Padraig Breathnach

[email protected] (j.e.r.) wrote:

    >"Gregory Morrow" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<bliXc.4217$Y%[email protected] link.net>...

    >> They are usually dirty criminal Gypsies, Arabs, Africans, etc.
    >> Another result of Europe's "humane" immigration policies :-|
    >Gypsies are part of European population for centuries!
Greg didn't put a time-frame on humane immigration policies.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED

Jcoulter

Bronson the OP may or may not have been real but the troll like legacy of
starting a long and meaningless thread is begining to show.
Anyone here seriously think the young man should have been "guarding" that
many bags?

Anyone less willing to go to Bruxelles?

Nice afternoon for a white beer like Wittekerke, non?

Des O'Donoghue

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:

    >
    >
    > Hatunen wrote:
    >
    >> Are you under the impression that all other train stations in
    >> Europe are free of thieves?
    >
    >
    > Or that train stations, airport terminals, etc. are any "safer" in the
    > U.S.? There's a REASON why there are repeated announcements over public
    > address systems to "please watch your baggage while in the terminal"!
    > (And it has little to do with fear of "terrorists" planting bombs.)
    >

How come that thieves never nick the unattended bags left by terrorist
types or, indeed, the innocent ones that cause all the kerfuddle when
the bomb squad is called out ?

Fustanella

    > There wasnt much in the bag but I did lose a digital camera with
    > valuable memories and prescription drugs.

You put prescription drugs in your digital camera?

There's your problem right there.

Sjoerd

"Gregory Morrow" <[email protected]> schreef in
bericht news:bliXc.4217$Y%[email protected] ink.net...
    > Most US train stations and other tourist/traveller haunts don't have gangs
    > of organized thieves working the premises like a number of places in
Europe
    > seem to...you may find individuals working the joint, but rarely gangs
that
    > prey on disoriented tourists. You won't be suddenly swarmed by a bunch of
    > criminal gypsies like you will in Prague, St. Petersburg, and other
    > places....
    > The last big organized traveller rip - off of note I remember here in the
    > States was gangs of Africans who would infest airports and steal people's
    > telephone numbers while the people dialed from pay phones. This was over
    > ten or so years ago, and of course is not a problem now that so many folks
    > have cell phones (and also calls abroad have gotten much cheaper in
general,
    > it's not a real lucrative criminal enterprise anymore)....
    > From a criminal point of view, organized retail shoplifting or credit
    > card/identity theft is much more lucrative here in the States than
stealing
    > from tourists (foreign or otherwise). Organized shoplifting especially is
a
    > bigger problem than you'd think. The stores are loathe to publicise these
    > incidents so you rarely hear about them....
    > Last year a friend was relieved of his luggage and all his valuables in
the
    > lobby of a Holiday Inn in central Brussels (they had just arrived by train
    > from Amsterdam) whilst checking in. Simply anecdotal, but....
    > The police took a report but basically just shrugged - it was obviously no
    > big deal to them. My friend is a well - seasoned traveller who is
    > *constantly* aware of activity around him at all times. Not this time, I
    > guess :-(
    > Europe's problem is that many tourist places are infested.with organized
    > gangs of thieves (not just money, credit cards, and fenceable goods are
    > stolen, but First World passports are a valuable commodity on the criminal
    > market). They are usually dirty criminal Gypsies, Arabs, Africans, etc.
    > Another result of Europe's "humane" immigration policies :-|

Oh, my dear Gregory, what has happened to you since you were a reasonable
human being? I bet you don't get out of your house much these days, because
your opinions are so strikingly similar to those of my 78 year old
neighbour, who never travels more than 10 kilometers from our area, still
warns me continuously about the dangers that are awaiting me when I travel.
I can tell you, Gregory, that reading too many news stories about robbery,
rape and murder in Europe isn't good for your mental health. Perhaps you
should travel to Europe, if just once, to see that reality is nothing like
what the media apparently tell you.

