don't see why I have to give up my parents' nationality - I'm proud of it, and nationalities aren't mutually exclusive anyway. Trust me, Denmark and wherever I'm from will never be going to war. Citizenship is no privilege - it makes traveling more convenient, and lets me vote, which seeing as I work and live here now, is a basic right. Remember, that's why countries used to give out nationality? Because when you spend a long time somewhere, worked and all that, you are assumed to be naturalized? So drop the exclusive nightclub act already - I'm not waiting in line for five hours just to get a body-cavity search from that neonazi bouncer at the door.

Send 1000 protesters. With satellite trackers. Where Christopher Walken would hide them.

2009-11-16T23:03:00.008+01:00

Just in case the threat of arbitrary arrest and massive fines haven't deterred you, you should know that the Danish government has arranged detainment facilities for up to 500 people - in a secret location. This was reported by Belingske a few days ago. Well, let's hope some enterprising person with a hidden tracker gets arrested as early as possible so the location gets leaked and suitable disruptions caused. These jackbooted police deserve it. If you are going to protest, come in droves.

Our foppish "Justice" minister Brian Mikkelsen is promising to make more detention space available if necessary (reported here), and conventional prisons are already being emptied to make space for you (reported here). You are about to get a taste of Denmark's famed hospitality. Because in Denmark, you do what your host tells you, or you get out. Don't believe everything you read on postcards. The entire Copenhagen Climate Conference seems to be have to do with bolstering Denmark's image than with climate policy, and the government is making sure no one ruins their little school play.

Copenhageners want to throw gangs out

2009-11-15T17:33:00.004+01:00

Off Berlingske ...

Venstre (Liberal) member Pia Allerslev is once again proposing that Copenhagen fixes its long-running gangwar problem by forcing gang members to move out of the city. Almost half of city residents agree.

Allerslev says "This is a clear indication that people have had enough. We need zero tolerance". She blames left-wing politicians, who she says are willing to discuss prevention only, but not consequence.

The Radical Left on the other hand aren't very positive about the Liberal proposal, pointing to how the problem with gangs will simply be moved to another location, and that the moved criminals will simply recruit others to take their place. The Red-Greens (Enhedslisten) are also critical of the proposal, saying that they prefer other methods such as legalization of marijuana.

This was worth reporting because it points to a core problem with living in Denmark: people are simply thrown away and replaced when found wanting. For contextual reference, Denmark had a well-known biker war in the 90's. The war was primarily about control of the drug market throughout Scandinavia, and was strongly influenced Danish laws around organized crime. At no time though did Danes try to pass laws which forcibly removed bikers from a given municipality. Now there's a new kind of criminal conflict, between bikers and immigrant gangs, once against about drug trafficking, which the Liberal-led government forced underground by criminalizing marijuana.

The current gang wars have strongly polarized Danish society, with many Danes openly declaring their support for white bikers, who they see as defenders of traditional Danish values. The Danish media has been rife with talk about the conflict erupting into a full-blow "race war", and justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen made several failed shows of force to re-establish police control of the city's worst-affected areas. Nørrebro has been particularly hard-hit. To date though there have been no substantial breakthroughs or arrests, and with the growing sense of frustration, the government has fallen back to their favorite show tactics for tackling immigrant-related problem, what I call "hammer then window".

The hammer is any overly-broad and vague law which has the primary of aim of scaring people instead of prosecuting them. This law will usually not stand up to rigorous constitutional scrutiny, and was probably never intended to get that far anyway, as people will hopefully be too frightened to break it in the first place. This is classic Liberal/Conservative thinking, and its poster boy is the hopelessly inept Brian Mikkelsen, a man who has no business being Justice Minister. Mikkelsen believes immigrants are kids who need a "firm hand" and be scared into doing the right thing. He has enacted laws which, for example, give the police the right to search any person they deem "suspicious" without probable cause or warrants. This conveniently happens in areas with large immigrant populations, even though white bikers are an equal component of the conflict. This is just racial profiling under a different name, and instead of solving the problem has caused even more racial conflict.

The window is what you use when the hammer breaks something : you simply throw it away through the window. You don't throw it in the bin mind you - that would imply you're getting rid of something properly. No, by using a window you're simply moving the broken thing from your space to someone else's space in the messiest way possible. This is classic Danish thinking. Denmark loves its national border, which keeps the chaotic world out of well-ordered Denmark. If something proves too chaotic to tame, you just drive it up to the swirling vortex of negative energy and throw it back from whence it came. Deportation is a central tenet of Denmark's handling of immigrants criminals, and the practice is so popular that authorities will even try to "deport" criminals to other areas or municipalities within Denmark. It is extensively used to punish habitual criminals. If the criminals in question are minors, their parents and siblings are usually removed as well. There is very little corresponding treatment for ethnic white Danes - it would be seen as a gross violation of their rights.

Interesting, violent crime was never a serious problem in Denmark under socialist rule. Its arrival coincided with the rise to power of the current tough-talking right wing government, who slashed social support and demonized pretty much any immigrant they could find. Mr and Mrs Denmark loved it because they felt immigration and immigrants needed to be brought under tough control, but it had the unexpected side-effect of hardening immigrant attitudes too. I can say this from personal experience : I stopped caring about Denmark's problems when I saw Denmark didn't care about me. I keep my head down, go to work, and pay what taxes I have to, but there ends my interaction or interest in Denmark. Denmark sees me as a money-making device, and I see Denmark as money. Had I been some poor kid from the projects with no education or chance for a job, pushing drugs would be one of the few viable alternatives to going to work.

This new proposal, this attitude that Denmark demonstrates time and again, is what's at the heart of bad integration and immigrant crime. When you treat people like crap, people start throwing crap back at you. And now, yet again, the Liberals want to break some more people, only to end up having to throw them away later.

Avoid undanishness : avoid contact with Denmark

2009-11-15T15:51:00.007+01:00

Denmark has a problem : it has an abundance of sick foreigners, foreigners of all kinds, all races, from all over the world. We see them every day: sullen, withdrawn and unhappy, unwilling to speak Danish in their homes or drink like Danes, and unable to get dates or forge lasting friendships with Danes. Undanishness (udanskhed) is what Danes call this syndrome, and it can strike anyone, regardless of language, education or social status. Nine in ten afflicted are foreigners, but it has been known to affect ethnic Danes too. There is only one known cure: the rapid and permanent removal of the patient from Denmark. With this in mind the Danish government generously offers 100,000 Danish kroner to each foreigner with undanishness, easing his or her transition back to health in another country *. The Danish state's heightened concern for immigrant health is notable here, as ethnic Danes currently do not have access to this offer.

While removal from Denmark acts as a cure, there are coping mechanisms available to this who must remain in the country. This entails expensive and uncomfortable life-long treatment, commonly referred to as forced integration. The relapse rate from the treatment is high, and annually costs the Danish state millions of kroner, both for the treatment and for unfulfilled work quotas.

We foreigners living Denmark want to help too. Undanishness touches many of us daily, and we want to help Denmark curb its spread and save precious taxpayer money. We are formally starting the "Avoid undanishness : avoid contact with Denmark" campaign, and we believe that abstinence is the best form of prevention. Seeing as the most common cause of undanishness is longterm contact with Danish people, culture, soil and buildings, and that the syndrome randomly strikes a high proportion of foreigners regardless of their origin, we are advising all people to simply abstain from any form of contract with Denmark - don't come here, it's just not worth the risk.

Remember that if you are identified with the syndrome, Danish health officials will be forced to mark you for expeditious removal **. You will receive an offer of money and encouraged to leave the country as soon as possible. The offer does have several known side-effects : depression, confusion, and even anger. You can avoid this, and the disruption to your life, by avoiding Denmark completely.

Please, take undanishness seriously. Consider the risks to not just yourself but also your family when planning a visit or work trip to Denmark ***. Help us, help the Danish government; ultimately you might just be helping yourself.

* Recipients of this treatment are required to sign a waiver giving up all rights to return to Denmark. Please consult your local deportation official. Offer may not be available in your area. All payments subject to applicable taxes and surcharges. Speaking Danish is required.

** For an updated list of symptoms and identification criteria, please consult your doctor or local immigration/deportation official. Speaking Danish is required.

*** Undanishness is endemic to Denmark : you cannot catch it in Sweden, Norway or Finland.

Socialists caught in immigrant policy lie?

2009-11-14T14:08:00.004+01:00

The on-again off-again spat between the Radical Left and the Socialists continues.

Marianne Jelved is accusing the Socialists of trying to appeal to immigrants and tolerant Danes by backing humane immigration policies, while at the same time supporting the Social Democrats, who in turn are supporting Dansk Folkeparti's hardline. This is all about the so-called "bugger off cheque" where foreigners get DKr. 116.954 to permanently give up Danish residence. Socialist integration spokesperson Meta Fuglsang signaled her party's opposition to the proposal when it was first announced, but later she fell in line and at a joint Socialist / Social Democrat press conference, dropped all complaints or wishes to change the law.

Jelved says this is typical of the Socialists, who on the day the law was announced, consistently supported the Radicals' opposition to the law, but suddenly and without warning changed their position in a press conference with the Social Democrats. The Danish press widely reported Socialist opposition to the law, when in effect the party was officially backing it.

Jelved goes on to say "A majority in Parliament is now defining who we want in the country, and who we don't. That is a serious ethical problem. In other words we shouldn't help immigrants who have difficulties, but rather motivate them to return home and never come back. That is another step in the direction of an overly-controlled society with a fixed order, and everyone who doesn't fit into that should have money to leave Denmark. I simply don't understand how the Social Democrats and Socialists can be part of that".

She also said "I can fully understand if voters can't really see the big difference between the Social Democrats and the Socialists, and Dansk Folkeparti. There are obviously a series of issues, including asylum policy, where we want to do something else, but too often S and SF ends up agreeing with the government and Dansk Folkeparti when it comes to immigration policy."

The Socialists responded by calling the criticism unfair

Thanks for getting that out in the open Marianne Jelved - I can only agree. Many Danes will tell you that it's only Dansk Folkeparti which backs these tough and quite frankly inhuman laws, but when you look at how the other parties fall in line, it becomes obvious that the majority of Danes are in on it. Almost all parties now back Dansk Folkeparti, directly or indirectly, and there is no voter backlash. Note that, all you people who say Danes are by large a tolerant people being held hostage against their will by Pia Kjærsgaard.

To be fair, there is a lot of opposition within SF to the tough new laws, just as there is within the Social Dems, just as there always has been within even the Liberals and Conservatives. But all of these parties are disciplined and their leadership focused on broader strategic decisions, and the strategy is simply that the majority of Danes agree with the laws, and there can be no success in opposing that. Just look at the Radicals - at one point they were one of the dominant parties in the country, but now poll lower single digits. They along with the Communists are also alone in consistent opposing Dansk Folkeparti's laws. The Social Democrats have their sight set on deposing the Liberals as the core governing party, but they know that ten years of open xenophobia in Danish government has taken hold with voters, and Danish voters will most likely not support a government which cannot work closely with Dansk Folkeparti. The Social Dems also need an alliance partner to get enough votes to form a government, and the Socialists are the only viable option.

For it's part, SF has agreed to work with the Social Dems, even though they know it means closer cooperation with Dansk Folkeparti, and that means Socialist leader Villy Søvndal must keep dissent within his party in check. Søvndal heads a party that is notoriously anti-establishment, decentralized, and also enjoys strong support from immigrants, who traditionally have seen the party as a bulwark against Dansk Folkeparti. This places SF in very a difficult position : how do they convince immigrants to continue voting for them, when they are in effect agreeing to turn on those same immigrants? This is most likely why they are consistently sending out mixed signals in the press. This is probably not some in-party confusion we're seeing, but SF shrewdly playing both sides and hoping neither will notice.

Villy Søvndal, as charismatic and smart as he might be, is probably biting off more than he can chew here. He's kept a lid on acrimonious discontent within his party with the promise he'll deliver the impossible : a new hardline anti-immigration government which immigrants and tolerant Danes will want to support. That's like a magicians saying he'll pull a rabbit out of a hat, and the hat out of the rabbit, at exactly the same time. Good luck with that one Villy. Maybe you'll get it right ... or just maybe your party disintegrates entirely.

In conclusion, if you're an immigrant thinking about voting for the Socialists in the upcoming local elections, think again. They're clearly sending out unclear signals, and that's probably because that as much as they want to be nice to you, their hands are tied.

Better eat that porkchop, porkchop

2009-11-12T19:36:00.005+01:00

Remember when Finland decided broadband was a basic human right, and that the government had an obligation to provide all Finns with it? Well, Dansk Folkeparti think in similar terms, only it isn't internet access that gets them cooking : it's pork.

Politiken reports that Hvidovre DPP representative Mikkel Dencker is proposing that at least 20% of all government-funded meals shall be pork-based. This would include food served in elderly- and day-care institutions. It's being backed by the party top, who wants the government to set a "food policy". They admit it could cause problems for muslims and jews, but as Hans Kristian Skibby, their municipality-issues spokesman says, "it's not something they should be paying attention to". He goes on to say that Denmark has a multi-generation tradition of eating "pork chops and pork meat balls".

Politiken ran a story a few days ago with Dencker, where said that institutions, out of a "mistaken sense of consideration to immigrants" would not serve pork at all, pork being as he puts it, a natural part of Danish culture which he is scared will be lost. When asked about the muslims and jews who would not be able to eat these pork-based meals he said "I'm sure they can find some extra potatoes for them".

