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Packratona!
10-15-15, 6:35am
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/10/14/tiny-german-village-forced-accept-one-thousand-migrants-officials-mystified-complaints/

Williamsmith
10-15-15, 7:32am
"Ollie Ollie In Come Free"....

CathyA
10-15-15, 7:48am
That's insane.

jp1
10-15-15, 12:37pm
Since breitbart is given to distorted and dishonest reporting I'd be curious what a reliable source has to say about this. Google didn't turn up anyone else reporting this story so I can only assume that it's mostly made up out of whole cloth.

CathyA
10-15-15, 12:39pm
I was reading a couple articles and it's really sad and ridiculous. I'm a bit partial to small towns in Germany. I worked in one a long time ago. The town that these 1000 refugees were dropped in doesn't even have a grocery store!
It's going to ruin the lives of the 100 people who live there. And what about infrastructure to support these 1000 people? So much for German/Italian/French culture way of life......especially in the rural areas. And I realize it's not the refugees' fault.......but dang. What a mess. Who made such a ridiculous decision? Merkel should have to take dozens into her own home. This really wasn't thought through very well.

CathyA
10-15-15, 12:43pm
jp1........we were writing at the same time. I'm unfamiliar with Breitbart's reputation. If you open one of the highlighted words in their article, it takes you to Spiegel Online and it talks more about it. It's all in German, but you could probably get it translated. It pretty much says what Breitbart says.

IshbelRobertson
10-15-15, 1:07pm
It's happening all over the EU.

This poor village is already blighted as it is one scheduled for wholesale demolition, should the proposed new runway go ahead at Heathrow.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/11932113/Longford-the-village-where-one-of-Britains-wealthiest-men-is-a-beneficiary-from-the-migrant-crisis.html

And from the Beeb
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-34502956

CathyA
10-15-15, 1:21pm
Oh man........ I know it's important (I guess??) to care about other people, but when does it ruin everyone's lives?
Like a comment on one of the articles about the southern Germany problem said, you have to care about your immediate family's/community's needs first.
I think having a "let's take care of everyone" attitude is going to ruin a lot of things for everyone.
I just wish we could stop them from leaving the middle east and they stay in that area. I know some of them are saying they wish they'd never left.
At least the culture would be the same for them. But I guess the surrounding countries there are tired of it too.

IshbelRobertson
10-15-15, 1:38pm
I was not supporting your views on asylum seekers, merely pointing out that is happening throughout the EU including Greece, Hungary, France and so on!

Most of the ASs mentioned are from the Calais 'village' and most are Africans and the overwhelming majority are young males.

CathyA
10-15-15, 2:15pm
I didn't assume you were agreeing with me Ishbel.

Miss Cellane
10-15-15, 6:26pm
Oh man........ I know it's important (I guess??) to care about other people, but when does it ruin everyone's lives?
Like a comment on one of the articles about the southern Germany problem said, you have to care about your immediate family's/community's needs first.
I think having a "let's take care of everyone" attitude is going to ruin a lot of things for everyone.
I just wish we could stop them from leaving the middle east and they stay in that area. I know some of them are saying they wish they'd never left.
At least the culture would be the same for them. But I guess the surrounding countries there are tired of it too.

I suspect many of the people who are being re-homed across Europe would have rather stayed home. But with the fighting between the two sides in Syria, many people have fled in order to stay alive.

If we want them to stay home, we need to help them gain peace in their country.

Turkey is now up to 2 million refugees, having started taking them in during 2011, and has spent over $8 billion dealing with them. How much more do you think one country should do? And in Turkey, the refugees are pushing lower-wage-earners out of their jobs, because the refugees are willing to be paid less.

Keeping all the refugees in the Middle East simply keeps the problem hidden from the West. It makes it Someone Else's Problem. It's been a problem for the countries surrounding Syria for 4 years, but until the refugees started to enter Europe, they were conveniently not mentioned in the news, and nothing was done for them outside of what their host countries are willing to do.

