Reviews and News:
A new book claims that Bernie Sanders was asked to leave a hippie commune in 1971 for not working.
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British Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, is writing a poem on the gas meter instead of one for the Queen’s upcoming 90th birthday celebration. Duffy is being compensated by Smart Energy GB for the gas meter poem.
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The lost world of scientific romance.
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Last year, Suzanne Sherman took her teenage sons on a trip across the country, visiting historic sites along the way. She discovered, she writes, that “left-leaning benefactors doling out large grants have ensured that visitors are presented with a version of history driven by political correctness”: “Two weeks into our journey, we arrived at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. In front of the ticket office was a sandwich board display advertising a smartphone app called ‘Slave Life at Monticello.’ The goal of the tour and experience was an attempt to divert attention from the man who owned this property, one of America’s Founding Fathers, to slavery. The docent leading the tour of the house never missed an opportunity: as we moved from one floor to another, we were instructed to imagine how difficult it was for the ‘enslaved servants to carry meal trays up and down this narrow stairway.’ At every hearth: ‘imagine enslaved servants having to carry wood up to these fireplaces…'”
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35 descendants from Leonardo da Vinci’s family have been identified. Most of them still live in Tuscany.
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The Supreme Court has rejected a challenge from the Authors Guild that Google’s book scanning infringes on copyright: “In a brief written order, the justices said they won’t take up an appeal by the Authors Guild and individual writers who argued Google engaged in copyright infringement ‘on an epic scale.'”
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Essay of the Day:
In Quadrant, Michael Galak argues that Europe needs to deal with its “zones sans-droit” where “welfare payments and crime underwrite…aggressive separatism”:
“Croissant pouvre is a French term for the suburbs least likely to be settled by the European middle classes. Translated literally, it means ‘poor crescent’. This description has nothing to do with the perennial breakfast favourite — it is a word-play on the origin and favoured symbol of the majority of residents in these suburbs. Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Berlin – most large European cities have these ‘no-go’ areas, which also have another description – ‘zones sans-droit‘: zones without law. Simply put, the law of the land does not apply. Instead, Sharia is firmly in control. France has about 30 zones sans-droit, all of which share three three characteristics.
- all are largely populated by the unemployed, unemployable and un-integrated Muslim migrants from Africa and the Middle East and their descendants;
- all are blighted by organised crime, with the narcotics trade, associated violence and prostitution dominate the civic landscape;
- all have connections with, and supply, the recruits for jihadi activities overseas and terrorism at home, being a shelter, safe haven and breeding ground for organised crime and politically motivated terror.
“The previous non-migrant, non-Muslim residents have mostly been squeezed out by threats, implied or real violence, intimidation, crime and plummeting property values. With few exceptions, shops operated by Jewish or Christian owners had closed their doors by 2013. Non-Muslim women, not wearing street clothes in accordance with the Sharia law, are routinely and openly accosted, insulted and manhandled by the self-proclaimed Sharia patrols or Islamic purity enthusiasts. The generous social security benefits paid to the residents of these suburbs are regarded as Jizziya – a head tax on dhimmis. These benefits are treated as an entitlement. This approach helps resolve the theological conundrum, which states that Muslims should not live in lands ruled by non-Muslims. Being paid Jizziya establishes the hierarchy of primacy and subjugation, justifies the contempt and disregard towards local laws and customs and supports the notion that the present situation is a transition towards full control.
“Local police, ambulance and fire brigades are not game to enter – if they do, the likely outcome is violence or, at best, intimidation and contempt. The French police have a long-standing non-written arrangement with these areas’ crime leaders not to disturb their activities within the specified areas in exchange for the containment of illegal activities outside. This has not worked…”
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Image of the Day: Thunderstorm
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Poem: Frank Turner, “A Bower in Arsacides”
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