Great to see CDA (Huetter) welcoming refugee diversity now

[banjomike]

Now that doesn't mean ANY of the men are ISIS either. I am not willing to take ISIS word on anything, as lying is a very cheap and easy terror tool. Misinformation saps an opponent's human resources, and every day people are all pawns in modern warfare.

In fact, I don't know where any of these young men came from.

There are lots of Muslims in Africa where civil war isn't over religion at all. Famine and natural disaster can always strike anywhere at any time.

There are over 1.8 Billion Muslims in the world, so they could be literally from anywhere. And since there are Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, and other religions all over the world, each with millions of believers, who's to know what any refugee believes, or how important his faith is to him?

If you lost everything in a forest fire, you could be in exactly the same shape.

And you would be in for a harder time of it if you lived in an area where everyone but you spoke Shoshoni as their only language, and you didn't know any Shoshoni yet because you had moved in recently.

You and a bunch of Shoshoni would all be fleeing- the forest fire didn't care a whit about what it destroyed- and you all could end up where no one spoke anything but Spokane.

The Spokane's language probably would be similar enough to Shoshoni that the speakers of those languages could understand each other a little bit, but since you can't speak either, you are going to be the last one who gets any attention. Because no one can understand you.

Now, that home you owned that cost a Million dollars, and you watched go to nothing but flaming ashes, taking another Million in cash with it, along with all your credit records, jewelry, and everything else you owned of value. None of it is going to help you now. Neither is the Mercedes that burned up in the garage.

And after a week of walking on foot through a country leveled by fire in your Gucchi and other expensive apparel, with only enough found water to keep you alive, you aren't going to be exactly looking your best.

You will be grubby, your clothing will look terrible, and you will stink. Even if you find a place to bathe, you'll still put those filthy clothes on, because they are all you own.

Now try telling a border guard you are actually a peaceful, productive, wealthy person who means the Spokane no harm at all.
To a guard who speaks no English. And is suspicious of anyone who isn't Spokane, and looks terrible, and has no papers, no money, no nothing but your word. He's already seen a dozen others who have said the same thing today, and they all look like foreign crap to him. Don't you people ever wash? Why don't you speak Spokane, anyway?

How would you feel? What could you do?
You would feel desperate. And you could do next to nothing. The only thing that's going to help you is one human's concern for another. Folks like that always exist, God bless 'em.

You will be depending entirely on another's mercy. If enough of them don't like you because of your language, or any other vague reason that caused suspicion, you're out of luck, buddy.

Go over there and die by the gate. But don't expect us to come and bury you.
Shut up, you bleeding heart do-gooders. Next time, find someone who looks and sounds like me to try to bring through the gate.

Or, by some miracle, you face a guard who isn't following his own stereotyped emotions when he's checking you out. He's got a wife and kids too, and while suspicious, he somehow senses you aren't a terrorist, out to slaughter him and his family in their beds, and lets you through the gate.

And once inside, you get fed, maybe, and possibly get enough water to bathe and wash your tattered clothes. Maybe.
And a week's time for others to decide whether or not you are who you claim to be. With some jerk from the neighborhood leaning over those judge's shoulders, saying "Don't trust them! They look like terrorists to me! And they don't speak a word of Spokane!"

"They don't even look like Shoshoni! And they can't speak a word of Shoshoni, either! Don't trust them! I don't like the Shoshoni, but at least they look like me. Send these criminals back to where they came from! They look like terrorists to me!"
The judges all know the jerk from the neighborhood is a jerk, but he's one of their own.

"Maybe the jerk is right about these guys. I dunno... what do you think?"

Do you have the powers of persuasion to overcome all this? If you do, you're finally allowed to stay.

If you don't, then it's out the gate and on the road again for you and your honey and the kids.

But even if you are allowed to stay a little while, you will still have to contend with that jerk from the neighborhood who will never trust you.
Because he won't allow himself to get to know you. He just wants you gone because you aren't like him and cannot ever be like him. He's going to continue to try to get you kicked out, no matter how hard you try to learn his language, live an upright life, and try your very best to fit in.

The jerk from the neighborhood won't ever quit. He hates you because he's afraid of you, and that's that. Unless you save his life or something, he won't ever get to know you because he is afraid of all you people. Even when everyone he knows says "This family is all right. just give them a chance."

And if the jerk from the neighborhood finally gets his wish, and gets you kicked back out of the gate, all you have back there is still nothing but a pile of ashes, and everyone you knew back there is gone now.

All you can do is hope you find another gate, somehow, somewhere, before your family dies.

And then, it starts all over again if you are lucky enough to find another gate.

If you are young and male, with no family, it's even harder.

[mod note: This post was deleted yesterday because it was deemed to be off topic. However, upon further consideration, realizing that banjomike is a well respected member of this forum and has valuable wisdom to impart to all of us, it was restored.]

[Forrestdreams]

[mod cut: This is an inappropriate sub-forum for general discussion of the refugee/immigrant issue that is not related to this particular thread topic.]

[cujo1950]

This subject is certainly about North Idaho. I believe it's relevant.

[volosong]

[mod note: Thread wandered off topic and became political. It is now closed.]