Perhaps it is stories like this one, putting 1,000 refugees into a town of 100 people (which I agree is a bad idea, and must have come about only because there were buildings that could house them there), that will finally make those with the power to change the situation in Syria take action. Maybe one day, these refugees will be able to board a train that takes them back home. I suspect many of them are quietly hoping for that day.

Suzanne
10-16-15, 3:10am
Yes, I'm sure most people would rather stay home. But if my home looked like this, I'd also try to get the hell out of Dodge.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=490&q=syrian+devastation&oq=syrian+devastation&gs_l=img.3..0i10.1061.8211.0.8518.30.21.9.0.0.0.17 1.1899.16j5.21.0.ckpsrh...0...1.1.64.img..0.30.195 9.NVpjiP_HvLc

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2998518/Startling-satellite-images-Syria-reveal-devastation-country-suffered-four-years-civil-war.html

CathyA
10-16-15, 9:05am
I'm surprised that the nations having the biggest immigrant problems wouldn't be more motivated to focus on getting rid of the people who have taken over the immigrant's country.

I have sorrow for the immigrants. I have sorrow for the places that will never be the same because of them. I have enough sorrow for all of them.

IshbelRobertson
10-16-15, 10:18am
Honestly, CathyA, And I don't wish to be rude, but we ARE trying 'to do something'...

Simplistic answers don't solve complex problems.

CathyA
10-16-15, 12:50pm
I understand, Ishbel. It's an extremely difficult situation and I know that the countries in the EU that are hit the hardest, are peddling as fast as they can.
What I meant about "doing something".........is more of a military assault on the bad guys. Have any countries in the EU been involved in that? Maybe the U.S. doesn't mention the other countries involved (besides Turkey and Russia), but I haven't heard much about other EU countries' forces.

IshbelRobertson
10-16-15, 2:24pm
YES. WE ARE. LOOK UP UK DRONES AND FLIGHTS OVER SYRIA, and joint US/Uk airforce missions. !thumbsup!

Sorry for shouting, but please, please, do some reading on the current situation. The UK currently donates more funds to refugee camps, than any other EU country. Our policy is to improve the lot of refugees in the camps, rather than to accept the need for all of them to move out of the area.

Read up on the deep hatred between Sunni and Shiite muslims and this will enlighten you as to one of the reasons Europe looks a better bet than many ME countries.

Many of the asylum seekers are NOT from Syria, but Africans, Indians, Bangladeshis, pakistanis,malaysians etc. most are economic migrants, fleeing poverty.

CathyA
10-16-15, 6:49pm
Okay, Okay. I have trouble reading much. You've enlightened me.

kib
10-16-15, 8:01pm
It's amazing what we don't hear. It was about a year ago that someone mentioned Angola and I thought wait, that happened when I was about 12. Yes it did, crisis in Angola happened when I was about 12, and it stopped happening when I was about 40. Their life expectancy is currently 38, so the average person my age in Anglola when I first heard the word died (after 28 years of hell), two years after I lived a whole life and then retired. I can tell you that Bruce Jenner is now a woman and I can tell you his new name. I can sing you the song for the Big Mac, I can sing you the song for Prius. Can I tell you what happened for nearly 30 years in Angola that caused the displacement of nearly 25% of their population, 4 million people? Nope. Can I tell you why there were 15 million land mines in Angola? Nope. I can tell you it's a country, and that it's in Africa, and dear god, that makes me better informed than most of my peers. Both embarrassing and absurd.

ETA - not to hijack the thread, Angola is just one of a thousand humiliating examples of information we have to go mining for if we even remember, vs. what's dumped on us for free. Two all beef patties, special sauce ....

