In a word (ok, two words) bloody awful. You have to remember there was no real enthusiasm for Labour getting in. The general election was all about getting the Tories out by any means necessary.
That’s one reason why Farage’s Reform party got so many votes, but thanks to our FPTP system, all that had the effect of doing was reducing the Tory vote, thus allowing Labour to sneak in in so many constituencies that Starmer now has 400+ MPs and a massive majority on a mere 20% of the vote.
Already we are seeing what a disaster this government is, not just domestically but also with their supine compliance with the scandalous ICC rulings against Netanyahu and Gallant, the restoration of funding to UNRWA and their support of various UN resolutions against Israel.
At least in the US they’ve seen sense and voted Trump (I never imagined I’d see myself typing that 4 years ago) and I hope in the fullness of time Canada boots out Trudeau and elects Poilievre as PM. It’s time to fight back against woke left identitarian antisemitism wherever we find it. So many governments all over the world have fallen prey to it and I’m particularly saddened by what is happening in Belgium as up to now it was one of my favourite European countries.
Thank you for being a great voice on all of this Kelli.
Unfortunately, since I submitted the above post some four months ago, Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives not only lost the Canadian general election to the Liberals, but Poilievre himself also lost his seat. Australia’s election has just produced an eerily similar outcome, with Peter Dutton losing his seat having also just seen his “coalition” defeated by Albanese’s Labor party. My heart goes out to the Jewish communities of both Canada and Australia, who now have to suffer the consequences of these election results.
The idea that Gazan so-called “civilians” are being, as you call it, “murdered by the Israeli government” is a calumny and a blood libel propagated by pro-Palestinian groups and their many allies in the mainstream media. It is always tragic when innocent people lose their lives but we must never forget that this is a war forced on Israel by Hamas who have made no secret of their desire to do October 7th again and again. Not only that, but they are only too willing to hide behind their own people. It is a sad fact that war is brutal, horrible and dirty and that innocent people, regrettably, die in war. However, it is clear now more than ever that the blood of every single innocent death is on Hamas’s hands. Surrender and return the remaining hostages - that’s all they need to do to end this war, but you and I both know that they won’t. Hamas want as many innocent civilians to die as possible in their relentless quest to delegitimise Israel and isolate it from its erstwhile allies on the world stage.
It’s cultural suicide. It’s reversible at this point, but only if a country’s native citizens are willing to do the necessary (cut off the money, make Sharia illegal, start mass deportations) and do it SOON.
Sadly, I don’t see that happening. At some point, when freedoms are lost and blood is flowing, there will be much regret, but it will be too late.
I have visited Belgium since 1988, my last trip was 2023. It was noticeably different, our walk from a very nice hotel to citizens center area felt unsafe. A lot of youngsters, all middle eastern, approached us multiple times seeking money. Taking the public transport was barely safer. The writing is indeed on the wall that the downfall is in progress. A terrible shame.
The rapid conversion of Islamists into citizens in Europe and Canada will have global impact. Because such newly minted citizens can travel the globe freely with their newly acquired passports. Let that sink in. They will take their terrorism abroad much more easily now.
Well, lemme see...how did Europe get rid of the Nazis 80 years ago? Spoiler alert: This time the Nazis are brown! And Qatar has brainwashed some of the younger generations. Then again, the native youth who realize they are pushed out of some jobs and housing, while being expected to support these freeloading savages, are perhaps immune to leftist brainwashing. There may soon be actual far-right revolts across Europe, not the phony kind we've been hearing about. I'm very surprised it hasn't happened already. But fear of violence will not last forever, and the vacuum of leadership on the right will be filled eventually. The gears of war are rusty, but still turning...
Thanks! No permission needed. Since yesterday, more disturbing revelations that our new boss may be much the same as our old boss, other than rhetorical style:
I know. Remember in 2016 when he was talking about the Muslim ban? At the time, I thought he was a racist jerk. Now I wish he would implement it. Look what’s happening in TX and Michigan. Now he’s talking about negotiating with Iran (lol) and acting like Qatar is our ally. In 3 years, if a Democrat wins, it will be over.
I'm hoping states will start decoupling from the federal govt, as is already happening somewhat. That would also lead to better fiscal management by both states and DC eventually. I hope.
The big question I can't resolve to my satisfaction is why so many western liberal democracies are running the same pro-Marxist, pro-Islamic strategy which undermines their own civilization. It's no accident, but I can't grasp what these politicians hope to accomplish. I would say it's evil, like the WEF and George Soros agendas, but I don't see how these elites will benefit without endangering their own families' future along with the rest of us. America is a mixed bag, because there seem to be conflicting agendas; which is why I'm very disturbed by Trump already doing things that Biden would have done.
I am in total agreement with you. I continuously ask myself these questions. Many followers of these wannabe dictators must not realize that humans have been enjoying the best quality of life in the last century, than during any other century; so why are some following bullies and tyrants who want to take it all away and turn us back to the 18th, 15th or 7th centuries? Does human nature need struggle and strife so when life is comfortable, many seek to create their own discomfort, or is it poor education? There will always be criminals and lunatics, however it’s the blind followers who make my head spin.
One last thing: The incentive structures that foster corruption are in my mind a separate issue from what I would describe as either a spiritual or mental illness that has overtaken western liberal democracies, and for which I cannot fathom any answer that makes sense. This recent piece is a perfect example; this and the tolerance of Islamic fundamentalism in the west resemble the sort of mass insanity that we saw in Germany and Japan in WWII...
