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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| No, madam, it's you who have offended MY values |
| 2009-06-17 |
| On a train to London, a young woman wearing a burkha, with only her heavily made-up eyes peeping out, did not have a valid ticket. Challenged by the guard, the young woman gave a litany of excuses. She had left her bag at her boyfriend's, he had bought the ticket, she had no money on her... My friend Jane, who was in the same carriage, noticed how the guard became nervous as the Muslim girl presented herself as an innocent in a society she didn't understand. Instead of issuing a penalty fine, the guard backed off, shrugging his helplessness at the other passengers. So imagine my friend's surprise when she got off at the same station as burkha girl and saw this 'penniless innocent' whip out a credit card from under the folds of her dress with which she promptly bought a Tube ticket. Jane was so incensed she sent me a text message, explaining what she'd witnessed. It ended: 'Attack of Burkha Rage. Grrr.' Jane is not a BNP voter. She is a university lecturer who specialises in the developing world. Yet Burkha Rage has become our personal shorthand for someone taking the mickey out of our country and its tolerant ways. Rest at link |
| Posted by:ed |
| #15 Don't remember any Iraqis prisoners/civilians complaining about MREs, including pork dishes, during Desert Storm. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-06-17 22:59 |
| #14 as some Marines would mess w/the locals who wanted MREs - "see Hajji, it says H.A.M. that's beef in english....sure you can have it, we have plenty...salami alaikum" |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2009-06-17 21:07 |
| #13 All meat aspires to be bacon |
| Posted by: 746 2009-06-17 20:15 |
| #12 I seem to have smeared some pork grease on your burkha I think that's a capital crime in Britain. |
| Posted by: Vinegar Angins2704 2009-06-17 20:01 |
| #11 another good reason to carry a SlimJim with you at all times, like garlic to vampires. They don't have to know it's beef |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-06-17 19:27 |
| #10 The counter to burkha-fu is smearing pork style. As in, "Pardon me, I seem to have smeared some pork grease on your burkha. At least, that is what I think it is. It might be nothing." |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-06-17 19:16 |
| #9 Her, try 5 large guys and zero explaination, |
| Posted by: 746 2009-06-17 18:40 |
| #8 Look at Fata Lemes .... No thanks. She would've done the bar patrons a good turn by wearing her burkha to work. |
| Posted by: AzCat 2009-06-17 17:57 |
#7 From the Star Wars novel Showdown at Centerpoint:"Traditions make for an awfully handy set of excuses," Mara [Jade] said. "Every time I have ever dealt with a Selonian who didn't want to do something, she's explained to me how tradition made it impossible, or the ways of her people caused it to be difficult to decide, or whatever excuse seemed handy And my people always had to be respectful of your ways, and accept the structure of your culture. No more. ... This is survival. There is no time. It is time for you to accept the ways of our culture. |
| Posted by: Korora 2009-06-17 16:21 |
| #6 I might move our weekly "business meeting" to The Rocket Bar to help make up the fine. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2009-06-17 16:10 |
| #5 Would have gotten through a lot faster if you asked her (i hope) phone # and said you'd call the next time you're in town, you Swedish-American hunk. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-06-17 16:09 |
| #4 Next time put the Dalahäst in your checked baggage as opposed to carrying it around under your arm. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-06-17 16:06 |
| #3 i was held up at Tel Aviv airport once. all day, missed my flight, because I looked Swedish, I'm American! |
| Posted by: 746 2009-06-17 16:01 |
| #2 The rest of the article: Yet Burkha Rage has become our personal shorthand for someone taking the mickey out of our country and its tolerant ways. Despite a growing acceptance that multi-culturalism has been deeply damaging to race relations, there are still almost weekly opportunities for a fit of Burkha Rage. Look at Fata Lemes, the Muslim bar waitress who won £3,000 compensation this week for quitting her job after she objected to wearing a red cocktail dress. Apologies if I find it hard to keep a straight face, but my jaw keeps dropping open. Miss Lemes took the job in a bar and left after eight days, claiming managers asked her to wear a dress that made her look like a prostitute. Actually, the frock is conservative by London bar standards - more Petersfield garden party than Peter Stringfellow. But fair enough if Miss Lemes didn't like it. What was not fair enough was her demand for £20,000 compensation. An employment tribunal found that Miss Lemes had 'overstated her trauma'. You can say that again. Her compensation claim was 'manifestly absurd'. Yet instead of telling the 33-year-old to grow up and accept that a British city bar is not readily confused with a convent, the tribunal awarded her £2,919.95. As a Bosnian Muslim, it said, she 'holds views about modesty and decency which some might think unusual in Britain in the 21st century'. They might think it was unusual if they had spotted that modest flower Miss Lemes on Facebook wearing a vest top with a gaping cleavage. But that image was not produced in court. How exactly are British employers supposed to avoid hurting the feelings of grievance-mongers like Fata Lemes? Imagine a job interview where a bar manager dared to suggest that a Muslim woman might not feel at ease in their uniform. Before you could say 'Mine's a Cosmopolitan', Miss Lemes would have sued for discrimination. I'm afraid Fata Lemes is no better than the girl dodging the train fare. Both are quick to hide behind their religious identity and play the victim. Both are happy to embarrass their host nation into ignoring common sense. Let me be clear: there are millions of British Muslims who respect our cultural norms. It's the minority of opportunists who provoke Burkha Rage. You see it from time to time: the Muslim shop assistant who refused to serve a woman buying First Bible Stories for her grandson because it was 'unclean'. And the disgraceful capitulation of Sainsbury's to Islamic checkout staff who refused to sell alcohol. Gordon Brown, a recent convert to Britishness, has promised that the emphasis for immigrants must be on fitting in, learning our ways and our language. Yet, only yesterday, a Metropolitan Police chief admitted the bill for translation services for criminals and victims was set to soar to a staggering £20million by 2012. Scotland Yard blames a growth in 50 distinct communities of more than 10,000 people and having to deal with more than 300 languages. At no point in the statement is there any mention of compulsory English lessons. No suggestion of people needing to fit in with our ways, rather than us with theirs. I feel a small attack of Burkha Rage coming on. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-06-17 14:46 |
| #1 When I spent time in Tel Aviv, the buses were on the honor system, spot checks for tickets. Gal I knew from Finland related that she was on a bus, had no ticket. The ticket taker asked her for her ticket - so she babbled something in Finnish. He passed her by. Of course she was fluent in English (most widespread 2nd language in Israel), and conversational in German (also well known) but the ticket taker didnt know that. Petty fraud is found in all cultures. |
| Posted by: liberal hawk 2009-06-17 14:40 |