I don't know about you, but I'm sure glad I can eat anything. It avoids those uncomfortable moments where I'd have to explain why my terrorist conviction prevents it. More importantly it means the difference between getting a warm meal, or having to subsist on cold, week-old potato salad.

Pork is good, I don't have a problem with it, but is this really necessary? Of course not. But it's another way the DPP can look over your shoulder and force you to do things their way, and that's turning out to be a generation-spanning facet of Danish culture as well. As always, drive safe and remember you don't want to come here, because you have to put up with ignorant rubbish like this on a daily basis. Go work in Belgium - they're nicer there.

Proud of extremists, ashamed of moderates. Well, not everyone.

2009-11-10T20:39:00.005+01:00

Just to follow up, two days after I blogged about Swastika Boy vs the Scarf Girl, Rune Engelbreth Larsen at Politiken made pretty much the same observation. For the record and because it's worth mentioning, I read and enjoy Rune's blog a lot, I almost always agree with his observations, and he really is one of the good Danes. Well, I read his posts; the comments that follow can make a man wilt. Anyway, go Rune!

Don't come to Denmark ... to protest!

2009-11-10T16:51:00.009+01:00

Thinking of taking part in any street demonstrations for the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Conference? Well, be careful, because the government and Dansk Folkeparti are it again, and have passed a series of hardline laws to stamp law and order into your face. At the very least, bring bail money. Lots of it.

The police can arrest you for 12 hours without a warrant if you are simply suspected of being a "security risk".
You can be jailed for 40 days if the police feel you are actively "hindering" their work.
There is a fine of Kr 6000 for taking part in any public demonstration or gathering that police do not authorize.
There is a fine for Kr 15,000 for any act of vandalism, or .. and I like this one ... for penetrating a police barrier.

In addition to this, bring a first aid kit. When the police raided Brorsens Church a few months ago to arrest Iraqi asylum seekers, they used batons to beat sitting, passive Danish demonstrators - medical treatment was required afterwards. An interesting aside was that the police were so violent they ended up smashing up their own video surveillance gear by accident. All charges of police brutality were summarily dismissed by the government, so don't plan on recouping your costs via lawsuit.

This law was drafted by Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen (Conservative) with the firm support of Dansk Folkeparti, who are passionate about Soviet-style top-down control. It is specifically aimed at controlling foreign demonstrators who are coming to Denmark to protest during the conference, as is customary for this type of international happening. However, the law will remain in place afterwards and be part of the police's legal arsenal, and Danish unions are worried they can be used to intimidate ordinary Danes from taking part in industrial protest action.

For what it's worth, it should be pointed out that the Liberals and Conservatives are traditionally anti-labour, and it wouldn't be without precedent for them to sneak through hardline laws to make it easier for business to control labour disputes.

In addition to that I just think Brian Mikkelsen is a hopeless, bungling idiot who couldn't organize crap in a sewer. He drew up Denmark's infamous new anti-knife law, which was supposed to stop a spate of stabbings, but thanks to inept legal formulation ended up snagging fishermen and artisans who bore work-related cutting implements. Smart. Mikkelsen is a dandyboy who believes protesting means writing a letter to a social superior and stating your case politely but firmly, so save yourself time in the can and start scribbling.

Or better still, let's all of us, foreigners and Danes, labourers and climate activists, go down to the justice ministry office where we can collectively throw our shoes at this upperclass twit of the year.

You can read more in Danish at Politiken.

The world according to Denmark

2009-11-10T01:09:00.014+01:00

This was just waiting to happen. It's a direct result of some of the hilarious comments I've been getting from all the raving Dansk Folkeparti wingnuts - you guys make it all worth while, keep 'em coming, please.

Denmark far below EU standards for equality

2009-11-09T18:53:00.004+01:00

They just keep coming. This appeared on Politiken's website a short while ago.

An EU study shows that finding a job in Denmark is a process beset with problems if you have the "wrong" name or way of speaking, amongst other things. Danes more than other Europeans feel themselves victimized by discrimination.

Dark-skinned people, people with names which don't sound Danish stand a higher chance for discrimination when job hunting in comparison with other EU residents.

Speech, dialect, religion, name and even address are some of the factors which affect job discrimination, which is always far above the EU average. Age, gender and sexual orientation are far less likely to make Danes feel discriminated.

More hard numbers to chew on, and fairly self-explanatory at that. I love how these damning reports keep raining down like body blows, while the government just tries to spin it all away. And tomorrow we'll get the canned indignant responses from the clown parade at Christiansborg, who'll try to character assassinate the science behind the report. Yes, put on the show, do the dance, whatever. At the end of the day we all know the EU has the better track record for standing up against discrimination.

Updates on "Scram from Denmark" story

2009-11-09T18:41:00.004+01:00

The Copenhagen Post is now carrying a story about the 100,000 kr "scram from Denmark" law. You have to love the comments under that piece - go us!

Note that Politiken's english site has no sign of it. Which is pretty much as expected. Nothing sells Denmark like good news.

Denmark pays foreigners to bugger off

2009-11-09T14:38:00.006+01:00

Brace yourselves - here comes a kicker. http://politiken.dk/politik/article829593.ece appeared in Politiken last night.

Foreigners get 100,000 kr. to go back home

08. November 2009

The government and the Danish Peoples Party have agreed on a repatriation deal.

Every foreigner from a non-western country gets 100,00 Danish Kroner, if he or she surrenders permanent residence in Denmark and returns home.

At the same time municipalities will be refunded 75% of their costs for repatriation.

A fund of 20 million kroner will be allocated which municipalities can apply to to motivate foreigners to return home.

Negotiations resume tomorrow
This deal was agreed between the government and the DPP, before negotiations for the nation budget resume on Monday morning.

The agreement, according to DPP leader Pia Kjærsgaard, will save the society a large amount.

"One simultaneously spares the Danish society immense costs and immense problems. We know that there is already a growing problem with elderly care. There have been problems surrounding hospitals and health costs. There exists many large problems in the municipalities" said Pia Kjærsgaard.

Currently, foreigners receive only 11,000 kroner if they give up their residence.

DPP : Badly integrated foreigners cost
Municipalities shall be made aware of the offer to repatriate foreigners who cannot be integrated in Denmark, says DPP finance spokesman Kristian Thulesen Dahl.

"This applies to the group that came here under the asylum system and has received family reunion and fixed residence. We are paying for them giving up their life-long residence in the Denmark society. This will have great value to the society. It costs a great deal to have badly-integrated foreigners in the Danish society" he says.

The government will now calculate how many foreigners are expected to accept the offer, says Kristian Thulesen Dahl.

Sometimes you have to wonder what they smoke up in Christiansborg. I've seen some short-sighted proposals coming out of there, but they don't rest on their laurels in parliament. No sir, each year has to bring a grander and zanier spectacle.

Denmark is a society that believes it can buy its way out of problems. Money fixes everything, and everyone can be bought. Reminds me a bit of how the government is also trying to buy a good image abroad by investing in advertising instead of looking at how Danish culture seems to be the real impediment to folk coming here. This is what you get when you believe you're both perfect and rich beyond comprehension.

I'm not sure what the context of Pia K's statement is surrounding wanting to offload foreigners, and the burden on the elderly and the healthcare system. If it really is the case that Denmark wants to get rid of us before we get old and have to be taken care of, then that is alarming. Denmark often acts like it wants us only for cheap labour, and would rather not have to deal with us personally, but this marks the first time I've seen this being stated so openly. Is this the kind of society you want to get old in? Are they going to take care of us, or wait for any excuse to kick the chair?

What Denmark says with this is : you're not really welcome here. You're all worth bags of money - some bags are just larger than others. We have assigned a value to you, and now we'd like to buy some of you out. Take this money, sod off, don't come back.

Some people might take the money, but many will not. How do you think those who stay behind are going to feel? I'll tell you how : like whores. Like a number in the eye of the state. I know a lot of people who qualify for this offer, and they're good, honest, hard-working folk. This offer takes everything they've done to try to fit in here, and throws it right back in their face. Today many criminals of foreign origin who were born and raised in Denmark, and know no other society, can be deported to their parents' country of origin if they commit a serious crime. An ethnic Dane would receive a corresponding sentence of a few years in jail, and returns to regular life : foreigners get a life sentence by being separated from their families and society. All because Danes persist with the notion that aberrant behavior is the product of flawed culture which in turn is bound to your race, and once you start malfunctioning it must be the fault of wherever you came from, so go back there.

The threat of forced deportation is known to increase the feeling social isolation amongst potential criminals of foreign origin, as it shows that the society is not willing to stand by them in the same way it stands by its own. It also says clearly that Denmark is a country for the fittest and strongest, and if you have any weakness, you're not welcome.

Of course we couldn't discuss all of this without indulging in an obligatory game of semantics. How will "non-western" be defined? Pakistan and Somalia are sure to top the list. But what about India? Or what about muslim fundamentalists from India? There are few. What about non-fundamentalist muslims from India? -There are a few too. What about China? Nigeria? Thailand? Will the mask of "non-western" conveniently fall on all non-white countries again, or has the Danish government drawn up A List of "desirables"? And if so, what criteria did they use? I want to know!

Wait, I'm not done yet. If one does not qualify for repatriation, does that imply that you've good enough? Are you free from all the other draconian, invasive and irrational immigration laws, which one presumes were drawn up specifically to purge the same people that are being offered this golden middle finger? Can Brazilians start bringing their husbands or wives in? Can Danes start marrying Zimbabweans again? Or do only white Brazilian and Zimbabweans count? Or do no Brazilians and Zimbabweans count, because there are black and white ones, and the Danish government can't very well write up a law that asks which you are - that one would never sail past the EU. Once again, we're faced with a farcical law which raises troubling questions.

There are many countries that offer people repatriation assistance - I think all Nordic countries do, and Denmark has offered it before too. But the wording, context and amount of this offer are so extreme that it's obvious it's a buyout, not a hand-out. It's one thing to offer someone money on humanitarian grounds - it's something else to do it to dehumanize them.

Proud of extremists, ashamed of moderates

2009-11-08T20:47:00.008+01:00

Ekstrabladet ran a story today about an open and convicted neo-nazi, Daniel Carlsen, who is serving in the Danish army and could end up being a member of the Queens' Royal Guard. Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Lennie Fredskov Hansen said in the article

.... that we in Denmark can be proud of, having 'strange opinions'.

Christine Dahl, spokeswoman for the Royal Guard agreed :

We have freedom of speech in Denmark, and it is not illegal to be a nazi. But if there should be a security risk, where the young nazi can be in danger of being assaulted by others, he will not be allowed to stand guard [ed: for the Queen].

I gawked, but not for the obvious. I agree that we should have a society with freedom of speech, and I for one don't think it should be illegal to be a nazi, or a racist. After all, people feel what they feel, and thoughts in themselves should never be a crime. But ... I want to put this into perspective for you.

Earlier this year, a muslim woman, 27-year old Maria Mawla, was bullied out of the Danish National Guard. This is a semi-military, volunteer-based organization attached to the army, and consisting entirely of civilians. Mawla's crime : she wore a head-scarf. Ironically, the case of Mawla came to light when the National Guard ran a glowing story about her in their official newsletter, proclaiming her as an example of how muslim women could effectively serve in Denmark's armed forced. Mawla herself was on record as stating that she volunteered because she felt pride in her adoptive country, wanted to give something back to the society, and also wanted to prove that she as a muslim woman could break both the gender and religious barriers associated with military service. But as a practicing muslim, she covered her head with a scarf, which itself was initially approved by her commanding officers. When the government and Dansk Folkparti became aware of this though, a political firestorm erupted, the permission to wear a headscarf was revoked, and many prominent politicians, not just from the DPP but from the Liberals and Conservatives as well, went on record stating that Marwa was a disgrace to the armed forces and should be removed immediately.

This is equality, Danish-style. We have freedom of speech and choice here, just for the right kind of speech and choice. We live in a society where open bigots are vigorously protected, but foreigners are relentlessly bullied for arbitrary reasons. Maria Mawla committed no crime, but she was the victim of a lengthy and sustained personal attack by politicians and the media. She was no fundamentalist or fanatic, rather the opposite. Daniel Carlsen on the other hand ....

Don't vote Venstre!

2009-11-07T16:02:00.006+01:00

A vote for Venstre, is a vote for Dansk Folkeparti, is a vote for xenophobia.

Communal elections are coming up on November 17th, and despite some threats to take it away from us, immigrants with the right residence permits still have the right to vote. I get the impression mainstream Danish society watches this with a mixture of interest and fear, as it gives them quantitative evidence for how foreigners think and feel about Denmark and democracy.

I was in some doubt about whether I would participate at all - if my absence could somehow light up on their counter as yet another immigrant too ticked off to make a cross, then that would have been great. But I also believe very strongly in democracy and voting, and sitting out is no guarantee for anything. Immigrants have very little say in Denmark as voting is tied to citizenship, and I really want some way to leave my impression on this society, so I'm voting whichever way I can. It's just a question of for who. There's always some strategy in voting. You get one X, and you try to get the most from it.

These are municipal elections - there are limits to what the candidates can do, as they are constrained by broader policies set by the national government. And because immigration policy is strongly centralized at very top of the government, there is very little my vote can change in practice. Immigration-wise that is. Which is how I think Danes want it to work. Immigration law is seen as part of national defense, and we're supposed to let the powers upon high manage that while we get on with regular life, where we help decide how many school outings our kids take, or if we're going to get a new traffic light on the corner. I don't really care about these to be honest. Sure, they're important, but there are bigger and more pressing issues which I want resolved before I'm willing to discuss the details. Like, how is Danish society going to change to become more accepting towards us, and how soon can all of these petty Jim Crow immigration control laws be repealed?

