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Originally Posted by Vendor (Post 1564985)

http://i.imgur.com/LMuYA.jpg

I see what ya did tharr! :03:

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Originally Posted by Feuer Frei! (Post 1565016)

I see what ya did tharr! :03:

I'm getting hungry, :yep:

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Originally Posted by Gammelpreusse (Post 1564943)

I always had a problem with the argument that Islamic folks are incompatible with western values.

The integration of Muslims into Western society has failed, and will never occur to the extent necessary for them to function successfully in Western society. The reason is that a vast majority of them have not fulfilled all three of the criteria that are necessary for becoming members of, and feeling at home in, our non-Islamic societies:

Wanting to integrate
Being allowed to integrate
Being able to integrate

Firstly, we must ask ourselves: Why should Muslims want to integrate? They're sure to receive all possible welfare benefits, whether they educate themselves, work, learn our language, acknowledge Western values and mix socially with the native population, or not. Lack of integration does not involve any risk of becoming socially or culturally isolated, because there are ample opportunities to live with others in a parallel society where all share the same cultural norms as themselves.
Secondly, it is important to know that Muslim culture is dominated by extreme social and religious control. Because of the great differences (and often even incompatibilities) that exist between Western culture and the Muslim way of life, it is commonplace for members of the Muslim community to see true integration - including making use of basic human rights and freedoms to freely chose one’s clothing, sexual partners, religion, geographic location, lifestyle, etc - as being forms of religious and/or cultural apostasy.

Thirdly, integration is difficult for Muslims. The cultural and educational level of our high-tech knowledge society is very high. In the West, we are expected to regulate our own behaviour without having an aggressive God, an unpleasant Hell, all pervading social control, and aggressive male authorities to set the borders of what is and what is not acceptable and to motivate us towards constructive actions.
Integration does not mean giving up your religion, culture, ideals or principles. It means accepting that you have a positive role to play in the society you are a member of.

Feuer Frei! ,

^ :yeah: Very well said.

I just again would add and remind of the fact that it is not only a problem of Islamic ideology and indoctrination by it's different and supremacist values, but also - on a level beside Islam - a problem of patriarchalic social structures, and macho-cult, both of wich are helped and fostered by Islamic ideology, but not exclszuively caused by it. Even without Islam existing, they would pose problems, just maybe not on that scale as they actually do.

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Originally Posted by Feuer Frei! (Post 1565022)

Wanting to integrate
Being allowed to integrate
Being able to integrate

I'd agree to you if I were convinced what you describe here are root causes, not just symptoms of a deeper problem. The debate over integration has indeed developed in the direction you explained, but it leaves some other points unanswered.

First one, as stated before, the first and second generation actually tried to integrate, despite the conditions you describe present back then as well.

So the question remains, what happened that the third and forth generations went back to Islam, and not even their parents Islam, but a radicalized and idealized form of Islam more found in the internet then in reality?

Why is it that those Germans with a Muslim background that actually managed to get a higher education and accepting German values, why is it that exactly these folks are leaving the country again?

You know I'd like to have a simple world view where a whole group of people can be described with three simple sentences and thus propper solutions as well, would make the issue a lot simpler to resolve. But those points described above above keep nagging me all the time.

Feuer frei.
Most of your arguement is pretty identical to just about every arguement put forward about practicly every group of immigrants since the beginning of history.
As such it is pretty much total bollox just like it has been throughout history, but of course Skybird likes it and thinks its "very well said" as he has this thing about blacks and muslims and arabs and africans and turks and of course germans that ain't the right sort of germans:rotfl2:

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Originally Posted by Gammelpreusse (Post 1565036)

First one, as stated before, the first and second generation actually tried to integrate, despite the conditions you describe present back then as well.

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Why is it that those Germans with a Muslim background that actually managed to get a higher education and accepting German values, why is it that exactly these folks are leaving the country again?

You might be surprised that these are often those Muslims who were willing to integrate, were caring indeed for their kids getting good education - and who were warning the Germans time and again that they were too illusianl and too soft on not demanding the non-integrating Turks to integrate nevertheless, and sanctionise them if they do not. They tell us they we are too forgiving, and that we have a wrong, too friendly view of Islam! They see no chan ce for themselves in ermany due to the overburdened social systems and the fact that the non-integrating Muslims are those who defione the rules of how Muslim migrants behave in Germany. It is fair to say that many of those leaving Germany, not only flee from German intolerance, but flee from their own people.