I feel like there's a toxic feedback loop between govt and citizens, which manifests in an ugly way during economic and geopolitical stress points, like right now. When times are good, everyone can sort of get along, and recognize that politicians are seldom to be trusted, because they are of a superior social class--not always in terms of money, but there are several types of superior status.
When times are tough, people get tribal, and can only see virtue in "their" politicians, and only malevolence in the "other" politicians. This is dangerous, because the political and media elites benefit from the foolish animosity between citizens who share most of the same social goals, whether or not they realize them; differences are mostly in marketing rhetoric. It's not hard to see how the elites in both parties have much more in common with each other than they do with the rest of us. But that clarity entails feeling always vulnerable to an uncaring leadership.
The only way out is to attempt to diminish the power of govt in all areas of life, but that's a very ambitious goal at this point. The way out personally is to accept that most of what we fear is out of our control. And even if politicians actually care about their voters, as some appear to, it's impossible to satisfy the needs of so many demographics in modern civilization. In the vain quest to get free of life's insecurities, we give power to people with excessive hubris. Normal people don't often gravitate to politics, because their innate humility makes them question their competence.
The rich and powerful think they will not be affected. The rich and powerful always want more. They reason they can buy their safety and keep their position above the fray. The dictators have freedom and rights. Is everyone else that suffers.
I feel the same way, and I've never heard of Atalayar, but that pair of articles is troublesome, as is the way Trump seems to be dealing with Iran, which is very different than his hard-charging bluster. I'm going to predict that there will be no meaningful action to disclose Qatari links to American politicians, because it's a bipartisan problem.
Those articles are scary… Qatar and Iran have wreaked enough havoc using eastern oil money and now this? With trump it’s all about the grift unfortunately. 🫤
Grift is difficult to eradicate, but it doesn't have to be misaligned with political goals. Too often it is, as in this case; or as in Biden's dubious entanglements in Ukraine and elsewhere. It's hard to get top talent from the private sector to compete for the presidency, because it only pays $400k a year--and it costs a thousand times that just to compete for the job. What kind of people is this whole process selecting for? The notion that civil service should not be well compensated results in very poor and corrupt candidates.
It’s a dire warning indeed. But what’s the takeaway for Australia? Our borders are oceans, we think they’re more or less secure from illegal crossing. Do we ban Islam? ( Goodbye freedom of religion)! Do we stop legal immigration? ( Goodbye our economy and standard of living). Do we tar all Muslims with the brush of terrorism? ( Goodbye half our friends). But we must do something!
Immigration needs to be controlled. And we need to ensure we are allowing immigrants in who are willing to assimilate into our country. And we need a zero tolerance on terrorism. Ie: terrorist flags, terrorist chants.
Definitely. It’s worth noting that immigrants to Australia don’t generally have any means of avoiding this. It’s the people who enter legally as part of our commitment to receiving refugees and asylum seekers who necessarily need various kinds of support, because they are often -not always-low-skilled and lacking in English language skills. Some asylum seekers hope to return home in the foreseeable future. And not all asylum seekers are Muslim.
Our criteria for immigration are already stringent. It seems that we should add criteria to applications for asylum. “No Muslims”! But that seems more racist and even totalitarian than Australians could contemplate.
If you really stand by all those comments then there is really nothing you can do. The something that needs doing is to radically re-think. Islam is an aggressive legal and political ideology which does not merit protection as a religion . An economy based on endless disruptive immigration is not sustainable either economically or socially and finally, sadly, unless they're already speaking up and taking action right now, when push comes to shove your lovely Muslim friends are not on your side.
Our immigration program is not disruptive -we do not have open borders, and the criteria to receive the initial entry visas are quite stringent. (We are not Great Britain or the US). You seem to be conflating general immigration with quotas for refugees and asylum seekers, who these days are mainly Muslim. Australia is capable of receiving and assimilating a variety of cultures as long as we are not flooded with waves of antagonistic people without time for that assimilation to happen. It seems unlikely that the present Australian antipathy to the idea of assimilation will change easily, though. With the example of Britain before us, if we refuse to change, we’ll get what we deserve. Too many people with no intention of changing, who’ll use our democratic processes to undermine it. But if we just use ‘No Muslims’ as a criterion for immigration, we’ll already have undermined it ourselves. Freedom of (and from) religion is a pillar of democracy.
That was my original point. What should we do to maintain a strong democracy in Australia? Labelling a considerable section of our current population as our enemy is the way to totalitarianism.
Islam is using a kind of jujitsu on the West, in the sense that it uses the direction and momentum of the host culture’s political values, in our case, Enlightenment tolerance, against it. They don’t need to assimilate because Western values tell us we must accept them as they are. Which will work, albeit with increasing violence, until there are enough of them to enforce political change, at which point there will be no tolerance for anyone who is not subservient to Islam. That is the essence of Islam.
Fortunately for the US, where I live, our migrant invasion is largely from Hispanic countries which are our Western cultural and religious cousins, and do seem to be assimilating, although our elites, perversely, seem to oppose that assimilation. Which is part of the reason we got Trump.
But it appears to me that Islam is too alien a culture to assimilate into the West, and actively opposes assimilation anyway. Here in the US, we have more of Islam than we used to, but not enough to take over, although there are pockets of that in some places.
I don’t know what alternative Australia has, but to figure out a way to keep them from reaching political critical mass.