Ballot spoiling is always an option. I simply misplace my X ; democratic right exercised. But that's still a vote that's not really being used to empower someone who can work for me. I've looked through the candidate list, and right now I'm working in reverse order from least to most desirable.

What I am sure of is that I will not vote for Venstre (the Liberals). Not now, and at no point in the future. I will always hold Venstre responsible for the rise of Dansk Folkeparti, and I would love to see them getting punished by every immigrant voter. In fact, I'm puzzled by immigrants who can think no further than their wallets. Venstre are pro-business and in favour of lowering taxes - great. Venstre are also the party that are so tightly connected with Dansk Folkeparti these days that it's hard to see where one's mouth ends and the other's ass begins. A vote for Venstre is a proxy vote for Dansk Folkeparti, any way you cut it - their track record for the last nine years screams it. If you vote for Venstre and to empower Dansk Folkeparti you are just voting to make your own life more complicated. Remember when Harry Belafonte accused Colin Powell of being a "house negro"? Well, don't be a Colin Powell.

The Conservatives may enjoy their public spats with the DPP, but they're part of the ruling coalition, and they clearly want to keep things that way, so they get a big thumbs down too. If had to choose between the Conservatives and the Liberals though, I'd definitely go Conservative - spines are appealing.

What about the Social Democrats? Well, if you go by what Helle Thorning-Schmidtt is saying these days, Danes can rely on her as much as Venstre, because she's as willing to play nice with Dansk Folkeparti and help push through those tough immigration laws that everyone seems to want. So they're not getting my vote either. Sure, they're better than Venstre because they're not in bed with Dansk Folkeparti yet, and the party's old-guard are still open-minded, but I'm unhappy that the Social Democrats are so eager to sell their souls to Dansk Folkeparti.

The Socialists used to be a safe bet for the immigrant vote, until Villy Søvndal started running the party that is. They used to have a reputation for keeping their hands clean, but Villy's been flinging mud like the best of them since he took over, so I'd like to repay him for that.

The Communists I largely trust when it comes to immigration. Whether you want to buy into their economic policy is something else, but that's your choice. Still, credit given where credit due : they're principled.

The Liberal Alliance I don't like because while I believe their principals on immigration are sound and fair, they're too willing to cooperate with Venstre, making them a high-risk Dansk Folkeparti proxy vote. And the party is still in a state of flux after being around for just a few years and having lost most of its members. I wouldn't be surprised to see them close up shop altogether, or sell their operation to Venstre.

That leaves the Radicals. Ah, the dear old Radicals. I don't always agree with them on economic policy, but when it comes to immigration they're often the lone voice of sanity out there. I also think that details aside, they have two things which make for good leadership : intelligence, and principles. Many of the other parties, especially Venstre and Dansk Folkeparti, seem to consist of opportunists who are trying to ride this political thing for all its worth, but the Radicals have long-term plans that are humanistic and inclusive. They're at the top of my short-list. My very short short-list.

Those were my choices. I've deliberately left out my economic leanings because that's not really what this post is about. There are parties from pretty much the entire economic spectrum which range from good to passable on immigration matters, and how you choose is your own thing. But please, whatever you do, don't vote for Venstre - they don't deserve it.

Council of Europe slams Denmark for intolerance - again

2009-11-06T02:25:00.005+01:00

This is an older article from Politiken, I'm guessing around 2006. It used to be up here, but is no longer available, so I'm including the original Danish text here. The ECRI report is available here (PDF).

Report : DPP controls immigrant policy

The Council of Europe has sharply criticized the Danish Peoples Party and the Danish government's dependence on that party.

by Line Prasz

There were harsh words for the DPP and the government in the Council of Europe's new report on racism and intolerance (ECRI).

The report is the third in a row on the subject, where Denmark has previously been criticized. This time the report states :

"The ECRI has noted, with deep concern, that the climate in Denmark ... has worsened since the Commission's second report, and that there is a radical atmosphere of intolerance and xenophobia towards refugees and asylum seekers, as well as minorities in general and muslims in particular."

DPP blamed for racism

The ECRI feels that the atmosphere is primarily the product of the media and politicians.

"Members of the Danish Peoples Party have on numerous occasions put forward shockingly racist statements in the media, without these causing them to be suspended from the party" states the report.

"The government's dependence on the Danish Peoples Party as a support party has given the latter considerable influence, allowing them to force through an anti-immigrant agenda and the passing of laws, which excessively affect minorities.

The report also concludes, that the police's unwillingness to file charges for breaches of the anti-racism laws and "the fact that the right to speak freely is placed higher than everything else", has given these politicians freedom to release demeaning statements about minorities in the media.

Serious criticism of the government

The Danish law professor Eva Smith chairs the ECRI, which wrote the report.

The Danish government was quick to seriously criticized the report for being low in quality, after receiving a copy.

Also praise

The report from the ECRI is the third on Denmark. On only one point has Denmark improved, since the second report which was released in 2001.

The point of praise is because in 2003, Denmark introduced a law on ethnic equality and created a committee for ethnic equality.

At the same time, racial motivation for crimes has become a more serious offense.

And here's the original.Rapport: DF styrer indvandrerpolitikken

Europarådet langer kraftigt ud efter Dansk Folkeparti og regeringens afhængighed af partiet.
Af Line Prasz

Der er barske ord til Dansk Folkeparti og regeringen i Europarådets nye rapport mod racisme og intolerance, ECRI.

Rapporten er den tredje i rækken om emnet, hvor Danmark også tidligere har fået lussinger med på vejen. Denne gang står der i rapporten:

»ECRI konstaterer med dyb bekymring, at klimaet i Danmark (...) er blevet forværret siden Kommissionens anden rapport, og at der er en gennemgribende atmosfære af intolerance og fremmehad overfor flygtninge og asylansøgere, såvel som overfor mindretals grupper i almindelighed og muslimer i særdeleshed«.

DF skyld i racisme
ECRI mener, at denne atmosfære primært er skabt af medier og politikere.

»Medlemmer af Dansk Folkeparti har ved adskillige lejligheder fremsat chokerende racistiske ytringer i medierne, uden at det har ført til suspendering fra partiet«, står der i rapporten.

»Regeringens afhængighed af Dansk Folkeparti som støtteparti har givet sidstnævnte betydelig indflydelse, så det har kunnet gennemtvinge en anti-indvandringsdagsorden og vedtagelse af lovgivning, som reelt påvirker mindretalsgrupper uforholdsmæssigt hårdt«.

Rapporten konkluderer desuden, at politiets tøven med at rejse tiltale efter racismeloven og »den omstændighed at ytringsfriheden sættes højere end alt andet«, har medvirket til at give disse politikere frit spil til at fremsætte nedladende udtalelser i medierne om mindretalsgrupper.

Voldsom kritik fra regeringen
Den danske juraprofessor Eva Smith er formand for ECRI, som har skrevet rapporten.

På forhånd har den danske regering voldsomt kritiseret rapporten for at være af dårlig kvalitet efter at have læst et udkast.

Også roser
Rapporten fra ECRI er den tredje om Danmark. Kun på enkelte punkter har Danmark forbedret sig, siden den anden rapport, der kom i 2001.

En af stjernerne i karakterbogen gives for, at Danmark i 2003 indførte en lov om etnisk ligestilling og oprettede en klagekomité for etnisk ligestilling.

Samtidig er et racistisk motiv til en almindelig forbrydelse blevet en skærpende omstændighed.

Nothing new then. Some pesky international-types level serious accusations against Denmark, and the DPP in particular, and the response is just to brush it off like it never happened. There was no noticeable political fallout from this report in Denmark, because it just doesn't matter to the man on the street. This wasn't the first report to criticize Denmark for pervasive racism and xenophobia, nor was it the last. I'll get around to putting more up as time permits, which right now it doesn't really. Work and deadlines and all that. But bear this piece of hard evidence in mind, along with all the others from bodies like the UN, EU, Amnesty International, etc, should you be thinking about coming to Denmark. And if you are here, don't worry, you're not going mad, nor are you imagining things, despite what the locals insist.

Were the muhammed cartoons really worth this?

2009-10-27T18:52:00.009+01:00

The Danish media went into overdrive a few hours ago when the news broke that two Americans had been arrested for planning attacks in this country in connection with the Muhammed cartoons. This is quite unsettling news ; violence against civilians should always be roundly condemned, but this time it's also uncomfortably close to home. Pia Kjærsgaard hasn't wasted any time springing into gear, painting this conflict as a fight between evil fundamentalists and free speech. In other words a vote against blowing innocent people up must surely be a vote for her. It's not. Even if I'm standing right in the middle of the potential target area, and I myself could be hit, I don't see this as a black-and-white fight between right and wrong. There just has to be a third way.

For the record, I categorically support the right of the press to print what it wants, and more so I believe that right should extend to cover hate-speech as well, because gagging someone doesn't erase their thoughts. It would be better for all concerned, potential victims included, if we got all the pettiness and hate out in the open, as there is no better cure. So I would without hesitation defend Jyllands-Posten's right to publish what they did, and I also believe that no matter what they've printed, they and their staff should never be subjected to threats of violence. I don't say this because I agree with Jyllands-Posten though : there's a difference between having a right and being right, and here is where my solidarity starts to run out, as I afford the muhammed cartoons the same technical courtesy I would give Mein Kampf or the works of David Irving.

It is quite unfortunate that Denmark has chosen to hold these cartoons so close it itself, turning them into its cause celebre, as the cartoons are nothing to be proud of. They are crude and hateful, hearkening back to a system just over half a century ago that also saw fit to communicate perceptions of an entire People and religion through crude, demeaning caricatures. The cartoons say more about Denmark than they do about Islam in fact, and it's no surprise that instead of electrifying broader western culture to the dangers of Islamism, they served as a lighting rod for racists and right wing extremists, who much to their delight discovered a new and socially-acceptable beachhead against a minority. A quick perusal of social websites and nazi forums shows that where, a few years ago Nazi-era cartoons of Jews were being passed around, the Muhammed cartoons are now proudly and boldly on display. And where right-wing extremists were once seen to embody backward ideals such as violence, they now claim to champion something historically alien to them yet vital to enlightened society : free speech. Suddenly neo-nazis a singing a new tune; they don't quite understand what the words mean, but they are overjoyed that it's one they share with mainstream society.

Then there is the supposed intention of the cartoons : to encourage debate about depiction of islam's most cherished human figure. Only, conducted with the bungling cultural insensitivity and tactlessness Danes are becoming known for. Did Jyllands-Posten really do something so stupid by accident, or did they cynically plan the whole thing knowing they had plausible deniability behind the guise of free speech? It's hard to imagine how anyone could willingly broach a sensitive, almost-taboo subject the way they did. It would be like seeing North and South Korea finally sit down to negotiate a formal peace treaty, only for the South Korean delegation to suddenly strip naked and run around flinging their excrement on all the portraits of Kim Jong Il. Sure, Kim Jong is a nasty dictator, his people take him way too seriously, and they need to lighten up if they're ever going to develop the healthy democratic attitude which makes for a lasting peace, but where does the naked doodoo flinging fit in? If muslims are overly-sensitive about their prophet and don't allow him to be graphically depicting, how does depicting him in the most offensive way possible help them overcome that? Why, one must ask, did Denmark's prime minister at the time, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, go out of his way to deliberately antagonize every muslim ambassador stationed in Denmark? It wasn't like muslims were the only ones who thought things had gone too far : remember Bill Clinton's reaction? He perfectly summed it up for me - he thought the cartoons were immoral, but not illegal. Wisely put Bill. I recall the Danish media were not too happy with his stance either, but alas, I didn't keep a copy of that.

Is this what Denmark wants to be known for? Is this going to be the stake they're burnt at? Put another way, are innocent people going to lose their lives over this of all things, caught between the worst extremes on both sides of this pointless conflict? Because sometimes you do have to pick a fight, stand your ground, and take the punches. The press losing its freedom is something that would have all sorts of negative repercussions for us, and it would be terrible if people on the other side of the world could start setting up committees to decide what we can or cannot write. Still, I would have preferred that our cultural Armageddon wasn't over the modern equivalent of something Joseph Goebbels could have commissioned.

Foreigners don't want to work in Denmark

2009-10-27T02:18:00.006+01:00

Business.dk ran this story earlier this year.

Foreigners don't want to work in Denmark

Saturday May 23rd, 2009, 12:00

The Employers Union and Municipalities Union wants to know how the authorities can be better at helping foreigners.

It is far too difficult to work in Denmark, and that's why they leave again. Many foreigners have actually found a job in Denmark, but it is so difficult to fit in and understand the rules and laws in the society, that they leave again after a short while. Therefore the Danish Employer's Union (DA), LO and municipality union (KL) in the coming year want to conduct trials in several municipalities, says Finn Rasmussen, a member of DA as well as leader of welcometo.dk.

"The ultimate goal is to get foreign labourers to feel welcome. We have previously seen some of them leave because they don't feel welcome. It needs to be easier to go to the municipality and public service bodies" said Finn Rasmussen to Ritzau.

The Ministry of Integration has also allocated money to the project, so in all there is three million kroner to websites, information material and trials in several municipalities. Next week it begins with an introductory seminar for the trials in Copenhagen, Odense, Vesthimmerland and Skjern.

