Category: Europe

Can Spain get rich by selling the Ceuta migrants to other EU nations?

by philg

Spain has been in the news lately due to an influx of enrichers via its Ceuta colony in North Africa:

We’re informed that low-skill migrants make any European nation richer both economically and culturally. If that weren’t true, there would be no reason for Europe to accept even one low-skill migrant (acceptance of migrants can’t be based on humanitarian grounds; Sudan has a population of 52 million, for example, and it makes no sense to provide four generations of welfare to a handful of Sudanese in Europe while providing nothing to 52 million Sudanese in Sudan).

After one bounteous day, Spain is now in possession of roughly 60,000 additional migrants (BBC). Can Spain now offer these enrichers to other EU nations for a reasonable processing and transportation fee? At 60,000 migrants per day, even $20,000 per migrant yields a $438 billion/year revenue stream.

Bizarrely, the head of the EU says that enrichers are “unacceptable”! Europe previously wanted to be enriched, which is why some European nations are now 25% migrants or children of migrants, but Europe no longer wants to become culturally and economically richer?

Here’s the same leader saying that €10 billion in tax dollars are going to be spent on data centers because, presumably, private companies are underinvesting in AI?

Could Spain fund a massive collection of data centers by selling migrants to France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and other EU nations? Retail electricity rates in Spain are more than 2X what consumers in the efficient U.S. states pay so it doesn’t seem like the most obvious place for AI cogitation.

“Migrants wreak havoc in Spain enclaves with shops looted, cars on fire & homes ‘broken into’ as city ‘totally invaded’” (The Sun):

Ceuta-based lawyer Manuel Jurado said: “Like the rest of the residents here we’re living through this situation with a feeling of complete uncertainty. There are people everywhere and there’s violence now in the city.

“I understand these young migrants have arrived here looking for a better life but there are legal mechanisms that offer that security both for them and for us.

The “looking for a better life” as a justification for immigration into a welfare state is confusing. By this standard, shouldn’t anyone anywhere in the world whose spending power is less than whatever a welfare state, such as the U.S. or any of the headline EU countries, be entitled to move? If it’s “a better life” to be on welfare in Maskachusetts or Spain than to live in Yemen, for example, shouldn’t at least 40 million Yemenis be entitled to migrate to Maskachusetts or Spain?

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Why didn’t the German police subdue Abdul Ballout with a taser?

by philg

From state-sponsored PBS:

Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots, was killed following a search that lasted nearly 24 hours after the attack in downtown Berlin. Prosecutors said he had previously sought to join the militant Islamic State group.

Ballout was tracked down around 6 p.m. Sunday at a garden in Spandau, a Berlin suburb, the city’s police department wrote on X. They said he apparently ran toward officers with a sharp instrument, and police fired at least one shot. He died at the scene.

If this German-born child of enrichers had only a “sharp instrument”, why wouldn’t the famously lenient and gun-averse Europeans have subdued Abdul with “less lethal” force, e.g., a taser?

Furthermore, according to the New York Times, the shooting was especially unfair because the perpetrator of the attack on the “LGBTQ Pride event” was “a car” and not Abdul:

A German newspaper, translated by Google, on the success of deradicalization classes:

As recently as May, Ballout was in judicial custody. He was also reportedly in the preliminary stages of a deradicalization program and had already completed two appointments with experts in extremism prevention, during which no plans for an attack were discussed.

How does a person get qualified as an “expert in extremism prevention”?

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How’s France doing?

by philg

We haven’t heard too much from France lately, other than in the context of ball-kicking matches. The country is out of the World Cup, but how is France doing more generally?

A photo of the French World Cup team doesn’t suggest economic greatness. The players wore jerseys with the logos of an American company (Uber) and a Hitler-founded German company (VW):

Trump-hating neural network guru Yann LeCun was born in France, but has worked “primarily at Bell Labs, New York University and Meta Platforms, Inc.” (Wikipedia). He shifted back towards his homeland in late 2025 with Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs, which claims to be doing everything better than the American and Chinese LLM companies, but doesn’t seem to have anything to show yet. Can a country where it is illegal to work more than 35 hours per week compete in the only arena that matters anymore? Given France’s prowess at building nuclear power plants, one might imagine that the country would be a natural habitat for data centers. Unfortunately, France seems to have lost its mojo in nuclear power, with recent projects subject to massive time and cost overruns (China is the superstar now, according to the geniuses at Harvard). At the rate that France and the US are going, it would be cheaper to melt Earth with CO2 and buy a new planet than to stay on the current nuclear plant construction trajectory.

The French don’t have anything like Dutch ASML that can pick up some crumbs from the NVIDIA/TSMC table.