I absolutely agree. I think every country has a right to control its borders, because the welfare and safety of its own people must come first. In Australia we have an advantage in that we are a very large island, and entering illegally by boat is almost impossible. (The Indian and Pacific Oceans are not the English Channel or the Rio Grande). But people entering on legal visas by air -then quietly disappearing into the crowd -that’s a different matter. It needs careful control. And if we let too many unassimilable people reach a critical mass, they can overwhelm our rather small population. Of course not all Muslims are unable to be assimilated. Many Muslims have been Australian for two hundred years. But illegal entry seems to me to be a sharp warning that our liberal democracy governed by the rule of law is NOT the attraction.
Our biggest danger at the moment seems to be our current government, who are blind to these dangers. But as long as we remain a democracy, we have hope.
I agree with this, of course. ( Anyone who devoutly follows Douglas Murray’s description of the ‘strange death of Europe’ certainly will. I’m just saying that an outright ban on Muslim immigration to Australia is unnecessary and racist. And racist is not who we are, despite the accusations. If Muslim immigration is banned altogether, what are we saying to Muslim Australians who’ve been living here peacefully and productively, perhaps for generations?
I’m not saying banning, but realize that there is no separation between Mosque and State. So they will never integrate. They will demand that we conform to their beliefs.
Therefore any transgression requires deportation and loss of state benefits.
If that seems harsh, remember we didn’t ask them to come.
Islam was invented in the 7th century. The ideology spread by conquest. Learn from history.
We are founded on Judo-Christian values that Islam has fought to subjugate since the 7th century. The very word means submission.
So by all means, don’t ban Muslims but base it on reason not a fantasy of integration.
If half your friends are Muslim you're a f****** idiot
You're also f****** idiot if you refer to it as a religion. It is a cult. Like the Book of Mormon the Quran is falsifiable and proves itself false. The old and New Testament are not falsifiable.
Of course you Ban It and deport all Muslims.
Collectivism and Islam are each Violent Supremacist Totalitarian Genocidal Ideological Cults of Conquest. Each Wants to Control Everyone Everywhere.
What good is freedom of religion if your people are extinguished for eternity? The West isn't a notion of freedom nor a standard of living nor our homelands economic zones whose health is measured by deceptive aggregate numbers like GDP. The West is a people. If anyone can be an Australian, then there is no such thing as an Australian.
If a bunch of Australians moved to a city in China and took it over completely would it be a Chinese city or would it be an Australian city? If, or when, the entirety of Australia is populated by Indians or Chinese will it be Australian or will it be Indian or Chinese.
Is it mean to retain your homeland and your civilization for yourself? When you forfeit your homeland to a new people, where in history have a people who have done this not perished and instead had it handed back over? What about your children? Is it mean to them to preserve their future in their homeland or is it mean to them to want to be so nice to strangers that you hand their future over to them and hope your niceness is reciprocated?
Yes. You face a choice. That choice must be made today, for the hour is late. You must choose this: securing all of the sacrifices and the inheritance of your ancestors and curating and passing on that inheritance to your children. Or you can continue choosing to be nice to strangers from all over the world, who are not losing their homelands but who are colonizing yours and seeing what you are blind to; that you are forfeiting it all to them.
I hope I didn’t imply that I’m in favour of freedom of with no restrictions. This is what seems to be happening in Europe at present, and the results are intolerable. I’m suggesting -to my own country, Australia - that we need to be clear that immigrating into Australia means obedience to our laws, or else. The rule of law must be sacred -no-one gets away with disobeying it. If you think God wants you to do something against our secular law, fine. Emigrate to another country, Saudi or Iran.
But we must not bar anyone from immigrating here purely on the basis of their religion. And once a person is a citizen, breaches of the law can’t result in deportation. Citizenship has to mean something, and it should be conferred very, very carefully.
It’s the “or else” part. Break our laws and you’re out. If it’s not already, make it a law - and enforce it. A condition of citizenship is obeying our laws.
We didn’t ask Islamists to come here. Don’t make it our fault by following a fantasy.
Absolutely. That’s what I’m saying. I’m not worried about any ethnic group becoming dominant. I do worry about our democratic values and culture being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of those who have no respect for them at all. Not all Muslims fall into this category, at all.
When Australia has invited in and made citizens of enough non-Europeans, will it still be Australia? Does making someone a citizen make them an Australian? If anyone can be an Australian by taking a test and signing some papers and getting a job, then is there any such thing as being an Australian?
Moreover, who says you must not restrict immigration based on religion? Why can't you do that? If you can't say who comes and goes for whatever reason you choose, than is it your country?
I think the reason these, "land acknowledgements", exist is because they are a loyalty test to a new regime. That loyalty test is a renunciation of your ancestral claims on your land and the country your ancestors built. That new regime wants to destroy all countries and all nations. It doesn't want distinct peoples and cultures and languages. It wants human flesh sacks that are merely fungible units of productivity to be moved about as convenient political patronage groups useful in destroying existing countries that become economic administrative zones where people are replaceable, fungible productivity units.
And I will add that Islam requires its followers to kill all infidels. Jews, Christians, Hindu, Buddhists—anyone who does not follow Islam is an infidel. Children are taught this from the cradle. Muslims do not wish to coexist with the West, they want to destroy the West and subjugate it. If you think you can “civilize away” the threat, you are sadly mistaken. Islam is a deadly and apocalyptic threat to Western countries. Being a nice guy will only kill us faster. This really IS the hill to die on.
