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sundubuman
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: seoul
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 Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:00 am Post subject: Is Europe Waking Up? |
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Sunday, September 24, 2006
Fortress Switzerland
by Baron Bodissey
The people of Switzerland seem to have taken an object lesson from the Swedes and the British, and have decided to step back from the brink of the immigration cliff. According to AFP, Swiss voters have strongly approved a tightening of asylum laws:
According to early poll projections, Switzerland has voted heavily in favour of making it harder for asylum-seekers to gain entry to the rich Alpine state.
Despite warnings of damage to Switzerland�s humanitarian reputation, some two-thirds of voters appeared to have said �yes� in referendums on laws limiting access for non-European job-seekers and making the country�s asylum rules amongst the West�s toughest.
- - - - - - - - - -
Ah, yes, �warnings� � a nice impersonal construct. Who was �warning� the Swiss? Kofi Annan? Human Rights Watch? The International Socialist Alliance? Or maybe the Arab League?
And it seems that voters are expected to pay more attention to Switzerland�s reputation than to their own physical and economic well-being. �Dietrich! Don�t vote �yes� on that referendum! How could we hold our heads up in polite company if we passed such a racist law?�
Switzerland must have organizations analogous to the ACLU, left-wing spoilers that have the time, the money, and the know-how to put a spanner in the works of the democratic process:
The measures have already been passed by both parliament and the government, but opponents raised enough signatures to force a national vote.
AFP, being a good buddy of Reuters, knows how to frame the story, and makes sure to include the opinion of an �opponent�. Needless to say, it�s the only voter that they quote:
�I have voted �no�,� said 35-year-old Raphael Engel after casting his ballot in Geneva. �Europe is more and more becoming a fortress and Switzerland should set a humanitarian example.�
This reminds me of NPR back in 1984, covering Ronald Reagan�s landslide victory. The reporter stood outside a polling place, sticking a microphone into the face of voter after voter, but somehow only the clips of Mondale voters ever made it onto the air for �All Things Considered�.
The Swiss, instead of setting a humanitarian example, have decided to be a beacon of backwardness for the racists, bigots, and Islamophobes among us. More power to Switzerland!
Do you think Europe is starting to wake up? First the Swedish election, and now the referendum in Switzerland�
One by one the nations of Old Europe open their bleary eyes, clutch their aching heads, look at all the garbage and empty wine bottles around the room from last night�s wild socialism party, and moan, �What the hell was I thinking of?�
http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2006/09/fortress-switzerland.html
Last edited by sundubuman on Mon Sep 25, 2006 5:17 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Junior
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: the eye
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| Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:15 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:00 am Post subject: Is Europe Waking Up? |
No, they're preparing for their evening meal.
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sundubuman
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: seoul
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| Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 3:27 am Post subject: |
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dogbert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: Killbox 90210
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| Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 3:32 am Post subject: |
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| According to early poll projections, Switzerland has voted heavily in favour of making it harder for asylum-seekers to gain entry to the rich Alpine state. |
Shades of the '30s and '40s.
Of course that time they were trying to keep out the Jews, the Muslim's cousins. |
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sundubuman
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: seoul
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| Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 5:16 am Post subject: |
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and what then dear Dogfart is Saudi Arabia to you???
Shades of exactly what era in Arab facism?
remind me...
you are Canadaian right? please tell me yes........please.... |
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endo
Joined: 14 Mar 2004
Location: Seoul...my home
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| Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 7:16 am Post subject: |
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| dogbert wrote: |
| Quote: |
| According to early poll projections, Switzerland has voted heavily in favour of making it harder for asylum-seekers to gain entry to the rich Alpine state. |
Shades of the '30s and '40s.
Of course that time they were trying to keep out the Jews, the Muslim's cousins. |
Hey I'm a Canadian so don't lump me in with this guy.
The comparison is laughable and shouldn't be taken seriously. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 8:52 am Post subject: |
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Yes, they are waking up. But it too late.
Amazingly low birthrates, combined with record high emigration (why, when Euros hate America so much, do they all seem to want to move there?) and insane levels of third world immigration has struck a fatal blow to Europe. Only a massive round of deportations (as happened 400 years ago) could save her. But, that will never happen.
Though, this dude thinks it may...
From the National Post (in Canada)
| Quote: |
Cultures collide: Muslim immigrants will be expelled from Europe unless they reverse the growing perception of them as a social threat
Lawrence Solomon, Financial Post, Feb 19, 2006
The Muslims refused to assimilate. They were expelled. This was the story in Europe 400 years ago. We are watching the sequel today.
