The truth of it.

[Tank]

[Asmodean]

*Sigh* If only they didn't have oil... 

[Firebird]

*Sigh* If only they didn't have oil... 

I always wonder why the Democrats in the US don't use this to motivate the populace to move towards green technologies and electric cars. It's only one reason, but in certain circles it would sell well if marketed properly.

[Icarus]

That's a pretty grim poster, Tank.  It makes me sad and also disappointed with the many Muslims who claim that "Islam is a religion of peace".  The No Go zones in Stockholm, Hamburg, Brussels, Paris, or London do not encourage me to believe that the stone age people are peaceful.

[Recusant]

The "no go zone" thing has been grossly overstated by Fox News and other right-wing purveyors of bullshit. There are difficult neighborhoods in pretty much every large city, in Europe or in any part of the world. These neighborhoods, whether in Paris or Los Angeles, have problems largely because of the unemployment and poverty of their inhabitants, regardless of their religion. I don't doubt that the fact that the majority of inhabitants of certain banlieus are Muslim can be an exacerbating circumstance. However, as much as I despise Islam I don't think it's legitimate to point to that religion as the base cause of the problems associated with the so-called "no go zones" any more than the fact that the majority of the inhabitants of Watts are Christian is the reason that neighborhood can be dangerous. "Caliph-ain't" | Snopes

[jumbojak]

Ah yes Recusant, but what about Birmingham? Or worse... Dearborn?! Bruno's from Dearborn I think.... must be a Muslim....

[Icarus]

This past week my Lithuanian correspondent and dear friend and his family visited Hamburg . They had only a modest budget and had booked a modestly priced inn for their visit. They were intending to go to a part of Hamburg to see the fireworks display for the New years eve celebration, thereafter to visit some of the historic vistas of that great city.. The modestly priced inn turned out to be in the less desirable area of Hamburg. The inn keeper warned them of the danger of going out in the area. They went out anyway and they became surrounded by madness from Arabs and east Africans who were drunken, more than merely disorderly. The drunken, and not so drunken, scum were deliberately firing rockets into dwelling windows, setting fire to cars, throwing lit fire crackers at anyone not obviously middle easterners and accosting the Lithuanians with threats. They escaped, fortunately, without physical harm, but they did endure considerable fear and intimidation.  This is a first hand account, not something from the New York Times or some other politically correct source or stupid source like Fox news.. 

It is acknowledged that a white "cracker" like me is better to avoid traveling through our US  Haight -Asbury or Watts neighborhoods. Yes we have our own problems that are serious but nothing like the problems that are being created by illiterate,  trash mongering, ingrate, sons of Islam in Europe, and fearfully soon to become residents of the US. We have gangs. Our Crips, Bloods and Latin Kings mainly kill each other. Gangs are a reality. They are not even a blip on the radar that reveals the presence of crazy fuckers whose mission is to subjugate or to kill all the civilized "kafirs" of the world.

I hesitate to debate our superbly erudite HAF member; Recusant. I have great respect for him, but in this case I do believe that he is pulling my leg. 

[Tank]

That's a pretty grim poster, Tank.  It makes me sad and also disappointed with the many Muslims who claim that "Islam is a religion of peace".  The No Go zones in Stockholm, Hamburg, Brussels, Paris, or London do not encourage me to believe that the stone age people are peaceful.

There are no 'No Go' zones anywhere in the UK, London or otherwise. Statements to the contrary are anti-Muslim propaganda.

[Recusant]

This past week my Lithuanian correspondent and dear friend and his family visited Hamburg . They had only a modest budget and had booked a modestly priced inn for their visit. They were intending to go to a part of Hamburg to see the fireworks display for the New years eve celebration, thereafter to visit some of the historic vistas of that great city.. The modestly priced inn turned out to be in the less desirable area of Hamburg. The inn keeper warned them of the danger of going out in the area. They went out anyway and they became surrounded by madness from Arabs and east Africans who were drunken, more than merely disorderly. The drunken, and not so drunken, scum were deliberately firing rockets into dwelling windows, setting fire to cars, throwing lit fire crackers at anyone not obviously middle easterners and accosting the Lithuanians with threats. They escaped, fortunately, without physical harm, but they did endure considerable fear and intimidation.  This is a first hand account, not something from the New York Times or some other politically correct source or stupid source like Fox news.. 