Welcometo.dk, in addition to focusing on the authorities services, also make suggestions for better methods to get language, family well-being and workplace culture to function better, when foreigners come to Denmark to work.

"It needs to be easier, and we shall therefore start several information-sharing initiatives between these municipalities and the rest of the country. There is relatively large investment in getting a foreign worker to come to Denmark. Therefore it's a waste for all partners, if he or she leaves again after a short while" says Finn Rasmussen.

One of the possibilities can be information about rights and obligations in English, German and Polish on official websites.

Money has been allocated for welcometo.dk until 2010.

The contents of the article aren't new - this story has been doing the rounds for several years, just differently worded. It just doesn't seem that they're getting around to fixing the problem, and if this is their preferred plan of action it's apparent why. It takes a lot to travel to a new country ; that's a substantial emotional and time investment, and it takes a lot more to make you turn right around and leave. It would certainly take more than just difficulty with access to technical information from your local municipality. Most people who travel to work abroad are relatively self-sufficient - it comes with the territory. They're resourceful enough to work stuff like that out for themselves.

Why are the authorities ignoring the elephant in the middle of the room? What about the foreigners who leave because they're shocked by the political climate in the country, once they've taken their Danish courses and get around to deciphering what the Danish Peoples Party are yelling on the evening news? What about all the people who are put off by the daily, petty bigotry and snide racism? What about the people who leave because they realize they're just not making friends, the neighbors are rude, and their colleagues at work aren't much nicer? And of course, what about the standard reply to all our criticism or questions : "Denmark doesn't need you - if you don't want to accept how we do things, you can always leave"? For people who were brought in specifically for their ability to think, being ordered not to is a jarring experience.

The "solutions" proposed here the equivalent of putting a band-aid on a broken leg. Throwing some money at a few websites? Try muzzling some politicians instead, so they stop making crass generalizations about how all foreigners are here to sponge off welfare and dilute Danish culture and language. Denmark, you cannot have your cake and eat it. You cannot have a thriving foreign work force, while at the same time hosting a thriving political culture of unrestrained xenophobia parading around as free expression. You asked for smart people, and lo, smart people were promptly delivered. Unfortunately for you, smart people have a knack for figuring things out no matter how much cheap razzmatazz you drape on top. The problem isn't information availability or a lack of a marketing spin and sweet talk - it's the culture. Some countries get to a stage when they finally realize that some really cherished habit of theirs is wrong. It might be guns, or smoking, or slapping their wives, or eating too much fat, or segregation. At some point they take a long and hard look at themselves, realize that they're out of step with their ideals, and then they go about rectifying it through social re-education. Denmark is doing the opposite. Instead of straightening itself out, it's trying to bend foreigners to fit its own warped attitudes. And who wants to travel halfway across the world to do that?

The Danish Disease

2009-10-25T13:44:00.004+01:00

I found an article called "The Danish Disease" in the Monthly Preview, a long-running and respected left-wing journal from the USA. The article looks at general xenophobia in Denmark, before going into a detailed and scathing account of the Muhammed cartoon crisis, not just in the context of Denmark, but globally as well. It portrays Denmark as an agitator in the conflict between the West and the Islamic world, and how it's trying to export and globalize islamophobia as a way to frame its internal social problems.

It's yet another confirmation that the view we have of Denmark is not just our own : objective observers outside the country see it as well. This article makes for great, and heavy ammunition when the locals brush off your "misled, politically correct" criticism.

Authors Ellen Brun and Jacques Hersh seem to have done their homework ; the detail of the article is surprising, almost uncomfortably frank. The meteoric rise of the Danish Peoples Party, the latent intolerance in broad Danish society, how the corruption of xenophobia has spread to all major parties including the Socialists ... it's all there. With specific regard to the direction the Socialist Peoples Party is moving in, my favorite quote from the article has to be

European socialists ought to remember the warning by August Bebel that anti-Semitism is “the socialism of idiots.”

If Denmark's current political state is truly a disease, let us hope that cooler heads abroad prevail and manage to stem its spread.

Denmark must be worst for immigrants - DPP

2009-10-24T17:09:00.000+02:00

This article is from Politiken - the original is here.

DPP : We need to be the worst in Europe
15. October 2007

It is a triumph that Denmark is amongst the worst countries in Europe to allow foreigners to bring in their families, and to award citizenship, says the Danish Peoples Party. The Liberals call a critical report meaningless.

By Tanja Parker Astrup og Petrine Elgaard, Bruxelles

While a European thinktank and the Intstitute for Human Rights criticize the conditions that Denmark offers immigrations from third world countries, the Danish Peoples Party sees the situation as a success.

"It is absolutely not these types of foreigners we want to recruit for our job market. Our clear aim since 2002 was to reduce the number of people coming in, who would sit doing nothing productive, and who aren't interested in contributing anything - and then increase the number of people who will contribute something" says DPP integration spokesman, Jesper Langballe.

21st place
28 European countries, as well as Canada, were analysed in six ways to determine how well they live up to the common European standards for good integration, and in the study Denmark earns a joint 21st place with Poland.

Measured on how difficult it is to get residence, the right to bring one's family in, and to gain citizenship, would it be better if Denmark came in last?

"Absolutely. With the stipulation that citizenship has nothing to do with integration" says Jesper Langballe.

Liberals : The report has no practical relevance
The study, which was released today by the independent organization British Council, has never had anything to do with integration in reality, says the governing Liberals.

"It has nothing to do with reality" says integrations spokesperson Irene Simonsen (Liberals) and refers to a long list of areas which are improving.

The number of employed immigrants from non-western countries, along with their descendants, has from 2001 to 2006 increased from 45% to 50%. The number of youths currently in an education has increased from 42% to 46%. And in 2001 37% of immigrants felt discriminated - in 2006 that number fell to 27%.

"We are aren't finished, but we can see we are heading in the right direction. We need studies which precisely point out the procedures and techniques we need" says Irene Simonsen.

Tighter rules are a plus for integration
The number of family reunification visas has from 2001 to 2006 fallen from 14,140 to 4,198, and like Jesper Langballe, the Liberals and Conservatives feel that the tightened Danish rules ensure better integration for those who are in Denmark.

The Conservatives's integration spokesperson Henriette Kjær calls the conclusions of the European study "politically distorted".

Researchers sharply disagree
Results were obtained using completely objective parameters, says the director for the independent organization Migration Policy Group, Jan Niessen, who was involved in the shaping the study's 140 questions.

"Is the theory that immigrants shall wait forever to get residence? Or to be reunited with their immediate family? I can run all the questions that way. If the Danish politicians believe, that that is the theory to be used, then I would like to have a very serious discussion with them about theory" he says.

This was one of those newspaper stories that got my day off to a bad start. It was yet another independent study (ie conducted outside of Denmark) which was roundly critical of Danish policy, and was thus a reminder that no, I wasn't being paranoid, people really were out to get me.

There's the ever-present DPP, working their magic. They want things to get tighter and worse, they want us to feel even more unwelcome. I particularly appreciate the "third world people" thing, which conveniently doubles for "dark-skinned" (blacks, arabs, asians, hispanics you know, that lot). This is the new racism - instead of denigrating people, you piss on a piece of land and the people standing on it get dirty in the process. It doesn't show up on the nazi-radar, so it's safe to use in public. If this is how the DPP feels about "third world types", how are "third world types" supposed to feel about being here? Does that mean, in the eyes of the system, that a person of "third world appearance" cannot be a desirable migrant? How exactly are the good ones separated from the bad - not just in the eyes of government, but how do you know your neighbors or colleagues don't think this way? In many other parts of the world, this would be classified as racism - in Denmark it's called "oh for god's sake stop being so politically correct".

Then there's the Liberals and Conservatives, doing what they do best : spin, spin, spin. This is far from the only report to criticize Denmark, and in all cases, the answer from the government is to reject and sidestep the issues, try to muddy the science by splitting hairs, or just play hardball until the report is forgotten. It's not like this or any other report has had any impact on Danish policy.

The government points to a list of things which they say are improvements, but even their own numbers are a bit underwhelming. In the nine years they've been in power, with all the effort and grandstanding, is this really the best they could drag out to show? Why don't they use the most straightforward and foolproof test of all : ask us directly if we're happy. That probably wouldn't be very smart - I think everyone knows the answers won't be pretty. Instead the government uses its own numbers and stats, the accuracy of which I quite frankly doubt.

If a government consistently shoots down every science-based study for what looks suspiciously like political reasons, yet always comes up with a rival self-funded report stating the exact opposite, then you start to wonder, are they outsourcing their research to these guys. The current government promised to do a host of difficult things : stop general immigration, make immigrants who are already here fit in, import qualified immigrants from a shopping list supplied by industry and then keep those special immigrants happy, keep the DPP happy, and keep everyone else in Denmark happy by maintaining the nation's image abroad despite what is happening inside it. In other words, they're pressed from every single possible side, and fudging some data is by far the easiest way to get ahead. So I'll take what the government says with a pinch of salt when I know that rival studies have less vested interest in the results.

I have no idea what's happening on the national level, as there's no accurate data or studies. All I know is what I see and hear around me, and that says to me that the DPP is the only winner in this : integration really is going as badly as the independent studies claim.

Generalization disclaimer

2009-10-23T21:12:00.001+02:00

This is a political blog. By definition, it contain's strongly-worded opinions.

I thought I'd get this out in the open and out of the way early. It saves me from having to repeat it over and over, as I'm sure it's something that'll come up from time to time.

I want to state for the record that when I criticize Denmark, I criticize some, yes, a majority of Danes, but I am not naming names or drawing faces. More than anything I am critical of a long and complex process that has produced a specific result. That result is a set of laws and a social climate that I feel is irrational and unfair, and deprives many of us of the happiness we work hard to achieve. I am critical of the people who actively support this outcome. I am even more critical of the other people who without conscience can stand by passively and let it happen, like there's nothing they can do about it. I think that most of the people who'll cry foul over generalization will be the second type, as they are the most likely feel awkward about having to face the unfair things they've done. Wait, did I just make another generalization ?

I can't run every single person, Danish or otherwise, through a bigotry detector - only you know what's inside of you. And of course it would be absurd of me to imply that everyone in Denmark is a bigot. Nor would I gain anything from such an extreme generalization ; the purpose of my rant is not to sink Denmark but to play a part in changing its course.

If you're against the way the current immigration laws work, we're cool. You don't have to open the borders either - just support more humanistic policies. If you're against xenophobia and believe people should be judged on what they do and not where they're from, then you and I have no beef. And if you can respect that we're all individuals, and that we, like you, have a right to get indignant when repeatedly pushed back, then you're one of the good guys. Whoever and wherever you are, I hope this message got through. Peace.

Why Dansk Folkeparti are a disaster for Denmark

2009-10-22T20:18:00.001+02:00

Forget about the Danish Peoples Party line on immigration for a second. If you look at them a bit closer, you'll realize that they are the single biggest disaster in Danish politics in modern history.

They appeal to stupid people. Yes, sorry, if you vote for the DPP you're a moron, and worse, proud of it. The DPP has drawn the "dumb vote" away from stable and responsible working class parties like the Socialists and the Social Democrats, and turned it into a lose cannon. The irony of the DPP is that it's an extreme right wing party with a vote base drawn largely from left-wing parties. I guess dumb people don't care about economics.
They are anti-intellectual, with a long history of attacks on academics who tried to use hard research and numeric evidence to discredit DPP policies. The DPP knows that what they're saying is wrong, and that academics more than anyone else can shine a light on that.
They have made the government extremely vulnerable to populism and opinion polls. The DPP reacts very strongly to popular will, as they have very little core policy of their own. They are therefore always on the lookout for a quick, easy and above all highly-visible crusade to embark on. They are like an unruly dog that's broken its leash, and the governing parties are doing all that they can to catch it.
They an economically-neutral party with double-digit voter percentage support, when the remaining parties are evenly split along enonomic lines. That means that if parties fall into their traditional economy-based blocs, the DPP is the lone outsider that decides which bloc makes it over the finish line. DPP seats in parliament are for sale to the highest bidder - the price is immigration control, and whoever gives them that rules the country. This has allowed the Liberals and Conservatives to snatch power and form a coalition that has very little moral credibility to lead.

It is for these reasons that Norway and Sweden are so scared of what's happening in Denmark. They fear that the DPP will spawn similar movements in their own countries, where long-established Scandinavian traditions of rational and planned governance are throw out the window, and replaced with a never-ending spiral of fear-driven populism.

Pia Kjærsgaard : Foreigners have no right to demand anything

2009-10-22T18:11:00.001+02:00

This article's from Berlingske, September 20th, 2008. It's still up here. Here's my translation.

Pia K. Foreigners have no right to demand anything

(original by Morten Henriksen, mhe@berlingske.dk)

Foreigners and the EU take on the role of scapegoat during Pia Kjærsgaard's outbursts at the Danish Peoples Party's annual meeting.

The EUs undermining of Denmark's tight immigration laws was vilified, when Pia Kjærsgaard dealt out harsh criticism in her speech at the DPP's annual meeting in Herning.

"The underlying intention in the EU seems to be, that people who want to wander around from country to country pretending to work, such as doing dogsitting or working a few hours in their cousin's pizzeria, can do whatever pleases them. Yes, yes, that's what they mean at the EU, and European Court, and at the EU-crazy parties, and amongst academics. This shameful right to enter Denmark, in my eyes these foreigners have no right to anything at all!" raged Pia Kjærsgaard, and received the day's loudest round of applause from the 800 participants in the hall. Pia Kjærsgaard then welcomed the Conservatives new leader. Lene Espersen, much to the DPP's delight, seems to be aware that the path to success lies in maintain good ties with the DPP.

