US ambassador in 'fake news' blunder

[DaleCooper]

Lies upon lies. This sort of thing seems typical of the Trump administration.

'Fake news' blunder from US envoy to the Netherlands
The new US ambassador to the Netherlands, Pete Hoekstra, has denied he had ever said there were "no-go zones" in the Netherlands, calling it "fake news".

He was being quizzed about comments he had made about Islamic extremism in the country.

But Dutch journalist Wouter Zwart showed him a clip of the comments from 2015.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-...news-blunder-from-us-envoy-to-the-netherlands

 

[Groningen]

i have tweeted the clip to the USA embassy in Den Haag, Netherlands. They must be very happy!

 

[Aussie_Rail]

lol oops. Although I think now, most western countries have 'no go areas' in one place or another, just that they want to deny those places exist. :/

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

lol oops. Although I think now, most western countries have 'no go areas' in one place or another, just that they want to deny those places exist. :/

There is a difference between somewhere being undesirable to visit and being a no-go area. Plenty of the former but the latter exist predominantly in the minds of the deliberately prejudiced. Ironically the US has plenty of no-go areas in the form of gated communities which are no-go for the poor rather than the other way round.

 

[Aussie_Rail]

There is a difference between somewhere being undesirable to visit and being a no-go area. Plenty of the former but the latter exist predominantly in the minds of the deliberately prejudiced. Ironically the US has plenty of no-go areas in the form of gated communities which are no-go for the poor rather than the other way round.

Quite so, I guess there are varying definitions of the term 'no go areas' that needs to be explored. The US for all sorts of reasons is a popular place for gated communities, as is South Africa and a few places around Asia, usually for security, so the perception of crime is a common theme that is marketed to those wishing to pay more to live in a sort of communal seclusion.

But I think the reason 'somewhere being undesirable' is probably the most accurate description of what they are really referring to, which I think almost everywhere has those sort of places in one way or another.

 

[tony_mac]

lol oops. Although I think now, most western countries have 'no go areas' in one place or another, just that they want to deny those places exist. :/

Can anyone name a 'no go area' in the UK, and we will see which of us have actually been there?

There are certainly places in the UK where a stranger (including police) might feel uncomfortable and possibly at risk due to high crime rates and gang violence, but that isn't confined to particular ethnicities or religions, which is what Hoekstra was claiming (the common link tends to be poverty and low employment). I remember places where, for example, police only ever went in large numbers during the 80s and 90s, it's not a new phenomenon.

The look on the interviewer's face is pretty funny when Hoekstra denied using the term 'fake news', only shortly after he had said it.

 

[Aussie_Rail]

The look on the interviewer's face is pretty funny when Hoekstra denied using the term 'fake news', only shortly after he had said it.

I can't believe he so flatly denied it. It's not like you'd forget saying something like that, and it doesn't appear that it was all that long ago he originally made those claims either.

 

[TheNewNo2]

I can't believe he so flatly denied it. It's not like you'd forget saying something like that, and it doesn't appear that it was all that long ago he originally made those claims either.

We're living in a version of 1984 where the government is run by idiots, but is just as brazen in their lies. A lot of Trump and his minions' work is to undermine the mainstream media as an information source: insist that you can only trust what you hear from the government or possibly Fox News. That way anything you don't like can be dismissed as fake and all your followers will believe it. That's what all authoritarians do, and what the Nazis did in Germany, though they were a bit more subtle about it.

 

[Howardh]

Can anyone name a 'no go area' in the UK, and we will see which of us have actually been there?

Yorkshire?
Yes, I did go once - to watch Lancashire stuff them in the Sunday League. Big Clive got a ton and Boycott couldn't hit it off the square.

 

[furnessvale]

Yorkshire?
Yes, I did go once - to watch Lancashire stuff them in the Sunday League. Big Clive got a ton and Boycott couldn't hit it off the square.

I don't think voluntary no go counts!

 

[Howardh]

I don't think voluntary no go counts!

Seems a shame to have spent all them years building the Pennines and then to start going across them. Try telling southerners that the M62 isn't fake news. Photoshop, it really is photoshop.

 

[DarloRich]

lol oops. Although I think now, most western countries have 'no go areas' in one place or another, just that they want to deny those places exist. :/

i am fairly certain don't have any no go areas in the UK - there may be ares you don't want to go as they are rough or run down

Can anyone name a 'no go area' in the UK, and we will see which of us have actually been there?

There are certainly places in the UK where a stranger (including police) might feel uncomfortable and possibly at risk due to high crime rates and gang violence, but that isn't confined to particular ethnicities or religions, which is what Hoekstra was claiming (the common link tends to be poverty and low employment). I remember places where, for example, police only ever went in large numbers during the 80s and 90s, it's not a new phenomenon.

exactly - although the right wing loons ( like Trump and Farage) want you to think otherwise

 

[AlterEgo]

I can think of literally zero no-go areas in the UK. There are some places which are less than desirable but there are definitely not any no go areas.

 

[Howardh]

I can think of literally zero no-go areas in the UK. There are some places which are less than desirable but there are definitely not any no go areas.

