shaken.

someone with murderous intentions has attacked a free speech event in copenhagen which featured a swedish cartoonist who published islam-critical cartoons back in 2007. it's happening again. probably (tho' we don't really know that for sure, since photos of the perpetrator are very sketchy at best, as are descriptions). one of the people in denmark who means the most to me is a cartoonist. he wasn't involved in the jyllands posten drawings back in 2005 (he works for a competing newspaper), but he is equally sharp in his editorial cartooning skills. and it shakes me to the core to think that i have to worry about his safety as he goes about his everyday life here in denmark. but it probably really has come to that after charlie hebdo and now this attack in copenhagen. is it really possible now that people will die for free speech and being clever and skeptical? and is it worth it? at this moment, even in the face of the uncertainty over what has really happened in copenhagen earlier today (and we don't really have a clear picture of it yet as i write this), that might very well be the case. keep your loved ones close and tell them that you love them.

mixed feelings about wikileaks

this cartoon, by danish cartoonist jens hage, appeared in berlinske tidende last wednesday.
it says (from left to right) "threatens national security"
"it costs lives"
"a bomb under the international cooperation"

like many of us, i've been thinking about wikileaks of late. my initial feeling is that the release of all of these internal government documents about the wars in iraq and afghanistan brings a new level of democracy about these things that our tax money pays for. a level of democracy we weren't getting from our own governments. we are, after all, footing the bill for these things, so shouldn't we know the truth?

then, the latest wave of diplomatic documents were released. and these begin to feel a bit more like it would feel if you and the homecoming queen were very good friends and you came into possession of her diary. and you read it and you found out what she really thinks about you. and it isn't pretty.

not being a diplomat, i have a little bit of a smug, people-at-that-level-should-know-better attitude about the whole thing and i don't feel that sorry for them. but what if everyone's private conversations between peers or good friends and colleagues were suddenly public information? i've said loads of things i wouldn't want to be quoted for, especially not in public. and saying those things is a safety valve of sorts...letting off steam, releasing the pressure, so that you can go about your normal life and do your job and remain on an even keel. but there is a need for making wild sweeping statements or a need to laugh about things that are serious - like referring to putin and medvedev as batman and robin. we do it all the time. i have a bad habit of giving people nicknames - usually ones that i'd never call them to their face. and i'd be pretty embarrassed if those things were revealed because someone was secretly documenting them.

so i guess it leaves me with mixed feelings about wikileaks. interestingly, as much of a netizen as i am, i haven't actually gone to the site to read any of it myself. i'm still getting it through the filter of my daily newspaper, CNN, BBC World and online sources like the new york times and the guardian. and i have to ask, how democratic is that?

stamps!

one of the most creative people that i know has drawn some stamps that were released by the danish post office last week. jens hage is a political cartoonist whose work appears in several major danish newspapers and i used to take him to my workshops to draw concepts for us. he is one of the most brilliantly inspiring and funny people i know. and i am giddy about these stamps. they make me so happy! i'm putting them on all my postcrossing cards these days and it really makes me smile.

EDITED: i just ran onto the caricature jens did of me in late 2006 and i had to share it as well. jens is probably best known for his caricatures. and i really love this one. simple lines capture so much life.