Opening another chapter in an extraordinary political Odyssey, British National Party leader Nick Griffin was elected to the European Parliament this evening, bringing the BNP’s gains to two.
EU elections: BNP’s Nick Griffin wins seat in European parliament Martin Wainwright Guardian.co.uk 8 June 2009

In a classic case of the hysterical silliness with which the British political Establishment has dealt with this manifestation of democracy

There were furious scenes at the declaration… When Griffin’s turn came to speak, all the other candidates took the unprecedented step of walking off the platform in protest.

As J.Paige Staley pointed out here last month

BNP membership—that is, membership in a democratic and legal political party—is grounds for local governments to sack police and teachers. In the fall of 2008 the party membership list was leaked, and many such firings occurred.

The authorities have also tried to suppress Griffin under the UK’s scandalous hate speech legislation.

More such fun can be anticipated.

The United Kingdom Independence Party, a blander anti-European Union party also did very well, more than holding the gains it surprised conventional opinion by making in 2004.

Altogether a good evening for those of us who believe, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn said in his Nobel Prize speech

Nations are the wealth of mankind…the very least of them wears its own special colors and bears within itself a special facet of God’s design.”

In a result certain to get little attention in the US MSM, the British National Party has apparently already won a seat in the European Parliament; other results are still to be announced.
Far-right British party wins first European Parliament seat Reuters Sunday June 7th 2009

As J. Paige Straley asked here last month An American Asks: What’s So Bad About The BNP Anyway?

Why the BNP, which is laughably herbivorous compared to some of the elements in the Israeli Government Coalition, excites such hysteria is an interesting question.

British political news is liable to be a circus performance for the next few days. The most efficient way to follow events is probably the BNP’s own web site.

As you know, Europeans usually get five or even six weeks vacation per year. They mostly take most of their vacation in August so that they don’t mess up organizational productivity the rest of the year by being absent too much.

Something I hadn’t thought about was how this system requires enormous amount of building of holiday lodging in order to have enough capacity in late July through early September. I was on the Bodrum peninsula in the southwest corner of Turkey in late Spring, when the weather is perfect, but the place, with its immense numbers of vacation homes and small hotels was practically empty because A. the Turkish schools weren’t out for the year yet, and Turks vacation as families; B. Europeans (in Turkey, mostly Germans and Brits) aren’t going on vacation now because they have so much vacation coming up in a couple of months. (more…)

Turkey is full of unleashed or outright stray dogs (as well as cats). The place looks like the illustrations for the classic children’s book by P.D. Eastman Go Dog Go.

Many of the dogs have collars, so they aren’t stray, but their owners don’t bother tying them up. Almost nobody leashed his dog when taking Fido for a walk. Dogs sleep all over the sidewalk and in the streets, typically in parking places, usually placing their noses about 9 inches from traffic before drowsing off. I imagine that some of these sleeping dogs on the pavement are guard dogs owned by nearby shopkeepers, but there isn’t all that much street crime in Turkey, so the dogs have it easy. (more…)