It isn't just Islam. When you import a new people you become that people, when they outnumber you. They don't have to assimilate. Moreover, the regime that is undertaking this project has as its goal the desire to destroy nations and the countries those nations call country and home.
It isn't just Muslims and physical conquest. We are as in danger of conquest and being subsumed via mass visas and work permits as by the Muslims. Slowly fading away as a deracinated collection of economic units with no past and no future is as horrific a fate as conquest. At least we can fight conquest and as the planet's historical masters of violence we will win that fight. Also, you don't know the future. When you are outnumbered by Hindus, Hans and Africans who have watched you let your government give away all you have to them, and who told them that you and your ancestors are evil and deserving of dispossession, they may decide to take on Biden's mantra and, "Finish The Job."
Take South Africa as a warning as well as the troubles between India and Pakistan and Bangladesh or any other multi-ethnic, multi-racial society. We were near absolute majorities in all of our homelands just a generation or so ago.
If Haitians were to fill Japan would they make Japan or make Haiti? If Japanese were to fill Haiti, would they make Haiti or Japan? We know the answer to that. Haitians didn't perpetuate France after they murdered every last Frenchman in 1804. They built Haiti, if you call that building something.
It is time to decide. Are we a people with a home and a future? Or are we just fungible meat sacks occupying economic administrative zone? When answering that question, we must look at our vast history and consider all our ancestors have done for us, and contemplate if we want to be that kind of ancestor for our posterity or be cursed by them as they slowly fade away.
So just don’t systematically invite them. Only invite the few who are talented engineers….because most of those are far less fanatical than the legions of room temperature IQ dependents Europe invites in.
In Australia we have fairly tight immigration laws. Immigrants can’t get the initial immigration visa without proof of their qualifications in ‘needed’ categories, enough money to sustain themselves for two years, and no prospect of applying for citizenship until they’ve been in the country two years and can pass the Citizenship Test. (Basically an English language test).
We can’t filter refugees and asylum seekers in the same way. Some of them make great citizens after a few years. Others -not so much. They like our lifestyle, but not the principles that underlie it. And if there are too many of the latter group, they bring up their Australian children with the same attitudes.
I have moved from being wary of fundamentalist Islam to wanting all non US born Muslims deported from the US. Islam is a religion of death, war, and mysoginy. It's puritanical adherents are sub human.
Indeed, it is purely the work of liberal progressivism. They will defend this till their heads are chopped off, figuratively or literally, by jumping to defend the indefensible. Like "Terrorism doesn't have religion", they will now come out saying "rapists don't have religion", and that "freeloaders don't have religion".
You abandoned your ancient Christian faith and discovered that chocolate and legal prostitution aren’t really a substitute. Now you get to exit the historic stage as a distinct people, and leave your lands to alien people who will soon smash your monuments, discontinue your language, and burn your books.
Good piece, Kelli. It's pretty hard to watch what's happening to Europe. Douglas Murray's opening in The Strange Death of Europe never fails to tug at something in me "within the lifetimes of most people reading this book, the European peoples will have lost the only place on Earth they have to call home." I've the benefit of not living in Europe, but being European by heritage, it's a sobering and sad to see that the ancestral homeland is being surrendered. Not at the edge of a sword, but at the behest of suicidally naive Leftist "good intention". It's perhaps the least masculine example of conquest in all of history - women (and men in dresses) surrendering the land to men pretending to be starving sojourners. The civilization that spilled so much of its blood to preserve itself against the Islamic hordes of old is now surrendering to the spillover from failing Muslim states. Charles Martel is absolutely rolling in his grave.
This doesn’t surprise me at all. Belgium has been the Muslim safe spot of Europe for at least a decade for those of us looking at where extremism was coming out of Europe.
In my view England is next . The French leaders in government seem not to be afraid anymore to express the necessity of fighting islamism and the Muslim Brothers . Three or four years ago , this would have been unheard of. But how will this be translated into actions is uncertain. The legal system is an obstacle ! And the judicial power is in the hands of progressists. Do you get the picture ?
Great piece, Kelli. I’m from the UK so this is very close to home for us. A cautionary tale indeed.
Thanks Jonathan. The UK is definitely in a precarious position. What do you think of your newly elected government
In a word (ok, two words) bloody awful. You have to remember there was no real enthusiasm for Labour getting in. The general election was all about getting the Tories out by any means necessary.
That’s one reason why Farage’s Reform party got so many votes, but thanks to our FPTP system, all that had the effect of doing was reducing the Tory vote, thus allowing Labour to sneak in in so many constituencies that Starmer now has 400+ MPs and a massive majority on a mere 20% of the vote.
Already we are seeing what a disaster this government is, not just domestically but also with their supine compliance with the scandalous ICC rulings against Netanyahu and Gallant, the restoration of funding to UNRWA and their support of various UN resolutions against Israel.
At least in the US they’ve seen sense and voted Trump (I never imagined I’d see myself typing that 4 years ago) and I hope in the fullness of time Canada boots out Trudeau and elects Poilievre as PM. It’s time to fight back against woke left identitarian antisemitism wherever we find it. So many governments all over the world have fallen prey to it and I’m particularly saddened by what is happening in Belgium as up to now it was one of my favourite European countries.
Thank you for being a great voice on all of this Kelli.
