* Bird’s Eye: In Germany, Thilo Sarrazin has become the voice for acceptable anti-Muslim racism, (while in the background the Christian Democrats speak out on the need to defend “long established Judeo-Christian traditions against alien incursions”. And just how black do you like your comedy, sir or madam?) We explore this and look at England where the football hooligans of yesterday are the English Defence League of today.

* Thilo Sarrazin: Sunday Profile New York Times

Mr. Sarrazin says his book can be boiled down to a few main ideas. To begin, ethnic Germans are having too few children, while Muslim immigrants are having too many. In a population of about 82 million, there are about four million Muslims (a number he said he calculated partly by looking at census figures for families with lots of children. Big families must be Muslim, he concluded). Within 80 years, he said, Muslims will make up a majority in Germany.

Second, Mr. Sarrazin believes that intelligence is inherited, not nurtured, and since Muslims are less intelligent (his conclusion) than ethnic Germans, the population will be dumbed down (his conclusion). Third, to solve a growing demographic problem, Germany will require immigrants, but he says that bringing more Muslims into the country will only make matters worse. He says that after examining three indicators — success in education and employment, and welfare dependency — he concluded that Islam is by its nature a drag on individual success.

* Merkel, Muslims and Multi-Kulti t r u t h o u t

On August 30, 2010, Sarrazin published his book, “Deutschland schafft sich ab” (“Germany Does Away with Itself”) which grimly warns that unless German women hurry and have more children, the country will be overrun and ruled by Muslims within a few decades. They are already making Germany dumber, he asserted. In one interview he claimed that there are Jewish genes and Basque genes, that mental characteristics are inherited, and that Muslim genes pulled down the average. When leaders of Germany’s Central Jewish Council objected to references to “Jewish genes,” good or bad, he backed down a bit. He hadn’t really meant it genetically, not against Jews. But he strengthened the fears of those good citizens who may accept a nun’s headdress but not a Muslim head covering, a bank skyscraper but not a minaret…..As the government parties continued to wane in popularity, Horst Seehofer, head of the Bavarian wing of Merkel’s party, decided that he must get into the act and into the headlines. He declared that the concept of a multi-cultural society had collapsed. “As reality has shown, multi-kulti is dead.” The German language must prevail as “leading culture,” he said, and Turks or Arabs who did not conform and learn the to speak it and assimilate into the country’s culture might as well leave. Only highly educated foreigners with professional, valuable skills should be tolerated…

* Is a storm brewing in Europe? Al Jazeera English (Thanks, Gabe)

On platform one at Bolton train station in England a mob of about 100 men punch the air in unison as a chant – “Muslim bombers, off our streets!’’ – goes up. Their voices echo loudly, and as more men suddenly appear, startled passengers move aside. The protesters wave St George’s Cross flags – the red and white English national emblem – and raise placards. Some wear balaclavas, others black-hooded tops. There is an air of menace.

These are some of the most violent football hooligans in Britain and today they have joined in an unprecedented show of strength. Standing shoulder to shoulder are notorious gangs such as Cardiff City’s Soul Crew, Bolton Wanderers’ Cuckoo Boys and Luton Town’s Men In Gear: a remarkable gathering given that on a match day these men would be fighting each other…. A group of young men drinking beer at a table eye the protesters warily, but one protester wearing a baseball cap notices their fear and reassures them. “It’s all right lads, nothing to worry about. We’re protesting against radical Islam. Come and join us,” he says, and as the train draws nearer to Manchester, the singing starts again. “Eng-e-land, Eng-e-land, Eng-e-land …” the men sing rowdily. The English Defence League is in town.