XPost: rec.puzzles, alt.usage.english   
   From: HenHanna@NewsGrouper   
      
   On 27/06/2025 15:58, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:   
      
   > Right from the beginning, the publication of The Selfish Gene in 1977, I   
   > have not felt that "meme" was Richard Dawkins's happiest invention, and   
   > it's a term I never use. Nonetheless, I have a clear idea of what it   
   > means. Very recently, however, I've started to see it used to mean just   
   > about anything. For example, the Norwegian who was denied entry to the   
   > land of the free when a examination of his telephone revealed an   
   > unflattering cartoon of the vice-POTUS that was reported as a meme. Is   
   > that what "meme" means nowadays? If so, why?   
    >   
      
      
          Short Ans:  i suppose it was never  [reported as a meme]   
      
                    He claimed that he was denied entry because of a Meme on his   
   phone.   
      
      
   ________________________   
      
      
            A 21-year-old Norwegian tourist named Mads Mikkelsen claimed he was   
   denied entry to the United States at Newark Liberty International Airport   
   after U.S. border officials examined his phone and found an unflattering meme   
   of Vice President JD    
   Vance. The meme reportedly depicted Vance as a bald or chubby baby, and   
   Mikkelsen believed this was the reason for his exclusion. His story gained   
   traction in Norwegian and international media.   
      
            However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of   
   Homeland Security have publicly refuted this claim. They stated that Mikkelsen   
   was denied entry not because of the meme, but because he admitted to past drug   
   use during    
   questioning—a reason that can legally bar entry under U.S. immigration law.   
   Officials emphasized that "political reasons" or the meme itself played no   
   role in the decision.   
      
   In summary:   
      
            Mads Mikkelsen, a Norwegian tourist, alleged he was denied entry due   
   to a meme of Vice President JD Vance found on his phone.   
      
            U.S. officials deny this, stating the actual reason was his admitted   
   drug use, not the meme or its political content.   
      
   ________________________________   
      
      
            Mads Mikkelsen, the Norwegian tourist, admitted to U.S. border   
   authorities that he had experimented with marijuana—specifically, he   
   disclosed having used marijuana once in Germany and once in Mexico. Although   
   he believed this was irrelevant    
   because marijuana was legal in those countries, U.S. officials cited his   
   acknowledged drug use as the reason for denying him entry, since marijuana   
   remains prohibited at the federal level in the United States   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)