Unfortunately, since I submitted the above post some four months ago, Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives not only lost the Canadian general election to the Liberals, but Poilievre himself also lost his seat. Australia’s election has just produced an eerily similar outcome, with Peter Dutton losing his seat having also just seen his “coalition” defeated by Albanese’s Labor party. My heart goes out to the Jewish communities of both Canada and Australia, who now have to suffer the consequences of these election results.
I hope your heart also goes out to the thousands of Gaza civilians being murdered by the Israeli government.
The idea that Gazan so-called “civilians” are being, as you call it, “murdered by the Israeli government” is a calumny and a blood libel propagated by pro-Palestinian groups and their many allies in the mainstream media. It is always tragic when innocent people lose their lives but we must never forget that this is a war forced on Israel by Hamas who have made no secret of their desire to do October 7th again and again. Not only that, but they are only too willing to hide behind their own people. It is a sad fact that war is brutal, horrible and dirty and that innocent people, regrettably, die in war. However, it is clear now more than ever that the blood of every single innocent death is on Hamas’s hands. Surrender and return the remaining hostages - that’s all they need to do to end this war, but you and I both know that they won’t. Hamas want as many innocent civilians to die as possible in their relentless quest to delegitimise Israel and isolate it from its erstwhile allies on the world stage.
Useful idiot says what?
Opposition voices need to unite and stop all this petty squabbling.
Imagine paying to be colonized and have your culture eradicated.
It’s cultural suicide. It’s reversible at this point, but only if a country’s native citizens are willing to do the necessary (cut off the money, make Sharia illegal, start mass deportations) and do it SOON.
Sadly, I don’t see that happening. At some point, when freedoms are lost and blood is flowing, there will be much regret, but it will be too late.
Exactly. In a mental situation, the fact we’re dishing out benefits to finance it is the most mental part.
I have visited Belgium since 1988, my last trip was 2023. It was noticeably different, our walk from a very nice hotel to citizens center area felt unsafe. A lot of youngsters, all middle eastern, approached us multiple times seeking money. Taking the public transport was barely safer. The writing is indeed on the wall that the downfall is in progress. A terrible shame.
The rapid conversion of Islamists into citizens in Europe and Canada will have global impact. Because such newly minted citizens can travel the globe freely with their newly acquired passports. Let that sink in. They will take their terrorism abroad much more easily now.
Well, lemme see...how did Europe get rid of the Nazis 80 years ago? Spoiler alert: This time the Nazis are brown! And Qatar has brainwashed some of the younger generations. Then again, the native youth who realize they are pushed out of some jobs and housing, while being expected to support these freeloading savages, are perhaps immune to leftist brainwashing. There may soon be actual far-right revolts across Europe, not the phony kind we've been hearing about. I'm very surprised it hasn't happened already. But fear of violence will not last forever, and the vacuum of leadership on the right will be filled eventually. The gears of war are rusty, but still turning...
I’d like to restock or copy/paste this comment… do I need permission from you chuck? Well stated!!
Thanks! No permission needed. Since yesterday, more disturbing revelations that our new boss may be much the same as our old boss, other than rhetorical style:
https://www.atalayar.com/en/articulo/politics/the-united-states-approves-major-sale-of-drones-to-qatar/20250329130000212765.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/world/middleeast/trump-family-qatar-dubai.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Dk8.lMSj.0rYxsXDCJlg7&smid=url-share
I'm no fan of the NYT, but even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then...
I know. Remember in 2016 when he was talking about the Muslim ban? At the time, I thought he was a racist jerk. Now I wish he would implement it. Look what’s happening in TX and Michigan. Now he’s talking about negotiating with Iran (lol) and acting like Qatar is our ally. In 3 years, if a Democrat wins, it will be over.
I'm hoping states will start decoupling from the federal govt, as is already happening somewhat. That would also lead to better fiscal management by both states and DC eventually. I hope.
For decades I loved the NYT until they turned biased, lousy and non news several decades ago.
The big question I can't resolve to my satisfaction is why so many western liberal democracies are running the same pro-Marxist, pro-Islamic strategy which undermines their own civilization. It's no accident, but I can't grasp what these politicians hope to accomplish. I would say it's evil, like the WEF and George Soros agendas, but I don't see how these elites will benefit without endangering their own families' future along with the rest of us. America is a mixed bag, because there seem to be conflicting agendas; which is why I'm very disturbed by Trump already doing things that Biden would have done.
I am in total agreement with you. I continuously ask myself these questions. Many followers of these wannabe dictators must not realize that humans have been enjoying the best quality of life in the last century, than during any other century; so why are some following bullies and tyrants who want to take it all away and turn us back to the 18th, 15th or 7th centuries? Does human nature need struggle and strife so when life is comfortable, many seek to create their own discomfort, or is it poor education? There will always be criminals and lunatics, however it’s the blind followers who make my head spin.
One last thing: The incentive structures that foster corruption are in my mind a separate issue from what I would describe as either a spiritual or mental illness that has overtaken western liberal democracies, and for which I cannot fathom any answer that makes sense. This recent piece is a perfect example; this and the tolerance of Islamic fundamentalism in the west resemble the sort of mass insanity that we saw in Germany and Japan in WWII...
https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-dems-vote-to-keep-male-sex-offenders-in-female-prisons
I feel like there's a toxic feedback loop between govt and citizens, which manifests in an ugly way during economic and geopolitical stress points, like right now. When times are good, everyone can sort of get along, and recognize that politicians are seldom to be trusted, because they are of a superior social class--not always in terms of money, but there are several types of superior status.
