Funny What You Learn When You Do Actual Research

muslim, uk, germany, citizenship, demographic, winter
We've heard it time and time again since 911: Muslims move into a country like the UK or Germany and never assimilate. They form their own little muslim communities which essentially become separate muslim countries within the host country.

That's not true.

A report by the Gallup and Coexist foundation found that Muslims are actually identify more with their adopted country than the other residents. They also have more confidence in the judicial system, financial institutions and the honesty of elections.

The report by Gallup and the Coexist Foundation says 77% of British Muslims identified with the UK, compared with 50% of the general public.

. . .

In Germany, 40% of Muslims identified with the country against 32% of the wider public.

Maybe the demographic winter won't be such a bad thing after all.

Post Election Withdrawal

The day before the election, a friend asked me, "What will they talk about on the news after this?" I couldn't even imagine. I'd been watching the news obssessively since the primaries, living, eating, breathing, dreaming the election. Every smear against Obama brought me to edge of panic as I imagine the millions in the US who would eat it right up. Joe (real name Sam) the Plumber (not really) drove me over the edge. Whatever they would talk about after the election had to be better than the state I was in during the election.

Today I found out what they were talking about, and frankly, the election was better. (Gears of War 2 took over my life. Best game ever!)

I turn the volume up on CNN in the morning so I can put on makeup and listen to the news. I don't really feel a need to watch a bunch of talking heads, it's unnecessary. So this is what I heard. The Prime Minister (President?) of Italy made a joke in poor taste, saying that Obama has a "nice tan". Very much so in poor taste, but I don't think Malcolm X and Jesse Jackson combined could have managed the righteous outrage the white reporter displayed over that statement. (Though apparently the wife of France's President was doing her best.)

Then we arrived at news that isn't news. This is exactly how she said it. "A German politican announced that Obama's election is the end of white civilization." long pause "I suppose we should mention that he is the head of Germany's neonazi party, a small and much despised party in Germany.

A neonazi saying something negative about a black man is not news. That's like announcing that water is still wet. If the head of Germany's neonazi party had said something positive about Obama, that would have been news. And the beginning of the apocalypse.