BTW, we have a general brain drain and craftsmen drain in Germany, due to the bad labour market and low wages, if jobs are to be gotten. Especially doctors and craftsmen flee from Germany in significant numbers.

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You know I'd like to have a simple world view where a whole group of people can be described with three simple sentences and thus propper solutions as well, would make the issue a lot simpler to resolve. But those points described above above keep nagging me all the time.

I realsie there are in diovidual exceptions from the rule. But they are not the majority, but a minority, and not even a big minority. They are not loud enough (cannot or do not wish to be) to keep those who actively refuse integration and demand special rights given to Turks and Islam in check. The active propagators of the non-integrators, also are not the majority. The majority are the many who hide and duck and stay silent and separate, passively refusing integration and relativisation of their Turkish values while living in a German cultural context. But this slent majority is a majority the activists can reliably count on - becasue by not dojng anatyhing against them the silent ones allow the activists to speak in their name and form the official "voice" of Islam in Germany. The political-Islamic panel the government has introduced two years ago, is dominated by the speakers from the Turkish national religion ministry (it'S proxy agencies in Germany), and small groups representing almost completely extremely radical groups and organisations - that do not officially speak fpor the majority of Muslims in Germany, but claim to do so. And the politicians accept, this, have banned several competent Muslim Islam-critics from the board for disturbing the illusion of peace and mutual tolerance, and swallow the lies the radicals are pouring into their ears. That way, the understanding of what Islam is and wants, gets constantly distorted and concealed. The silent majority, and the educated, integrated minority, do not much agaiunst this, if anything at all. Anbd where they do or apostates raise their voice from their ranks, warning thre Germans of trusting Islam and giving ground to it, they get bashed and witch-hunted through the village - not by Muslims, but the German left and the Greens and the Multikulti-faction and the PC brigade and the Eurocrats, and the german self-labelled pseudo-intellectual "elites", and of course the editors in the feuilletons of the newspapers.

I didn't realise sky could put so much crap in a single post.
The bugger is so confused you really almost have to pity the poor creature.
so they feel bad because they are just poor muslims and then they convert to become muslims which means they are muslims which are just poor muslims which are no longer muslims but jackpot winners who are muslims who converted from being muslims.
Hmmmmm tasty fruitcake.

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Originally Posted by Tribesman (Post 1565048)

Feuer frei.
Most of your arguement is pretty identical to just about every arguement put forward about practicly every group of immigrants since the beginning of history.

Arguement? Or fact? Of course it's identical.
About cultural clashes...since the beginning of time, and it will always be impossible to integrate 2 cultures.

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As such it is pretty much total bollox just like it has been throughout history

Aha, bollox, the fact that throughout history cross-cultural integration has always been 'seemless' and fully successful.

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Originally Posted by Tribesman (Post 1564919)

I know perfectly well what you mean, and I know that it doesn't really make any sense.

Those two claims were so ludicrous it is self evident that they were complete nonsense.

I have provided evidence for my claims. The burden of evidence is now on you. Just saying my claims are false is not going to work.

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A Dutch tradition that still existss in a few Dutch places.
So that would be a Dutch tradition as it is a Dutch tradition and its Dutch because its in the Netherlands and the people whose tradition it is are errrrr.....Dutch.

No you didn't, you demonstrated yourself having a mental block again.

Right.... and growing a beard is an American tradition because the Amish do so:doh:

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Interesting link, did you notice the bit in there about Dutch culture:har::har::har::har:.

I did. Did you?

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As for your statisitics, they are meaningless, you made a claim about Turkish and Arabic women you see, so a statistic about all turkish women means nothing.

I made an observation, using that observation to form a claim about Turkish and Arabic women in general. So a statistic about Turkish women in general exactly matches with what my claim was about. In case you didn't notice, the statistics back up what I claim.

Seriously, this is the fallacy of all fallacies. Person D claims X and presents evidence for it. Now person T claims the evidence is false because it proofs that X is true:doh::doh::doh::doh::doh:

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Besides which you need to explore the warped perception angle as the simple fact is you notice headscarfs more rather than see them more.

Indeed. Statistics show I see an astonishing 4% more headscarfs than there really are:eek:

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So far I havn't had to as you dig yourself into a hole.

Burden of evidence, Tribesman, burden of evidence....

