Brussels, Belgium is about 40 percent Muslim. There is going to be a few extremists among them. The thing is that this is not France or Paris. President Hollande has declared radical mosques closed. I think that is fine. I don't have a problem with that at all. There should be no religious person fomenting hate in a pluralistic society. The point is while France and Paris get their act together, Brussels is not. There needs to be a diplomatic mission to Belgium to bring about an understanding of the effect of extremism coming out of Brussels. As a matter of fact there needs to be an understanding of extremism within any country's borders.
There is an oddity in the statics of age balance of gender in Brussels. (click here)
Now, to begin with the average age of men and women in Brussels is about 44 years old. Middle Age is the majority of the population in Brussels. In the graph above there are more males per female by a fraction, until the age of 55-64 years old when women are at higher percentages than men. I think that is odd.
This is a strange demographics from my perspective. There is something that happens with men to cause them to die faster during late middle age.
Now, there was an observation that the section of Brussels where the Islamists of the Paris deaths lived has a high poverty rate. It is not uncommon for a small population of some cultures to have poverty visit this age group as they become older for employment and find themselves without opportunity for work.
If men that are Muslim find they do not have any opportunity for work why not travel to a country like Syria to find an option Brussel doesn't offer. The other possibility is that those within that age group actually turn to organized crime and drug trafficking. They would run into higher mortality rates from police shootings to gang land deaths.
Regardless of off the cuff evaluation of statistics there needs to be an anthropological study of this community. In particular to find where society is failing them to reduce the poverty and bring these people back to being a citizen with a strong loyalty to the law and to Brussels and to Belgium.
There is always a discussion in Europe in general of the Muslim population and their intent within the country/government.
Antwerp: 40% of elementary school students are Muslim (click here)
40% of the students in the Antwerp municipal elementary schools (4,150) chose Islam as their religion class subject this year, according to data provided by the Antwerp alderman for education Robert Voorhamme (SP.A) upon request by Vlaams Belang.
According to Filip Dewinter (Vlaams Belang), by extrapolation, in 2012 a majority of the students in the Antwerp elementary schools will be Muslim. Voorhamme says this is an hypothesis. "People see a threat where there is none," says the alderman for education.
31.5% chose a non-confessional morals class (3,235 students) and 26.5% chose Catholic religion (2,751 students). Other religions (Protestants, Orthodox) were chosen by a small number of students.
In secondary schools, morals class is still more popular than Islam: 47.5% compared to 30.5%.
Voorhamme confirms the numbers reported by Vlaams Belang yesterday. "It is a statement that the composition of our school population is changing. But that is not a reason to be schizophrenic and to exclusively aim at students who choose Islam for their religion class subject. Has anybody ever seen it as a threat that children choose Catholic religion, or for morals class?"...
Some say the dialogue is prejudice and elitist. The concern as I understand it isn't based in hate of religion or ethnicity, it is based in fear. If fear can become the dialogue there might be a greater domestic peace. I think Europe needs to sort this out and come to decisions about the sovereignty of countries and a more diverse sovereignty of the EU.
I think the fear is based in a real worry about sovereignty and generations growing up in Europe. Paris is not fiction. It is very real.
The EU is a sovereign contract between countries that covers many common issues. If a country changes it's affiliations of demographics in a way that is adverse to the sovereign fiscal status of the EU and the Euro; then Europe has a real problem. There is significant economic importance on tourism. If the statues, museums and art of Europe is diminished or disregarded as moral importance in many, many ways to the people of Europe there goes tourism.
I don't think there needs to be hate between any peoples in Europe. But, the movement that visited Paris is diabolical and palpable.
Today at the UN Security Council there was witnessed atrocities in Syria. There is no doubt this is genocide and cruelty beyond imagination. No rational person in France or Belgium wishes that on their country.
I think Europe has a legitimate reason to declare any citizen or migrant that has traveled to or come from Daesh territory as treasonist and undesirable for continued presence in the country. Absolutely.
Europe needs to have a dialogue and perhaps pass a law or two. Preventing murder, especially mass murder, is a noble cause. Fear is not what tourists expect when they come to visit Europe and it's magnificent history.
There is an oddity in the statics of age balance of gender in Brussels. (click here)
This is a strange demographics from my perspective. There is something that happens with men to cause them to die faster during late middle age.
Now, there was an observation that the section of Brussels where the Islamists of the Paris deaths lived has a high poverty rate. It is not uncommon for a small population of some cultures to have poverty visit this age group as they become older for employment and find themselves without opportunity for work.
If men that are Muslim find they do not have any opportunity for work why not travel to a country like Syria to find an option Brussel doesn't offer. The other possibility is that those within that age group actually turn to organized crime and drug trafficking. They would run into higher mortality rates from police shootings to gang land deaths.
Regardless of off the cuff evaluation of statistics there needs to be an anthropological study of this community. In particular to find where society is failing them to reduce the poverty and bring these people back to being a citizen with a strong loyalty to the law and to Brussels and to Belgium.
There is always a discussion in Europe in general of the Muslim population and their intent within the country/government.
Antwerp: 40% of elementary school students are Muslim (click here)
40% of the students in the Antwerp municipal elementary schools (4,150) chose Islam as their religion class subject this year, according to data provided by the Antwerp alderman for education Robert Voorhamme (SP.A) upon request by Vlaams Belang.
According to Filip Dewinter (Vlaams Belang), by extrapolation, in 2012 a majority of the students in the Antwerp elementary schools will be Muslim. Voorhamme says this is an hypothesis. "People see a threat where there is none," says the alderman for education.
31.5% chose a non-confessional morals class (3,235 students) and 26.5% chose Catholic religion (2,751 students). Other religions (Protestants, Orthodox) were chosen by a small number of students.
In secondary schools, morals class is still more popular than Islam: 47.5% compared to 30.5%.
Voorhamme confirms the numbers reported by Vlaams Belang yesterday. "It is a statement that the composition of our school population is changing. But that is not a reason to be schizophrenic and to exclusively aim at students who choose Islam for their religion class subject. Has anybody ever seen it as a threat that children choose Catholic religion, or for morals class?"...
Some say the dialogue is prejudice and elitist. The concern as I understand it isn't based in hate of religion or ethnicity, it is based in fear. If fear can become the dialogue there might be a greater domestic peace. I think Europe needs to sort this out and come to decisions about the sovereignty of countries and a more diverse sovereignty of the EU.
I think the fear is based in a real worry about sovereignty and generations growing up in Europe. Paris is not fiction. It is very real.
The EU is a sovereign contract between countries that covers many common issues. If a country changes it's affiliations of demographics in a way that is adverse to the sovereign fiscal status of the EU and the Euro; then Europe has a real problem. There is significant economic importance on tourism. If the statues, museums and art of Europe is diminished or disregarded as moral importance in many, many ways to the people of Europe there goes tourism.
I don't think there needs to be hate between any peoples in Europe. But, the movement that visited Paris is diabolical and palpable.
Today at the UN Security Council there was witnessed atrocities in Syria. There is no doubt this is genocide and cruelty beyond imagination. No rational person in France or Belgium wishes that on their country.
I think Europe has a legitimate reason to declare any citizen or migrant that has traveled to or come from Daesh territory as treasonist and undesirable for continued presence in the country. Absolutely.
Europe needs to have a dialogue and perhaps pass a law or two. Preventing murder, especially mass murder, is a noble cause. Fear is not what tourists expect when they come to visit Europe and it's magnificent history.
