Answer: "Helloo dere! I'se your new neighbuh!"

And the question? "What are the six most-feared words in the English language?"
(Thanks to Johnny Carson's alter ego, Carnac the Magnificent, for the format.)

Yesterday we talked about how Anglo-Saxon immigrants chased the Celts out of England in the 5th century A.D. It happened again of course, in the 11th century, when the Norman French came. Today there are very few "English" people of purely Anglo-Saxon descent. And it's happening again... right now...

A massive influx of aliens who cannot or will not integrate themselves into the host society challenges the host people's capacity for tolerance and goodwill. Since WWII, some countries -- America, Britain and Canada -- have managed not too badly, although patience is wearing thin. Other nations remain quite xenophobic. And they don't like foreigners either!

Recently two Swedish economists decided to study whether there is any correlation between economic (and social) development and the warmth of the welcome extended to immigrants. Putting it another way, does economic freedom make people more or less racist? 

They asked respondents in more than 80 different countries to identify kinds of people they would not want as neighbours. The more frequently that people in a given country say they don’t want neighbours from other races, the economists reasoned, the less racially tolerant you could call that society.

Max Fisher, of the Washington Post, put the results in the form of a "racial tolerance map". Here it is.

The countries most tolerant of "diversity" are the bluest ones. [Wonder if Fisher's a Democrat. Ed.] The Swedes and Norwegians are near the top of the list, of course. The AABC countries -- America, Australia, Britain and Canada -- are also OK with neighbours who are "different". So is the rainbow nation of Brazil.

The least tolerant countries are... wait for it... mostly Muslim countries! No surprises there! Jordan led the list. They don't even like Palestinian refugees. Indonesia (the world's most populous Muslim country) was right up there, along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran. Even worse was India.

The only "developed" country hauling in the welcome mat right sharpish is France. Could it be that the French think they're getting more than their share of immigrants from, errr, Muslim countries? Could be!