Europeans are rarely welcoming to outsiders, even when the outsiders are blond and blue-eyed and come from the country next door. When the outsiders are un-European, swarthy and Muslim, they are tolerated at best. When some Muslims also insist that Europeans stop acting like Europeans, on pain of death, European tolerance comes to an end.
In the clash of cultures between secular Europeans and extremist Muslims, there can ultimately be no compatibility or compromise, only loss by one side or the other of the absolute values it holds dear. European capitulation on European soil, where they remain the dominant majority, is unlikely: Europeans revel in their liberty to mock religion, to poke fun at sacred cows, to be outrageous, even to offend.
European leaders have reacted to the Muslim upset over the cartoons two ways. Publically and to buy time, they seek to calm the protesters by deploring the abuse of freedom of speech. More significantly, they seek to preserve their societies by legislating Western norms, by tightening or ending immigration from Muslim countries, by enabling the expulsion of radical imans and other Muslim activists, and by raising the spectre of mass deportations.
In France, hard-line Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who in October characterized France�s urban rioters as �rabble,� will require non-European immigrants to sign a new �Contract of Welcome and Integration� that spells out their obligations. Among other reforms, the French government will be free to expel immigrants after 10 years. Insular Muslim communities � commonplace today � are outlawed. For immigrants to stay, they will have to demonstrate respect for French norms, such as equality between men and women. �If a wife is kept hostage at home without learning French, the whole family will be asked to leave [the country],� said Mr. Sarkozy, who proposes to rank countries to determine the desirability of their immigrants.
The Danes have brought in immigration laws that are stricter still, all but ending their liberal refugee program and discouraging even temporary workers. In the wake of the cartoon riots, many in Denmark, including those in government, want to see an outright ban on Muslim immigration and to have radical leaders stripped of citizenship and deported. To preserve home-grown values, Danish Minister for Cultural Affairs Brian Mikkelsen recently called for the creation of a �canon of Danish art, music, literature and film.� Last summer, he stated that, �In Denmark we have seen the appearance of a parallel society in which minorities practice their own medieval values and undemocratic views,� adding that, �This is the new front in our cultural war.�
In Germany, which pioneered the guest-worker program in Europe, a sea change has occurred. �Multicultural societies have only � functioned peacefully in authoritarian states. To that extent it was a mistake for us to bring guest workers from foreign cultures into the country at the beginning of the 1960s,� said former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt. Germany�s new Chancellor, Angela Merkel, shares his view: �The notion of multiculturalism has fallen apart,� she said prior to her election. �Anyone coming here must respect our constitution and tolerate our Western and Christian roots.�
The Netherlands, which has cut immigration in half since 2001, is deporting 26,000 rejected asylum seekers and keeping new arrivals in detention camps. Under proposed legislation, women will be banned from wearing the burka anywhere in public, not just in schools and public buildings as French legislation has it. �I believe we have been far too tolerant for too long, especially being too tolerant of intolerance, and we only got intolerance back,� said Member of Dutch Parliament Geert Wilders, who has been forced to live in safe houses because of Islamist death threats. According to a recent Pew Global Attitudes poll, 51% of the Dutch view Muslims unfavourably.
Belgium may be less tolerant still. �Islam is now the number one enemy not only of Europe, but of the entire free world,� states Filip Dewinter, leader of Vlaams Belang (The Flemish Interest), now Belgium�s most popular political party. Mr. Dewinter has gained popularity by arguing that, �it is an illusion to think that a moderate Islam exists in Europe.� He states: �There are already 25 million to 30 million Muslims on Europe�s soil, and this becomes a threat. It�s a real Trojan horse.�
Many Europeans fear their Muslim populations. In Switzerland, 25% consider Muslims a threat to their country. In Italy, half the population believes a �clash of civilizations� between Islam and the West is underway and that Islam is �a religion more fanatical than any other.�
The fear debilitates but it also stiffens resolve. The President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, backs the Danish government�s refusal to apologize for the cartoons, saying, �It�s better to publish too much than not to have freedom.� France�s Sarkozy prefers �an excess of cartooning to an excess of censorship.� Italy�s Northern League Party, a member of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi�s coalition government, printed T-shirts sporting the cartoons in advance of elections in April. The U.K. this week passed legislation broadening the right of free speech, no matter how offensive, barring a specific intent to provoke hatred.