Sjoerd

Ciog54

Brussels Midi is such a large station with hugh numbers going through
it every day and unfortunately that attracts bad people. Brussels is a
beautiful city and were unlucky.
Alan in Brussels can you tell me why they are stealing man hole covers
in Charleroi, for scrap? I dont want to fall down a hole next time I
am there.
"Alan \(in Brussels\)" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > In the message news:[email protected]...
    > "Bronson Lee" <[email protected]> wrote
    >
    > > Hello world,
    > >
    > <SNIP>
    > >
    > > My warning to fellow train travellers - be extremely careful in
    > > Brussels-MIDI. I was told this is an unsafe destination. I should
    > > have skipped Brussels completely. Now I will regret this decision to
    > > stop in Brussels - for the rest of my life. There are so many creeps
    > > and low lifes hanging around the station.
    >
    > I'm sorry that you have just learned the hard way that all over the world
    > travellers are the preferred targets for sneak thieves and scam artists. And
    > that the latter hang out at transport interchanges all the better to find
    > the former. I don't suppose it'll be much comfort to tell you that I've
    > frequently passed through Brussels Midi/Zuid over the past thirtyfive years
    > without even losing my way ;-) Or that there's currently a thread on
    > soc.culture.belgium about the theft of numerous cast-iron man-hole covers in
    > the Charleroi area...
    >
    > Regards,
    >
    > - Alan (in Brussels - mind the spamtrap).

Bogus Address

    >>> They are usually dirty criminal Gypsies, Arabs, Africans, etc.
    >>> Another result of Europe's "humane" immigration policies :-|
    >> Gypsies are part of European population for centuries!
    > Greg didn't put a time-frame on humane immigration policies.

**** off back to Africa you Cro-Magnon scum and take your pressure-
flaking flint debris with you.

========> Email to "j-c" at this site; email to "bogus" will bounce <========
Jack Campin: 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU; 0131 6604760
<http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/purrhome.html> food intolerance data & recipes,
Mac logic fonts, Scots traditional music files and CD-ROMs of Scottish music.

Padraig Breathnach

[email protected] (bogus address) wrote:

    >>>> They are usually dirty criminal Gypsies, Arabs, Africans, etc.
    >>>> Another result of Europe's "humane" immigration policies :-|
    >>> Gypsies are part of European population for centuries!
    >> Greg didn't put a time-frame on humane immigration policies.
    >**** off back to Africa you Cro-Magnon scum and take your pressure-
    >flaking flint debris with you.
After you, sir.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED

EvelynVogtGamble

jcoulter wrote:

    > Bronson the OP may or may not have been real but the troll like legacy of
    > starting a long and meaningless thread is begining to show.
    > Anyone here seriously think the young man should have been "guarding" that
    > many bags?
    >
    > Anyone less willing to go to Bruxelles?
    >
    > Nice afternoon for a white beer like Wittekerke, non?

Perhaps that was the OP's problem - too MANY "Wittekerken"!

Alan \

In the message news:[email protected] m...
"Ciog54" <[email protected]> wrote:

    > Brussels Midi is such a large station with hugh numbers going through
    > it every day and unfortunately that attracts bad people. Brussels is a
    > beautiful city and were unlucky.
    > Alan in Brussels can you tell me why they are stealing man hole covers
    > in Charleroi, for scrap? I dont want to fall down a hole next time I
    > am there.

<SNIP>

According to the news item that inspired the messages on soc.culture.belgium
    :
http://www.dhnet.be/dhinfos/article.phtml?id=104565

the local mayor (who in Belgium was also nominally the chief of police until
the recent reforms) has arranged for installation of replacement manhole
covers. And a local suspect has been investigated; there is strong
circumstantial evidence that he has been selling scrap to local dealers
(note that Charleroi is in a major steel-making area)... One message states
that a cover is worth EUR 7.50, but doesn't make clear if that is as scrap.

ISTM that this story merely confirms that thieves tend to be 'opportunist'
rather than rational, and so we should all make sure that they have as few
opportunities as possible.

Regards,

- Alan (still in Brussels)

Irwell

On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 19:15:48 -0700, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >jcoulter wrote:
    >> Bronson the OP may or may not have been real but the troll like legacy of
    >> starting a long and meaningless thread is begining toshow.
    >> Anyone here seriously think the young man should have been "guarding" that
    >> many bags?
    >>
    >> Anyone less willing to go to Bruxelles?
    >>
    >> Nice afternoon for a white beer like Wittekerke, non?
    >Perhaps that was the OP's problem - too MANY "Wittekerken"!

It may have been, or not, but the British Foreign service
specifically mentions the area around the Brussels Gare du Midi
as being a place that has many muggings, and at least one of
the popular guide books also mentions the station area as a
place to be especially cautious.
Some railway stations are bad like Gare du Nord in Paris,
others like Waterloo in London are fairly safe.

