6 R. Flanagan, Merkel and refugees, and more

First things first: my copy of Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North was delivered yesterday. I read on a Kindle, but every once in a while I like to buy real books (once in twenty-five books, perhaps) and this was one of those books. It won the Man Booker prize last year, and I’ve come to dislike Man Booker winners almost every year, but somehow this year I felt was different. I’ll begin reading it two weeks from now, once my current reads are done.

Yesterday I read something that mildly (and pleasantly) surprised me: Angela Merkel spoke out in favour of Europe bettering procedures to take in refugees. That is the paraphrasing anyway, but it serves the purpose.

The problem the continent is facing now is a massive inflow of refugees without a good security system in place to decide whether to keep them out or take them in. Apparently, most are choosing to go to Scandinavia or Germany after submitting forms that are given on landing on Italian shores. That’s literally a journey across. Europe, from south to North.

Digitising would be quicker, and possibly the best solution in the long term. Further it would help towards Ms Merkel’s concern that the large number of people coming in may carry a potential terrorist or two, which is real and must be addressed.

In the U.S., the republicans are on the verge of forcing another government shut down: apparently they plan to force out tax dollars from the charity, Planned Parenthood, to fund the Congress to work beyond the next ten days. If they fail to bring out the money, it’s shutdown all over again and there are elections next year with the Donald having sworn for Republicans, so all-in-all it looks as if someone has a strategy scheme all worked out.