CathyA
10-16-15, 9:19pm
I forget which part of which middle east war it was..........maybe Desert Storm? .......but it seemed like we were always hearing about the other allies that were involved in it. I just haven't heard about allies there recently. It seems like we're not all working together like we were earlier. But like you said, Kib.....just because we haven't heard about it doesn't mean it's not going on differently. I have big problems reading, so I watch the national news on TV. So maybe their approach is quite different from the written news.?? Maybe it's just "old" news now and they don't want to lose viewers, so they don't talk about it.......

kib
10-16-15, 9:48pm
I don't think national news is very representative at all, at least not here in the US. I visit my parents and watch FOX or CBS and I'm always left amazed that what takes up an hour passes for news. We Don't Have A Crash, but Tiny Plane Almost Hits Tiny Boat On Recreational Lake! Film of near-collision at 11. Paige Spiranac is Athletic, and a Woman, and Hot, Which Is The Most Important Thing! Meanwhile Angola is dying and Syria is on fire and China's imports are down 20% but whatever, that's not obvious prurient first world problems so who cares. I'm even starting to question the more liberal media, after seeing support for Bernie Sanders "disappear" from Slate and CNN when it became inconvenient.

Question that might just hijack the thread a little, sorry Cathy: do you guys have a news source that is both condensed info and, well, relevant to people who'd like to go beyond two all beef patties? How do you keep track of what you ought to know vs. what's fed to you?

CathyA
10-16-15, 9:54pm
I watch the CBS news in the morning, but it's pretty much just for the first 15 minutes of the 2 hour show. It's all fluff after that.
I've heard that El Jazeera is a good news source.

IshbelRobertson
10-17-15, 5:57am
Try the BBC online service. Also for balance, the Daily Telegraph and The Guardian newspapers, right-wing and left-wing respectively, although I don't know if their online versions are fully available outwith the UK.

sweetana3
10-17-15, 8:30am
We watch DW News and Focus on Europe. Find them on the Bloomington, IN PBS station (location of Indiana University). Not often found. Hubby says they are streamed also. Gives a German perspective.

We are also big time PBS viewers. I know they are somewhat more liberal but contain a lot less "fluff". I really like their analysis of Supreme Court actions. I do not watch any of the regular channel (what passes for) news channels. They are out for ratings and skew their reporting to what brings in ratings. The only exception is a little local news in the early morning for weather, local items and such during breakfast.

If you can stream radio, BBC World has good analysis.

Williamsmith
10-17-15, 9:14am
The news is propaganda. It is also a drug. Stirs up your emotion and seeks to divide. It is no substitute for travel or communication because it shrinks our vocabulary to buzz words and stunts our thoughts. It is like a water slide with two chutes. Very limited choices. The news is like a jar of mixed nuts. You have to pick out the cashews.

Miss Cellane
10-17-15, 9:41am
YES. WE ARE. LOOK UP UK DRONES AND FLIGHTS OVER SYRIA, and joint US/Uk airforce missions. !thumbsup!

Sorry for shouting, but please, please, do some reading on the current situation. The UK currently donates more funds to refugee camps, than any other EU country. Our policy is to improve the lot of refugees in the camps, rather than to accept the need for all of them to move out of the area.

Read up on the deep hatred between Sunni and Shiite muslims and this will enlighten you as to one of the reasons Europe looks a better bet than many ME countries.

Many of the asylum seekers are NOT from Syria, but Africans, Indians, Bangladeshis, pakistanis,malaysians etc. most are economic migrants, fleeing poverty.

In Cathy's defense, US media are not the best at reporting things that happen outside the US. And when they do, it is because it is a "sensational" story, one that will make headlines and garner the newspaper/network lots of viewers/readers. And a great many people do not realize that the stories are played for their sensational elements and that there might be another side to the story, or the reporter may have conveniently hidden a few facts that, while true, would have made the story less interesting and sensational.

I check the New York Times daily, and the BBC news website, because I like to get a view of the US that is a bit more impartial (or at least is biased differently from US sources). I'm always surprised at the number of what I'd consider small, local to the US news stories that make it onto the BBC site.

My brother lives in Turkey, so a) he tells me stuff that is happening there and b) I tend to check out news stories about Turkey and the surrounding countries because he's there and I want to know what's going on around him. There are major gaps in my knowledge about what's happening in other parts of the world.

But it isn't always easy to find international news in the US. Videos of extremely cute cats? Sure. Unbiased analysis of the Syria civil war? The reasons for the refugee crisis? You have to go and hunt for them.

Williamsmith
10-17-15, 9:59am
Kind of makes you wonder about how free our thoughts really are. The ease at which we went along with the attack on Iraq in the second Bush War as an example. The news played a huge part in that.

