solanasaurus.com

Yesterday, I worked for a few hours in a cafe with free wifi, where this guy served me coffee. Then I went to hear this girl perform her “Calendar Songs” accompanied by a Danish guy who made this movie (watch it!).

The idea is nice: get people around the world to submit homemade videos about the environment for a competition, and broadcast the winning videos on Current TV. How misconceived is it to offer a CAR as the grand prize in a competition to raise awareness about the environment? Granted, it is a hybrid car, which makes it a greener vehicle than a diesel truck, but really – shouldn’t it rather have been a nice bike or a year of free public transportation? Congrats to the automobile industry for getting this kind of publicity from one of the most influential environmental movements in recent history. Al Gore sent me an email about it today. Anybody who wants to win a new car should submit their videos before tomorrow.

I am so sick of Danish news articles about immigrants and immigration that are written as though immigrants themselves were not reading the newspapers. Danish journalists write as though they were carrying on a very private conversation between themselves and other “real” Danes.

Well, here’s a piece of breaking news – Danish immigrants actually watch Danish television. It took a research company called MediaCom more than 1000 interviews with families originating in different countries (that have very little to do with one another) to discover this.

D’uh. They live here! Of course they watch it, and their kids watch it too. And so what if they also watch Disney Channel, CNN, and… (wait for it)… Arabic satellite TV? A number of Danish newspapers and television stations all quoted the same Danish professor who has researched media and ethnic minorities.

He says, “It points in the direction of a strengthening of consumption of Danish media among ethnic minorities, and nuances the hypothesis (sic) about it being so dangerous that they are sitting watching satellite TV from their home country and thereby isolating themselves from Danish society.”

What hypothesis?? If we want immigrants to feel included in Danish society a good start would be to stop talking about them like they’re not listening. For the record, I would like to let Homeland Security in the United States know, that I occasionally watch Danish television on the internet while living in New York. I would also like to confess that I have watched Hispanic television at my grandmother’s house in Puerto Rico.

Anybody who thinks an Arabic soap opera is dangerous – or God forbid news from a different perspective – really needs to get out of the house more. You don’t automatically isolate yourself from a society by looking outwards and beyond it.

I just came back from Europe. Here’s something I’ve written for NACLA’s special issue on immigration in America. Read it and weep. It’s based on research I’ve done for a longer report, which I hope to be finished with very soon. The anti-immigration movement here is entirely different from what we have in Denmark, but just as deeply routed in fear and hate.

There’s a new branch of the Guardian Angels, called Cyber Angels. They don’t wear red berets and jackets. They sit at home in front of their computers, looking for trouble-makers on the internet. I met Guardian Angels founder, Curtis Sliwa, and a volunteer cyber angel. You can listen to the result, here.

Today is Stop Cyberbullying Day!

Members rejoice. President of PuertoDansk, Solana Larsen, is interviewed by British newspaper The Guardian about Denmark and Puerto Rico being scientifically proven to be some of the happiest places in the world.

Guardian journalist Oliver Burkeman concludes: “I’ve joined the society, and look forward to becoming permanently joyful soon.”

Check the updates on the PuertoDansk website.

Here’s a link to a misogynistic, patronizing, full-of-bizarre-assumptions article by Christopher Hitchens in Vanity Fair. This time it’s not about the war in Iraq.

It’s called “Why women aren’t funny“:

“Precisely because humor is a sign of intelligence (and many women believe, or were taught by their mothers, that they become threatening to men if they appear too bright), it could be that in some way men do not want women to be funny.”

Speak for yourself Mr. Hitchens. What a jerk.

(via Gergana)

Only minutes after creating a list of books I am willing to give away on Bookmooch, I already had enough points to request free books from others. Tomorrow, I am mailing two complete strangers some old books. And four strangers have promised to send me books I was planning to buy on Amazon.

An excellent trade! Bookmooch works!

This website keeps track of all of the stupid wrong things that get said by conservative media in the United States. Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly calls it a “far-left swap-pit… that just attacks people with whom they disagree.” Personally, I like it for reminding me why I don’t have a TV.

Who says it’s tacky to consider the deaths of millions of people a good marketing opportunity? World Aids Day is brought to you this year by these sponsors. But seriously, proceeds from the RED products they are selling go to good causes.

Here is a great summary of the UNAIDS report for 2006.

The Bush Administration’s thoughtful contribution to healthier sexual relations this year is appointing Eric Keroac to oversee the nation’s family planning strategy. He is peculiarly enough, a man who does not believe in birth control. And he thinks too much sex causes brain damage. Apparently, so does too little sex.