"Lene Espersen, we will certainly get many interesting and productive years together" said Kjærsgaard, who in contrast was anything but impressed with the lacking law and order in the streets after seven years with Espersen as Justice Minister. Espersen was criticized for not implementing the DPP's wishes to amongst other things outlaw knives in nightlife, implement anti-gang measures and lower the minimum age of prosecuting for criminals.

"Talk, talk, talk, that's what it's all become".

In her hour-long speech she also commented, that a good song said more than most long speeches. She was particularly complimentary of the old left-wing singer John Mogensen for his anti-EEC song "Denmark's land" from the 70'.s.

"Already back in the 70's, John Mogensen felt that it was about time that 'Holger at Kronborg' [ed: an old Danish legend, where a statue of a viking warrior comes to life when Denmark is in danger] should awaken from his sleep. I can only agree with him" said Pia Kjærsgaard, and added that Denmark was "threatened".

"Our right to self-determination is threatened by the EU-monster that Danes themselves have been party to creating" she said. Acknowledgements were also made to the Danish soldiers in Afghanistan - and to Danish street sausage vendors. After her speech a large part of the 800 participants streamed out to a sausage seller, which the DPP had ensured was parked just outside the meeting hall in Herning's Congress Center.

For as Pia Kjærsgaard reiterated, the Radical Left could keep their quiche and caffe latté : "the sausage van has been a symbol of Danish culture for 90 years".

Pia K ladies and gents, a real class act, running through her usual rhetoric. I particularly like her choice of words, revealing just how much contempt she has for us. The feeling is entirely mutual. Don't forget, this is the party that controls immigration policy in Denmark. If you're thinking of coming here, bear in the mind that you're going to be hearing a lot from Pia, who is the third most influential politician in the country after the respective heads of the Liberals and the Conservatives.

To give you some context to this speech : the government, along with the DPP, have been trying to several years to make it very difficult for people who marry outside Denmark to bring their new partners into the country. If the partner cannot demonstrate any historical or cultural connection with Denmark, no residence permit is awarded. This has led many Danish citizens, across all race lines, to leave Denmark to be with their new partners. The law is indiscriminant : everyone is affected. Many take up residence in south Sweden so they can be close to Denmark, as Sweden has a more liberal residence requirement. The ability to keep foreign spouses out of Denmark was seen as a major legal achievement for the current government, and is one the cornerstones of their immigration policy. The new laws are also popular amongst most Danes, who are adamant that the restrictions remain in place, despite protests from those unable to bring their spouses in.

Then something completely wonderful happened. Denmark, being a signatory to the EU law of labor movement, was compelled to allow anyone with a valid EU work permit into Denmark. And some clever Danes found out that it was extremely easy to get such a permit in Sweden. Ah, god bless Sweden for consistently being a thorn in Pia K's side. It turned out that several couples (I don't have numbers) were able to use this legal loophole to gain entry, the press got hold of it, and what followed was the biggest domestic political crises of 2008, the effects of which are still being felt. Denmark were greatly incensed that the EU was overriding Danish law, and demanded that the EU make a special provision for it: the EU stuck to their principals and Denmark lost. The DPP was furious at the government's failure, and there was talk amongst many Danes of withdrawing from the EU entirely, as they felt tight immigration was a part of national identity. Yes, xenophobia is that big a hit here. In the end the government threw up a massive spin smokescreen to downplay the matter (the current biker gangwar in Copenhagen helped), and managed to convince Danes that they were plugging the loophole with red tape, that the eligible couples numbered in the hundreds, and that at any rate, Denmark was too economically dependent on the EU to withdraw.

This is what Pia K is lashing out at here, trying to show the party faithful that she's the ticket to protecting them from the dreaded "EU monster" (who wrote this speech, her 11 year old nephew? Her husband?). For some more context, Denmark has always had an ambivalent attitude towards the EU. It rejected the Euro, and while Danish industry is pro-EU for economic reasons, ordinary Danes are largely cool towards it, seeing it as a meddling entity. The EU routinely raps Denmark on the knuckles over immigration, and Denmark routinely says the EU, like everyone else in the world, cannot possibly understand the inner workings of the country, which is perfect and pure and wow, look, Denmark just topped another happiness report. And as everyone knows, xenophobia and happiness cannot coexist, so the EU must be wrong.

After you've lived in Denmark for a while, you learn to trust the EU a lot more than the locals. The EU actually tries to defend the rights of all residents and not just citizens, something I am quite thankful for, and I would choose it over Denmark any day.

It's also worth noting that Pia K attacks academics and the Radical Left (I explained that relationship a bit here). The DPP is a notoriously anti-intellectual party. Most of its members are poorly educated, and there is a strong culture of distrust towards academia. Stupid is dangerous, and this party is clearly very dangerous.

Denmark fares worst in treatment of migrants

2009-10-22T01:40:00.000+02:00

Poor, poor Denmark.

Found an interesting if slightly dated blog post, from 2005, discussing a University of Sheffield study that shows that Belgium followed by Holland and Sweden do best when it comes to treatment of migrant workers and their families, while Denmark ranks as .... the worst. It's four years old, but bear in mind that Denmark's immigration policies have gotten only tighter since then.

A good read, not just for giving more numeric evidence to back up my feelings about Denmark, but also coinciding very nicely with my experience and press readings for Holland and Sweden.

Ten steps to perfect integration - now for Danes

2009-10-21T18:21:00.000+02:00

Well, it was inevitable - after seeing 10 steps to perfect integration, I couldn't rest making my own list. Here are ten steps that Danes can follow to successfully integrate us foreigners. Sadly, I wasn't able to come up with a fancy video to accompany it.

Realize that integration is everyone's responsibility. Most of us want to integrate, but integration is a two-way process, and will almost certainly change everyone involved, in ways big or small - that includes Danes. If you are unwilling to accept this, you should close your country off immediately and not let anyone in, because you're never going succeed at this immigrant thing. You may be hoping that if you whittle our numbers down enough by apply stricter and stricter filters, you'll end up with a pool of people who'll be willing to submit to your will completely. If this is the case, please be better at identifying these "desirables" before you go letting people in, as it's annoying to go through the disruption of moving, along with several years of botched integration, only to realize we're not really what you were after.
Integration means "fitting in", not "getting your original identity scraped out". Get over your fear of outsiders, stop thinking your country is so unique and complex that no one else could possibly fathom it, and stop being offended by us standing out because we're different. For us integration means learning how to find our way around and get our job done, not several years of brainwashing so we can pretend to be just like you and hide where we come from.
Stop letting your bad experiences with some people affect the way you deal with all people. If you think we foreigners like to make unfair generalizations about you, you're right, and you have only yourselves to blame because you showed us how it's done. We accept that Denmark has had problems with some people before we came along, but when you retreat behind high walls and apply one standard to all of us without learning to tell the good from the bad, then you are discarding us all. We don't want to hear about criminal gangs or welfare sponges anymore like it's somehow our collective responsibility. Are they difficult to deal with? Are they taking advantage of the society? I'm sure they are, but it's not my damned fault, any more than it's yours.
Stop the doublespeak between industry and politicians. Business wants us for our labor, while politicians say we're a threat that needs to be kept out or firmly in check. There's clearly a communication problem there, and it would really help if Denmark figured out what we really are. Are we people who can contribute to the country, or a cultural threat?
Stop trying to placate us with gimmicks, and do something concrete to address your bigotry. Many "friendly" integration initiatives are little more than distractions to draw our gaze away from open and widespread xenophobia. You cannot have a viable foreign work force, along with a majority of locals who are hostile to that work force. Either you acquiesce to the demands of your locals and throw us out, or you embark on some kind of serious campaign to forcibly re-educate yourselves. You cannot have both. Oh that's not the Danish way? What's that, you like to find compromises instead of fixing complicated problems? Well guess what - that works great some times, but it's plain wrong in this case.

Here's an analogy to help illustrate how it goes wrong. Until very recently, if you went into a restaurant here and asked for a non-smoking table, you were seated in the non-smoking section. Which was next to the smoking section. Smoke from the latter wafts over to the former, and the whole restaurant is effectively one big smoking area. Seeing where this is going? You might think that you're separating us into "friendly" and "bigot" sections, and that somehow these two can coexist side-by-side without you having to stop your imbeciles from being who they are, but their attitude smells bad, and that funk wafts over and ruins our experience. The stink of xenophobia works a lot like smoke - it gets everywhere. You're supposed to stamp out bigotry, not try to accommodate it. The failure of this society to realize and act on that simple moral precedent leaves Denmark completely out of step with the rest of the world.
A high standard of living is no substitute for a bit of humanity. Denmark somehow believes that numbers will satisfy us. The happiest people in the world. The lowest level of corruption. The freest press. The best public transport. A cycling path up to everyone's front door. Free medical service. Whatever. These don't really amount to a hill of beans when you're made to feel like a pariah. Many of us would gladly swap some of the luxury for some more tolerance. If you doubt that, take a look at how many other countries in the world with lower standards are doing better at hanging on to foreign workers.
By all means, expect us to work and respect the law. Not more. Most of us are hardworking and law-abiding, and want nothing more than a chance to thrive alongside you. But no society can legislate how people behave in their private lives. You have no right to demand that we participate in social activities, marry or forge friendships with designated people, speak a specific language, or otherwise. Learn to respect boundaries and international cultural norms. Speaking Danish is not acceptable as a demand - we will speak it if it's a part of our job requirement, and then we will do it because we take pride in doing our jobs. Your language may be an important part of your identity, but it is maddening when we are expected to feel the same way about it simply because you've turn our own languages into some kind of vestigial shame.
Figure out your own identity before you try in vain to reshape ours. Right now almost everyone in Denmark seems to have his or her own idea of what "being Danish" means. The result is a cacophony of vastly differing and conflicting opinions. Even worse is the Danish government's bungled attempts to write integration as a law, when any such thing would be impossible to enact. Integration as it stands now is not attainable because no one knows what it is. Not that it matters - it's not really about reaching a goal, but about demonstrating our submission to Danish society, which clearly fears losing its autonomy to us.
Learn to tell us apart, but not on the basis of race, culture or ethnicity. We don't know what's worst - a system of government that is stupid enough to draw up a set of laws which treats all foreigners like criminals, or a system of government that wallows in rhetoric that comes straight from Nazi-era Germany. Stop your blind islamophobia, and then stop treating us all like we're muslims. In short, stop getting absolutely everything wrong, all of the time.
And the following are just stupid : Celebrating everything with a sea of flags and nationalistic rapture - we cannot comprehend why a birthday for a 7 year old needs to be a State occasion with full regalia. Singing in a group, when no one actually knows how the song goes, most are tone-deaf, and there's no concept of tempo - that's the musical equivalent of seeing someone being pulled apart by horses. Jantelov - quit being a bunch of dour boonies. And being offensive is not funny, no matter how ironic you think your usage of the "N" word may be at inappropriate times. It's not us being too politically-correct, it's you being a bumpkin.

Danes : The happiest (and most desperate) people in the world

2009-10-20T20:25:00.000+02:00

After Oprah Winfrey's recent visit to Denmark during the IOC meeting, the Danish media have been clucking indignantly that she was not running a story portraying them as the happiest people in the world. The feeling seemed to be that Oprah was a big-time celebrity with a massive audience, and Denmark desperately needed her to dole out publicity for them. It seemed like Oprah was going back on some pre-arranged deal that in exchange for giving her a visa to enter Denmark for a few days, she'd shill for the country. Lord knows, Denmark's own attempts to promote itself abroad have been dismal failures. Is "easy drunken one night stand" really the best they thing they can say about themselves?

Anyway, now it seems Oprah finally relented. The original story from Politiken is up here.

Here's my transalation

Now Oprah tells about the happy Danes

First Oprah's program on Denmark was delayed. But Thursday will see the showing of the episode about the happiest people in the world.

"Money to go to university, one year's paid parental leave, and babies so safe that they can be left alone outdoors".

That's how Denmark is described on the American talk show queen [ed : their word, not mine] Oprah Winfrey's website.

The "Opray Winfrey Show" on Thursday sets focus on Denmark. In it, Danes will be presented as the happiest people on earth.

Recently visited to Copenhagen

Oprah Winfrey was in Copenhagen three weeks ago, where she along with US President Barack Obama campaigned for Chicago as host city for the 2016 Olympic games. As is known though, the mission failed when hosting was awarded to Brazilian city Rio de Janeiro.

Winfrey's camera-crew used their tour through Copenhagen to record a series of pieces on happy Danes, who were encouraged to sign up at Oprah.com if they had an interesting story to share.

The show on Denmark should have been shown on October 9th, but delayed. It will now be showed after all.

Excuse me while I go vomit. Repeatedly. Talk about throwing a tantrum like a 5-year old Danish kid. And talk about desperation at that. Danes are immensely proud of their status as happiest people on earth, a status which only they seem to care about. Somehow I don't think any other country on earth gives a damn - I just can't imagine that, at this very moment, a special committee in Stockholm or Oslo or even god forbid Helsinki, is convening to see how they can wrest the crown from Denmark's frantic grasp. As even some Danes will admit, people here are as much happy as they're pleased with themselves.