IshbelRobertson
10-17-15, 10:02am
If lots of Americans seem to agree that the US tv/newspaper world news reporting is poor, it's a sad reflection on a nation who has given us so many great reporters in the past.

We take 2 daily newspapers, the Scotsman and the Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Times, the latter is owned by Rupert Murdoch, but he seems to allow the paper to continue with its award winning teams of investigative journalists. I watch Al Jazeera occasionally, to get the 'other' side's view on ME matters!

IshbelRobertson
10-17-15, 10:06am
Kind of makes you wonder about how free our thoughts really are. The ease at which we went along with the attack on Iraq in the second Bush War as an example. The news played a huge part in that.

EXACTLY, and with Tony Bliar as his poodle, dragging my country into that illegal war. Tony Bliar should be prosecuted.

I went on a number of 'Stop the War' marches in Scotland and in London with my students. The will of the British people was totally ignored.

Miss Cellane
10-17-15, 10:56am
If lots of Americans seem to agree that the US tv/newspaper world news reporting is poor, it's a sad reflection on a nation who has given us so many great reporters in the past.

We take 2 daily newspapers, the Scotsman and the Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Times, the latter is owned by Rupert Murdoch, but he seems to allow the paper to continue with its award winning teams of investigative journalists. I watch Al Jazeera occasionally, to get the 'other' side's view on ME matters!


Lots of newspapers are closing down, because of a lack of subscriptions.

The average evening televised news show is half an hour, of which 20-22 minutes is news, not ads. Easily 2/3 of those 22 minutes is sports and weather, leaving maybe 7-8 minutes of actual news, which has to cover both local, state and US news. And the "banter" among the newscasters takes up some of that. (I never watch TV news; it's all sound-bites taken out of context.)

The morning news shows, which I also don't watch because I'm getting ready for work, are a tiny bit of news, both local and US, and a ton of fluff. The local morning newscast are a lot of traffic reports and weather.

Lots of people do keep a cable news channel on when they are in the house. Many of these are highly biased towards a certain viewpoint. If you don't seek out other sources, you would have a very slated view of what's going on in the world.

And many US citizens do. I've had a few conversations with acquaintances recently where they clearly had their facts about recent issues incorrect, but they were not willingly to believe that such-and-such a newscaster would feed them inaccurate information. The several websites I could present with differing facts had to be wrong, because they heard their facts on tv, and tv would never lie to them--I am not joking about this.

I think the real problem is that critical thinking is not a skill many Americans have.

flowerseverywhere
10-17-15, 11:48am
It's amazing what we don't hear. It was about a year ago that someone mentioned Angola and I thought wait, that happened when I was about 12. Yes it did, crisis in Angola happened when I was about 12, and it stopped happening when I was about 40. Their life expectancy is currently 38, so the average person my age in Anglola when I first heard the word died (after 28 years of hell), two years after I lived a whole life and then retired. I can tell you that Bruce Jenner is now a woman and I can tell you his new name. I can sing you the song for the Big Mac, I can sing you the song for Prius. Can I tell you what happened for nearly 30 years in Angola that caused the displacement of nearly 25% of their population, 4 million people? Nope. Can I tell you why there were 15 million land mines in Angola? Nope. I can tell you it's a country, and that it's in Africa, and dear god, that makes me better informed than most of my peers. Both embarrassing and absurd.

ETA - not to hijack the thread, Angola is just one of a thousand humiliating examples of information we have to go mining for if we even remember, vs. what's dumped on us for free. Two all beef patties, special sauce ....

excellent summary. We won't stand up and take notice until they reinstate the the draft and we are on wartime rations. I fear we are heading towards that, and I am not a pessimist.

JaneV2.0
10-17-15, 11:55am
If lots of Americans seem to agree that the US tv/newspaper world news reporting is poor, it's a sad reflection on a nation who has given us so many great reporters in the past.

We take 2 daily newspapers, the Scotsman and the Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Times, the latter is owned by Rupert Murdoch, but he seems to allow the paper to continue with its award winning teams of investigative journalists. I watch Al Jazeera occasionally, to get the 'other' side's view on ME matters!

