Just Too Annoying

While the media is awash in stories about golden showers we raise our eyes to gaze upon more edifying news. Like this story from The Daily Mail.

God gave us The Daily Mail to distract us from the tabloid garbage that has been filling up the mainstream media.

If that is not ironic, I don’t know what is.

Anyway, the Daily Mail is reporting on the strange case of Nancy Holten. She is “a left-wing Dutch vegan” living in Switzerland, fluent in Swiss German,  married to a Swiss national, mother to children who are Swiss nationals. Now, her village has just denied her application for Swiss citizenship … for a second time.

Local residents in Switzerland have the right to cast a first vote on citizenship applications. They voted down Holten’s because they find her “too annoying.” You see, she has been trying to get cow bells banned. You were not aware about cow bells. If so, you need to have your consciousness raised. The Swiss consider cow bells to be part of their local customs and do not want to grant citizenship to someone who does not respect local customs.

The Daily Mail reports this compelling story:

A left-wing Dutch vegan who campaigned against cowbells in the Swiss village where she lives has had a request for a Swiss passport thrown out after annoying the locals.

Nancy Holten, who was born in the Netherlands but moved to Switzerland at the age of eight, is a fluent speaker of Swiss German and has children who are Swiss nationals.

And she wanted a Swiss passport herself, but was refused after locals who were consulted about her request said they were 'fed up' of her challenging Swiss traditions by campaigning against the use of cow bells.

The campaign against cow bells by the 42-year-old vegan and animal-rights activist has made her unpopular in the Alpine confederation.

And also:

The resident's committee argued that if she does not accept Swiss traditions and the Swiss way of life, she should not be able to become an official national.

It isn’t just cow bells that offend Holten:

The Dutchwoman, who describes herself as a freelance journalist, model and drama student, has also campaigned against a number of other Swiss traditions like hunting, pig races and the noisy church bells in town.

Down with hunting. No more pig races. Ban church bells. It's not just that these are deviant opinions. Holten wants everyone to follow her idea of what is right and what is wrong. The Swiss consider these actions to to be Unswiss. One local politician agrees:

Local politician Tanja Suter agreed with the majority of the town's citizens and said Holten had a 'big mouth', saying she did not deserve to get a Swiss passport 'if she irritates us and does not respect our traditions'.