Actually I suppose it depends on the circumstances. When I popped out to deliver medication to customer's homes, there was one small area which I wouldn't venture into alone, and we always went there in pairs - one sitting guarding the car and the other doing the drop. I know that delivery drivers sometimes work in pairs in "dodgy" areas (I could name the area and the company but I won't) and one company blacklisted certain areas due to robberies so customers had to collect their goods from a central point.

 

[furnessvale]

I can think of literally zero no-go areas in the UK. There are some places which are less than desirable but there are definitely not any no go areas.

There are a number of areas in Manchester I won't walk round at night.

 

[AlterEgo]

There are a number of areas in Manchester I won't walk round at night.

Is that the same as a no-go area though? If always imagined a no-go area to be a place where visitors were actively discouraged, perhaps by the means of barricades or vigilantes.

 

[furnessvale]

Is that the same as a no-go area though? If always imagined a no-go area to be a place where visitors were actively discouraged, perhaps by the means of barricades or vigilantes.

Different definition from mine.

 

[Howardh]

I suppose a "no go" area is a place where the authorities prevent you from entering, eg an airport behind the fences, behind the fences around Parliament etc. Any "personal" no-go areas will be those applied by oneself.

 

[furnessvale]

I suppose a "no go" area is a place where the authorities prevent you from entering, eg an airport behind the fences, behind the fences around Parliament etc. Any "personal" no-go areas will be those applied by oneself.

Having checked the dictionary and various Google pages, I can confidently state there are many no go areas in the UK, as understood by the man on the Clapham Omnibus.

 

[fowler9]

It is very complicated and I reckon it comes down to how you behave and how you look. There is nowhere in Liverpool I will not go. Some people just don't have a clue how to fit in. Also using street smarts helps. Don't go wandering areas that look a bit kind of rough dressed like a crazy tourist with your expensive watch on, flashing your phone with an expensive camera dangling around your neck. I had no problems in poor areas of Peru or Bolivia. I chatted to Argentine veterans of the Falklands war at their protest stands outside the Casa Rosada.

 

[Howardh]

It is very complicated and I reckon it comes down to how you behave and how you look. There is nowhere in Liverpool I will not go. Some people just don't have a clue how to fit in. Also using street smarts helps. Don't go wandering areas that look a bit kind of rough dressed like a crazy tourist with your expensive watch on, flashing your phone with an expensive camera dangling around your neck. I had no problems in poor areas of Peru or Bolivia. I chatted to Argentine veterans of the Falklands war at their protest stands outside the Casa Rosada.

Yes, a lot is down to common sense. If you go round parts of Manchester (or anywhere) carrying the latest £500 phone for all to see, that's inviting someone to take a closer look. Likewise there are a few streets and pubs in Salford I wouldn't venture into wearing my new shiny leather* miniskirt with accompanying beehive wig. As opposed to the old town in Ibiza where a £500 phone simply is the bottom-end of the market and folks would simply tut, and you get chucked out of restaurants if you're a fella and ain't in the latest Vivienne Westwood. Horses for courses and all that!

*Fake leather naturally!!

 

[najaB]

In this context a 'No-go area' means an area where the State has (de facto) no jurisdiction and an alternative group/organisation takes the role of enforcing law and justice. It doesn't mean dodgy neighbourhoods.

There aren't any 'no go areas' in the UK.

 

[Groningen]

Has Canary Wharf houses?

 

[najaB]

Likewise there are a few streets and pubs in Salford I wouldn't venture into wearing my new shiny leather* miniskirt with accompanying beehive wig.

Is counselling available for people who have read this post?

 

[DaleCooper]

In this context a 'No-go area' means an area where the State has (de facto) no jurisdiction and an alternative group/organisation takes the role of enforcing law and justice. It doesn't mean dodgy neighbourhoods.

By that definition could Native American reservations be regarded as no-go areas? If so Pete Hoekstra has them in his own country.

(I realise that they enforce law and order only to a limited extent but I still find it ironic.)

 

[najaB]

By that definition could Native American reservations be regarded as no-go areas? If so Pete Hoekstra has them in his own country.

(I realise that they enforce law and order only to a limited extent but I still find it ironic.)

As delicious as the irony would be, no because (a) the powers given to Tribal authorities are granted de jeur; and (b) Federal (though not State) law still applies and Federal law enforcement authorities are allowed in.

 

[Howardh]

Isn't there a part of Copenhagen under it's own law? But geographically I know of two places off limits, there's that island off the Indian coast which is ruled by natives and no-one, literaly no-one can land there without being killed; I'll link to youtube when I have the time to find it, and Snake Island off Brazil which only authorities can land on due to, as the tin says, the deadliest snakes in the world occupy. Throw in Chernobyl too and other such places (Japan?) where there have been nuclear accidents and tests (Pacific Islands still out-of-bounds?).

 

[Groningen]

it appears that Pete Hoekstra has made a statement (from Twitter).

 

[Mag_seven]

Is that the same as a no-go area though? If always imagined a no-go area to be a place where visitors were actively discouraged, perhaps by the means of barricades or vigilantes.

I agree with this - just stating "I would never go there" does not make it a "no go area" since you could actually go there if you wanted to.

 

[Groningen]

So Google does not forget and so does not Youtube. A racist advertisment from 5 years from Pete Hoekstra.