I find that al Jazeera covers a lot of international news that is ignored by the U.S. media. It also features excellent documentaries. News for intelligent adults, for a change.

kib
10-17-15, 1:09pm
I am writing down all of these suggestions, because I do want to be informed. I understand that there will be slants and biases, but I still have this naive wish that there was an easier way to keep track of what's happening to ordinary people worldwide. Angola might only have 16 million people, but I swear I didn't have One Thought in my head about their situation during three decades of their violent civil war. I'm not sure the word 'Angola' blipped across my mind once in 28 years. There are at any moment hundreds (ok ok, billions) of situations more important than the current status of Donald Trump's hair, of which I am not only under-informed but wholly ignorant. Is there an objective site to gather ... well, a basic checklist of the places having big problems? I feel like I don't know where to start.

IshbelRobertson
10-17-15, 1:27pm
[url]https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/armed-conflict/[/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ongoing_armed_conflicts

kib
10-17-15, 1:34pm
I gave myself a little geography test. Not even about history or politics, just geography. This is a list of the world's countries, I held up my hand so i couldn't see what region of the world it was in and tried to place it. I mean rough placement in my mind, a region of a continent, southern Europe, southeast asia. Where is Ghana, where is Guiana, where is Guyana. Now I know that it's not possible to have political awareness of 195 regions, some of which are apparently smaller than the town I live in. But there were a few I'd never even heard of. http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/countries_of_the_world.htm

kib
10-17-15, 1:36pm
Thanks Ishbel, that was the kind of thing I was looking for. Good place to start my education.

IshbelRobertson
10-17-15, 1:46pm
Lots of newspapers are closing down, because of a lack of subscriptions.

The average evening televised news show is half an hour, of which 20-22 minutes is news, not ads. Easily 2/3 of those 22 minutes is sports and weather, leaving maybe 7-8 minutes of actual news, which has to cover both local, state and US news. And the "banter" among the newscasters takes up some of that. (I never watch TV news; it's all sound-bites taken out of context.)

The morning news shows, which I also don't watch because I'm getting ready for work, are a tiny bit of news, both local and US, and a ton of fluff. The local morning newscast are a lot of traffic reports and weather.

Lots of people do keep a cable news channel on when they are in the house. Many of these are highly biased towards a certain viewpoint. If you don't seek out other sources, you would have a very slated view of what's going on in the world.

And many US citizens do. I've had a few conversations with acquaintances recently where they clearly had their facts about recent issues incorrect, but they were not willingly to believe that such-and-such a newscaster would feed them inaccurate information. The several websites I could present with differing facts had to be wrong, because they heard their facts on tv, and tv would never lie to them--I am not joking about this.

I think the real problem is that critical thinking is not a skill many Americans have.

I remember how poor world news coverage was when I visited the USA.

It is almost exactly the same in Australia, IMO. It drives my sister MAD, even after nearly 40 years!

Tradd
10-17-15, 2:19pm
When I had a TV, I always watched ABC News because they had the best international coverage. I listen to AM radio, have a digital subscription to the Chicago Tribune, and have been reading the BBC News website for years on a daily basis. I also get the digital Economist magazine free via my library.

rodeosweetheart
10-17-15, 2:56pm
we watch BBC news everynight, and we don;t even have cable.

Tradd
10-17-15, 3:19pm
we watch BBC news everynight, and we don;t even have cable.

How do you get it?

IshbelRobertson
10-18-15, 10:41am
Two powerful articles in the Sunday Times magazine today

www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/migrationbyland. By A A Gill

www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/migrationbysea by Christina Lamb

I do hope these can be read outwith our borders.