And what's this with "Money to go to university, one year's paid parental leave, and babies so safe that they can be left alone outdoors"? They have that in Sweden too, but you don't see them trying to flag passing motorists so they can share the news.

And how about that indignation? Denmark sounds like a small-time actor desperately trying to get a roll in a big movie, angry that an extended bout of ass-kissing with a big-shot producer hasn't paid dividends. It's embarrassing to watch, and self-ironic to the extreme. If you're really that happy, why are you smiling through clenched teeth, acting like you want to know if the photo has been taken so you can finally relax? And why is it so important that people know you're that happy? Doesn't that defeat the who point of being happy? Denmark reduces its happiness to nothing more than a staged, plastic performance put on by a bunch of small-town folks whose biggest fear is that no one will notice they exist.

I also wonder how many foreigners Oprah got around to chatting to. I'm sure Danes did everything they could to prod and shove tourists in front of the camera so they can ooh and aah about all the wonderful stuff they've seen in their 10 hour stay in Copenhagen while the cruise ship docks. Or maybe the Danish government bused in foreign students in their first year of residence here, their eyes still full of fairy dust, telling wonderful tales about how friendly everyone is with directions to the bus stop. But really, no one bothers to talk to the other cranky ones like me, the people who've learned not pull attention and not speak up for fear of being dismissed like a raving malcontent. It's a pity - it would have been just delicious to see this little PR escapade misstep.

Links

2009-10-19T22:43:00.002+02:00

Blogs etc

These are links to other sites or blogs by foreigners in Denmark. If you are curious about coming to Denmark, you are strongly encouraged to check out other people's opinions - don't just take my word. Are few seem to like it here. Most don't.

There are of course Danes who think as we do (these blogs are in Danish)

If you want to do a link exchange with me, feel free to contact me at something.manky at gmail.com.

Articles

Most of the articles on my blog are from Danish news sites, which I translate into English. Occasionally someone else puts an article up though, and if I find them, I'll add them here.

Denmark's closing door (Time)

Other stuff of interest

Random things ...

Don't ask foreigners if they're happy in Denmark. This is what you get.

Liberal candidate behind racist book

2009-10-19T21:54:00.000+02:00

The original article was available on Ekstra Bladet's website at http://ekstrabladet.dk/VisArtikel.iasp?PageID=319612. It is no longer available, so I am including the full text here.

My translation :

Venstre (Liberal) Candidate behind racist book

35-year old politician calls muslim women and children 'genetic trash' in novel

By Karsten Gøttler - 7:25 - 7. nov. 2005

A deeply racist novel about a group of Danish soldiers massacre in an asylum center in Denmark has cast a shadow over the Liberal politician Mikael Jensen's attempt to be elected to the town council in the town of Struer.

The book, called "For Din Skyld (For your sake)", was released in 1997 as a, mildly stated, rightwing-leaning view of Denmark under immigrant domination. It conveys the author's gruesome and highly-detailed fantasies about the bestial murders of innocent muslim women and children at a string of asylum centers here in the country.

The victims are described as as "an assortment of black, genetic trash", "parasite blood" and "rats".

To murder them under in agony is described as "an artwork of destruction".

Unsympathetic victims

The murders are carried out with considerable brutality and are described in cold detail. All victims are described with disgust, and their treatment is distant and dissociated.

According to the 35-year old Mikael Jensen, who has been deployed several times in the International Brigade in Bosnia, the Middle East and Afghanistan, the novel is an attempt to provoke and test the limits of free speech.

The contents and events are based on interviews and conversations with some of my soldier friends in the the Brigade, and reflects their personal views, says Jensen, who has a masters degree and doctorate in philosophy.

"This isn't wishful thinking on my part or anything like that" says Jensen, who this week meets voters at his party's stall at the annual town meeting in a Struer hall.

Glowing reviews

Michael Jensen is fourth on the Liberal's voting list as well as the youngest member on it.

"For you sake" received a glowing review in both the Danish Union's member magazine, The Dane, as well as in The Rune Stone, a magazine belonging to the anti-foreigner organisation Danish Forum.

Michael Jensen has on several occasions provided translation services for The Dane, but when speaking to Ekstra Bladet has denied being a member of the organization.

"And if you ask if I share this book's views, the the answer is no".

EB : "One gets the impression, that you for the purpose of propaganda have used a work of literature to denigrate people of foreign origin and subsequently hide behind the cover of artist freedom".

"Then you have misunderstood the message".

EB : "And the message is to provoke and protect freedom to express oneself?"

"Yes".

During the interview with Ekstrabladet Mikael Jensen appeared nervous. When the conversation is over, he says that he fears that discussion about the book will damage him politically.

EB : "But you do stand behind what you've written and have self released, right?"

"Yes, yes of course."

And the original :

V-kandidat bag racistisk bog

35-årig politiker omtaler muslimske kvinder og børn som 'genetisk affald' i roman

Af Karsten Gøttler - 7:25 - 7. nov. 2005

En dybt racistisk roman om en flok danske soldaters massakrer på asylcentre i Danmark kaster nu skygger over Venstre-politikeren Mikael Jensens forsøg på at blive valgt til byrådet i Struer.

Bogen, der hedder 'For Din Skyld', udkom i 1997 som en mildt sagt højredrejet håndsrækning til et Danmark under indvandringens åg. Den rummer forfatterens voldsomme og stærkt detaljerede fantasier om bestialske drab på sagesløse muslimske kvinder og børn på en række asylcentre her i landet.

Ofrene beskrives med udtryk som 'myriader af sort, genetisk affald', 'snylterblod' og 'rotter'.

At dræbe dem under ulidelige pinsler beskrives som 'et kunstværk af ødelæggelse'.

Usympatiske ofre
Drabene udføres med stor brutalitet og er udpenslet med iskold nøjagtighed. Alle ofre beskrives med afsky, og handlingerne mod dem er blottet for afstandtagen.

Ifølge 35-årige Mikael Jensen, der flere gange har været udsendt som soldat i Den internationale Brigade til Bosnien, Mellemøsten og Afghanistan, er romanen udtryk for en provokation og afprøvning af ytringsfrihedens grænser.

- Indhold og handling bygger på interview og samtaler med nogle af mine soldaterkammerater i Brigaden og deres personlige holdninger, siger Mikael Jensen, der oplyser at være cand.mag. og dr.phil.

- Der er ikke tale om ønsketænkning fra min side eller noget i den stil, siger Michael Jensen, der i denne weekend møder vælgerne på sit partis stand ved den årlige bymesse i Struer-hallen.

Rosende anmeldelser
Mikael Jensen er nr. fire på Venstres by-liste og listens yngste medlem.

'For Din Skyld' fik i sin tid en rosende anmeldelse i både Den Danske Forenings medlemsblad, Danskeren, og den fremmedfjendske organisation Dansk Forums blad, Runestenen.

Mikael Jensen har flere gange leveret oversættelser til Danskeren, men over for Ekstra Bladet afviser han at være medlem af foreningen.

- Og hvis du spørger, om jeg deler bogens synspunkter, så er svaret nej.

- Man kunne få den idé, at du i propagandistisk øjemed har benyttet et skønlitterært værk til at nedgøre folk af fremmed herkomst og derefter går i dækning bag den kunstneriske frihed.

- Så har man misforstået budskabet.

- Og budskabet er at provokere og forsvare friheden til at ytre sig?

- Ja.

Under interviewet med Ekstra Bladet virker Mikael Jensen nervøs. Da samtalen er slut, nævner han en frygt for, at omtale af bogen kan skade ham politisk.

- Du står vel ved, hvad du har skrevet og selv udgivet?

- Ja, ja, naturligvis.

Well, there's not much to say about this. Except that Mikael Jensen was running for election with the Liberals, who happen to be the governing party in Denmark, and his views are deeply disturbing to say the least.

Ten steps to perfect integration

2009-10-18T19:20:00.000+02:00

I stumbled upon this video recently :

It originates from the Danish Institute for Integration and Analyis (http://www.dcia.dk) which according to their website is an independent think-tank, but which I'm assuming receives government funding, at least in part.

Anyway, this is a video explaining how foreigners, more specifically muslims, can be integrated into Danish society. Right there it makes it first major misstep. Not all foreigners trying to integrate into Denmark are muslims, and not all integration problems are related to islam. There may be some overlap, but this video demonstrates quite clearly one of the major faults with Danish integration policy : it treats all foreigners as a single homeogenous group, and all problems of that group are tied to the people who are apparently the most difficult to integrate : muslims.

After having watched it several times, I strongly believe this video was made in the best of intentions, and is, from a Danish perspective, trying to be both friendly and constructive. It certainly is possible to focus on those elements in it, but the video also clearly demonstrates the paradigm of Danish culture, and how it is that culture in and of itself that is a major stumbling block to integration.

To illustrate that, let's take a quick walk through it. I won't translate it word-for-word, but as usual give you the gist.

Before I even start, I'm compelled to point out that the video is available in Danish only, at least as far as I know. There are no other versions of this video on either the youtube channel or source website. This is very Danish : in order to even be in the running for integration, you will need a solid command of the Danish language. It is assumed you will learn it, understand it, and be comfortable with that, and you cannot integrate while you're learning Danish. It's been demonstrated that that process can take several years though, and seeing as you clearly aren't supposed to be doing any integration during the "language phase" of your stay in Denmark, you can't exactly rely on your wonderful and fulfilling encounters with Danish society to spur you on. You are left out in the cold, to your own devices,to master the language first, and its implied that you will only be considered entry into the integration process once you've language proficient. Mistake #1. Many Danes will counter this as nonsense, that of course you're free do anything when you want. But experience shows that language is essential for integration, and that Danes will not touch you until you can speak Danish. You take it from there as you see fit.

The video is entitled "10 steps to integration". It starts off by stating that Danish politicians and society talk a great deal about integration, but that there is considerable disagreement as to what exactly integration is. The video then promises a list of 10 steps which will assure you perfect integration, based on "scientific analysis" (this part is clearly tongue-in-cheek).

Step 1

Their words : Realize that integration is your own problem.

Our words : In other words, you're on your own. While there are certainly friendly and helpful Danes who will take the first steps in getting to know you, these people are the exception, not the rule. And many of them seem to live outside Denmark anyway. The producers of the video clearly felt compelled to put this in because Danes generally want you to go integrate by yourself before you bother them with your non-Danishness. It sounds harsh, but based on our own scientific analysis, this seems to be the case. Figure out what it is Danes want, do it, and then you can try to fit in.

Everyone who lives in societies with a history of immigration will tell you this is absolutely the wrong way to go about doing it, that the host society should play an active role in welcoming and interacting with immigrants, because it is this initial contact which shapes many immigrants' perception of their new home. What Denmark on the other hand shows is that integration is not a process whereby you come to understand and interact with Denmark : it is the process whereby you learn to stop doing things which bothers Danes.

Step 2

Their words : speak Danish, get a job, respect the law and ... be happy.

Our words : Three out of four for reasonability. Speaking Danish, getting a job and respecting the law are not just fair : they're common sense. Why on earth would any sane person not do these? Of course we agree with them, and we accept that there are clearly some foreigners who are not doing this, so we'll let the subtle offence slide.

"Be happy" though ... how can that be a reasonable requirement? People generally don't choose to be happy : they either are or they're not. If they're not happy, it means something is making them that way. It's probably safe to say that 99 times out of a hundred, people don't willingly choose unhappiness. Danes see themselves as being the happiest people on god's green earth. It's not that they always are, it's just that they seem very good at hiding their angst. Danes still have alarming levels of suicide, divorce, drug use and alcoholism. Not exactly the sort of things one generally equates with purest joy. What the video is saying is, if you want to complain about something, don't, because no one wants to hear it. Learn to be happy, or at least appear happy. If you're not then discreetly ask a local how they cope, and you'll be directed to the local poison of choice.

Step 3

Their words : participate in society

Our words : can you say "catch 22"? What about "circular argument"? The purpose of integration is to make people participate in society. If they were doing that, they're already be integrated. Notice how they show a woman emerging from a voting booth : please note that in Denmark, you can participate in national elections only after you attain citizenship, which takes 9 years, and which mandates that you are already integrated. So I'm not really sure how voting is going to help you achieve something you already needed to achieve. Once upon a time foreigners were allowed to vote in local elections, but these don't set any kind of important policy, and I'm not even sure we're still allowed to : there was some debate about rescinding that right.

Interestingly, the video states that Danes don't have anything against your culture, and only 2% say you shouldn't draw attention to that culture if you want to be integrated. Not sure where they're getting this from, but it does seem to fly in the face of everyday experience here.

Step 4

Their words : come to social gatherings - 83% of Danes feel that you need to participate in school meetings, summer parties and company parties along with Danes, in order to be integrated.

Our words : and it's really not like people aren't trying. The problem here is cultural. Danes have a rigid, formal way of socializing. They organize something, people show up, everyone falls back on socialization habits they learned when they were children, and that's how the gears and wheels in the social machine grind along. But when you come from another part of the world, simply showing up isn't good enough : you expect more from a gathering. Like, you know ... friendliness. I've been attending social events for a decade, and I find that they don't do anything for me. Sorry Danes, you're boring and standoffish. Try to lighten up a bit. Like, don't tell people where to sit. Or who to talk to. Or when to talk. Or what to talk about. Or what to sing. Try not to be afraid of a little spontaneity. Then of course, there's the brick wall almost every foreigner I know has hit : Danish offensiveness. At some point at one of these things, while trying to make pleasant chitchat with someone, something really ethnocentric or racist invariably pops out. Someone's going to say how they just can't stand arabs, or muslims, or think blacks ruined Africa, or that Asian people are short, hyperactive crooks who smell of cabbage. I'm quoting from my own run-in's now, I'm sure you have your own that you'd love to pepper in there.

