VIDEO: Advice on Covid from Scotland (translated)

Many thanks to Agent 6 for alerting us to this. Lang may yer lum reek!

"Allahu akbar!" in the UK. again, another case of "social isolation".

Just under a week ago, Walt told you about a Libyan asylum-seeker called Khairi Saadallah, who was (it seems) frustrated by the "social isolation" resulting from the Covid-19 lockdown in Not-so-great Britain, and took it out on a bunch of "protesters" gathered in Forbury Gardens, a public park in Reading, about 40 miles west of London. Three people were killed and three more wounded before Mr Saadallah was detained.

It has since emerged that the attacker, a devout follower of the Prophet Mohammed until he became a Baptist "in order to marry a white girl", had a thing about the alphabet people, something about their gayness being "unnatural" and "sinful", which "triggered" him since he saw the rainbow flag on display, this being "Gay Pride" month and all.

The official line, now, is that, while the killings were declared a suspected terrorist incident, mental health appeared to have been a significant factor. "Official documents" describe the new Christian's "various mental health issues", as well as struggles with debt, homelessness and alcohol abuse.

Let us see, now what excuse is offered for another sometime Muslim, a Sudanese national named Badradeen, who repeatedly complained about his living conditions in Glasgow's Park Inn hotel, which had been turned into a shelter for asylum-seekers, before going on a stabbing rampage, wounding six, before being shot dead by police on Friday. [Finally, one for our side! Ed.]

Mr Badradeen's erratic behavior allegedly prompted fellow hotel residents to report him to a British social worker. He arrived in the United Kingdom about six months ago, and started complaining almostimmediately about the food in the shelter, as well as the noise, threatening to attack fellow "refugees".

"He said that he was going to attack two guys in the room next to his because they're were making noise to deliberately annoy him," an asylum-seeker, identified only as Siraj, told the Daily Mail. Mr Siraj claimed that the Sudanese had also told him he was "fed up" and "very angry", and complained that there was "no daylight in his room." Several acquaintances interviewed by the tabloid believed that Mr Badradeen was gradually becoming insane and some had alerted the shelter staff, apparently to no avail.

"I think he was getting more mentally ill over the three months... He had gastric problems and had to isolate for around 20 days and his room had no light from a window," Nigerian-born Beatrice Onwuka said. She added the man had few friends, didn't speak much English, and ultimately changed his mind about seeking asylum in the UK.

"Authorities" now say... wait for it... that the sorry state Mr Badradeen allegedly found himself in might have been due to the measures the British government has taken to combat the corona virus pandemic. Asylum-seekers who had previously been living, as guests of British taxpayers, in apartments were moved to hotels during the pandemic. And instead of receiving money to buy food (or alcohol or drugs), they were forced to make do with three squares a day, served at the hotel. Many complained about getting the same food all the time, and Mr Badradeen said he was "very hungry" while living at the hotel.

Sky News reported that shortly before Friday's attack, Mr Badradeen phoned a "liaison officer" and an immigration lawyer. The lawyer promised to pass the man's concerns to the "safeguarding" team at the Home Office, which deals with protecting vulnerable people. The Home Office, responsible for the police, has not yet released the names of the vulnerable people injured by the attacker, except for the copper, who is said to be in critical but stable condition. Those injured in the rampage are believed to be residents and staff members of the hotel... sorry, shelter.

Mr Badreadeen was shot dead by police responding to the incident. The British "authorities" now say they are not treating the case as terrorism, just temporary insanity brought on by social isolation. Nothing Islamic about that, right?!

Wow! That's so ironic!

Funny (both "funny haha" and "funny strange") item kicking around the Net today. Here's the tweet from the Irvine Royal Academy in Ayrshire, Scotland.

Wouldn't you think they'd have seen that coming? But noooo...

Scottish independence referendum

Agent 6 writes to say that if Theresa May is returned to power in tomorrow's UK election (see "British election too close to call?", earlier today), her next big challenge will be the demand of the Scottish National Party for another referendum on independence for the land of Robbie Burns.

If, in the referendum, Scotland should vote for independence, what's left of the United Kingdom will be known as the "Former United Kingdom", or FUK.