Who wants to predict the next significant innovation from a culture that was one of the world’s most innovative? Or maybe that culture doesn’t exist anymore because the legacy French are being bred out of existence? Foreign-born women in France have a total fertility of 3, far above the 1.56 average for all of France that includes the immigrants and children of recent immigrants (with some statistical magic, France officially says that the TFR for immigrant women is only 2.37 despite the standard calculation coming up with 3). The most successful residents of France, as measured by genetics, are those from Africa outside of the Magreb (TFR over 3) and those from North Africa (TFR just under 3). In the long run, therefore, we’d expect France to be as innovative as Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, and Congo have been.

Separately, how about some music to celebrate our brothers, sisters, and binary-resisters across the Atlantic? In order to honor Brigitte Macron, a strong independent woman not afraid to smack a wimpy man whenever necessary, I’ll pick Louise Farrenc (1804-1875): “In the 1830s, Farrenc gained considerable fame as a performer and her reputation was such that in 1842 she was appointed to the permanent position of Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatory, a position she held for thirty years and one which was among the most prestigious in Europe. Farrenc was the only woman to hold the esteemed position and rank at the Paris Conservatory throughout the 19th century.”

Loosely related, who enjoyed the World Cup this year? Never having played soccer, I’m not in love with watching. It feels random and chaotic. I don’t like the flopping or the shirt-pulling (an NFL player who did either would be called a “sissy”?).

Only slightly related to France, but definitely related to Florida (Lionel Messi featured):

It’s great to have Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, Ken Griffin, Larry Page, et al., as taxpaying neighbors, but I wonder how many Floridians would give all of them back to their respective Lands of the Righteous in order to keep Messi.

Straight Outta Fort Lauderdale…

Finally, an EU perspective:

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Does Gemini (Google AI) think that European elites are adapting to Climate Change (TM) by replacing their peasants with humans imported from hot places?

by philg

Happy World Population Day, except to Elon Musk who says that humans are going extinct and should have more children, while simultaneously Elon refuses to make a Tesla self-driving minivan. In honor of this glorious day, set up after the Earth’s population reached 5 billion in 1987 (due to population collapse, Earth now has only about 8.2 billion humans (or maybe 10 billion)) , let’s take a look at a population on the other side of an ocean from us…

Gemini says Climate Change is real. Prompt and answer:

Is Climate Change real from a European perspective? I.e., is Europe hotter than it was 50 years ago and is it almost certain to become yet hotter 50 years from now?

Yes and yes. From a data-driven, scientific perspective, the physical reality of climate change in Europe matches both of your conditions.

When I asked Gemini “Create a poster for Americans to show solidarity with European heatwave victims by turning their thermostats up from 72 to 74” (no mention of skin color), it produced the following:

Note that the U.S. is a mixture of skin tones while everyone in Europe seems to be nonwhite. Could this reflect Gemini’s belief that European leaders have chosen a Climate Change adaption strategy of replacing their heat-intolerant subjects with imports from Africa and the Middle East who are, presumably, accustomed to hot weather.

Note closely related, but I love the “feels like the inside of a McDonald’s Apple Pie” phrase:

Also, European Union regulations require that animals being transported cannot be exposed to a temperature higher than 30C, perhaps with a +5C tolerance. The European Food Safety Authority, however, says that horses cannot be exposed to temperatures higher than 25C (i.e., about 20C cooler than temps inside upper-floor Paris and Berlin apartments when it was 40C outside?).

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Heat is to South Florida as air conditioning is to Europe

by philg

Europeans object to being mocked for their lack of air conditioning on the grounds that, pre-Climate Change, there were at most a few weeks per year when they would have wanted to use it. Note that this is partly due to European tolerance for a wider range of indoor temps than we spoiled Americans. They probably wouldn’t turn on A/C until their interiors were 8-10 degrees warmer than what would motivate an American to open up the WiFi thermostat app on his/her/zir/their phone.

Because of American profligacy with fossil fuels, Europe now has brutal heat waves (example from 1911; one that afflicted Paris in 1757) that make their decision to reject A/C appear stupid, but in reality they are the smart/wise ones.