Europe�s Muslims now know that they are expected to integrate or to depart. Four centuries ago, after decades of threats of expulsion, forced conversions and other failed attempts to assimilate Muslims, complaints about them � their use of Arabic, their clothes, their rejection of Western culture � were similar. �They marry among themselves and do not mix with Old Christians,� complained one report of Spain�s Moriscos (Muslims who had undergone forced conversions to Christianity). Riots by Muslims at offences perpetrated upon them added to tensions. In the end, still not assimilated, most were expelled.
� National Post 2006 |
About the author,
| Quote: |
| Lawrence Solomon, whose column appears every Wednesday in the Financial Post, is one of Canada's leading environmentalists. His book, The Conserver Solution (Doubleday), which popularized the Conserver Society concept in the late 1970s, became the manual for those interested in incorporating environmental factors into economic life. An advisor to President Carter's Task Force on the Global Environment (the Global 2000 Report) in the late 1970's, he has since been at the forefront of movements to reform foreign aid, stop nuclear power expansion and toll roads. Mr. Solomon is a founder and managing director of Energy Probe Research Foundation and the executive director of its Urban Renaissance Institute and Consumer Policy Institute divisions. He has been a columnist for the Globe and Mail, a contributor to the Wall Street Journal, the editor and publisher of the award-winning The Next City magazine, and the author or co-author of several books. |
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Junior
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: the eye
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| Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 5:38 pm Post subject: |
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| They're only just coming to the end of their REM phase. not yet even beginning to wake up. When they actually do, it will be far, far too late. |
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happeningthang
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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What's up with you guys??
You quote an article, in it's entirety, that demonstrates that Europe IS "waking up" as you call it - and then you carry on moaning,
"Oh, it's all too late! We're doomed! Doomed I tell's ya."
So European resolve has it that it's "integrate or depart" - sounds like a reasonable step to take. Is it not enough?? What would it take for you to be happy? |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 6:30 pm Post subject: |
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| happeningthang wrote: |
What's up with you guys??
What would it take for you to be happy? |
Public showers with Zyklon B? |
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dogbert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: Killbox 90210
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| Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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| endo wrote: |
| dogbert wrote: |
| Quote: |
| According to early poll projections, Switzerland has voted heavily in favour of making it harder for asylum-seekers to gain entry to the rich Alpine state. |
Shades of the '30s and '40s.
Of course that time they were trying to keep out the Jews, the Muslim's cousins. |
Hey I'm a Canadian so don't lump me in with this guy.
The comparison is laughable and shouldn't be taken seriously. |
Why shouldn't the comparison be taken seriously? The Swiss were adamant about not allowing in Jewish refugees in the 1930s and 1940s. Now they are adamant about not allowing in Muslim asylum seekers. |
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dogbert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: Killbox 90210
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| Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 6:57 pm Post subject: |
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| sundubuman wrote: |
and what then dear Dogfart is Saudi Arabia to you???
Shades of exactly what era in Arab facism?
remind me...
you are Canadaian right? please tell me yes........please.... |
What's the difference? Aren't all goyim the same to you?
The point is, you are praising Switzerland for keeping out Muslim immigrants now, when the Swiss are only continuing their policy of keeping out Semitic undesirables, such as perhaps your poor grandparents back in the day.
I'm just saying you wouldn't have been shooting your mouth off lauding the Swiss if you'd been alive then. A point which escapes you, because you are an idiot. |
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manlyboy
Joined: 01 Aug 2004
Location: Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
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| Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 8:32 pm Post subject: |
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As long as their birth rates keep hovering around the 1.3 death spiral threshold, this will only postpone their canoe trip over the falls. They need to get makin' with the love. Up the incentives for citizens to have kids.
When I say go...start f@*%in'! |
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Junior
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: the eye
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| Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 10:02 pm Post subject: |
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| manlyboy wrote: |
As long as their birth rates keep hovering around the 1.3 death spiral threshold, this will only postpone their canoe trip over the falls. They need to get makin' with the love. Up the incentives for citizens to have kids.
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A better idea would be to allow in non-muslim immigrants. Poles, Russians, romanians etc.Help to spread the wealth round the EU.
Why Western Europe prefferred large numbers of immigrants from North Africa- (muslims with zero affinity to Europe), I have no idea. Disastrous. -Especially when eastern Europe are similar culturally and keen to emigrate.
I have no prejudice against any immigrant of any race. just so long as they aren't carrying islam with them. |
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Neil
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 12:17 am Post subject: |
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A better idea would be to allow in non-muslim immigrants. Poles, Russians, romanians etc.Help to spread the wealth round the EU.
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Already happening.....1 million Poles have recently moved to the UK.
Excellent and cheap plumbers by all accounts. |
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