The bits in the mosaic of our time are overlooked as we focus on the big chunks. This column presents some issues that might deserve attention.
 
1. Charge and countercharge. Clinton attended the 2005 funeral of a Communist who served the cause from the 30s through 9/11. One that celebrated the Soviet Union (“Black men should associate their hopes with the promises of Socialism”) who went on the street for the atom-spies, the Rosenbergs (guilt confirmed by post Soviet Russia). Would Clinton have taken part if this individual had not been black? Is the answer “unlikely”? If so, what are we to think of the Clintonista charge that if Obama would be white he would not have gotten where he is?

A quote from Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 29 March 2008

The Dutch government has distanced itself from the strong condemnation issued by EU chair Slovenia of the anti-Qur’an film Fitna by far-right MP Geert Wilders. Slovenia says the film incites hatred, which in the Netherlands is an offence punishable by law. The Dutch government said the film only aims to hurt people’s feelings. […]

A quote from Charlemagne in The Economist, 27 March 2008

Belgium's linguistic communities pay a high price for sticking together, resorting to fudges that range from the silly to the destructive. Put like that, you can see Belgium's new government not as a relief, but as an awful warning. A political union hatched together by a fractious elite, and answerable only to itself, is not a model for anybody to follow.

France’s first President born after the Second World War has paid handsome tribute to and given fulsome thanks for the double sacrifice of the flower of Britain’s youth in two world wars. It is not without irony that such has been so conspicuously and gratingly lacking in the words of his predecessors.

A quote from Yves Daoudal at his blog, 26 March 2008 [English translation here]

The [French] National Assembly resumed work on a bill that reiterates three directives from the European Union on the fight against discrimination. […] You will remember that the European Commission demanded in particular that France define indirect discrimination and specified that it is forbidden to enjoin someone to practice discrimination.

A quote from the Dutch press agency NIS, 27 March 2008

According to 56 percent of the Dutch, Islam is a threat to the Dutch identity. As well, 57 percent named admitting large groups of immigrants as "the biggest mistake in Dutch history".

Geert Wilders publishes Fitna The Movie on LiveLeak.com

The French organization Contribuables Associés (Associated Taxpayers) has published a study on the real cost of immigration. The website Le Salon Beige has a link to the complete study, in pdf format. The study shows that for a 30-year period after the Second World War immigration was a benefit to the State. But when the immigration laws changed to allow family reunification, and political or economic asylum, employment as the primary motive was replaced by the notion of population substitution, i.e. the bringing in of massive numbers of immigrants to change the ethnic make-up of a country. The needs of the immigrant population have thus surpassed the revenue from payroll contributions and taxes. The key points of the study are as follows:

More than 13 million Spanish wage-earners and pensioners will begin receiving 400 euro (about $600) income tax rebates in June. The money should arrive just in time to help them pay the credit card bills for the mini-holidays they traditionally take during Holy Week (which the Spanish secular elite now call “Spring Vacation”).