Further to my video observations about civilizational suicide as a form of moral narcissism comes this stark statistic from The Daily Mail:
In 2001 there were 1.5 million Muslims in England and Wales.
By 2014 there were 3 million Muslims in England and Wales.
So Britain's reaction to the cultural fault line revealed by 9/11 was to double its Muslim population. So for the most part did the rest of the west. The Mail reports:
England is home to more than three million Muslims for the first time ever, new figures show.
The number in the country has doubled in just over a decade as a result of soaring immigration and high birth rates.
In some parts of London, close to half the population are now Muslims, according to detailed analysis by the Office for National Statistics obtained by The Mail on Sunday. On current trends they will be the majority in those areas within a decade...
A detailed breakdown obtained by this newspaper shows that Muslims are much younger than the general population. One in four Muslims in England and Wales – 746,000 – is aged under ten. In the whole country, the proportion is about one in seven.
The ONS has also identified eight areas around the country where Muslims make up a significant number of local residents.
In the East London borough of Tower Hamlets the proportion stood at 45.6 per cent in 2014, while in neighbouring Newham it is 40.8.
Muslims account for 29 per cent of the population in Blackburn...
I get a lot of mail complaining that I never feature Beatles songs in our Song of the Week. Okay then:
I read the news today, oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire...
I also read the news today, oh boy. And it tells me there won't be any Beatles songs on the radio in Blackburn in a few years time, nor theatre in the West End of London, nor pubs in the East End, nor uncovered women in Birmingham, nor mixed swimming pools in Manchester, nor bacon butties in Sheffield, nor the teaching of the Crusades, the Holocaust and other problematic matters in schools... There might not even be Sheikh Speare - whoops, sorry, Shakespeare - at Stratford-upon-Avon. Because when you lose your future, you lose your past, too.
But there will be four thousand and more gaping holes in the heart of England.
Didn't some guy write a book about all this?
~Sweden has voted for the express checkout. My friend Ingrid Carlqvist reports:
The police arrived at an asylum house for "unaccompanied refugee children" in Mölndal early in the morning, after reports of a knife fight. By the time they arrived, it was too late. Asylum house employee Alexandra Mezher lay bleeding on the floor, stabbed by one of the "children" she cared for. She died in hospital a few hours later...
The Mezher family are Lebanese Christians who fled the violence in Lebanon 25 years ago. Alexandra's mother, Chimene Mezher, told the British paper, The Daily Mail:
Chimene Mezher now accuses Swedish politicians of murdering her daughter. The dramatic recent population increase in Mölndal, a suburb of Gothenburg, has scared many of the 60,000 residents. In less than a year, 8,000 asylum seekers have moved in -- half of whom are so-called "unaccompanied refugee children."
"We left Lebanon to escape the civil war, the violence and the danger. We came to Sweden where it was safe, to start our family. But it is not safe any more. ... And I just want to know why... why Alexandra? She wanted to help them, but they did this."
Swedish officialdom couldn't be more sympathetic - not to the dead woman but to her killer. To Sweden's National Police Commissioner Dan Eliasson, the victim barely rated a mention:
Well, you are of course distraught on behalf of everyone involved. Naturally, for the person killed and her family, but also for a lone young boy who commits such a heinous incident. What has that person been through? Under what circumstances has he grown up? What is the trauma he carries? This entire migration crisis shows how unfair life is in many parts of the world. We have to try to help solve this best we can.
The Cologne police chief's position (for a week or so) was that the attacks did not happen. His Swedish counterpart's position is that it happened, but it doesn't matter: Onward!
Since New Year in Cologne what has been happening in Europe has been presented as a straightforward tale of the preyed upon (Continental women) and the predators ("migrant" men). But there is a third party present in Sweden, Germany and elsewhere: Continental men. Iben Thranholm is a Danish broadcaster. She writes:
Pundits and politicians assure the public that refugee males now storming the gates of Europe from the Middle East, Northern Africa and Central Asia will be required to learn that Western women are independent and sexually liberated. Such arguments, however, are obviously too weak to have any impact on the male cultures representative of certain refugee groups.
To these individuals, strong European women are 'easy' and easy victims; they have respect only for strong men – and strong men aren't exactly thick on the ground in Europe.
The deficiency of masculinity in European culture renders it impotent in the face of the political and cultural chaos that has escalated along with growing immigration.
Where are the Continental men in these tales from the new Europe? Are they all as pathetic and contemptible as Commissioner Eliasson?
~My Australian tour starts in a little over a week - on Valensteyn's Day in Perth, the perfect romantic night out for you and your sweetheart. But, if you don't already have tickets, your options are narrowing. We're sold out coast-to-coast - except for my big night in Cloncurry. Readers in Darwin, Adelaide and elsewhere have been indignantly demanding to know why I'm giving their towns the bum's rush in favor of Cloncurry. I love Adelaide - I've not only been there, I've been to gaol there. But, as to Cloncurry, you'll have to take that up with the IPA - if memory serves, we wanted to do Alice Springs but the Bananarama tribute band is booked in that night. At any rate, for any non-Cloncurry Steyn fans who'd like to be put on the wait list for Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra or Sydney, please email our pal Rachel here.
~Me and my cat have been very touched by your mostly kind comments about Feline Groovy: Songs for Swingin' Cats. I liked this Tweet from Diana Eileen:
Love driving, listening to "Feline Groovy" --- great job @MarkSteynOnline can't wait for the next cd!
Feline Groovy has a four-and-a-half star rating at iTunes, and lots of great five-star reviews (plus a couple of one-stars) at Amazon. R Kean:
I was most surprised by the musicianship and the arrangements. Top notch talent and a fun mix of musical styles from Jazz to Bacharach to Looney Tunes to Broadway.
If you like the way Paul McCartney sings "'Till There Was You" - "I never sar them singing." you'll like Mark. I would never have believed someone could put together a concept like this. The cat cliches, the adaptations of old cat songs like Alley Cat and What's New Pussycat? are original, entertaining and fun.
It's a nice diversion from reality as music is and also something new - a new CD to spend time with..
Actually it's a fun mix of musical styles from jazz to Bacharach to Looney Tunes to soft rock to Sting - which is a little outside my comfort zone, but I gave it my best. Feline Groovy is out now on CD, but if you can't wait for the mailman it can be yours in seconds via digital download from Amazon or iTunes.