sylvia
11-4-15, 2:15pm
Being born and raised in Europe now living in U.S. I am forced to wonder why other Muslim countries could'nt assist with taking in their Muslim counterparts. Granted Europe already has many european ethnicities after world war II, but this situation today looks like a Muslim invasion. Thousands of poor migrant families marching on foot to Germany or Norway. But for Europe this huge influx of Muslims mostly undocumented means many risky things. I dont have a problem with helping a few but this is too much. UN should have an emergency meeting!This si a global crisis! Many of our family members were turned down by the very countries like Germany and Austria for political asylum in the 80's, now it's doors wide open for anyone. Very unfair. My biggest concern is many muslims do not want to assimilate to European culture. Many fundamental muslims dont even like Christians. Something to think about when europe is mostly Christian and Jewish-also read about the Battle of Vienna why did that happen?

flowerseverywhere
11-4-15, 3:04pm
Being born and raised in Europe now living in U.S. I am forced to wonder why other Muslim countries could'nt assist with taking in their Muslim counterparts. Granted Europe already has many european ethnicities after world war II, but this situation today looks like a Muslim invasion. Thousands of poor migrant families marching on foot to Germany or Norway. But for Europe this huge influx of Muslims mostly undocumented means many risky things. I dont have a problem with helping a few but this is too much. UN should have an emergency meeting!This si a global crisis! Many of our family members were turned down by the very countries like Germany and Austria for political asylum in the 80's, now it's doors wide open for anyone. Very unfair. My biggest concern is many muslims do not want to assimilate to European culture. Many fundamental muslims dont even like Christians. Something to think about when europe is mostly Christian and Jewish-also read about the Battle of Vienna why did that happen?

exactly what I have been thinking It is not like a normal process where people are screened, identities checked, and so on. Who knows who has passed through. Also, letting in a huge influx of people who have amongst them members who consider western ways evil seems like a problem waiting to happen. That is one of the complaints here in the U.S. People need to be willing to conform to their new culture.

sylvia
11-4-15, 3:15pm
Having immigrated with my family as a childe, my parents had to assimilate to survive, starting with the language.

gimmethesimplelife
11-4-15, 6:06pm
I don't know what to make of this refugee situation. At first I was all for the refugees getting into Europe and had nothing but kind words and praise for Angela Merkel. What has turned me a little off this welcoming path is that fact that it does not seem as if the refugees are being vetted and I find this to be of concern, of more concern even than the numbers of refugees arriving in Lesbos, Greece on a daily basis. Just the other day a friend of mine from Washington DC sent me a text to the effect that three people were arrested in Madrid (not far from where I was as a tourist in Madrid, either) for conspiring to attack/blow up Madrid in some way. Turns out the the three young men were Moroccans - Morocco, a country I found so mysterious and exotic and exhausting - I'm wondering if they were vetted/background checked in some way?

I don't mean to bat for the other team as it were and come off like a Conservative but I feel there is something to the conservative stance of why are these people just being let in no questions asked? My fear is that if some kind of terrorist attack takes place in the EU and it is traced back to recent migrants - ick, things would get sticky real fast, much more problematic than they may seem now. I do believe that in the number of migrants there are many people fleeing terror and war and persecution and these to me do qualify as refugees. But what of anyone else who may manage to get into the EU? What if it doesn't work for them, what if they don't like the EU, find it too hard to assimilate into Western ways, will someone go off and do crazy things with weapons like we experience in the US (often) these days?

Something else that I find interesting and I believe others who are pro gun here may find interesting - Austria, that country I so respect - has among the loosest gun laws in the EU and since the recent high numbers of migrants passing through Austria, sales of guns have gone up 5000% in Austria. I'm wondering - though there is much more pressure in Austria to conform to social norms than in the US (and unbelievable social welfare available to make it easier to deal with) somewhere along the line the wrong person will drink too much and take out a gun and start blasting migrants away? It doesn't seem far fetched at all to me in Austria, as I am related to two people who are very much anti Muslims/anti-immigration period.

I guess what I am saying is that like with so much else in life, there are no easy answers here. I even am cutting Obama some slack as I was so disgusted with his stance of only taking in 10,000 a year until I read one of the reasons for this was to properly vet all the new Syrian arrivals let in. This I can not disagree with, and although I still respect Angela Merkel a great deal for her humanitarian stance here, I really wish there were some vetting mechanism in this process.....Rob

Miss Cellane
11-4-15, 7:38pm
Well, were the Moroccans refugees? I looked this up, and the men have ties to terrorist organizations, but it says nothing about them being refugees. Which means either they entered the country properly with passports and visas, or they were smuggled in.