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Sorry but you did, which is why it was a perfect example.
You made lots of claims about Turks doing things, added the qualification that of course not all Turks do those things but made the very foolish claim that Germans don't do those things:doh:

If you're under the impression that I made those claims you have misunderstood my claims as much as you can misunderstand them. Maybe I didn't write them down clearly enough so that your mind can grab its all too simple meaning, but I never meant to claim what you say I do.

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Why do you have to lie? I said you appeared to know bugger all about the dutch laws at issue and you proved me correct by not even being able to understand the law or even identify the correct branch of laws even thogh your fathers summons and specific charge was on the link.

What do you mean "lie"? Did you not claim to be some kind of expert on Dutch law?
Also your memory appears to fail. Maybe you want to see a doctor? As I told you at the time, my dad was originally charged with something else than the link said.

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Excuse me, you claimed a verdict of guilty was really a not guilty verdict.

And elephants are blue.

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Well done.
Now see if you can understand how those figures are reached?
After all a reported suspect only means one thing:know:

Yes I can. Apparently you can not.

But anyways, I've found another statistic which corrects for the size of the populations: http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/FA26E...minaliteit.pdf (look at page 30-43)
Now the burden of evidence is even more on you than it already was.

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Not at all, if anything I would have expected them to be higher, as I said above, they only mean one thing.

They mean exactly one thing that you have proven unable to understand.

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Sorry, your claim was that Germans don't do that sort of thing.
See what I mean about digging yourself into a hole.

As I have said a few quote-blocks above, I didn't claim that. Now where's that hole you speak of?

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It certainly did, all you had to do was look and think but you simply wouldn't as to do so would have demolished your own claims.

Maybe I did look and think and the result of that backed up my claims. But the possibility of that escapes your small mind.

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Do you even realise what you had written and what it related to that you had previously written?

I do. Now do you realize what you had previously written?

Tribesman, I've provided more than enough evidence for my claims. The burden of evidence is now on you. Either provide some evidence, or I can't see why I'm still having this discussion.

Further to adressing the thread title, ie staying on-topic:

The Muslim community has a responsibility to ease the path to integration. The Muslim communities in Germany have a long way to go.
Among a generation of Muslims born in Europe, significant numbers have nothing but contempt and disdain for their native lands, and allegiance only to the Muslim umma and the lands of their parents’ birth. Those who continue to arrive in Europe from Muslim countries are encouraged by the isolation, self-imposed and other-abetted, of the Islamic communities in Europe to hold to the same attitudes.
Understanding radical Islamism as a form of identity
politics also explains why second and third-generation European Muslims have turned to it. First-generation immigrants have usually not made a psychological
break with the culture of their land of birth and carry traditional practices with them to their new homes. Their children, by contrast, are often contemptuous of
their parents' religiosity, and yet have not become integrated into the culture of the new society. Stuck between two cultures with which they cannot identify, they find a strong appeal to the Universalist ideology of contemporary jihadism.
Islam is a belief which focuses on expansion
and which is fundamentally opposed to "Western values.
Muslim communities must be more
vocal against extremism, and actively counter rather than tolerate radical preachers.Young European Muslims of second or third generation who feel disenfranchised in a society that does not fully accept them and thus
search for a new identity, seem to be particularly inclined to a notably radical Islam.
Imams have frequently been educated and trained
abroad and are sometimes also paid by foreign institutions like the Diyanet, the Turkish religious authority. They are often unfamiliar with the morals and customs
of their European host countries and only stay for a limited time before going back to their countries of origin. In many cases these imams remain "outsiders" with little
interest to integrate into and understand the societies of their host-countries.

Muslims not only despise western secular values as decadent, materialistic, corrupt and immoral. They do not accept the distinction between the spiritual and the temporal, the division which in Christian societies confines religion to the margins of everyday life. Instead, for Muslims the whole of human life must represent a submission to God.
This means that they feel a duty to Islamicise the values of the surrounding culture.
Are we a western culture, or are we to become something else? If the latter, who is making the decision to wipe out our national identity? Because if we take in enough people who refuse to integrate and assimilate to western values, this belief system will not survive. Liberalism will then have disappeared up its own fundament.

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Originally Posted by Tribesman (Post 1565055)

Come on, construct your arguement to counter his, but don't attack the poster.

