posted on December 31, 2001 04:34:16 PM new
Our State Department has determined that no fewer than 200 countries around the world are unsafe for U.S. citizens to visit. We are being targeted (profiled, ho ho ho?) for everything from "express kidnappings" (that's where tourists are kidnapped and made to deplete their funds at ATMs and then let go) to outright murder.
It is no longer safe for mountaineers to venture through Kashmir en route to the Himalayas -- doing so exposes them to the whims of the terrorist groups Harakat Ul Mujahideen & Al Faran.
France -- a nation dubbed by our State Dept. as "a developed and stable democracy" -- cannot thwart the efforts of well-organized gangs of thieves and pickpockets, who "work" the Metro system from Charles de Gaulle airport all the way to Paris -- robbing-blind jet-lagged American tourists along the way. France also has a terrorist problem -- namely The Basque Separatist Party & The National Front for the Liberation of Corsica, both of which "occasionally bomb local government institutions, banks, travel agencies, etc."
Closer to home, the list of "don'ts" regarding travel throughout Mexico makes one wonder not only why we accord Mexico most-favored nation status but also why the State Dept. doesn't simply pare-down its warnings to two words: "Don't go".
Even Ireland -- long war-torn by religion-induced political strife -- has "come of age" as a host for petty thieves who prey upon American tourists.
I don't expect that many of you are as interested in these State Dept. warnings as I am, but I routinely refer to them as a source of "hard news". While CNN and FOX and whomever else sit back and tells us how well we "kick butt" in Afghanistan, or how well we've come together since Sept. 11th, or how well off we're going to be in the New Year, I note with growing alarm the number of real (horrible) things that happen to real Americans abroad...
JAFFA, ISRAEL—It's getting kind of lonely over here. We don't want you to think we're upset about this, but terms like fair-weather friends, cowards, and chicken #*!@ do come to mind.
We wait for you at the airport and in hotel lobbies. You're no-shows.
The number of tourists coming to Israel from the United States is down 50 percent from last year—and falling fast. Soon there will be more French people here than Americans. What a disgrace!
The hotels are like ghost towns. Many of the shops that catered to you have closed up. So have some really good restaurants. Hotels are offering Israelis such good deals that you could sell your house and move into a suite at the Hilton if you wanted to save money.
posted on December 31, 2001 05:24:27 PM new
Hey! I bought that cd! Have her first Christmas one too! Her rendition of Ave Maria is to die for. But then, I'm a "Babs" fan.
posted on December 31, 2001 05:36:37 PM new KatyD, just for you I'll explain my last post: At an all-sports radio station down in L.A., the station manager sent a stern memo around to all the deejays to "play more Jewish music" during December. The fact that this was a SPORTS station (scores, game highlights, etc.) seemed to have slipped his mind. Indeed, this particular station is not expected (or known) for playing any music at all. So, a couple of the livelier morning deejays read the station manager's memo aloud on the air and began arguing about what he might have meant. The final ironic statement made by one of them was: "Hey! Babs has a new CD out. Do you suppose Jews singing Christmas songs counts?"
Not responsible if the foregoing offendsanyone, so bugger off.
posted on December 31, 2001 05:42:08 PM new
Before you go off the deep end consider this.
Kidnappings and robberies involving tourists are so prevelent in Florida that many foreigners do not want to go there. Any large city in the US has its area where tourists are warned to stay away, especially at night.
Why should you be so surprised that this same thing occurs elsewhere?
posted on December 31, 2001 05:54:48 PM new
I rather fancy the deep end, Grumteach, so prithee do not keep me from it.
I am aware that many U.S. cities are unsafe -- not only for tourists but for their own residents. This doesn't mean that I (or anyone) should "take in stride" or just accept that concerted criminal activity abroad against Americans is some sort of "price" we pay for having the means to travel. Many of the countries we visit rely almost exclusively upon our vacationdollars to keep them solvent. In *my* economy, that cold hard fact would get my law-enforcement act in gear and get me to do everything I could to make my country safe for the foreigners whose revenue I so desperately need...
posted on December 31, 2001 06:16:22 PM new
That's too funny, Pat! And if they played Babs cd, that station manager had the best of both worlds. all though I would think that regular listeners of that all sports station probably weren't interested in hearing ANY kind of music, but I don't follow sports, so what do I know?
posted on December 31, 2001 06:45:37 PM new
Pl, the pickpockets have been working the Paris Metro and buses for many years, and the targets were any nationality.
The ETA is very active in the Basque area of northern Spain, and has been since the 70s.
Their targets were local government, not Americans.
Driving thru Mexico has always been go at your own risk.
Horrible things have always happened to travellers of many nationalities. Americans have been targeted since the 80s by terrorist groups. Remember Leon Klinghoffer? You have the right to an informed opinion -Harlan Ellison
posted on December 31, 2001 06:54:48 PM new Katy and Helen, I haven't heard Babs' new CD, but I take it Ave Maria is one of its highlights? Just wondering why Hava Nagila didn't make the cut -- same number of syllables...
Okay, now that this thread has become Everything We Didn't Need to Know About Music, are any of you Billy Gilman fans? (I realize this will be a tough one to admit to if you are, but I'd never heard of him before and suddenly he was popping up every other minute on the TV singing a Christmas song with the practiced gestures of a veteran Rat-Packer). Even my 80-year-old Dad said, "Who is that snotty kid?" before switching the channel to MTV, haha! Is there something about this kid (and that other one... Michael somebody) that I'm missing? Are they what keep the shallow end afloat, Grumteach?
edited to add: Snowy, you're getting into the spirit of the thing now. This was a troll thread. Duh! Where's Krafty, anyway?
posted on December 31, 2001 07:30:20 PM new
LOL this is a great thread. Since this is a troll practice thread, I absolutely must contribute to the effort...
Alright, who's got something against South Florida? Following the example of Israel, maybe we should put up signs in German in Miami and call the tourists chickensh*ts and scaredycats for not coming back to Miami?
posted on December 31, 2001 07:36:54 PM new
Yeah, Enchanted. The Bushes aren't afraid to be in Florida. They LOVE Florida. Why, I'll wager Florida is one of their very favorite states. Right after Texas.
If Jeb Bush weren't Governor of Florida none of this would be happening.
posted on December 31, 2001 07:47:54 PM new
"...maybe we should put up signs in German in Miami and call the tourists chickensh*ts and scaredycats for not coming back to Miami?"
posted on December 31, 2001 08:07:34 PM new
Yeah. Why do they call it Key West when it's in the East Gulf? You have the right to an informed opinion -Harlan Ellison
posted on December 31, 2001 08:21:13 PM new
Snowy always gets the conch.
The Conch Train used to stop right by where I lived in Key West. All the tourists [not the chickensh*ts from Germany] used to watch me take out my trash.
posted on January 1, 2002 09:26:41 PM new
My take onthis thing is that you should take the savings that you are holding for your vacation and instead use it to pay off your credit cards and other debts. While you might have a vacation this year, the economy has yet to see the bottom and is doing a crash-dive towards it and you may not have a job by next year to take a vacation from.
