Bad news from the Homeland.......

[gimmethesimplelife]

As much as I bash the United States, I'm not playing nice in the sandbox if I give Austria a free pass on something horrible that has taken place there. And horrible it is.

A representative of the new right wing government recently elected into power in Austria stated that he wanted Jews who wanted to buy Kosher meat to register with the government to be able to do so. Yes, this was actually said - and to give Austria some credit, the conservative Austrian People's Party shot this idea down - and quickly, perhaps realizing what a PR nightmare would ensue and also due to Austria's rise to some position of power in the EU due to it's stances on migrants/immigration.

I have to say that I don't care for the anti-Semitism..........and that fact that back in the day I would have been a candidate for a free train ride to my extermination at one of the camps. This is just insane - could someone actually believe that in this age of social media (used as much in the Homeland as it is in the US - I can say this from having visited Austria back in 2015 and having stayed with family and actually interacted with Austrians not paid to be polite to me in a tourist setting) that such would not be downloaded at the speed of lightning? This politician is just as dense as many US police are in thinking that he was immune to social media......proof positive that it's not only US Police that have this cognitive lack, or rather the emotional maturity to both realize and accept that the playing field has changed and so has the balance of power to some degree.

I have to say that I am chilled to the bone that an Austrian national would actually say something like this in public, especially a politician. Nice mountains, great scenery, social welfare that Americans can only bitterly dream of as in America human life is not worth similar - wonderful required paid time off, an extra month's pay every year as a Christmas bonus - not a bad deal at all but it does come with some darkness. I'm not playing nice in the sandbox if I don't post this. I even took the Austrian flag down in the living room and put up a Mexican flag instead as I'm so disheartened by this statement. Rob

[iris lilies]

Yes, someone already posted this story on one of your many threads about The Homeland.This politician is saying this because he knows he has some support among Your Compatriots.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Yes, someone already posted this story on one of your many threads about The Homeland.This politician is saying this because he knows he has some support among Your Compatriots.

Don't drop dead of shock here, IL...….ready to be amazed? You are right, there are those Austrians who believe in and support this way of thinking. I am related to a few such people that I have cut out of my life - I will have nothing to do with them (being told that being gassed for being gay is/was acceptable? I don't care how much better overall your citizenship is than mine, that statement is not going to fly with me, no way, no how. Neither is being OK with the extermination of over 6 millions Jews and disabled people)...….there is some unfortunate support for this unacceptable inhumane line of thinking.

The good news though is that thankfully, not all Austrians are like that. The family I am close to and am in touch with on a regular basis is very much against the Holocaust and is against the radical right's leap to power in Austria and is against Jews having to register with the government for any reason. So there is some good here but yes, there is bone chilling darkness. It would much better serve my narrative were this not the case but I'm not going to lie and like with most of the rest of my life, I'm going to tell it how it is with overall disregard for the consequences (unless they are extreme, such as homelessness or a Holocaust like situation).

I do find it ironic however that I still maintain there is much America could learn from Austria in how to humanely run a society (overall, this conservative Austrian politician obviously does not fit this bill) but yet is the birthplace of none other than Adolf Hitler. Like so many other areas of life, plentiful irony exists in this. Rob

[LDAHL]

If you are truly “chilled to the bone” every time some fringe political hack spouts off, then the solution to global warming may be staring us in the face.

[Teacher Terry]

Rob, I may have posted about this before but I have been to auschwitz and it was a moving experience. You can literally feel the people’s pain and feel their souls. When I got to the room with people’s hair, eyeglasses, shoes and k suitcases I got super hot even though it was cold and stripped down to my tank top. I ran to a window and stuck my head out to breathe. I had a panic attack but was determined to complete the tour. I wish everyone could experience this. It might help people be more compassionate.

[ToomuchStuff]

Did you tell your relatives to pack a bag?

[Yppej]

Yes, there are some unrepentant diehards in Europe. My family cringed a few years ago when we got a letter from a German relative complaining after all these years that Czechoslovakia "stole" their Suedetenland. (Not the entire subject of the letter, but just mentioned in passing with the assumption we would agree.)

[herbgeek]

The good news though is that thankfully, not all Austrians are like that.

But all cops are like "that".

[gimmethesimplelife]

But all cops are like "that".

Every last cop? Even I don't buy this, hard core anti police brutality activist that I am. I look back at the Nazi Era, as this has been discussed on this thread, and there were documented instances of SS officers running across Jewish children and letting them go - there were cases of Nazi officers refusing to detain victims and letting them go to live off in the woods and not sending them to their deaths in the camps. I can't believe that every last cop is bad. Overall, however, my experience in both the 85006 and in America at large is that the stereotype exists for a reason and is definitely earned.

Some good news, though? The family of Justine Damond, who wes brutally, illegally, and Unconstitutionally murdered in cold blood by the Minneapolis, MN PD? They are suing for $50 million - I believe they deserve much more than that - I'd say $400 million and a fully paid life in another country and an 100% overhaul of the Minneapolis PD with anyone employed by this PD fired and a 100% new crew brought in as a life saving measure to save lives of Minneapolis residents. I don't see anything less as a worthy settlement for the cold blooded murder of Justine Damond.

And I've veered off topic yet again.....Not all police are like this, I still maintain this, but far too many are. Activists such as myself will always be busy here unless we move on to one of the better countries where there are actual checks and balances against the powers of the police - built in checks and balances and not social media, effective though social media can be against this type of officer. I've been calling the Minneapolis PD every day since the disclosure of the pending $50 million lawsuit - on my phone tree all have made a commitment to call every day so as to pass along how much the Minneapolis PD is hated and despised and how the public will stand up to their sheer evil and how $50 million isn't even a start to a settlement for this cold blooded murder done via pension accruing government thugs. Rob

PS....when you get down to it, really, what's the difference between a typical US police officer and this schmuck in Austria who thinks Jews should register with the government if they want to buy Kosher meat? I'm not seeing much difference if any at all and I'm glad I started this thread as I had not made this connection myself until right now.

[LDAHL]

PS....when you get down to it, really, what's the difference between a typical US police officer and this schmuck in Austria who thinks Jews should register with the government if they want to buy Kosher meat? I'm not seeing much difference if any at all and I'm glad I started this thread as I had not made this connection myself until right now.

If you can’t tell the difference between a typical police officer and a Nazi, it could be that your thought processes bear some similarities to the latter.