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Originally Posted by Skybird (Post 1565052)

Did they? There were many gust workers since the 50s, from Jugoslavia, Greece, Italy, Turkey. Most Yugos, Greek and Italians sooner or later went back and never had the itnention to stay forever, and those who stayed all in all generally are well-integrated. Just the Turks came to stay forever, and one must doubt yopur claim that they tried toi integrate from beginning on. They stayed separate from beginning on, and this separatism is the reason why parallel society formed up which isolated themselves from German main society. This found its impression in fialing school education for the offsprings from these families, even more since these parents are not used to help in school-educating their kids like it is necessary, not helping them to adopt foreign customs and culture, and did not care much for what happened at sachool. Result: lower chances for school diploma, and job chances. Social decline. Result from that: growing isolationism, a group feeling of "us" against "them". "Us" means "us poor Muslim victims, the reatest and most misunderstood victims of all history", "them" means "those pig-eating hell-doomed Scheißdeutsche", "those German slutty whores" that make "so marvellous a f#ck". At the same time they are refused in their Turkish home country as well.

And then comes Mr. Islam and says: "By simply converting to my teaching or being an obedient vasall to me, you will no longer a looser, but belong to a special group of people that will rule the world and that are preferred by God that loves them, and you will be loved by all your brothers and sisters and you will be the Herren of the world to which all other humans that are infidels are inferior, and must bow their knees". Dadda-Bang! Bull's Eye! All for free! As a Muslim, all of a sudden you are somebody, from nothing to jackpot in no time!

Turks form the overwhelming majority of Muslim people in Germany. There must be reason why in Germany other foreigners try better to imntegrate and for the most are better integrated and are not overreporesented in negative statistics (education, job, crime), like Muslim groups. It is not that Germans said: "Back then we kicked the Jews, no we slap the Muslims".

Has it ever come to your mind that not only they do not wish to integrate,m but that germans have a good reason to remain sceptical of them anbd not wanting them in return? The social engineering experiment of turning the totalitarian, moncultural ideology of Islam into a tolerant, multicultural message of peaceful living togteher on the basis of equal rights not only for Islam (which constantly demands special status and special rights), but for ALL, has failed not becasue Germans slap all migrants. we have massive problems not with migrants in general, but with Muslim migrants - a majority of them. And it has become an extremely costly economical problem as well.

You might be surprised that these are often those Muslims who were willing to integrate, were caring indeed for their kids getting good education - and who were warning the Germans time and again that they were too illusianl and too soft on not demanding the non-integrating Turks to integrate nevertheless, and sanctionise them if they do not. They tell us they we are too forgiving, and that we have a wrong, too friendly view of Islam! They see no chan ce for themselves in ermany due to the overburdened social systems and the fact that the non-integrating Muslims are those who defione the rules of how Muslim migrants behave in Germany. It is fair to say that many of those leaving Germany, not only flee from German intolerance, but flee from their own people.

BTW, we have a general brain drain and craftsmen drain in Germany, due to the bad labour market and low wages, if jobs are to be gotten. Especially doctors and craftsmen flee from Germany in significant numbers.

I realsie there are in diovidual exceptions from the rule. But they are not the majority, but a minority, and not even a big minority. They are not loud enough (cannot or do not wish to be) to keep those who actively refuse integration and demand special rights given to Turks and Islam in check. The active propagators of the non-integrators, also are not the majority. The majority are the many who hide and duck and stay silent and separate, passively refusing integration and relativisation of their Turkish values while living in a German cultural context. But this slent majority is a majority the activists can reliably count on - becasue by not dojng anatyhing against them the silent ones allow the activists to speak in their name and form the official "voice" of Islam in Germany. The political-Islamic panel the government has introduced two years ago, is dominated by the speakers from the Turkish national religion ministry (it'S proxy agencies in Germany), and small groups representing almost completely extremely radical groups and organisations - that do not officially speak fpor the majority of Muslims in Germany, but claim to do so. And the politicians accept, this, have banned several competent Muslim Islam-critics from the board for disturbing the illusion of peace and mutual tolerance, and swallow the lies the radicals are pouring into their ears. That way, the understanding of what Islam is and wants, gets constantly distorted and concealed. The silent majority, and the educated, integrated minority, do not much agaiunst this, if anything at all. Anbd where they do or apostates raise their voice from their ranks, warning thre Germans of trusting Islam and giving ground to it, they get bashed and witch-hunted through the village - not by Muslims, but the German left and the Greens and the Multikulti-faction and the PC brigade and the Eurocrats, and the german self-labelled pseudo-intellectual "elites", and of course the editors in the feuilletons of the newspapers.

