Apr 17 2024
What does a young 17-year-old Faroese maid in a small village in the Faroe Islands in 1916 have to do with a revolutionary new urine-based cleaning fluid for diesel engines? By Elin Brimheim Heinesen in Berlingske Tidende, Section 4, Sunday, 16 December 2001 On 28 September, 2001, one of the world’s leading scientific journals, New …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2024/04/17/what-a-load-of-piss/
Mar 15 2019
By Elin Brimheim Heinesen There is a terribly heated discussion at the moment, because a farmer is considering charging people for walking on his land. Yes, I can easily feel nostalgic like many others and think that it is a sad development that we can no longer walk freely in certain scenic areas without paying …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2019/03/15/now-is-it-really-that-dumb-to-pay-for-walking-outside-the-throdden-paths/
Aug 27 2017
By Elin Brimheim Heinesen Those who ask such a question, simply lack a deep understanding of the unique living conditions in countries such as the Faroe Islands. They fail to grasp the fundamental reasons which enable residents to inhabit these remote places with a harsh, sub-Arctic, oceanic climate with very little arable land—not least, why …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2017/08/27/but-why-cant-we-all-just-be-vegans/
Oct 29 2015
By Elin Brimheim Heinesen As long as it is relatively expensive to transport people and goods between the Faroe Islands and the outside world, it will be very difficult to attract more people to the Faroe Islands and thus create a large enough basis for increased activity in the country. But if we increase transportation …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2015/10/29/cheaper-airline-tickets-now/
Aug 14 2015
People have asked me, “Why are you so against the Grind Law ” (pilot whale law)? Isn’t it more important to consider the Faroese themselves, instead of focusing so much on tourists and foreigners? Do you have a problem with the Faroese people killing pilot whales or what?” No, I have nothing against the Grind …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2015/08/14/i-disagree-with-what-you-say-but-i-will-defend-your-right-to-say-it-even-if-i-have-to-sacrifice-my-life-for-it/
Nov 21 2014
As simple as the sentence in this header may sound, the more difficult it seems to many to comprehend what it really means. I came to think about that, when I tried to answer some questions I got today in an E-mail from an Australian journalist, asking me: 1. Do Faroe islanders consider pilot whales …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2014/11/21/you-provide-sustenance-for-yourself-with-what-is-available-to-you/
Aug 10 2014
OBS! The author of this article, Ford Elms, New Foundland, Canada, has allowed me to copy and publish it here: In a tradition going back more than a thousand years, the Faroese renew their connectedness to their history, their culture, their communities, and the natural world around them. The pilot whales return to the Faroe …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2014/08/10/nature-not-just-something-to-be-visited-but-a-home-where-people-provide-sustenance-for-themselves/
Aug 04 2014
by Elin Brimheim Heinesen In the old days the Faroese killed pilot whales, because they needed the food. Nowadays the Faroese still kill pilot whales – not only because they need the food – but also to prove to them selves that they are Faroese. What people eat becomes intrinsic to their identity as people. …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2014/08/04/cultural-clashes-make-the-sscs-grindstop-campaign-counterproductive/
Aug 15 2013
By Elin Brimheim Heinesen A quarter of the total Faroese exports may be affected by the restrictions if the European Union’s sanctions against the Faroe Islands are implemented. This seems like quite severe punishment for a very small and economically vulnerable nation in the North Atlantic, totally dependent on its fishery. But according to the …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2013/08/15/what-is-the-disagreement-between-the-eu-and-the-faroe-islands-really-about/
Aug 20 2012
Well, this really takes the biscuit! This morning a number of Faroese websites were hacked by some people who call themselves Anonymous Australia in an attempt to harm the Faroese because of their pilot whaling practice. Now these people are threatening to do the same to a number of other Faroese people and institutions – including me! …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2012/08/20/dear-anonymous-hacktivists-and-everyone-else/
May 21 2012
I was born in the late 50’ies in the Faroe Islands. At that time we pretty much had a subsistence way of life in this remote place on earth with a hostile climate and an environment that humans could never hope to survive in without eating animals. In winter, our region is stormy and dark …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2012/05/21/if-we-lose-our-food-we-lose-who-we-are/
May 10 2012
People who are against pilot whaling in the Faroe Islands often refer to the following 12 reasons for why pilot whaling should stop. Here is why 10 of them fail and why 2 are partially right / partially wrong. 1. The Faroese should stop killing pilot whales because the pilot whales are endangered. The pilot …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2012/05/10/12-arguments-against-pilot-whaling-and-why-they-fail/
May 09 2012
A comment by Elin Brimheim Heinesen to the discussion triggered by the TV series on Animal Planet “Whale Wars – Viking Shores”. I wish this issue was simpler, but it’s not. I’m Faroese and I do not condone pilot whale killing in the Faroe Islands unconditionally. I’m absolutely opposed to unnecessary cruelty and the killing of animals …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2012/05/09/media-whale-warfare/
Nov 24 2011
Stormy night, 24. nov. 2011: This is the sound in my living room (down in the basement!) while the hurricane Berit roared outside. The rattling noise comes from the hood in my kitchen. Luckily there was no damage to my house (as far as I know… haven’t checked my roof properly yet). My thoughts are …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2011/11/24/the-sound-of-hurricane-berit/
Mar 22 2011
I’m not insensitive to animal suffering. I do understand why outsiders are concerned about pilot whaling in the Faroes. But in spite of this, I do not condemn pilot whaling completely. This might seem contradictory to people, who think pilot whaling is absolutely appalling and should be banned right away. But I have some compelling …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2011/03/22/why-im-not-condemning-pilot-whaling/
Dec 19 2010
Paul Watson and his Sea Shepherd activists, as well as others have declared war against the Faroese whalers and announced that they will be present in the Faroes in the summer 2011 to stop any attempt to drive or kill pilot whales. The Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove” about dolphin slaughter in Taiji in Japan, has …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2010/12/19/the-global-disney-world/
Nov 03 2010
I have in former blog posts tried to explain the Faroese tradition of pilot whaling. Let me state right away: The main purpose of this blog post is not to defend pilot whaling as such. It is not to prove anyone neither right nor wrong. It is only to question the rhetorics of extreme anti-whaling activists. …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2010/11/03/why-i-fail-to-see-the-purpose-of-typical-anti-whaling-rhetoric/
Nov 02 2010
This is a response to a comment made by an anonymous reader to my blog post: “The Global Disney World” (http://elinbrimheimheinesen.blogspot.com/2010/09/global-disney-world.html). Dear Anonymous, Thanks for a thoughtful reply. I appreciate your reflections to my blog post “The Global Disney World”. I’d like to make some comments to your thoughts – and ask you some questions, because I’m not …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2010/11/02/are-the-faroese-people-caught-in-a-conflictive-time-warp/
Jun 10 2010
The Faroese are currently facing a crisis as a significant portion of their meat supply, specifically pilot whale meat, has been declared unfit for human consumption. Despite warnings against consuming pilot whale meat, many Faroese are reluctant to abandon the practice of pilot whaling, as they have long relied on it for sustenance. The thought …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2010/06/10/an-old-life-style-near-extinction/
Feb 11 2010
Today I said goodbye to Threes Anna – a Dutch writer and film director (view her website here: www.threesanna.com). She leaves tonight with the ferry Norrøna after having done research for three weeks in the Faroe Islands for a future novel. Threes Anna and I have met four times while she was here – and …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2010/02/11/is-faroese-silence-rude/
