Category: Immigration

Smart Move

Culture, Health, Immigration

To many people, this little move would be astonishing, nay even incredible:

France will ban smoking in all outdoor spaces frequented by children, including beaches, parks and bus stops, the country’s health minister said.

The restrictions will involve creating a perimeter outside schools where members of the public will not be able to smoke a cigarette.

“Tobacco must disappear where there are children,” Catherine Vautrin, the health minister, said in an interview with the Ouest-France newspaper.

The freedom to smoke “stops where children’s right to breathe clean air starts”, she said.

The ban on smoking outdoors will come into force on July 1.

As one of many who has had to endure the clouds of smoke from the Gitanes/Gauloises that form a permanent fixture of any French establishment, I first asked myself:  The French?  Of all people, the French?

It’s like asking them to have only one kind of cheese, or banning wine.  C’est incroyable!

But they’re sneaky, the Frogs, as any old doughboy or G.I. will tell you.  Note this little wrinkle:

Café terraces will be excluded from the ban.

So that lifestyle choice — essentially, involving most of the places outside the home where Frogs would be found smoking — can carry on as before.

It’s the “outdoor spaces frequented by children” that’s the kicker.

If anyone loves them a good strong cigarette more than the French, it’s the… Arabs.  And where there are Arabs, you’ll always find hordes of screaming ill-behaved… children.

If you put those two facts together:  I think that this smoking ban is a subversive move to get Arabs to leave France in disgust.

Social Cancer

Immigration, Muzzies

What happens when you encourage unbridled immigration:

The truth is France is a two-tier country. There is the charming, civilised nation that has been my home for more than 25 years, a land of magnificent countryside and chilled rosé. But another France has festered inside it and now threatens to consume it – a dystopia of grim tower blocks, from which unemployed, nihilistic youths emerge to loot and terrorise at any excuse.

The headlines are relentless: gang warfare in Marseilles, synagogues and holocaust memorials attacked in Paris, two prison officers murdered in an ambush at a motorway pay station.

A sinister development that makes this worse is the proselytising of the Muslim Brotherhood, which seeks to undermine the French Republic and impose sharia law. 

According to a classified report from the Ministry Of The Interior, leaked to Le Figaro, the Brotherhood has built an extensive ideological infrastructure in France through schools, charities and mosques – infiltrating civil society under the guise of religious and educational activities.

It is not new arrivals who burn the cars and stoke the riots.

That is done by the second and third generation immigrants, the ones whose parents arrived to work but failed to integrate. A couple of decades later, their children are completely disaffected and disconnected from education.

We are experiencing a new kind of hybrid chaos, in which the state loses control of portions of the ‘indivisible France’, a term enshrined in the constitution of the Fifth Republic.

In this new world, hordes of youths descend on the cities in eruptions of arson and looting. Meanwhile, thousands of migrants arrive from southern Europe and nobody even knows how many there are in France or who and where they are.

Someone explain to me why the U.S. would be immune from this.

Outlanders

Africa, Immigration

New Wife forwarded this on to me, and I repost it here without comment.

The Bittersweet Reflection

Dear Fellow South Africans,

From the shores of this stunning land they call Aotearoa, where the air is crisp and the landscapes breathtaking in a different way, I find myself reflecting on the journey that brought me here – a journey I know many of you are either contemplating or have already undertaken. It’s a move often painted with the broad strokes of seeking something “better,” but I wanted to share a more layered perspective, a “bittersweet” truth that resonates deeply within me.

There’s no denying the magnetic pull of New Zealand. The promise of safety, a different pace of life, and opportunities for our families. The beauty here is undeniable, from the rolling green hills to the majestic fjords. There’s a sense of peace and tranquility that can be incredibly appealing.

Yet, as I settle into this new rhythm, a profound sense of longing often washes over me – a longing for the vibrant chaos of a bustling South African market, the warmth of the African sun on my skin, the familiar lilt of Afrikaans or the expressive clicks of isiXhosa and isiZulu in everyday conversation. Here, the silence can sometimes feel a little too quiet, the landscapes while stunning, lack the raw, untamed spirit of the bushveld or the dramatic coastline of the Cape.

And this is where the “bittersweet” truly lies. In making this move, we are not necessarily escaping a land devoid of value. South Africa, in all its complexities and challenges, is a place of immense beauty, resilience, and a vibrant spirit that is unlike anywhere else in the world. It’s a land etched into our souls, filled with the laughter of friends, the comforting presence of family, and a cultural richness that has shaped who we are.

We carry within us the strength forged in the face of adversity, the warmth of Ubuntu that binds communities together, and a unique perspective on life that the world could learn from. The challenges we faced in South Africa have, in many ways, made us stronger and more adaptable.

Moving to New Zealand is not an admission that South Africa is inherently “bad.” It’s often a deeply personal choice driven by a desire for different opportunities or a sense of security. But let us not forget the incredible beauty, the deep connections, and the inherent worth of the land we leave behind. Let us not allow the narrative to be one of pure escape, but rather one of seeking a new horizon while cherishing the roots that have nourished us.

As we build our lives here in Aotearoa, let us carry the spirit of South Africa within us – our resilience, our warmth, our vibrant energy. And let us remember that while our physical location may change, the love for our homeland and the bonds with those we left behind remain strong.

This journey is indeed “bittersweet,” a chapter filled with both the excitement of the new and the poignant ache for the familiar. Let us embrace both, and in doing so, perhaps we can build a bridge between these two beautiful lands, carrying the best of South Africa with us as we contribute to the tapestry of New Zealand.

With heartfelt thoughts from across the Tasman Sea,

A Fellow South African in NZ… missing home.