In a bid to discourage the Scots from voting "Yes" in this referendum, Theresa May will campaign with the slogan "Vote NO, for FUK's sake."
She feels Scottish voters will be able to relate to this.

Why the Brits voted to leave the European Union

The dust has not settled yet. Arguments rage as to what Brexit means. Was it the beginning of a populist revolution against the elites, or a triumph for xenophobia and suicidal narrow-mindedness? Or both? Walt will try to sort it out, and divine some lessons for North American politicians.

To begin with, it wasn't "the British" who voted to leave the European Union. The people of Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain. The people of Northern Ireland also chose the "in" side, although not so decisively. It was the English and the Welsh who wanted out of the dysfunctional European "community".

That doesn't mean, though, that the Scots and Ulsterpersons voted against resurgent nationalism. The Scots now appear to be in favour of separating from the Disunited Kingdom. A second refendum on the issue is expected in due course, giving the Scots an opportunity to stay in the EU and take control of their country back from the English. The people of Northern Ireland voted along nationalistic and sectarian lines, with the pro-UK Protestants voting with their compatriots in England, and the Catholics voting to remain in the EU, which might well entail uniting Ulster with Eire, at last. Sinn Fein has already called for a vote on that proposition.

So we see that nationalism was one of the key factors motivating the voters on both sides. Those who voted "Out" had other things in mind. This week's Economist cites polling done by Lord Ashcroft (a Conservative peer) which suggests that "opposition to multiculturalism, social liberalism, feminism, the green movement, the internet and capitalism all translated into votes for Brexit."

Euroscepticism is about more than immigration, says their columnist. "It is unmistakably cultural, ineffably emotional. There is a feeling, he writes, "that the world is increasingly unknowable and uncontrollable.... It also has to do with the wider world: fears of terrorism, the erosion of national identity, the erasure of borders (and) politicians in the grip of shadowy international forces." Hence the Leave campaign's winning slogan "It's time we took back control."

There would seem to be some hard lessons in there for the political and other elites of North America -- the USA more so than Canada, since Canucks won't get a chance to upchuck the Trudeau Koolaid until 2019. So let's see if any of the issues identified by Lord Ashdown are in play in the Land of the Free(?).

Nationalism versus globalism? Not a problem for La Clinton, since Americans don't seem to want their country to be great again. What about multiculturalism, social liberalism, feminism? What right-thinking person could be against those things? Look at all the "progress" that's been made under 7 years of Obama's maladministration. Who could want to undo that?

How about that green movement? Ah yes. Let's all put solar panels on our roofs, charge up our battery-powered cars and wind up our radios and TVs. Leave the oil in the ground. Decommission the nuclear power plants. (We know from The Simpsons how risky they are!) And will the last treehugger to leave the room please switch off the lights... Oh... wait...

I confess that I didn't understand Lord Ashdown's finding that those who voted "Out" were against the internet, unless he meant that to be a metaphor for "progress" generally. I'm all for the internet, insofar as it empowers the likes of YVT to get our ideas out there, in spite of the control of the lamestream media by the PC police and "shadowy international forces".

As for being against capitalism, if by that is meant resenting being in the thrall of the said "shadowy international forces" -- Hello Goldman Sachs! -- then I'm against that too. What about you? If you too are opposed to liberal globalism in all its guises, who are you going to vote for in November? The choice couldn't be more clear!

Further reading (on the last point, about globalization and capitalism): "Not just bigots and boors oppose trade deals" by Linda McQuaig in the Toronto Star.

VIDEO: Groundskeeper Willie gives his views on Scottish independence

A couple of days ago, Walt called the United Kingdom the "Soon-to-be-disunited Kingdom". I'm following closely the referendum to be held in Scotland this coming week on whether or not it should "be an independent country". The question seems clear enough. The number of votes needed to secede has been agreed -- 50% + 1. And if the Scots vote to leave the UK, 18 months has been allowed in which a peaceful separation will be negotiated.

But can Scotland make it on her own? Here's what The Simpsons' Groundskeeper Willie has to say.



Note from Ed.: Hey, just because it's all over the Internet doesn't mean we can't use it here!