Aug 27 2017
Those who ask such a question, simply have too little knowledge of the living conditions in countries such as the Faroe Islands. They have not understood the underlying reasons which make it possible for people to live in such remote places with a harsh, sub-Arctic, oceanic climate with very little arable land – and not …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2017/08/27/but-why-cant-we-all-just-be-vegans/
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/
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/
Sep 08 2009
Some people outside the Faroes think that Faroese people are senseless primitive murderous inbred drunken brutal beasts who once a year kill thousands of intelligent dolphins for fun as a ‘coming of age ritual’ just to leave most of the whales to rot on the beach and feeding the rest of the poisonous meat to …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2009/09/08/senseless-terrorizing-murderous-dolphin-killers/
Aug 19 2009
Before I made the video “Where Nature Rules” (which won 3rd prize at the international Film Award Ceremony Golden City Gate at ITB in Berlin 12. march 2009) I sketched up some thoughts on what it was I wanted the little film to express. In the film I narrowed the text down quite a lot …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2009/08/19/the-most-curious-place-left-on-earth/
Jul 01 2009
Do you want to step aside from your usual routines, slow down and get away from a world that spins faster and faster? Do you want to trigger your imagination and creativity? Do you want to travel to the perfect place for coming to your senses and feeling alive? Then – go to the Faroe …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2009/07/01/the-faroe-islands-an-adventurous-hideaway/
May 23 2009
The Faroe Islands are at a crossroads. Do we want to be a modern globalised society or do we want to hold on to our traditional way of life? Or… is it possible to combine these two? A presentation held by Elin Brimheim Heinesen for Heads of Diplomatic Missions in Iceland, 23 May 2009 We …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2009/05/23/faroe-islands-at-a-crossroads/
Nov 16 2008
With former US president Bill Clinton and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore in the country’s guest book, international media coverage could be causing the Faroes to emerge from obscurity—clearing the way for effective nation branding. Búi Tyril talks to Elin Heinesen, Managing Director of SamVit, Faroe Islands Enterprise, and others. By Búi Tyril, Faroe …
Permanent link to this article: https://heinesen.info/wp/en/blog/2008/11/16/celebrity-visits-generate-publicity/