I've read all these articles in newspapers as well, over the time bringing up all those arguments you listed here. I mention this not to discredit your post, but to make clear I am pretty much aware of all the arguments brought forward in the general debate over immigration over the time. It's not a new debate, after all. However, claiming that all Turks came to stay indefinitely without ever willing to integrate is a bit over the top, to say the least. I'd rather say each individual turks had his own indivifual reason for doing things, just like modern germans emmigrating to other countries have their very own reasons for doing this. To make this out to be a concerted effort with some kind of master plan behind it which all Turks kinda followed is bold. I'd rather say this has more to do with Anatolian patriarch structures in many parts of the folks that came here then Islam, far removed from todays problems of radical Islam. The youth here today living their prtoblematic muslim lives are completely different from the folks that came here 40 or 50 years ago.

However, by now I pretty much started to distrust medias that have a growing tendency to write what ppl want to hear to get a better shareholder value by simply repeating and copying themselves then through thorough investigation, which pretty much leaves people to judge from personal experience.
And frankly, I yet have to meet a radical muslim. Thinking about it, I met more radical germans (aka NeoNazis) then radical Muslims. I also heared of more murder and acts of violence by Neonazis then the other way around. Yet they hardly dominate the news. A little tidbit also making me a bit suspicion about the motives behind the current muslim debate. Is this really about basic human rights and their acceptance or is it about foreign influences into German society and if there is a muezzin instead of a bell, and above all scapegoats over the current economic and political system crisis? Would not be a first one given Europes history since ancient times.
Both, btw, bells and muezins are getting onto my nerves, actually and I would instantly support a ban on either. Not on cultural grounds, but simply because I like it quiet on a Sunday.
Those questions should be cleared up before going on.

This is the first time I also ever heared about numbers in regards to the radicals and not integrating turks being a majority. I do not reject it, either, but I'd like to see some hard facts here. Any sources handy? Because it certainly does not reflect personal experiences.

I should also add that I couldn't care less of being german or living by german values. If people are cool, they are cool, if people are idiots, they are idiots, that is pretty much unrelated to ethnic or cultural background. Currently living in Frankfurt as a hotspot for foreign immigration gives some first hand experiences in people no matter where they come from. Besides, I yet have to hear a single propper definition of what German actually is, and please don't come up with Prussian values here. I respect those, but hardly consider them german, the same way bavarian drinking traditions hardly are german.

The one thing were I am completed on your side is a general decline in intellectual capability in recent decades, as it is less and less about long term solution seeking but short term emotional satisfaction. It's by far not a german problem alone these days when looking at the US, the UK, France and other countries with a more liberal tradition, but that hardly makes it any better. This change of attitude pretty much dominates every topic, be it the Euro, Europe, immigration, education etc. Demanding of others to completely assimilate while oneself staying home sipping a beer quite belongs to this. That is just going from the liberal extremes of the 80ies multikulti right to the other extreme; and neither does the situation any justice. As long this is about a superficial anaylsis of how all muslims are taking advantage of the german system while not willing to integrate WITHOUT also taking into account the problematics on the German side the debate will go in circles without a solution in sight. Societies never stay staitic, there is constant change and immigration into Germany is not a new phenomenon. In fact, it is as old as this very land itself.

And that is what the debate is about, right? Solutions? You won't find those with those constant blame games, be it immigrants, intellectuals, feuilletons or whatever.

Finally. The whole debate over muslim motives, and I am not talking radical islam here, but everyday muslim, kinda implies a concious throught process on the side of this religious group in regards to immigration. However, it is more probable those folks came here and just went along the development by adjusting to the presented conditions based on their own cultural upbringing and expiriences. To counter this, this process would have to be analyzed. You know, good old science and intellectual deduction instead of emotional rants. I always thought this ability is what makes the West stand apart from most of the rest of the world. Defending enlightenment by dropping to the levels of it's attackers kinda does not make sense.

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I have provided evidence for my claims. The burden of evidence is now on you. Just saying my claims are false is not going to work.

No you didn't, regarding those two specific claims you made would you like me to go through the huge effort of finding a single case of theft by a german and a single case of wifebeating by a german to fully illustrate how self evidently nonsensical your claims were?

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Right.... and growing a beard is an American tradition because the Amish do so

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Burden of evidence, Tribesman, burden of evidence....