So right now, between the cardboard cut-out nature of these meetings, and the nutjobs one invariably runs into in the kitchen, I opt to just duck out of everything and hang with foreigners whenever possible. That, or I say I'm sick and stay home to wash my dog.

Step 5

Their words : sing along when Danes sing.

Our words : Yes, maybe if you weren't a tonally-deaf nation that could carry a tune. Sorry, but having to participate in the slow gang rape of dusty old folk songs is too much for me. Really. I pass.

Step 6

Their words : have fun.

Our words : Really? Wow, what a novel concept. We never had fun before we came here. We'll get right on it!

As we've already mentioned, Danes see themselves as the happiest people in the world, but I for one can't really see why. Danish humor is difficult to understand. Most of it seems to involve a lot of incoherent shouting. I guess being drunk helps. Personally I find Danish humour to be rather crude and unintelligent, and large parts of it offensive. It's based on making fun of others, or being obnoxious at inappropriate times. Danes refer to this as "irony".

Irony is a dish best made from racial minorities, the handicapped, Swedes, or other people who aren't around to defend themselves at the time of telling. In fact, and this is something I've experienced many times myself, one of the worst things about having all these darned foreigner-types in Denmark is that halfway through telling a joke, Jens invariably realizes that he's about to mortally offend that new guy, Chang, from international accounting. Then you can see the doubt on Jens' face : how does he get out of this one? If he stops telling the joke his Danish friends will think he's a puss. Chang in the meantime is sitting up and paying attention, eager to know how this story about the three "Chinamen" and the Ghanaian prostitute plays out. Jens knows he's burnt either way, and he curses to himself, wondering why his boss invited Chang to the party, and why these lousy Chinese were so sensitive anyway. Once again, personal anecdotes folks - only the names have been changed to protect the guilty.

And this video does it too, making fun of the comedian Finn Nørrebygaard at a time when he was swindled out of all of his money and has to start all over again with nothing. Leave him alone - that's just not funny.

Step 7

Their words : don't draw attention to yourself.

Our words : They're saying that 50% of Danes feel that it's the media and politicians who are the ones who draw so much attention to muslims, while only 2% of Danes feel it's muslims themselves who are the problem. Clearly a part where they forgot to insert the subtitle "May not apply to everyone trying to integrate".

And what does the remaining 48% of the population think? Because the media don't seem to be facing any kind of public backlash against their supposedly unfair targeting of muslims. Every election the very same politicians who promise to fix the "muslim problem" are the ones who pull the vote. The video is clearly trying to present an overly-rosy image of Denmark try, sweeping the massive levels of distrust against muslims and other foreigners under the carpet.

And how exactly does one avoid media and political attention anyway? Hide behind a tree? What a ridiculous point. Once again, this pushes the blame firmly on foreigners, instead of taking the media and politicians to task on the ethics of their actions. There are for all intents and purposes no foreigners who are trying to get media attention here, a few particularly troublesome individuals in a few ghettos notwithstanding. To imply that we're somehow not doing enough to avoid the media unfairly targeting is just disgusting.

Step 8

Their words : ask for consideration : apparently the majority of Danes are against a ban on headscarves, and support the idea that public institutions serve alternatives to pork.

Our words : actually, there is still clearly a huge amount of debate around both the subject of clothing and food, which wouldn't be the case if Danes didn't care about them. There are many cases of muslim women not being allowed to wear head scarves at work, even when their scarves don't interfere with their work functions. And as for not forcing muslim kids to eat pork, sorry for not feeling enraptured, but that is hardly anything to crow about. In fact, one has to ask, why on earth do you feel the need to point that out? That's almost like saying that Danes don't mind interracial relationships. Oh wait ...

Step 9

Their words : Kiss Danish. In other words, get involved with a Dane.

Our words : Gosh, we're so honored that not only will you allow us not to eat pork, but you'll also welcome us into your homes instead of breaking out the shotgun and setting hounds on us.

Just remember folks, this applies only if you're already inside Denmark. As many of us know, falling in love with a Dane outside of Denmark is an automatic ticket to heartache, because you will not be allowed into Denmark to be with your sweetheart, even if you get legally married. I just wish they inserted that little tidbit in the video.

Step 10

Their words : believe that islam and democracy can co-exist

Our words : So does this mean that everyone who's not muslim can get automatic exemption from the entire integration circus? Because a great many of us are christians, buddhists, atheists and even satanists, and we all seem to be lost in the same mouse maze. How about Danes stop treating us like a bunch of lepers and actually talk to us, ask us who we are, and what we want? Try to see the individuals in us, instead of just a case number?

Conclusion

While I believe the producers of this video meant well, I think they've invariably helped point out why integration isn't getting very far. First, they reveal that Danes are obsessed with the so-called "muslim threat", and that this issue influences integration for everyone, including non-muslims. Second, it demonstrates that Danes are obsessed with controlling things in our lives that they have no business tampering with. What we wear or eat, who we have relationships with, how we socialize, that's private and personal, and I think I speak for most of the free people of the world when I say that no country has any business placing demands there. Denmark seems bizarrely old-world and conservative in this regard, and also very unsure of itself. Why else would any free and open society try to stick its fingers so far into our lives?

Foreigners who come to Denmark have rights : we have the right to free choice and privacy. We have the right to be free of narrow-minded, small-town yokels barging into our homes, demanding to see what we've up to. We certainly have the right to be free of any government trying to socially engineer us and strip us of our own identity. We came to Denmark complete and functional, and we will not change that. Yes, we learn the local language and customs, but those end up co-existing alongside our own, and until Denmark accepts that entirely reasonable right, integration will go nowhere.

Furthermore, many of us are not here as refugees ; we are not beggars here to sponge off welfare, but proud and educated skilled workers, so for the love of god, stop applying refugee standards to us. We see ourselves as equal partners in this exchange : Denmark gives us a place to live, we give Denmark our labour. In fact, wait up a second. We are not equal partners. Denmark needs us more than we need her. If we up and take our labor elsewhere, who do you think will lose the most?

It must suck when people say nasty things about you

2009-10-07T23:15:00.001+02:00

I'm back after a long pause. It seems this blog finally started showing up in search engines, so people can find it. I have hundreds of news stories and articles to show, and the sheer volume is daunting. But I'll try to do it one story at a go, and let time help me through it.

A story went up atPolitiken here.

To give you a rough translation, Al-Jazeera, the largest Arabic news network, is going to run a story covering Denmark's problems with ethnic conflict, gangs and xenophobia. Danes are not happy with this. They fear the story will give a one-sided view of Denmark, presenting it in a bad light when its image, especially in the middle east, is already less-than-spotless. Amongst other things, the Hell's Angel leader Jørn Jønke Nielsen's comments calling Arabs a danger to Danish society will be mentioned. Also interviewed are youths from Nørrebro who feel they are badly treated by the police. The show's producers at Al-Jazeera insist the show will be balanced., but Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen, a professor at Copenhagen University, disagrees.

I guess we'll have to see it first. My take : this is interesting because the Danish media has been nastying Arabs and Arabic immigrants for ages, and this has gone largely unchecked. Danish politicians, and not just in the Danish People's Party, routinely portray Arabs as the greatest threat to Denmark. But now that the Arabic media is going to turn the spotlight around and point it at Denmark, Danes are immediately defensive and over-sensitive, and feel they are being unfairly targeted.

It's hard to imagine how Denmark cannot come off looking bad in this, and it's equally hard to imagine how anyone could hope to sweep Denmark's massive problems under the carpet. The thing is, Danes fully accept the media running amok - as long as it's their own media. Danes don't like it when someone else comes in and criticizes them. It's all about control - Danes want to have their perfectly manicured image abroad, while they hide their internal problems behind a language curtain. No one really knows what goes on here, and no one cares because everyone assumes it's paradise. That's the script that Denmark reads to the world anyway. Almost no one bothers translating real Danish news stories into English, and Danes are either too ashamed to expose their country, or they consider it tantamount to treason. Treason? That's a bit strong, aren't I overreacting? ............. No. When Danish muslims went to the middle east during the Muhammed Cartoon Crisis to "slander" Denmark in the Arabic press, people like Pia Kjærsgaard openly and repeatedly called those muslims traitors. Racism, bigotry, xenophobia, those are "internal family problems", dirty laundry that's not supposed to come out.

The simple truth is that the Hell's Angel leader Jørn Jønke Nielsen did make a series of highly-inflammatory "Denmark-vs-Arabs" statements in the press. His biker gang is locked in a violent struggle with largely-Arab gangs for control of the drug market. It's also a fact that a very large section of Danish society openly sympathized with him, including politicians like the Liberal's outspoken Søren Pind. You don't need to go out of your way to make a documentary that makes Denmark look bad - just do what I do : translate Danish stories into English, word for word. There really are countless Arab kids in Nørrebro who feel they have been badly treated by the Danish police. One only has to look at the numerous accounts of mass-vandalism in that neighborhood, all perpetrated by Arab youths. The same Arab youths who then tell the media they're vandalizing out of frustration and anger with how they are ethnically profiled by the police, the same police that brushes the complaints off as nonsense.

In fact, Al-Jazeera are really going to have their work cut out for them if they don't want to make Denmark look like a country of raving bigots. Right now they're like a tv crew storming into a luxury apartment to find a well-loved celebrity, drunk out of his mind, beating his defenseless wife into a bloody pulp. Yes, it's going to look bad when it hits the 8 o'clock news. But whose fault is that?

Crash course in Danish political parties

2008-09-07T11:58:00.000+02:00

If you're not familiar with the Danish political landscape, you're going to need a crash course in who's who over here. Fortunately, politics in Denmark is a largely stable and slow-moving affair, and it doesn't happen too often that stable new parties pop up. Here is a list of those currently in parliament, and likely to be there after the next election.

Venstre (The Left, aka The liberals) : Yes, they're called "The Left", but that's a historical name, from back in the days when they were left of the Conservatives. They are the main governing party since 2001, when they beat the Social Democrats. Venstre is largely a pro-business, anti-welfare party. Outside of that they don't really have firm stands on anything. Venstre won the 2001 election on a strong "anti-immigration" stance, even though this has little to do with the party's traditional core values. They realized Danes wanted tougher immigration control, and that the Social Democrats were vulnerable on the issue, so they came in offering a working alternative.

Venstre like to think of Denmark as a business, which should be run as such, and for them immigration control is more of a "product" than a real stance. They see it as a way to remain in power, and defend their policies largely because they know their political survival depends on it. Venstre are part of the official ruling coalition with the Conservatives.

Det Konservative Folkeparti (The Conservative People's Party, aka the conservatives). Very pro-business, very anti-welfare. That sort of thing. They're a lot like Venstre, only more traditional and "for queen and country" etc. They are the other official member of the ruling alliance which toppled the Social Democrats in 2001. While Venstre has generally put on a strong, united front on being tough on immigration, the conservatives often demonstrate deep and open division on the subject (much like the Social Democrats do), and I think it's fair to say their strong sense of tradition and values keeps them up at night. Unlike Venstre who often come across as unscrupulous and capable of happily entering into a coalition with anyone, the Conservatives openly dislike the Danish People's Party, and it's clear their cooperation is out of convenience only. Still, the Conservatives primary focus is the economy, particularly lowering taxes, and they tolerate the DPP.

Dansk Folkeparti(The Danish People's Party, aka the DPP, aka the Bad Guys). Derisively referred to as the "village idiots" by their opponents, this is a relatively new party, which until 2001 was an untouchable rabble of nazis/racists/xenophobes at the very fringe of allowed politics. Their members are largely the lower working class, poorly educated and the socially-neglected elderly. After 2001 the party has gone to great lengths to clean up its image, realizing that they can achieve at least some of their goals if they secure cooperation with a larger party. They have no real political agenda outside of immigration control, and have tried to make themselves more palatable by taking on safe populist issues such as welfare protection for the elderly. They are specifically and outspokenly anti-Islam, but this hasn't stopped them from making deeply personal attacks on individual muslims, and on foreigners as a whole. They oppose Danish foreign aid and acceptance of international human rights conventions.

The DPP states emphatically that they are not neo-nazi, but members are routinely exposed with links to Nazi organizations. They are also the party of choice for Nazis who want be part of the political mainstream, as ultimately all of the DPP's policies dovetail conveniently with neo-nazi thinking.

The DPP has arguably done more to popularize open xenophobia in Denmark than any other political movement in Danish history, and is the driving force behind the current government's immigration policy. The mechanism is as such : the Liberals and Conservatives are trying to reverse decades of socialism in Denmark, which is extremely unpopular with the left bloc. The right bloc however does not command a parliamentary majority by itself. Unable to forge any kind of working coalition with any left-wing party, they are forced into cooperation with the DPP, which is actually very convenient for all concerned. The DPP is the perfect size to give the right bloc a majority without being large enough to harbor ambitions of its own. The DPP is also neutral on all matters other than immigration, giving the Liberals and Conservatives a blank cheque on the economic. In exchange,the DPP is given free rein with immigration, and immigrants.