It is acknowledged that a white "cracker" like me is better to avoid traveling through our US  Haight -Asbury or Watts neighborhoods. Yes we have our own problems that are serious but nothing like the problems that are being created by illiterate,  trash mongering, ingrate, sons of Islam in Europe, and fearfully soon to become residents of the US. We have gangs. Our Crips, Bloods and Latin Kings mainly kill each other. Gangs are a reality. They are not even a blip on the radar that reveals the presence of crazy fuckers whose mission is to subjugate or to kill all the civilized "kafirs" of the world.

I hesitate to debate our superbly erudite HAF member; Recusant. I have great respect for him, but in this case I do believe that he is pulling my leg.

The majority Muslim banlieus in Paris and similar neighborhoods in other European cities provide a great base for violent Islamists to recruit and plan, there is no argument. However, anecdotes about barbaric behavior exhibited by some of the inhabitants of those places don't prove anything. In the past, I've lived in slum neighborhoods in the US for decades. I wouldn't have voluntarily gone wandering around them on New Year's Eve, if for no other reason than I'd be concerned about being hit by celebratory gunfire. Also the fact that I'm white made me a target for drunken idiots. On one New Year's Eve night I'd been working late, and had to bicycle home. As I came toward a group of obviously inebriated "neighbors" I sped up and got out into the middle of the street, probably before they'd even noticed me. They chased me on foot, but my precautions meant that I got home safely. The outcome might have been much worse. I don't think the religion of those creeps had anything to do with their behavior, nor do I believe that the anecdote about the Lithuanian tourists tells us anything about how Islam affects the behavior of the inhabitants of the "less desirable area" of Hamburg.

Just to note that Haight-Ashbury has never been a slum, and since the late '80s has actually been a rather upscale neighborhood, like most of San Francisco.

[Crow]

There are no 'No Go' zones anywhere in the UK, London or otherwise. Statements to the contrary are anti-Muslim propaganda.

Well there are areas that would be advisable to avoid, there are a lot of areas I wont go anywhere near but they have nothing to do with religion or race, more to do with poverty and generations of unemployable individuals being thugs. Mostly they are white areas  originating with the London mobs, scuttlers, peeky blinders etc. If you happen to end up in one of those areas as a tourist you have somehow really fucked up as they aren't exactly easy to stumble across.

[Icarus]

I do not get my impressions or presumed information from Fox news.  To imply that I do is an assault on my admittedly limited intelligence.  Fox people are somewhat reckless with the truth so I occasionally watch them with a modicum of amusement and disdain.

There are indeed no go areas in the good ole US. I have been in Baltimore, Milwaukee, Chicago and a few other places where I did not belong. In none of those areas was I robbed, raped, or murdered. I will avoid those areas when I am able to do so even though I had traveled unharmed before. 

I was an exhibitor at a trade show in Los Angeles one time. I flew into LAX, rented a car and set out to find my hotel. During the trip to the hotel, A LAPD motorcycle cop stopped me. He told me that hayseed tourists like me are in an ill advised part of town. To his credit he said; "Follow me, I'll get you to a better area".  Damn, I was impressed and appreciative for his care and attention.  So alright already, Stockholm is not the only place where caution is desirable or necessary. None of the undesirable places that I have been would have killed me for being a kafir. They might have assaulted me because of my white skin or even killed me for my money or my Rolex if I fought back.  But not because I did not subscribe to Sharia law.

[Recusant]

There have been some incidents of Islamist violence in some European neighborhoods associated with high crime rates, but I haven't seen anything that indicates that the reason for those high crime rates is the fact that the majority of the inhabitants are Muslim.

As for the Fox News thing, I never thought that you were somebody that believed Fox News was a reliable source, Icarus. I pointed to them because they were heavily invested in pushing the "no go zone" narrative. In my opinion, if Fox News says anything of significance, the first thing to do is check other sources to see how badly they've distorted the information. As the link I posted earlier shows, the Fox News take on the story was off base.

[Icarus]

To hell with all that. I think that it is more productive for us all to respect and enjoy ourselves and our peers while distancing ourselves, as best we can, from the sources of discontent.

I am hooked on you tube flash mobs. Most of them make me truly happy. The dancers, musicians, and singers are all celebrating the spirit of human kindness and the joy of living.  I may be a grumpy old man but there is still a song in my heart. My cup is more than half full.