Things to Read or Not

A Bear-Wolf prowls Wisconsin:
Steve Krueger was doing his job...removing road-side deer carcasses overnight for the Department of Natural Resources.
Krueger said he had just made a pick-up along a remote road near Holy Hill about 1:30 a.m., and he was in the cab doing some paperwork. When his parked truck started shaking, he looked in the rear view mirror and got the scare of his life.
He said his flashing lights illuminated a huge hairy beast standing on its hind legs -- dragging a deer off the open tailgate.
With luck, the beast will make its way to Madison, and feast on the hippies infesting the Capitol. I’ve spoken before of Nature’s moral degeneracy, the existence of a Bear-Wolf is another example.

In an important new essay, noted historian Ian Kershaw says Fascism is on the rise in Europe.1 Or something of the sort, I read no further than the following paragraph:
Though the immigrants were actually important to the continued economic growth of the wealthier nations, their settlement—largely in poorer parts of towns and cities—was often greatly unwelcome. Many people, themselves underprivileged and living close to the poverty line, objected strongly to “interlopers” who, they thought (usually incorrectly), were being given unfair advantages in employment opportunities, housing allocation and the granting of social benefits.
Sir Ian should hire a fact checker.2 Or else read his country's newspapers:

"Ten years of record immigration to Britain has produced virtually no economic benefits for the country, a parliamentary inquiry has found."

"Seven in 10 new jobs go to foreigners...Up to a third of skilled migrants are also coming to the UK to take jobs that do not have to be advertised here first."

"Thousands of Eastern European citizens are given council houses every year, leapfrogging millions of Britons who languish on waiting lists."

1Why does nothing fun ever happen here?
2Kershaw has argued “Hitler was a very unbureaucratic leader who was highly adverse to paper work.”

Comments

  1. I can't believe that war propaganda poster illustrating Kercher's article isn't meant to be ironic. That's what his article amount to: a duller but no more sophisticated version of that cartoon.

    Anyway, he ends up saying there's no big danger anyway; actual last lines: "Europe will gradually recover from its present travails. Prejudice and discontent will be managed. And life will go on." An historian and prescient too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Once, on the way to St Paul, I stopped and ate at an Arby's in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I saw no bears, wolves, or bear-wolves.

    So I think that story is a hoax.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Garland: He seems to specialize in the banal, like his insight Hitler didn't enjoy paperwork (who does?).

    Eh: You make a compelling case, but note the eyewitness was a guy who collects roadkill at night. In my experience, men in that line of work are not prone to flights of the imagination.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Enjoyer of paperwork17/3/11 12:08 PM

    I enjoy paperwork.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You will never get to be dictator with that attitude.

    ReplyDelete

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