When times are tough, people get tribal, and can only see virtue in "their" politicians, and only malevolence in the "other" politicians. This is dangerous, because the political and media elites benefit from the foolish animosity between citizens who share most of the same social goals, whether or not they realize them; differences are mostly in marketing rhetoric. It's not hard to see how the elites in both parties have much more in common with each other than they do with the rest of us. But that clarity entails feeling always vulnerable to an uncaring leadership.
The only way out is to attempt to diminish the power of govt in all areas of life, but that's a very ambitious goal at this point. The way out personally is to accept that most of what we fear is out of our control. And even if politicians actually care about their voters, as some appear to, it's impossible to satisfy the needs of so many demographics in modern civilization. In the vain quest to get free of life's insecurities, we give power to people with excessive hubris. Normal people don't often gravitate to politics, because their innate humility makes them question their competence.
The rich and powerful think they will not be affected. The rich and powerful always want more. They reason they can buy their safety and keep their position above the fray. The dictators have freedom and rights. Is everyone else that suffers.
I feel the same way, and I've never heard of Atalayar, but that pair of articles is troublesome, as is the way Trump seems to be dealing with Iran, which is very different than his hard-charging bluster. I'm going to predict that there will be no meaningful action to disclose Qatari links to American politicians, because it's a bipartisan problem.
Those articles are scary… Qatar and Iran have wreaked enough havoc using eastern oil money and now this? With trump it’s all about the grift unfortunately. 🫤
Grift is difficult to eradicate, but it doesn't have to be misaligned with political goals. Too often it is, as in this case; or as in Biden's dubious entanglements in Ukraine and elsewhere. It's hard to get top talent from the private sector to compete for the presidency, because it only pays $400k a year--and it costs a thousand times that just to compete for the job. What kind of people is this whole process selecting for? The notion that civil service should not be well compensated results in very poor and corrupt candidates.
NY Times has been far left 120 years under current family ownership. They supported Nazis for awhile.
Read The Gray Lady Winked. Chronicles the NYT’s abominable failures in detail. Really good book.
It's been owned by far left Jews for 120 years. It supported Hitler for a while because he's a collectivist.
Always prefered The Economist and the Wall Street Journal. WSJ If not what it was but it's not s*** like everything else. The Economist went woke.
Appreciate the recommendation though
I pray you are right
I guess I should take Bruges off my travel list. :-(
Nah it’s still worth going. It’s mostly tourists there. Just stay away from Brussels
It’s a dire warning indeed. But what’s the takeaway for Australia? Our borders are oceans, we think they’re more or less secure from illegal crossing. Do we ban Islam? ( Goodbye freedom of religion)! Do we stop legal immigration? ( Goodbye our economy and standard of living). Do we tar all Muslims with the brush of terrorism? ( Goodbye half our friends). But we must do something!
Immigration needs to be controlled. And we need to ensure we are allowing immigrants in who are willing to assimilate into our country. And we need a zero tolerance on terrorism. Ie: terrorist flags, terrorist chants.
Gaza is a hotbed of terrorism and indoctrination (thanks UNWRA). We should not be handing out Visas to them.
And you need a strict deportation process for transgressors
And work and add to our society and tax base.
Definitely. It’s worth noting that immigrants to Australia don’t generally have any means of avoiding this. It’s the people who enter legally as part of our commitment to receiving refugees and asylum seekers who necessarily need various kinds of support, because they are often -not always-low-skilled and lacking in English language skills. Some asylum seekers hope to return home in the foreseeable future. And not all asylum seekers are Muslim.
Our criteria for immigration are already stringent. It seems that we should add criteria to applications for asylum. “No Muslims”! But that seems more racist and even totalitarian than Australians could contemplate.
If you really stand by all those comments then there is really nothing you can do. The something that needs doing is to radically re-think. Islam is an aggressive legal and political ideology which does not merit protection as a religion . An economy based on endless disruptive immigration is not sustainable either economically or socially and finally, sadly, unless they're already speaking up and taking action right now, when push comes to shove your lovely Muslim friends are not on your side.
Our immigration program is not disruptive -we do not have open borders, and the criteria to receive the initial entry visas are quite stringent. (We are not Great Britain or the US). You seem to be conflating general immigration with quotas for refugees and asylum seekers, who these days are mainly Muslim. Australia is capable of receiving and assimilating a variety of cultures as long as we are not flooded with waves of antagonistic people without time for that assimilation to happen. It seems unlikely that the present Australian antipathy to the idea of assimilation will change easily, though. With the example of Britain before us, if we refuse to change, we’ll get what we deserve. Too many people with no intention of changing, who’ll use our democratic processes to undermine it. But if we just use ‘No Muslims’ as a criterion for immigration, we’ll already have undermined it ourselves. Freedom of (and from) religion is a pillar of democracy.
That was my original point. What should we do to maintain a strong democracy in Australia? Labelling a considerable section of our current population as our enemy is the way to totalitarianism.
Just that they are not capable of assimilating.
No such thing as separation of Mosque and State.
The 7th century ideology is a self perpetuating imperialist invention.
Islam is using a kind of jujitsu on the West, in the sense that it uses the direction and momentum of the host culture’s political values, in our case, Enlightenment tolerance, against it. They don’t need to assimilate because Western values tell us we must accept them as they are. Which will work, albeit with increasing violence, until there are enough of them to enforce political change, at which point there will be no tolerance for anyone who is not subservient to Islam. That is the essence of Islam.