As for other Muslim countries taking in the refugees, some have. Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan have taken in about 4 million. However, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have taken in almost none. None are really classified as refugees. I think Saudi Arabia is allowing people from Syria who have relatives in Saudi to come into the country, but as visitors, not refugees. It has been noted that these countries are far wealthier, on average, than Lebanon and Jordan. There's a lot of politics involved.

What's the alternative? Build walls around Syria and prevent people from leaving the country?

I think the best outcome is to find a way to end the war in the next year, and then let all these refugees go home. They will need money, as many have lost their homes, or their homes no longer exist due to bombing, and their businesses are gone, too.

gimmethesimplelife
11-4-15, 10:25pm
I find that al Jazeera covers a lot of international news that is ignored by the U.S. media. It also features excellent documentaries. News for intelligent adults, for a change.Interestingly enough, it was in Salzburg Austria that I discovered Al Jareeza news in English and I was very impressed with how professionally it came across. I wish we could get the news broadcasts by them in the US!!!!

IshbelRobertson
11-5-15, 6:19am
I thought Al Jazeera's service WAS available in the USA.

iris lilies
11-5-15, 10:46am
I thought Al Jazeera's service WAS available in the USA.

it may not be offered in the cable package he has.

IshbelRobertson
11-5-15, 11:07am
Ah, I see.

razz
11-5-15, 4:19pm
This is being discusssed in Canada at length as well since the new PM has announced that we will accept 25,000 Syrians. It seems that the expectations of the Syrians will be fairly high since they are literate and pretty well educated as a society. Are they genuine refugees or economic migrants? As others have mentioned, there is still the Sunni and Shiite separation which won't be solved here but needs to dealt with in their country.
The UN has 13 million registered refugees around the world, many homeless without a country to return to and no one has paid them any attention but many of them are not literate which makes the transition much more difficult whatever their belief system

jp1
11-7-15, 12:17pm
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/this-guy-shared-the-perfect-facebook-post-about-being-disapp#.gvqyXAQ6jm

And then there's this guy, with a different take on this "crisis". If only there were more people like him and his partner in the world perhaps we'd be calling it an opportunity instead of a crisis.

Packratona!
11-12-15, 3:11pm
With Open Gates: The forced collective suicide of European nations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44vzMNG2fZc#t=30

razz
11-12-15, 5:16pm
With Open Gates: The forced collective suicide of European nations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44vzMNG2fZc#t=30

Looks really scary! When illiterate masses converge, the result can be devastating to established communities. These communities have been in existence for centuries and are being overwhelmed.

CathyA
11-13-15, 9:32am
With Open Gates: The forced collective suicide of European nations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44vzMNG2fZc#t=30

If these videos are accurate.......it makes me sick to my stomach. Remember how awful everyone thought it was of Hungary to refuse them at the start? I thought they were thinking very clearly and had foresight.
All this needing to be "humane" is destroying those cultures. I think it comes from having life too easy, and not being exposed to many awful things that gives people a utopian sense of "humane-ness" that can get everyone in trouble.
It's like that one crying woman said in the video (a native of one of the european nations)........we are now the victims! What an absolute horrible mess. We cannot save everyone. Life isn't something to save at ALL costs.........it can destroy many good things. There's nothing wrong with wanting to keep the culture/life you have lived. You don't HAVE to make room and it's okay to deny certain things. It's sad and unfortunate, but accepting millions of these refugees will be bad for everyone in the end.
I'm just glad we're an ocean away.

pinkytoe
11-13-15, 10:25am
I'm just glad we're an ocean away.
I wasn't able to open the youtube however I don't think we are particularly safe from disaffected groups here at home. Perhaps not refugees but there are masses of very unhappy groups of people in this country who en masse could stir up the pot should they choose to do so. Right now, it's still in the simmering stage.

Ultralight
11-13-15, 11:56am
I wasn't able to open the youtube however I don't think we are particularly safe from disaffected groups here at home. Perhaps not refugees but there are masses of very unhappy groups of people in this country who en masse could stir up the pot should they choose to do so. Right now, it's still in the simmering stage.

