Western Caliphate Flops!
Telstra Stadium, 2050Organisers of a Western Caliphate Conference at Telstra Stadium blame a 48-hour Seinfeld marathon on Foxtel for Christians, Jews and atheists staying away in droves. "In this day and age of the Putnam Turtle Effect, all it takes is something on TV to keep the folk inside" they said. "We still don't know why the Buddhists didn't turn up, but one temple babbled something about "no phenomena is wholly desirable or wholly objectionable". Can I go now? It's kinda scary out here, and I might be able to catch Season 9 if I hurry".
A Nation of Turtles
And what is happening to Los Angeles? According to Robert Putnam, Harvard political scientist and author of "Bowling Alone," the trust among people in "this most diverse human habitation in human history" is now at rock bottom, the lowest anywhere he could find.
"In the presence of diversity," said Putnam, "we hunker down. We act like turtles. The effect of diversity is worse than had been imagined. And it's not just that we don't trust people who are not like us. In diverse communities we don't trust people who look like us."
Meanwhile, today in Indonesia ...
90,000 Militant Muslims gather in Jakarta
Nearly 90,000 followers of a hardline Muslim group have packed a stadium in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, calling for the creation of an Islamic state and thunderously chanting "Allah is great!" ...
"Hizb ut-Tahrir is not a terrorist organization, but it can usefully be thought of as a conveyor belt for terrorists," Zeyno Baran, director of the Center for Eurasian Policy at the Hudson Institute, wrote in 2005. "It indoctrinates individuals with radical ideology, priming them for recruitment by more extreme organizations where they can take part in actual operations."
References
Militant Muslims gather in Jakarta
Robert Putnam
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