Fortunately for the US, where I live, our migrant invasion is largely from Hispanic countries which are our Western cultural and religious cousins, and do seem to be assimilating, although our elites, perversely, seem to oppose that assimilation. Which is part of the reason we got Trump.
But it appears to me that Islam is too alien a culture to assimilate into the West, and actively opposes assimilation anyway. Here in the US, we have more of Islam than we used to, but not enough to take over, although there are pockets of that in some places.
I don’t know what alternative Australia has, but to figure out a way to keep them from reaching political critical mass.
I absolutely agree. I think every country has a right to control its borders, because the welfare and safety of its own people must come first. In Australia we have an advantage in that we are a very large island, and entering illegally by boat is almost impossible. (The Indian and Pacific Oceans are not the English Channel or the Rio Grande). But people entering on legal visas by air -then quietly disappearing into the crowd -that’s a different matter. It needs careful control. And if we let too many unassimilable people reach a critical mass, they can overwhelm our rather small population. Of course not all Muslims are unable to be assimilated. Many Muslims have been Australian for two hundred years. But illegal entry seems to me to be a sharp warning that our liberal democracy governed by the rule of law is NOT the attraction.
Our biggest danger at the moment seems to be our current government, who are blind to these dangers. But as long as we remain a democracy, we have hope.
I agree with this, of course. ( Anyone who devoutly follows Douglas Murray’s description of the ‘strange death of Europe’ certainly will. I’m just saying that an outright ban on Muslim immigration to Australia is unnecessary and racist. And racist is not who we are, despite the accusations. If Muslim immigration is banned altogether, what are we saying to Muslim Australians who’ve been living here peacefully and productively, perhaps for generations?
I’m not saying banning, but realize that there is no separation between Mosque and State. So they will never integrate. They will demand that we conform to their beliefs.
Therefore any transgression requires deportation and loss of state benefits.
If that seems harsh, remember we didn’t ask them to come.
Islam was invented in the 7th century. The ideology spread by conquest. Learn from history.
We are founded on Judo-Christian values that Islam has fought to subjugate since the 7th century. The very word means submission.
So by all means, don’t ban Muslims but base it on reason not a fantasy of integration.
If half your friends are Muslim you're a f****** idiot
You're also f****** idiot if you refer to it as a religion. It is a cult. Like the Book of Mormon the Quran is falsifiable and proves itself false. The old and New Testament are not falsifiable.
Of course you Ban It and deport all Muslims.
Collectivism and Islam are each Violent Supremacist Totalitarian Genocidal Ideological Cults of Conquest. Each Wants to Control Everyone Everywhere.
they are not our friends from their own mouths they want to turn australia into a muslim califate look at their faces these people are retarded
What good is freedom of religion if your people are extinguished for eternity? The West isn't a notion of freedom nor a standard of living nor our homelands economic zones whose health is measured by deceptive aggregate numbers like GDP. The West is a people. If anyone can be an Australian, then there is no such thing as an Australian.
If a bunch of Australians moved to a city in China and took it over completely would it be a Chinese city or would it be an Australian city? If, or when, the entirety of Australia is populated by Indians or Chinese will it be Australian or will it be Indian or Chinese.
Is it mean to retain your homeland and your civilization for yourself? When you forfeit your homeland to a new people, where in history have a people who have done this not perished and instead had it handed back over? What about your children? Is it mean to them to preserve their future in their homeland or is it mean to them to want to be so nice to strangers that you hand their future over to them and hope your niceness is reciprocated?
Yes. You face a choice. That choice must be made today, for the hour is late. You must choose this: securing all of the sacrifices and the inheritance of your ancestors and curating and passing on that inheritance to your children. Or you can continue choosing to be nice to strangers from all over the world, who are not losing their homelands but who are colonizing yours and seeing what you are blind to; that you are forfeiting it all to them.
I hope I didn’t imply that I’m in favour of freedom of with no restrictions. This is what seems to be happening in Europe at present, and the results are intolerable. I’m suggesting -to my own country, Australia - that we need to be clear that immigrating into Australia means obedience to our laws, or else. The rule of law must be sacred -no-one gets away with disobeying it. If you think God wants you to do something against our secular law, fine. Emigrate to another country, Saudi or Iran.
But we must not bar anyone from immigrating here purely on the basis of their religion. And once a person is a citizen, breaches of the law can’t result in deportation. Citizenship has to mean something, and it should be conferred very, very carefully.
It’s the “or else” part. Break our laws and you’re out. If it’s not already, make it a law - and enforce it. A condition of citizenship is obeying our laws.
We didn’t ask Islamists to come here. Don’t make it our fault by following a fantasy.
Absolutely. That’s what I’m saying. I’m not worried about any ethnic group becoming dominant. I do worry about our democratic values and culture being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of those who have no respect for them at all. Not all Muslims fall into this category, at all.
When Australia has invited in and made citizens of enough non-Europeans, will it still be Australia? Does making someone a citizen make them an Australian? If anyone can be an Australian by taking a test and signing some papers and getting a job, then is there any such thing as being an Australian?
Moreover, who says you must not restrict immigration based on religion? Why can't you do that? If you can't say who comes and goes for whatever reason you choose, than is it your country?
I think the reason these, "land acknowledgements", exist is because they are a loyalty test to a new regime. That loyalty test is a renunciation of your ancestral claims on your land and the country your ancestors built. That new regime wants to destroy all countries and all nations. It doesn't want distinct peoples and cultures and languages. It wants human flesh sacks that are merely fungible units of productivity to be moved about as convenient political patronage groups useful in destroying existing countries that become economic administrative zones where people are replaceable, fungible productivity units.