Maybe, however, there is an analogous situation here in the U.S.: should a house in South Florida be equipped with heat? Outdoor temps drop below a comfortable room temperature for only a few weeks per year, analogous to outdoor temps being higher than room temp in Europe for only a few weeks per year. Houses are well insulated in South Florida because they’re almost all new. There is no historical weather that could reduce the indoor temp of a modern South Florida house to a dangerously cold level. Just as Europeans say that they can deal with typical heat by closing shutters, opening windows, jumping in the local canal, etc., a South Floridian without heat during a severe cold weather event could dig through the closet for a sweater and long pants, use an electric blanket or mattress pad at night, etc. Here’s one of the most extreme cold events that ChatGPT managed to find for Miami, which included a low of 28 degrees:

Running heat in South Florida is incredibly wasteful because (1) it is usually a resistive “heat strip” inside the air handler (the latest houses have fully insulated refrigerant lines in both directions and, therefore, heat pump heating capability), and (2) whatever heat is added to the house will eventually have to be pumped back out using electricity for cooling.

What is the observed behavior? Every house, by code, is built with heat capability. People turn on the heat as soon as they feel uncomfortable. As noted above, the latest houses even have heat pumps, maybe due to federal government tax incentives that encourage this super-wasteful-in-south-florida investment ($thousands extra in capital that lasts 15 years to save a couple of $hundred in electricity every few years).

If Climate Change were to cause South Florida to be subjected to a Maskachusetts-style December, Floridians wouldn’t die like the stoic Europeans. Nor would they get into a brawl at Walmart over space heaters. Houses here are already equipped to handle a multi-day freeze. The damage would be limited to higher FP&L bills (still, probably much lower than in MA, though, because rates here in FL are about one-third per kWh of what my friends who’ve remained Righteous are paying!).

As noted above, we could also explain the apparent difference in preparedness as due to a difference in tolerance for discomfort, with Americans being the wimps!

Related:

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Posters to show solidarity with our baked brothers, sisters, and binary-resisters in Europe

by philg

No more performative empty words for me while Europe suffers through temps over 100 degrees (in the units that God prefers). There IS a sacrifice that we Americans can make and be part of a global solution. With the help of graphic artist N. Vidia, I prepared posters and distributed them around our neighborhood:

Gemini (“you can help” makes this consistent with #climatechange and exhortations to recycle plastic), ChatGPT, Grok, Claude (“small but meaningful act” is a nice touch).

Because I am a terrible human being, I posted the above in various places on X. Most of those who responded did not process these are satire. Empty words and useless gestures have become so common among the righteous that it seems entirely believable that a group of American progressives would organize a campaign like the above.

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Why don’t the Islamic European countries install A/C for their black burqa-clad lifestyle?

by philg

The forecast high for today is 104 in Paris, part of the predominantly Muslim region of Europe (measured by hours spent in religious observance).

It is supposed to hit 106 in Berlin on Sunday using the temperature units that God prefers:

The most popular outfit for women in these Islamic cities is a black burqa or at least a full covering that includes a hijab (not for a majority of females, of course, but the burqa/near-burqa would have a plurality; France is apparently jammed with haters and bans face coverings, but an uncovered face won’t provide a lot of cooling). This is not an ideal match for the prevailing hot sunny weather. Previously, Europeans said that they didn’t need A/C because they would just tough out the two-month heatwaves, like the one that hit the pre-Islamic UK in 1911 (temps up to 100). But now that these countries want to be welcoming toward their new citizens, many of whom do not have the option to strip down to a bikini (haram), why not fully air-condition apartment buildings and public spaces?

What’s it like over there? I’ve been talking to rich friends in Europe. All live in single-family houses that cost over $1 million. All are being subject to outside temperatures of 97-103 degrees F. None have air conditioning. Answer from a $15,000/month small house in Switzerland: “AC? We are Europoors.” When the heat began, he said that he was “surviving on the eight sleep, which actually does a decent job of cooling the bed”. (This seems to be a 400W Peltier cooler and, thus, will make the room hotter.) Today, though, “Last night was the most painful. 8sleep couldn’t keep up. [Slender Spanish-born] Wife, who is always cold and considers AC the Antichrist, even asked to chill her side of the bed. Still have no temp gauge to measure, but felt like sleeping in a sauna.” A reader in the Paris suburbs has the luxury of basement access, presumably denied to apartment-dwellers. It’s an inferno above-ground in the house (about 86F on the ground floor and much hotter upstairs), but the basement has stayed at 70 and the family is sleeping there.

A Dutch academic: “I have a PhD graduation today here. It’s a big affair where I need to put on a black suit and, over that, the toga and hat. There’s no AC in the building.” (He’s in a 4-story townhouse with no AC and also no screens on the windows. There aren’t that many mosquitoes in Holland and the Dutch apparently don’t mind sharing their houses with flies.)

New York Times, regarding the peasants in their stacked boxes:

Mr. Dewison’s apartment, like most in London, has no air-conditioning, and he said the temperature there had reached 45 degrees Celsius, or 113 Fahrenheit. He said he was worried about future heat waves and their effects on nature. “This is a bit mad,” he said.