I think virtually all Americans are a rather docile people. I don't see any uprisings of significance happening. Plus, law enforcement is more than equipped to put them down in short order.

bae
11-13-15, 12:56pm
I think virtually all Americans are a rather docile people. I don't see any uprisings of significance happening. Plus, law enforcement is more than equipped to put them down in short order.

You really need to get out more.

flowerseverywhere
11-13-15, 1:16pm
I think virtually all Americans are a rather docile people. I don't see any uprisings of significance happening. Plus, law enforcement is more than equipped to put them down in short order.

Ferguson
yesterday there were protests against racism across college campuses
ballooning student loan debt
increased violence against police officers

all simmering away...

JaneV2.0
11-13-15, 1:22pm
Violence against police officers has been trending down for years actually, if fatality rates can be believed.

bae
11-13-15, 1:33pm
Violence against police officers has been trending down for years actually, if fatality rates can be believed.

Bunny trail:

"If fatality rates can be believed" - excellent qualifier. Police training, procedure, and armor are quite a bit better these days, and trauma care is really really good now (thanks to our hobby of engaging in decades-long foreign wars), so it's hard to use *just* fatality rate as the metric. Even "attacks on police" is biased over time, as it's a different world these days, training/procedure-wise, and I think a lot of attacks probably don't get the chance to materialize, judging from my experiences helping teach at the SPAA facility. But first-order, it doesn't seem the narrative "there's a huge *increase* in violence against officers" fits the data.

It seems violence against firefighters, EMTs, and healthcare workers has been trending up, which is a bit horrid.

Williamsmith
11-13-15, 2:03pm
I think virtually all Americans are a rather docile people. I don't see any uprisings of significance happening. Plus, law enforcement is more than equipped to put them down in short order.

I was a member of that law enforcement you described as more than equipped to put them down. Yes there are a few well equipped units in most large law enforcement agencies, but in general woefully under equipped, under manned and under trained to face any organized and persistent uprising. It would require the use of our own military to quell a riot of even modest size. And there are plenty of pseudo military patriot type militia groups organized enough to caused major havoc in this country. Why that hasn't yet happened is to me a mystery explained only by the misinformation that is spewed by government economics statistics and the fed painting itself into a corner with zero percent interest. When the bag breaks.....all kinds of disgusting goo will flow out into the streets of the pissed off masses. You do need to get out more and maybe attend the local chapter of the Ohio Militia. Pennsylvania and Michigan are entrenched with them.

CathyA
11-13-15, 4:08pm
Pinkytoe.........I guess there have been some copyright issues, but I found a copy of it with just subtitles and no sound......but you still get the picture....and it's a pretty awful one. :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwl5kyjLGT8

I hope this isn't propaganda..........but some of it has to be believed.

jp1
11-14-15, 12:01am
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/09/europe/hungarian-camerawoman-migrant-firing/

I suppose if we don't want to help them we could always ask our photojournalists to trip them and kick small children. Personally I don't think a society like that is much worth saving. Your mileage may differ.

jp1
11-18-15, 3:56pm
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_St._Louis

I didn't know this particular story before. Apparently being afraid of, and not wanting to help, refugees has sadly been long a part of our history.

gimmethesimplelife
11-19-15, 5:43pm
it may not be offered in the cable package he has.I don't have cable, IL, and neither does my partner now that we are sharing the same apartment. I didn't know there were cable companies that offered Al Jazeera.....I might be willing to get a cheap, repeat cheap (if such a thing exists nowadays) cable package just to have access to Al Jazeera, I was that impressed with it's news coverage. Rob

gimmethesimplelife
11-19-15, 5:46pm
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/this-guy-shared-the-perfect-facebook-post-about-being-disapp#.gvqyXAQ6jm

And then there's this guy, with a different take on this "crisis". If only there were more people like him and his partner in the world perhaps we'd be calling it an opportunity instead of a crisis.I really respect this man and his partner.....if only more people were like this this might be a better world. Rob