Socialdemokraterne (The Social Democrats) A left-of-center party which until 2001 was the undisputed driving force in Denmark. They represented the large worker and middle class demographic. The party has a checkered history when it comes to immigration. Half of them has traditionally been tolerant and open-minded, while the other half has been outspoken against it. One of the most hated figures in Danish politics, the extremely anti-immigrant Karen Jespersen, was Immigration Minister for the SocDems. One of the oft-cited reasons for the Social Democrats losing power in 2001 is that large numbers of their supporters defected to the Danish People's Party. Even today, the Social Democrats has a vocal, anti-immigrant movement at the grassroots level who closely resemble the DPP in sentiment. Currently, the Social Democrats are largely a spent political force, struggling to define themselves on the economy and immigration. The party's new, younger leadership is trying to present themselves as a viable alternative to the current government by trying to appear tough on immigration, and claiming they can match or improve government policies. Whether Danish voters believe this has yet to be seen though ; there is often open dissent within the party's leadership on immigration, largely from older members, and ultimately this is likely to cause the party as a whole to falter at the polls.

De Radikale Venstre (The Radical Left, aka the Radicals). An off-shoot from Venstre. They're probably the only true centrist party in Denmark today, and certainly its most intellectual. They together with the Social Democrats made up the pre-2001 ruling coalition. They're also one of only two parties that has consistently opposed tighter immigration control. Unfortunately this has cut deeply into their popularity, leaving them with single-digit vote percentages. The Radicals are in many ways polar opposites to the Danish People's Party - the former are seen to represent Denmark's intellectual elite, the latter Denmark's social bottom.

Socialistisk Folkeparti The Socialist People's Party, aka the Socialists. They stand to the left of the Social Democrats on matters of the economy. Until recently they were largely neutral on immigration, and have several prominent immigrant members. A new leadership came in around 2007, and much like the Liberals were able to wrest economic dominance from the Social Democrats, so the Socialists managed to seize control of welfare politics. Like the SocDems, their new leadership realizes that immigration control is vital for votes, and has therefore come out as anti-immigration, though with a more socialist twist. Support for the party spiked immediately after this, and there have been increasing signs of cooperation between the Socialists and the SocDems.

Enhedslisten (The unity list, aka the Red-Green alliance, aka the Communists). The most left-wing parliamentary party in Denmark, they're not a movement of any real reckoning, as they have only marginal support. They are generally pro-immigrant, even fielding a traditionalist Muslim female candidate who wore a headscarf, a move which proved extremely unpopular with most of Denmark, even their own supporters.

They want to strip you of your right to vote

2008-09-07T11:37:00.004+02:00

This is one of my favorite stories. Every time I think I'm going a bit crazy, that I just dreamed up how bad this place makes me feel, I use this to pinch my butt. It's a bit of an oldie (2005). The article was originally on Ekstra Bladet. It is no longer there, so I am including the full text here.

http://ekstrabladet.dk/VisArtikel.iasp?PageID=322187

V vil tage stemmeret fra nydanskere

Stik imod partiets hidtidige principper er Venstre nu klar til at begrænse stemmeret og valgbarhed for udenlandske statsborgere i Danmark

Pernille Christensen - 8:14 - 23. nov. 2005

Danmarks liberale parti, Venstre, er klar til at tage stemmeretten fra nydanskere. Som reglerne er i dag, har udenlandske statsborgere ret til at deltage i lokalvalg efter tre års ophold i Danmark, og stik imod Venstres tidligere udmeldinger på området vil partiet nu fratage indvandrere stemmeretten. Det skriver Fyens Stiftstidende.

Den overraskende melding kommer oven på balladen om politikeren Wallait Khan, der netop er valgt til Københavns Borgerrepræsentation, og som samtidig har ført valgkamp for at blive viceborgmester i Pakistan - dog uden held. Wallait Khan har siden sagt, at han kender en håndfuld dansk-pakistanere som er valgt til politiske poster i Pakistan. Og det har fået Venstres kommunalordfører op af stolen.

- Vi har nogle meget lempelige regler på det her område, og vi bør overveje, om ikke der skal indføres krav om dansk statsborgerskab ved lokalvalg, ligesom det er tilfældet ved folketingsvalg, siger Leif Mikkelsen til avisen.

Dansk Folkeparti har hele tiden ment, at deltagelse ved lokalvalg skal være forbeholdt danske statsborgere, men har hidtil stået alene med synspunktet i folketingssalen. Og Venstres kovending på området ryster både den konservative regeringspartner og Det Radikale Venstre.

- Det er da helt ude i hampen, hvis man bruger en enkeltsag til at dømme alle nydanskere ude fra lokalvalg. Det siger en hel del om, hvor meget Venstre efterhånden er kommet i kløerne på Dansk Folkeparti, siger den radikale kommunalordfører, Ole Glahn, til Fyens Stiftstidende.

To give you the gist of it, the main party in government, the Liberals, proposed that all foreigners living in Denmark on residence permits be denied the right to vote in local elections. Anyone resident in Denmark for three years was allowed to vote in these municipal-level elections. But the Liberals were angered when a Pakistani in Denmark was elected to Copenhagen's mayoral office, while he secretly ran for a deputy mayoral post in Pakistan - without luck. The Danish People' Party have always demanded that municipal elections be limited to citizens, and now the Liberals support this.

My take : I voted once - it was a good few years ago, and since then I've developed such a strong distaste for Danish politics that I decided I wouldn't bother again. I have no idea if I'm still allowed to vote. I don't receive anything from my municipality in the mail, and so many other restrictions have been imposed that I just assumed I couldn't vote anymore. Besides, it's annoying how your choices are a) mainstream parties clamoring to appeal to xenophobes by trying to appear as hostile as possible, or b) unserious young "project" parties who you know aren't going to get anywhere.

So, while I'm not sure if this proposal ended up being enacted as a law, it still shows the mindset, and how we're always just a parliamentary majority of idiots away from idiotic laws. A government that wants to punish every foreigner here, just because of what one guy did - yes, that sounds really fair to me. I'm sure we'll all learn from that. Why, I know at least 14 other sweaty, smelly brownskinned people who are trying to run for political office here and whatever fenced-out place they're from. I also happen to know another three who are secretly smuggling soil out of Denmark in a long-term scheme to undermine Denmark's national territory. I guess that means we shouldn't be allowed to own or operate shovels either.

Let's not even get into how long it takes to get citizenship (nine years in case you just arrived to the party), and how much the government undermines the spirit of democracy by holding it out of reach for so long. It's morally inexcusable that you can use people for labor for nine years, build on their toil and effort, and deprive them the right to have a say in how they are governed. For a government that loves to blow hot air about how it's the great defender of Democracy, it sure knows how to attack the heck out of it.

This proposal is not an isolated. The Danish government shows that they think of foreigners as a single, homogeneous group who think and act as one. We're all up to no good, and when one of us does something dumb, we're all punished.

Foreigners leaving Denmark in record numbers

2008-09-07T11:32:00.001+02:00

This story hits the nail on the head. In the decade that I've lived here, I've met a lot of foreigners who just gave up and left. All of them were educated and hard-working, and should have had, in theory, no problems fitting in here. But at some point all of them felt so alienated by the general level of hostile noise in the society, that they opted to leave. Of course, they were in a position to do so. Denmark consistently has problems hanging on to well-educated foreigners, and is left only with those who are unable to find work elsewhere, or who simply just don't care and isolate themselves in their ghettos. Of course Danish society finds excuses for this, that the well-educated just don't have what it takes to understand the complexities of this society, or were never really suited to live here, etc, but this country is largely unique in the developed world for how eager people are to leave. Think about if you're considering coming here.

http://www.berlingske.dk/indland/artikel:aid=503430/

11. November 2004

The latest calculation show the highest level of emigration in a single quarter, since Denmarks' Statistics began recording emigration in 1980. And it is the most well-integrated foreigners who are leaving.

According to Denmark's Statistic, in July, August and September, 5,597 foreign citizens decided to leave Denmark, which is an increase of 10,8% in comparison to the same period in the previous year. At the same time, the number of foreigners who left Denmark in the first half of this year was higher than in the first half of 2003.

The limited data does not show why foreigners are turning their backs on Denmark, but the DRC
(Dokumentations- og Rådgivningscentret om Racediskrimination) has noted an increase in the number of foreigners who feel harassed by the climate of the Danish debate on immigration and foreigners. "It is especially the general rhetoric in the debate, which is viewed as discomforting" says DRC director Niels-Erik Hansen.

"The study shows that it is not in the workplace that foreigners experience problems. It is out in general society that they feel marginalized and targeted in the political debate. It is actually the case today that the least integrated, who don't watch Danish television or read Danish newspapers, can enjoy the society best. The most integrated however, who understand what is being said on TV and in the papers, feel strongly provoked and discriminated against by what is being said", he concludes.

And this is the original story from Berlingske :

Udlændinge forlader Danmark i rekordtal

Den nyeste opgørelse viser det højeste antal udvandringer i et kvartal, siden Danmarks Statistik i 1980 begyndte at tælle udvandrerne. Det er de mest integrerede, der flytter.

Det skriver Politiken onsdag.
I juli, august og september måned valgte i alt 5.597 udenlandske statsborgere at forlade Danmark. Det er en stigning på 10,8 pct. i forhold til samme kvartal sidste år, oplyser Danmarks Statistik. Også i årets første seks måneder har antallet af udlændinge, der forlader Danmark, været højere end i samme periode i 2003.

Den tørre statistik afslører ikke, hvorfor flere udlændinge vender ryggen til Danmark. Men Dokumentations- og Rådgivningscentret om Racediskrimination, DRC, har registreret en stigning i antallet af udlændinge, som føler sig generet af den danske udlændingedebat. »Og det er især den generelle retorik i debatten, der opleves som ubehagelig«, siger centerleder Niels-Erik Hansen fra DRC.

»Undersøgelsen viser, at det ikke er på arbejdspladsen, udlændingene oplever problemer. Det er uden for i det danske samfund generelt, at de føler sig marginaliserede og hængt ud i medierne og i den politiske debat.

Faktisk sker der det i øjeblikket, at de mindst integrerede, som hverken ser dansk fjernsyn eller læser avis, de kan gå rundt og hygge sig meget godt.

Mens de mest integrerede, som forstår hvad der siges i tv og skrives i aviserne, føler sig voldsomt provokerede og diskriminerede af det, der foregår«, siger Niels-Erik Hansen.

Where shall I begin?

2008-08-28T02:03:00.003+02:00

A bit about me ...

First, I've decided to follow in the great blogging tradition of our forefathers and remain nameless. I think it will greatly aid my candor. Ok,where do I start? I came to Denmark almost ten years ago with my Danish wife. Where did I come from? Well, it's a country with a "western and democratic" culture, so I don't consider myself culturally incompatible with my new adoptive home. I am not a Danish citizen, though am permanently resident. I have a reasonable command of the Danish language, and actually enjoy speaking it when called upon to do so. I have a university education and hold a technical job. I'm Joe Anyone.

Why did I start this blog?

Since moving here, I couldn't help notice that Denmark had a "slight" problem dealing with foreigners. A few years ago I started collecting immigrant-related newspaper stories from Danish newspaper websites, a kind of digital scrapbook if you will. A great deal gets said about us in Denmark, in forums public and private. We're extremely popular fodder for the media, and some of the stuff that gets said about us is pretty outrageous. After showing my collection of articles to a friend, it was suggested I put them all online, because, well, people deserve to know what's going on here.

One of the problems about Denmark is that no one really knows anything about it. It's kind of small, and you could easily drive through it without noticing. People don't get to hear much about it, because, well, nothing much comes out of it. Except for ham. That means that just about anything that's known about it originates from Danes themselves, who, being a generally nationalistic bunch, are a bit biased in their accounts. Most people seem to believe Denmark is a slice of heaven on earth, populated by fabulously happy and tolerant people. And for the most part it is. If you're a Dane.

Most foreigners who have lived in Denmark will tell you about the darker side of Danish society though, one which Denmark has recently become increasingly infamous for. For Denmark has something of a problem with xenophobia. It's actually a tightly integrated part of the society, and you'll find that in most cases, Danes have so endeared themselves to xenophobia that they hate calling it that. That would imply there's something wrong, and as any Dane will tell you, there's nothing wrong with Denmark. No, over here they like to call being afraid of all things foreign .. "sund fornuft" also known as "common sense".

What is this blog anyway?

When I started collecting new stories, the first few were chosen mostly because I couldn't believe what I had just read, and figured I'd better hang on to them in case I recount the tale and no one believes me. This blog consists mostly of newspaper articles. I give you my own translation of the article, and then I write some kind of commentary at the end. You get to commiserate with me by writing all sorts of sympathetic comments. Or if you're Danish you can tell me to sod off back to where I came from. All kinds of feedback are appreciated, and thanks to me remaining anonymous, I don't have to fear reprisals from the Danish Front (Denmark's largest Nazi movement).

Who is this meant for?

The world. I want to show some of the harsher and darker "truths" about Denmark because ... like ... people have a right to know. Man. While I won't hide that my primary motivation is to pull back Denmark's Utopian mask, I hope to be at least somewhat nuanced and show that Danes aren't a singular nation of baby-eating trolls. The xenophobic climate here, while real and steeped in tradition, has come into its own only recently, and after a great deal of hand wringing from many Danes themselves. I hope to show that things as they stand now come down largely to aspects of Danish culture which many Danes themselves are uncomfortable with, coupled with the actions of one political party and a handful of powerful, opportunistic career politicians. The situation may be absurd, even comical at times, but it's not entirely bleak.