Here’s how the Europeans are supposed to manage (source):

(Note that this means spending the entire day in the dark.)

Here’s an odd twist: the subset of Europeans rich enough to afford a trip to Miami or Houston for World Cup games ended up being far cooler than their (often Islamically covered) neighbors who stayed home. Both Miami and Houston have lower high temps than Paris or Berlin, for example. The stadium in Houston is fully air-conditioned. Any hotel where a spectator might stay is, of course, fully air-conditioned. So “the Germans went to Houston to cool off” is an accurate statement!

Circling back to the main question: Why won’t the Europeans, at least those who’ve received maximum enrichment from Syria, Afghanistan, and other conservative Muslim societies, go all-in on A/C as part of their transformation into places where fully covered Muslim women can feel at home, welcome, and comfortable?

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The Swiss vote to bulk up on humans just in time for the Age of AI and Robotics.

by philg

Projects show that about 55 percent of Swiss voters have rejected a proposed population cap of 10 million for a mountainous territory that currently has 5X the population density of the U.S. Lower 48.

The population of Switzerland has doubled within the lifetimes of its older citizens:

Only about 5 percent of Switzerland is reasonably flat buildable land. The Swiss are already crammed in like rats by U.S. standards, about 500 square feet per person vs. 750 here. There is a term in medicine for growth without regard to available resources: “cancer”.

(ChatGPT says an American who has wisely chosen to refrain from work and lives in taxpayer-funded public housing may have a higher material standard of living than a median Swiss as measured by (a) square footage per person, (b) air conditioning (only 5% of Swiss have it), and (c) car ownership. While the American who hasn’t worked for four generations cruises around in his/her/zir/their air-conditioned Nissan Altima, the working Swiss is provisioned with a public transit bus that may not have A/C or that has only feeble A/C. ChatGPT and Grok agree that Switzerland has 1/10th the murder rate of the U.S., though that advantage falls when Switzerland is compared to the “more racially homogeneous (often White) areas” U.S. states, such as New Hampshire and Maine. Grok specifically wrote “more racially homogeneous (often White) areas tend to have lower crime than heterogeneous ones” so I asked “Does that mean diversity is not our strength?” and the answer was “No”. ChatGPT agrees that the correlation between racial homogeneity and crime is accurate and that, similarly, we cannot abandon the axiom “diversity is our strength”.)

It will be interesting if we can get some demographics on those who voted yes vs. no to the cap. U.S. immigration is mostly low-skill and benefits the elite at the expense of the American working class (Harvard study), hence the tendency of the working class to vote for politicians, such as Donald Trump, who promise to limit immigration. Switzerland has a much higher percentage of high-skill immigrants, with at least 60 percent holding at least a bachelor’s degree (compare to 36 percent of U.S. immigrants). So a Swiss with a white collar job could cast a self-interested vote against mass importation of humans.

Here’s ChatGPT’s summary of where each country gets its foreign residents (in the U.S., nearly all are “immigrants”, entitled to stay here forever; in Switzerland, nearly all are expected to go home eventually). Switzerland pulls its foreigners primarily from fully developed European countries, such as Italy, Germany, Portugal, and France.. The U.S. has chosen to bring in foreigners primarily from Mexico, India, China, Philippines, Cuba, etc.

In the coming Age of AI and Robotics, what’s the scenario in which existing Swiss citizens become better off because someone who isn’t in the top 10% of human intelligence/skill has immigrated?

Separately, it’s interesting that the Wall Street Journal, published in a country with 1/5th the current population density of Switzerland, describes the idea of limiting population density as “radical” (source):

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Multiple perspectives on Paris

by philg

Some recent video from Paris:

The New York Times perspective: the above events either didn’t happen or weren’t newsworthy:

BBC perspective: “Hundreds arrested and dozens of police injured after Champions League riots in France”.

A total of 219 people have been injured in clashes between football fans and police across France after Paris St-Germain (PSG) won the Champions League final against Arsenal.

It might have been the police who started the violence, in other words, and the only thing that we know about the non-police combatants is that they were “football fans”.

X perspective: the rioters were Muslims and/or “North African”.

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Does the Greenland controversy prove that Donald Trump is a genius?

by philg

Here’s the front page of the Guardian:

All of the folks previously focused on helping Hamas and harming Israel (“Queers for Palestine”) have now turned their attention to an issue that hardly anyone prior to 2017 had ever considered, i.e., whether Denmark should continue to rule Greenland, whether Greenland should be independent, or whether Greenland should become a U.S. territory.

Could it be that Donald Trump is actually a genius?

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