War, not war

War, not war: So, the parents of a Danish solider killed in Iraq was denied payout from their son’s life insurance, as the company claims (and the arbitration board agrees) that the small print excuses the company when the death occurs during war. This, of course, is at odds with the government’s claim that there is no war — we are just involved in a peace-keeping action.

Descending into the absurd

Please indulge me, and imagine the following:

A government-appointed academic gets exclusive access to highly sensitive archives, in order to perform bespoke research about the cold war. Even at the time he is appointed, there is clamor about opening said archives to a wider selection of interested parties — perhaps even to the public at large. But this is denied, and it is emphasized just how sensitive the information still is, and how carefully it has to be handled.

Lo and behold: almost immediately said academic researcher writes a newspaper article (in a rather government-friendly paper), naming a certain journalist as a former KGB-agent. The journalist, of course, is not allowed to get into the archives, and thus cannot in any meaningful way defend himself from the specific accusations.

No, I am not kidding: this is presently happening here in Denmark — all part of the Kulturkampf the current government is waging.

Axess, a magazine for the liberal arts and social sciences

A tale of two cities: “Copenhagen and Amsterdam have long been symbols of liberal permissiveness. But the cartoons scandal and the murder of Theo van Gogh have changed both cities profoundly, polarising adversaries in a new politics of intolerance.”