The evidence I need is in your own words.

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It is very simple.
You could have written that some turks are criminals and wife beaters and some germans are criminals and wife beaters.
Instead you wrote some turks are criminals and wife beaters and germans are not criminals and wife beaters.
The problem you faced was writing the first means you had no valid point at all to make and writing the second means you make the point you want to make by simply lying.
To add to it you said no germans are loud shoutiong self important asses and no germans attack people over their views or politics.

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What do you mean "lie"?

"Lie" as in write something that isn't true.

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Did you not claim to be some kind of expert on Dutch law?

No, I said you knew bugger all about dutch law and council meetings.

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Also your memory appears to fail. Maybe you want to see a doctor? As I told you at the time, my dad was originally charged with something else than the link said.

No he wasn't, he was arrested under a catch all offence and then charged with the real offence.
Do you know the difference between an arrest and being charged?:doh:

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And elephants are blue.

And a conviction is an aquittal?????:rotfl2:
You really should stay out of the coffee shops.

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Yes I can. Apparently you can not.

Obviously you don't, or like me you would have expected the proportion to be much higher.

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But anyways, I've found another statistic which corrects for the size of the populations

Thats better, wow them Dutch colonials are real huge criminals, they put the morrocans to shame throughout the age categories don't they. Maybe thats their longer exposure to dutch culture eh

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They mean exactly one thing that you have proven unable to understand.

No, those earlier figures was only about reported suspects which would only cover a very small proportion of crimes and would be very succeptible to warped perception, would lack specifics and carry a high proportion of false positives....which is why I expected the figures to be far higher.

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As I have said a few quote-blocks above, I didn't claim that. Now where's that hole you speak of?

Oh dear...let me help you
Well for starters Germans don't go shouting around like fishwifes pretending they are somehow more important than the people around them. They don't hit their women. They don't keep their women dressed up like a nun. They don't let their kids freaking steal and wreak havoc to the neighbourhood. They respect our system of politics and don't intimidate or attack people whom they not agree with.

Now I'm not saying that every Turk behaves like that, but I sure know more Turks that do than that don't.

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Maybe I did look and think and the result of that backed up my claims. But the possibility of that escapes your small mind.

Not at all as a simple look at some local priories would have shown you catholic orders still marking prayer times in such a manner or a stroll up into the lutherean belt which you seem to despise would show you plenty of churches carrying on the tradition.

@Feuer

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Arguement? Or fact? Of course it's identical.

Yes, its a new year but its still the same old crap from time immemorial.

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About cultural clashes...since the beginning of time, and it will always be impossible to integrate 2 cultures.

All cultures are a mixture of many cultures.

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Aha, bollox, the fact that throughout history cross-cultural integration has always been 'seemless' and fully successful.

What on earth are you on about??????

@Neal

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Come on, construct your arguement to counter his, but don't attack the poster.

Sorry, but how does a muslim convert to be a muslim so they are a muslim not a muslim?
Skybirds post was mainly nonsense.

Freaking hell tribesman, do you really not understand that when I said "no Germans" I meant "less Germans than Turks"? I'd say it's a pretty basic thing. It's a rhetorical technique called "hyperbole" (or in this case adynaton). In all my life I have not seen you correctly understand a hyperbole even once. You constantly and probably deliberately fail to recognize hyperboles in order to completely twist someones words.

Anyway, you constantly refuse to provide any counter-evidence to the evidence I provided. Either you do now, or this discussion is finished.

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Originally Posted by Tribesman (Post 1565294)

Yes it is, america is rather famous for its Amish communities and its traditions, though most would go for the buggies as the more noticable tradition
Though how you can possibly say that Dutch national and regional costume with its long Dutch history and development and its continuing existance as part of dutch culture with dutch people in the Netherlands is somehow not part of Dutch culture is really beyond comprehension.

[...]

Not at all as a simple look at some local priories would have shown you catholic orders still marking prayer times in such a manner or a stroll up into the lutherean belt which you seem to despise would show you plenty of churches carrying on the tradition.

You're doing *exactly* what you're accusing me of. How can anyone possibly generalize more than you're doing here? "Some churches in the bible belt still ring their church bells every few hours so Dutch churches ring their bells every few hours." "Some people in the US grow beards because they're Amish, so growing beards because you're Amish is part of American culture." "People in some Dutch places used to wear weird costumes, so wearing weird costumes is part of Dutch culture".