Who says you have to accept that?
And I will add that Islam requires its followers to kill all infidels. Jews, Christians, Hindu, Buddhists—anyone who does not follow Islam is an infidel. Children are taught this from the cradle. Muslims do not wish to coexist with the West, they want to destroy the West and subjugate it. If you think you can “civilize away” the threat, you are sadly mistaken. Islam is a deadly and apocalyptic threat to Western countries. Being a nice guy will only kill us faster. This really IS the hill to die on.
It isn't just Islam. When you import a new people you become that people, when they outnumber you. They don't have to assimilate. Moreover, the regime that is undertaking this project has as its goal the desire to destroy nations and the countries those nations call country and home.
It isn't just Muslims and physical conquest. We are as in danger of conquest and being subsumed via mass visas and work permits as by the Muslims. Slowly fading away as a deracinated collection of economic units with no past and no future is as horrific a fate as conquest. At least we can fight conquest and as the planet's historical masters of violence we will win that fight. Also, you don't know the future. When you are outnumbered by Hindus, Hans and Africans who have watched you let your government give away all you have to them, and who told them that you and your ancestors are evil and deserving of dispossession, they may decide to take on Biden's mantra and, "Finish The Job."
Take South Africa as a warning as well as the troubles between India and Pakistan and Bangladesh or any other multi-ethnic, multi-racial society. We were near absolute majorities in all of our homelands just a generation or so ago.
If Haitians were to fill Japan would they make Japan or make Haiti? If Japanese were to fill Haiti, would they make Haiti or Japan? We know the answer to that. Haitians didn't perpetuate France after they murdered every last Frenchman in 1804. They built Haiti, if you call that building something.
It is time to decide. Are we a people with a home and a future? Or are we just fungible meat sacks occupying economic administrative zone? When answering that question, we must look at our vast history and consider all our ancestors have done for us, and contemplate if we want to be that kind of ancestor for our posterity or be cursed by them as they slowly fade away.
Muslims aren’t highly productive immigrants.
So just don’t systematically invite them. Only invite the few who are talented engineers….because most of those are far less fanatical than the legions of room temperature IQ dependents Europe invites in.
We sure missed that criteria didn’t we. The reason is your criteria is a fantasy.
We are founded on Judo-Christian values. The 7th century ideology is a death cult. Their only submission is to their ideology.
How do you think the Arab gulf states keep radical Islam in check? It’s not by fantasy.
In Australia we have fairly tight immigration laws. Immigrants can’t get the initial immigration visa without proof of their qualifications in ‘needed’ categories, enough money to sustain themselves for two years, and no prospect of applying for citizenship until they’ve been in the country two years and can pass the Citizenship Test. (Basically an English language test).
We can’t filter refugees and asylum seekers in the same way. Some of them make great citizens after a few years. Others -not so much. They like our lifestyle, but not the principles that underlie it. And if there are too many of the latter group, they bring up their Australian children with the same attitudes.
A cautionary tale indeed.
Canada is on the path to Sharia Law unless Trump takes Carney to task and reverses this mayhem. We need help from the US to preserve Canada.
I have moved from being wary of fundamentalist Islam to wanting all non US born Muslims deported from the US. Islam is a religion of death, war, and mysoginy. It's puritanical adherents are sub human.
It baffles my mind to see a civilisation hellbent on doing a kamikaze move on the altar of liberal progressivism.
If we don’t value what we have, we don’t deserve it in the first place.
Indeed, it is purely the work of liberal progressivism. They will defend this till their heads are chopped off, figuratively or literally, by jumping to defend the indefensible. Like "Terrorism doesn't have religion", they will now come out saying "rapists don't have religion", and that "freeloaders don't have religion".
You abandoned your ancient Christian faith and discovered that chocolate and legal prostitution aren’t really a substitute. Now you get to exit the historic stage as a distinct people, and leave your lands to alien people who will soon smash your monuments, discontinue your language, and burn your books.
UK hot on its heels, along with Sweden and, later, Germany and France - unless something definitive is done to reverse the invasions.
Good piece, Kelli. It's pretty hard to watch what's happening to Europe. Douglas Murray's opening in The Strange Death of Europe never fails to tug at something in me "within the lifetimes of most people reading this book, the European peoples will have lost the only place on Earth they have to call home." I've the benefit of not living in Europe, but being European by heritage, it's a sobering and sad to see that the ancestral homeland is being surrendered. Not at the edge of a sword, but at the behest of suicidally naive Leftist "good intention". It's perhaps the least masculine example of conquest in all of history - women (and men in dresses) surrendering the land to men pretending to be starving sojourners. The civilization that spilled so much of its blood to preserve itself against the Islamic hordes of old is now surrendering to the spillover from failing Muslim states. Charles Martel is absolutely rolling in his grave.
Belgium has been heading that way for decades.
This doesn’t surprise me at all. Belgium has been the Muslim safe spot of Europe for at least a decade for those of us looking at where extremism was coming out of Europe.
In my view England is next . The French leaders in government seem not to be afraid anymore to express the necessity of fighting islamism and the Muslim Brothers . Three or four years ago , this would have been unheard of. But how will this be translated into actions is uncertain. The legal system is an obstacle ! And the judicial power is in the hands of progressists. Do you get the picture ?