Sweden's largest newspaper hosts daily chats with celebrities, government hot-shots and so on. Anyone is allowed to participate, but a group of moderators sort through the questions before they are displayed.
Today, there was a chat session with Laila Freivalds, our Minister of Foreign Affairs. Laila has previously been castigated for handling the Boxing Day Tsunami disaster improperly, and the polls are not in her favor. The topics of discussion were the the Tsunami disaster, and the Mohammad drawings. To those of you who have not followed the news, Swedish embassies have been burnt to the ground by a small selection of radical followers of Islam, simply because we (the Swedes) share ideals with Denmark (the nation of the newspaper "Jyllands-Posten" which originally published the Mohammad drawings).
One early question from one of the participants was about how Sweden would react if we were the same situation. Here's a translated excerpt from the chat log:
Quote:
Robin says: Hi Laila. How would you have reacted if the caricatures originated from a Swedish newspaper?
Laila Freivalds says: I would have acted the same way as I do now. I would immediately have contacted the ambassadors [of foreign nations] and explained our right of free speech, but I would also have apologized to Muslims who feel oppressed [disrespected] by the drawings.
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Jyllands-Posten has acted in the same way as Laila claims she is/would be doing. That is, they have offered apologies to followers of Islam, but state they cannot neglect the fundamental rights of free speech in the nation of Denmark. How exactly does apologizing for your fundamental rights *not* become a neglection of them? In turn, I decided to ask a question about the Mohammad drawings, quoted as follows:
I said:
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Jyllands-Posten recently decided to publish, amongst other Islam-provoking artworks, a drawing of Mohammad with a bomb in his turban. It is, however, less known that the drawer behind this artwork has previously gotten images published by Jyllands-Posten. These early images include Jesus with U.S. dollar signs in his eyes, and the star of David attached to a bomb fuse. Is it not the right thing to do by the parties involved to apologize to other religions who may have felt disrespected by these "jokes"? Why should Islam, in any way, receive special treatment? Is it sufficient to threaten a nation of free speech to make it give in to the demands of these "terrorists" and apologize for something which is within its fundamental rights?
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My question was rejected for an unknown reason, and I know for a fact it went through the filter of the chat moderators. Did it lack the entertainment value necessary to reach the eyes of the public? Was it too harsh, or too complicated? Is it taboo to ask a provocative question? Do they not like being called flip-floppers? Do I smell badly?
Anyway, here are some additional excerpts from the chat session, with very little input rising above this level of... intelligence, in my opinion (purposely mistranslated to achieve the same style of grammatical errors included in the original messages, and to piss you all off):
Quote:
Eric says: how much du you mak a month?
Laila Freivalds says: About ninety thousand [11,400 USD] per month.
Noname says: If the Social Democrats [the political party of Laila Freivalds] win the the election, do you think you will retain your position as Minister of Foreign Affairs? What will you work with if another party wins?
Laila Freivalds says: I hope so. Otherwise I will do something else that's fun.
beccis says: heey laila... what is your favoritefood?
Laila Freivalds says: Hi Beccis. It is bullock tail stew - I made some last Sunday.
Loppan says: ninety thousand after tax? do you think you're worth it? the rest of us normal people who work our asses off are happy if we make around 12 000 [1,500 USD] per month after taxation!!
Laila Freivalds says: No. I make that amount of money before taxation, which is more than 50%.
ROBBAN says: do you think you're a good minister of foreign affairs?
Laila Freivalds says: Yes, as a matter of fact, I think I am.
Moderator says: Here comes the final question
Mr. Hex says: Do you have George W. Bush's phone number?
Laila Freivalds says: No, but I know how I can reach him if I need to. Thanks for all the questions. Bye! Laila
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While it hasn't quite reached the point of nonsensical letter/number replacement, abbreviations and porn advertisements yet, I still feel like my country is run by teenage AOL chatroom participants. Argh. I'll let you know once Zelaron becomes an independent nation. Fuck you, Sweden.
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