Posted on 02/05/2006 4:35:22 AM PST by Notwithstanding
John Zimmerman is right. The Muslim countries have chosen to pressure liberal little Denmark in order to teach the media and governments, which stand by them, a lesson which does not bode well for free speech or satire. Kuwait has joined the Saudi boycott (the Saudi market alone is worth 1.2 billion) and I suspect the rest will follow. So, here is a plea from my Danish friends:
"If you Americans look with this great sympathy on our case, couldn't you then raise a consumer support of DK in the US? The opposite of a boycott. A movement of: "Buy Danish!" Please?
(Excerpt) Read more at hnn.us ...
>>>What if I buy a Great Dane?<<<
As long as it's imported from Denmark, and has its papers & shots...
"If you Americans look with this great sympathy on our case, couldn't you then raise a consumer support of DK in the US? The opposite of a boycott. A movement of: "Buy Danish!" Please?You can easily eat and digest all our famous Danish cheese at your millions of breakfast-tables from Seattle to Atlanta. Then the boycott (which is escalating fast down there now) will be harmless.
Well, we can and should. In fact the idea immediately occurred to the readers of Charles of LGF who was kind enough to post the news about the Saudi boycott on his popular site. They recommended you buy not only the always delicious Danish butter cookies but also:
Danish Havarti cheese
Carlsberg and Tuborg Beers.
Arla owns White Clover Dairy, a Wisconsin company so buy that brand. It comes under White Clover and Holland Farm.
Danish Crown hams ( DAK (sold at Sam clubs)... baby back ribs, because they come from Denmark.
You shop online at The Danish Foodshop and Danish Deli Foods.
You can also buy gorgious Danish porcelain and LEGO for the kids.
UPDATE: First, the speed with which this movement took flight is amazing and encouraging. Thanks, guys, for helping spread in on your blogs. The boycott is gathering steam. Our old friend Libya also withdrew its ambassador. But the Danes are standing firm and the EU (for the moment) is standing by them:
EU trade chief Peter Mandelson met a Saudi minister at a meeting in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos on Sunday and "urged the minister to convey the seriousness of this issue to his government," his spokesman said.
Yes--put me on any Danish Buying ping list anyone puts together, and thank you.
How do you say "We're all Danish" in danish ?
I particularly enjoy Danish Brie.
How can anyone hate the country that gave the world Legos?
I dated a young lady from Elk Horn while at U of Iowa...
Bump to follow this thread. Count me in. Will also forward to my email list!
I can't wait for a caricature of Mohommed on the cover of a can of Copenhagen to come out as a commemmorative collectible.
I trhought Carlsberg and Tuborg were brewed in the US..that the Danes have sold the name rights..can anyone confirm?
Excerpt
ECONOMY
Denmark's industrialized market economy depends on imported raw materials and foreign trade. Within the European Union, Denmark advocates a liberal trade policy. Its standard of living is among the highest in the world, and the Danes devote about 1% of gross national product (GNP) to foreign aid to less developed countries. In addition, Denmark in 2002 devoted 0.33% of GNP for peace and stability purposes, including to cover pre-asylum costs for refugees, and for environmental purposes in central and eastern Europe and in developing countries.
Denmark is a net exporter of food and energy. Its principal exports are machinery, instruments, and food products. The United States is Denmark's largest non-European trading partner, accounting for about 6% of total Danish merchandise trade. Aircraft, computers, machinery, and instruments are among the major U.S. exports to Denmark. Among major Danish exports to the United States are industrial machinery, chemical products, furniture, pharmaceuticals, canned ham and pork, windmills, and plastic toy blocks (Lego). In addition, Denmark has a significant services trade with the U.S., a major share of it stemming from Danish-controlled ships engaged in container traffic to and from the United States (notably by Maersk-SeaLand). There are some 325 U.S.-owned companies in Denmark.
The Danish economy is fundamentally strong. Since the mid-1990s, economic growth rates have averaged close to 3%, the formerly high official unemployment rate stands at 5.8%, and public finances have been in surplus. Except for one year--1998--Denmark since 1989 has had comfortable balance-of-payments current account surpluses, in 2002 corresponding to 2.9% of GDP. The former Social Democratic-led government coalition lowered marginal income tax rates but at the same time reduced tax deductions, increased environmental taxes, and introduced a series of user fees, thus increasing overall revenues. Under the tax reform plan agreed upon by the government and the Danish People's Party on March 31, 2003, taxpayers received tax relief in 2004, albeit at a lesser rate than the government proposed originally. Denmark has maintained a stable currency policy since the early 1980s, formerly with the krone linked to the deutschmark and since January 1, 1999, to the euro. Denmark meets, and even exceeds, the economic convergence criteria for participating in the third phase (a common European currency--the euro) of the European Monetary Union (EMU). Although a referendum on EMU participation held on September 28, 2000 resulted in a firm "no" and Denmark, therefore, has not yet adopted the euro, opinion polls show support for EMU membership now exceeds 60%.
Danes are generally proud of their welfare safety net, which ensures that all Danes receive basic health care and need not fear real poverty. However, at present the number of working-age Danes living mostly on government transfer payments counts more than 800,000 persons (roughly 23% of the working-age population). Although this number has been reduced in recent years, the heavy load of government transfer payments burden other parts of the system. Health care, other than for acute problems, and care for the elderly and children have particularly suffered, while taxes remain at a painful level. More than one-fourth of the labor force is employed in the public sector.
Mohammed Meat
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