Olivers

Alan (in Brussels) extrapolated from data available...


    >
    > ISTM that this story merely confirms that thieves tend to be
    > 'opportunist' rather than rational, and so we should all make sure
    > that they have as few opportunities as possible.
    >

I suspect that manhole cover thieves are quite rational (simply pretty low
in the Grand Pecking Order of Thievery), induced by the ready and willing
attitude of scrap iron dealers to purchase items which can hardly be
anything but "hot" (like "TTops" and "spinner hubcaps" once were). In the
grand old days of law enforcement, a couple of scrap dealers would be
hauled down to the local prefecture, beaten severely about the head and
shoulders with heavy wet towels and other non-marking bludgeons, their
coinboxes emptied as a contribution to the police mess coffee fund, severe
threats made concerning their wives and daughters, and within days, man
hole cover thefts in the area would cease.

TMO

Throughout modern history, scrap dealers have qualified for a Pantheon of
Public Distrust, ranking with second hand car salesmen, pawn brokers, bail
bondsmen (in the US), television evangelists, and a selected cross section
of contestants for national political offices.

Bronson Lee

This moron thinks my warning is not real. I was just trying to be
helpful to other fellow travellers who may be stopping over in
Brussels-MIDI, but obviously this fool did not appreciate my
attempts.

I could show you my police report if you like but this would be a
waste of time to drunks and idiots like you. Why dont you stupid
bastard drink yourself to death and cease to exist? Since you are so
fond of drinking, you asshole.

I post a warning from the Bristish Foreign Service for the benefit of
other travellers to Brussels, from;

http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?...=1013618386802
Crime

Most visits to Belgium are trouble-free. However, crimes such as
mugging, bag snatching, pick pocketing are common. You should take
normal, common sense precautions to avoid becoming a victim.

Take only the minimum necessary amount of cash, credit cards and
personal ID when you go out. As far as possible leave jewellery, other
valuables and documents in a secure place (eg hotel safe deposit).
Avoid carrying money, bank/credit cards or your passport in the same
bag or pocket.

In the event of theft, contact the nearest police station and obtain a
police report. This report is mandatory when applying for a
replacement passport or insurance claim. Theft of bank/credit cards
should also be reported to Card Stop on 070/344 344.

You should be extra vigilant in Brussels at major railway stations, on
the underground, buses and trams, and particularly in the vicinity of
the Gare du Midi/Zuidstation (Eurostar terminal) and Schuman (the EU
quarter) where muggings have occurred. Other popular destinations such
as Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Liege and Ostend are less affected.
Pickpockets also operate on international trains, mainly
Paris-Brussels and Amsterdam-Brussels. Never leave luggage or coats
unattended.

Do not leave valuables such as purses, bags or mobile phones visible
in your car, even when you are in it. Keep car doors locked and
windows secure at all times. It is increasingly common for thieves,
usually on motorbikes, to break a window and snatch valuables from the
front or back passenger seat when the vehicle is stationary at traffic
lights.





On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 13:47:01 -0500, jcoulter
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >Bronson the OP may or may not have been real but the troll like legacy of
    >starting a long and meaningless thread is begining to show.
    >Anyone here seriously think the young man should have been "guarding" that
    >many bags?
    >Anyone less willing to go to Bruxelles?
    >Nice afternoon for a white beer like Wittekerke, non?

Jcoulter

Bronson Lee <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:


;-( sigh

EvelynVogtGamble

Irwell wrote:

    > On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 19:15:48 -0700, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
    > <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    >
    >>jcoulter wrote:
    >>>Bronson the OP may or may not have been real but the troll like legacy of
    >>>starting a long and meaningless thread is begining toshow.
    >>>Anyone here seriously think the young man should have been "guarding" that
    >>>many bags?
    >>>Anyone less willing to go to Bruxelles?
    >>>Nice afternoon for a white beer like Wittekerke, non?
    >>Perhaps that was the OP's problem - too MANY "Wittekerken"!
    >
    >
    > It may have been, or not, but the British Foreign service
    > specifically mentions the area around the Brussels Gare du Midi
    > as being a place that has many muggings, and at least one of
    > the popular guide books also mentions the station area as a
    > place to be especially cautious.
    > Some railway stations are bad like Gare du Nord in Paris,
    > others like Waterloo in London are fairly safe.

Precisely my point! Overindulgence in alcoholic beverages does little
to improve one's vigilance in "risky" surroundings, does it?