TrueNorth

Heritage Ranking for 2009

As usual, it is dominated by the Anglosphere countries.  With the exception of Denmark and Switzerland, the top 10 are all either English speaking or former British possessions.

Time for some conspicuous reinforcments for the Falklands

Argentine president lays 'inalienable' claim to Falklands - Yahoo! News

Argentina's claim to the Falkland Islands, which remain in British hands after the 1982 war between the two countries, is "inalienable," President Cristina Kirchner said Wednesday.

Gee...imagine if we had supported the Iraq war?

TheStar.com | GTA | Alleged Toronto terror plot detailed in court

The "shocking and sensational" inner workings of an alleged homegrown terror cell were unveiled yesterday in a Brampton court – and included the plotting of an attack "much greater" in scale than the London 2005 bombings that killed 52 people.

Disgraceful

Britain seems to bend over backwards to admit Islamist loons as immigrants, yet it refuses entry to a loyal Gurkha soldier who earned a VC in WWII.  How perverse and disgraceful.

Classic Steyn

Mark Steyn relates how the Britain of old defended its citizens (in contrast to the shameful display occasioned by the capture of 15 sailors and marines by Iran a few weeks ago).

"Extreme cases make bad law," we say. But extreme cases make the best defence of principle. In 1847, a man called Don Pacifico, a Portuguese Jew living in Greece, had his house burned in an anti-Semitic riot. He appealed to the Greek government for redress (the sons of some ministers had been involved) and got nowhere. But he chanced to have been born on Gibraltar and thus was, technically, a British subject. And so he turned to the British government. And, though to most Englishmen's eyes a century and a half ago no one could have seemed less English than this greasy dago Jew moneylender, Lord Palmerston began a naval blockade of Greece--on the grounds that Don Pacifico was a British subject like any other--until the government in Athens backed down. In Palmerston's words to the House of Commons, "As the Roman in days of old held himself free from indignity when he could say Civis Romanus sum, so also a British subject, in whatever land he may be, shall feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of England will protect him against injustice and wrong." Civis Britannicus sum: that was all Don Pacifico had to say.

The decline of Britain: continued

Two new posts via the Corner making it blindingly obvious that Britain isn't the country it used to be.  Firstly, they are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons - lest it offend Muslims (though why it should is revealing in itself) and then they have cops snooping on 11-year old kids' emails and hauling them in for questioning for stuff like calling another student 'gay'.   The police used to be one of the most revered institutions in Britain, and now they are acting like the Keystone Gestapo.

Britain: going...going...

A spate of depressing articles about Britain.  Eursoc details how many Brits are (like Theodore Dalrymple) leaving Britain for France.  In the above article there is a link to this article, which describes the drabness and sense of decay British holiday travellers feel when they return to the decrepit buses, trains and hospitals of their native land, and the abusiveness and bloody-mindedness of their compatriots who are either customers or service providers, in comparison to the much better and friendlier service abroad.

Here is another one "The Strange Death of the Royal Navy" by Arthur Herman.

Selling them the rope

From Eursoc:

O come all ye faithful

"You couldn't make it up" story of the week comes from the Daily Mail, where it is reported that Israr Khan has been appointed to Ofsted, the government's schools inspection body.

Khan hit the headlines ten years ago, when he interrupted a carol service at Birmingham's Washwood Heath Secondary School, attacking the mainly Muslim choir of 40 for praising God and Jesus rather than Allah. Khan was a maths teacher in the school at the time: He was not disciplined.

At the time the school was described as a hotbed of fundamentalism. The Mail reports that Rashid Rauf, who is in Pakistan fighting extradition to the UK to face charges related to the alleged airline attack plot this summer was a former pupil. A source claims that Khan was "very close" to radical elements in the school.

Khan later founded the Islamic Hamd House Preparatory School: He is headmaster of this establishment, and governor of another local school which is described as 99.5 percent Asian. A parent says Khan has a "hardcore attitude to Islam."

An ideal candidate then for a post in the government's schools inspectorate, then, especially when you consider that the school on which Khan sits as a governor received a dismal report from the body earlier this year.

A former colleague describes Khan's appointment as "astonishing" given his record, though an Ofsted spokesman claims that Khan won through a "highly competitive recruitment and selection process."

Ugly Canadians

Another post on the "Ugly Canadian" meme at Steynonline

ASIANS ASTOUNDED BY OUR ARROGANCE
M Sanchez has a good point about Ugly Canadians.  My Canadian daughter spent a year in Asia teaching English.  She was absolutely amazed at the arrogance of her fellow Canadians - Canada was perfect.  One day at lunch one Asian colleague asked her why she wasn't as arrogant as the other Canadian teachers.  She told them she respected many things about their culture - how they respect and take care of their elderly parents, and they don't expect the government to step in.  That they didn't have assured pensions upon retirement that people were forced to think about and act on their future.    Eventually the discussion became pointed and the view they expressed was that in Asia we Canadians are viewed as arrogant - as the new "ugly American".  Our arrogance was astounding in that we see ourselves as the moral compass in the world - that we have a lot to "teach" the rest of the world. They challenged our government policy that our multiculturalism is an example to the world.  They pointed to Sidney, Beirut, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, London, Paris - all those cities’ leaders thought that way 20 or more years ago too - now they are living with the problems inherent in all clashes of civilizations living too close together.    Other English teachers from the US, New Zealand and Australia  joined in the conversation and concurred that most young Canadians they had met were combative and insufferable.  All her colleagues pointed out our aimless youth, superficial values, abandoned parents, fragmented families, disrespect for education and disrespect for law and order.  One asked, "Does peacekeeping, ineffective universal health care, government pensions and welfare justify the overwhelming arrogance and conceit of Canadians?" 

Patriotism vs. Nationalism

My previous post got me thinking about the difference (as I see it) between patriotism and nationalism.  MacMillan was ineptly trying to parody the latter; Elgar was brilliantly demonstrating the former.

Patriotism is a positive emotion - a "love" of country.  Nationalism is a negative emotion.  I associate it with militarism (in an aggressive way), xenophobia and selfishness.

When presented with an Abu Ghraib, a patriot is heartbroken: look what they've done to my beloved country's reputation.  A nationalist defends it, or in extreme cases, glorifies it.  The savages who behead innocent hostages and dance in glee are nationalists.  The soldiers who rebuild schools and brave the roadside bombs are patriots.

Luigi Barzini, in "The Europeans" contrasted the quiet, homely sentiments the British used to express in such patriotic songs as "There'll Always Be An England" where ever there's a country lane, "We'll Meet Again" on some sunny day, there'll be blue skies over "The White Cliffs of Dover"  with the bombastic, nationalistic "France will always be France" sentiment expressed across the channel (ie. we are great, no matter what).

You can tell the patriotic songs from the nationalistic ones too.  The former are emotional, soaring and evocative; the latter tend to have more of a rhythmic beat to them.

Patriotic: "Land of Hope and Glory", "Battle Hymn of the Republic", "Jerusalem","The Soviet National Anthem"

Nationalistic: "Deutschland, Deutschland Uber Alles", "Le Marsailles","Rule Britannia"

Mind you, I like Rule Britannia too...