Amsterdam nearly half muslim. Can’t stop violent youth.

Just read this piece  from Pajama’s  media  complaining of gay bashing in Europe.  It notes in passing that nearly half of Amsterdam is Muslim. I  assume the proportion of Muslims in all of Holland is much  smaller but this population is younger and nearly controls the capital.

I wonder what the numbers are for Paris and am curious what the numbers need to be to result in a  defacto change of control. The totals matter less than the  details.    If  Ashkenazi  Europeans  (new usage for this word) are old and live outside the major cities  while  the  newer Sephardi  Europeans are younger and live in the cities then defacto we will see a change in control.

The  other variable is what portion of the  sephardi  population  is  willing  to  resist  their  more  activist  peers.   The  examples  from  other  countries  don’t  leave much hope for Ashkenazi power.

Against Data Portability

Saw this advocacy of DataPortability over at Valleywag. It is an idea only a programmer could love. Real humans don’t want data portability. As I told Joseph Smarr of Plaxo, when I go to BurningMan, I don’t necessarily want to interact with the same people I meet at tech conferences. Every context has its appropriate ambient data and connections. A flat world limits freedom.

Facebook initially got it right. They created a place where people could feel free to express themselves in a particular context. The feeling of security and privacy led to a flourish of content uploaded to the site. By opening up, now, if you are on Facebook, you have the risk that your mom or your employer is going to see the photos your friends posted of your antics at the party last night.

A transparent society is a totalitarian society and thats not fun for anyone.

Does currency follow politics?

Reading this piece on Sarkozy’s plans to freeze French government spending, I started to reflect on the fact that Germany also relatively recently voted against socialist government and England is likely to vote Tory in the next election.

In contrast, the US has a very high probability of increase the representation of Democrats in congress and electing either Hillary or Obama POTUS.

Where do you want to put your money?