Welcome Wagon

Immigration, The Gun Thing

Reader Mike S. writes and suggests a housewarming present:

“Every incoming Afrikaner should be given a Green Card and a rifle. Not a Mauser but a good American-made one. Maybe a Ruger American II. Either in .30-06 or 7×57 (for tradition’s sake).”

Well, if you’re expecting an argument from me against such an action, you haven’t been reading this website for very long.

When I read this, though, I thought that a Ruger “Ranch” model would be more appropriate, given the heritage of our newest (legal) arrivals:


…but in looking at the available chamberings (see link), I find them… unsatisfactory.  Certainly not the calibers that our Seffrican imports would be familiar with.

So yes, either .30-06 (American) or .308 Win (which every Seffrican rifleman is familiar with), and therefore either the Hawkeye Compact (.308)


… or the longer-barreled Hawkeye Hunter (.30-06 or .308)

Both are extremely tasty, and I’d take either one in a bushveld minute.

HOWEVER:

Let’s get creative, here, and consider giving them a rifle with which every Seffrican of a certain age is familiar:

Ho yuss… the FN-FAL / DSArms SA-58 — note the “SA” — or, to give the thing its Seffrican name, the R1, along with four spare magazines and a couple hundred rounds of 7.62x51mm.

This choice achieves two objectives:

  • gives our new “settlers” (heh heh) a means of self-defense, and
  • sets the anti-gun socialists’ collective hair on fire.

Anyone have a problem with this idea?

Afterthought:  also, a .22 rifle (e.g. the Ruger 10/22) and a thousand-odd rounds of ammo because it’s a household appliance and every home should have one.

Getting Tough?

Good Stuff, Immigration

Whoa.  How’s this for immigration reform?

Plans are to end migrants’ automatic right to apply for indefinite leave to remain and citizenship after five years as part of a new “controlled, selective and fair” immigration system.
Instead, they face a 10-year wait unless they are able show a “real and lasting contribution” to the economy and society.
Only migrants who show their contribution through their tax returns, work as doctors, nurses or hospital staff and other public services, or outstanding voluntary service will be entitled to apply for permanent residency before the 10-year deadline.
Indefinite leave to remain and citizenship bring with it the right to welfare benefits, free healthcare, full civic rights including voting and the ability to apply for a passport.
The changes are part of a series of measures to “substantially” reduce net migration.

Here are some details.

Language skills.
Skilled foreign workers will face tougher English language tests to get entry visas. Under the proposed rules, they will be required to have the equivalent of [12th-grade] English, where they can speak “fluently and spontaneously” and “flexibly and effectively” for social, academic and professional purposes.
They had previously only been required to be at the [8th-grade] level where migrants have to be able to understand the main issues “regularly encountered in work, school or leisure” and deal with situations “likely to arise while traveling.”
Known as B-2, [12th-grade] English will also be the standard expected of anyone seeking to apply for indefinite leave and then US citizenship, as well as for overseas students.
For the first time, spouses, children or parents of successful visa applicants who want to join them in the US will have to pass language tests which require a basic understanding of English. If the dependents want to extend their visa after two years, they will have to show improvements to pass higher-level tests.

Care workers.
Care homes will be barred from recruiting foreign staff from overseas from later this year and will instead be required to hire foreign workers who are already in the US.
Care homes would be able to recruit from a pool of around 40,000 foreign staff who came on care worker visas only for their visa sponsorship to be cancelled. As explained:
“They are here and care companies should be recruiting from that pool of people, rather than recruiting from abroad. We are closing recruitment from abroad.”

Deportation of criminals.
Under these plans, any offense committed by a foreign national will be reported to ICE rather than only those crimes where they have been jailed, as is presently the rule.
It raises the prospect that migrants could be removed for lower-level offenses. At present, only foreign criminals jailed for more than a year face automatic deportation while the removal of those imprisoned for under a year is discretionary.
The change could mirror moves already announced to class any foreign national placed on the sex offenders’ register, regardless of their sexual crime or sentence, as having committed a “serious crime” with no right to asylum protections.
The new measures would also cover any foreign national arriving on a visa who was subsequently found to have committed crimes abroad but failed to declare them, or who were found guilty of any offences in the US.

Sounds pretty good, dunnit?

Okay, I need to ‘fess up. These aren’t measures proposed by the Trump Administration… but by Britain’s Labour Party.  (I changed some of the words to mislead y’all, sorry.)

But I have to say that if it passes, there’ll be massive weeping and wailing. Hence I expect that lawyers will be powdering their wigs, even as we speak.

I’m normally reluctant to recommend that we copy the Brits, in just about any endeavor;  but I have to say there are some good ideas in there.

Update:  Of course, it could all be a pack of lies.

Influx

Immigration, Trumpism

Alert Reader Pete D. sends me this report*:

First Afrikaners granted refugee status due to arrive in U.S.

The U.S. government has officially granted 54 Afrikaans South Africans, white descendants of mainly Dutch colonizers, refugee status and they are expected to land in the U.S. on Monday May 12, three sources with knowledge of the matter have told NPR.

(Note the little “colonizers” snark — it’s NPR, after all.)

And further down:

States that have agreed to take in the South Africans include:  Alabama, California, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New York, Nevada, North Carolina and Iowa.

Not Texas, probably because we have enough / too many Seffricans here already.  And California and New York?  Wait till our newly-minted immigrants who choose those locations try to buy themselves a gun.  (Hint: it’s more difficult than in Seffrica.)

And lastly:

The UN’s International Organization for Migration had refused to be involved in the process.

Of course they would.  These refugees are whities;  only darkies qualify to be refugees because slavery (or something).

Anyway:  Welkom by die States, julle.  Veels geluk.

*Pete, buddy:  WTF are you doing reading NPR?