Attribute to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

I was walking around Corvallis, Oregon (home of Oregon State University) this morning, and saw this sign in front of a couple different houses:

Sorry for the bad photo; the conditions were poor and the bottom panel was yellow on white—dumb! Anyway the bottom panel is the Arabic version of the English-language middle panel (unless it says something like �Your camel is flea-bitten, fit only for jackal food,� because the translator was having some fun).

Were the signs created by CAIR? Somebody made them…

Those signs appear to have more to do with holier-than-thou, looking-down-the-nose at their conservative neighbors, than any kind of actual welcome. After all, true welcomes tend to be warm and friendly affairs, with handshakes, hugs, parties and gift-giving, rather than some impersonal political sign stuck on somebody�s lawn for the purpose of virtue-signalling. Everything is fake these days, so maybe it�s just an example of a phony welcome.

Fortunately, OSU is more an engineering and agriculture school than anything, so this loony-left silliness is probably a bit more rare than what one can expect from most college towns. It ain�t Evergreen College or Berkeley, thank Heaven.

It made me wonder, though, whether those who put these signs up had ever visited a Muslim country.

My first visit to one was for installing a computer for the Arabian Gulf Oil Exploration Company if I recollect correctly, in Benghazi, Libya. I was the hardware guy, and a Canadian companion was the software guy for this work.

We flew into the airport, where the luggage was then dumped in a big pile on the tarmac. We retrieved ours, went to have our passports checked—waiting until the big crowded mass of Libyans were processed (arms stretched holding passports in front of a lone bored bureaucrat slowly looking at each); then he checked ours. Shortly after, it seemed the entire airport went deserted, and we were sitting on the outside with our bags, waiting for who knows what, unable to read a single sign.

About an hour later some guy drove up in a clapped-out white Peugeot, and we climbed in. He probably thought he�d have some fun, because he had the car going at top speed all the way in. My companion looked concerned but I just kept up our inane conversation, determined to thwart the driver.

The country seemed to have nothing but white, clapped out Peugeots, or white, clapped out Fiats. There was not a single car that was dent-free.

Negotiating the few intersections that had signals was particularly amusing. The lights were above rather than across the intersection, so completely invisible to the first two rows of cars. These were helpfully notified of a signal change by the cars farther back, as every driver back there laid on the horn one microsecond after the light turned green. Imagine this honking chorus going on all day long, every couple of minutes…

We installed the computer in a week or so, staying evenings in what amounted to a company barracks. Two interesting experiences: Libyan coffee (essentially heavily-spiced mud), and the big Roman ruins on the coast half buried in sand—we had the whole place to ourselves for hours. Not a single tourist, nor any tourist concession!

Most of the people there, seeing us, imagined we were CIA. Leaving the country was nerve-wracking, because by that point paranoia had set in and we were spooked by the submachine gun-toting guards at the airport; and if we weren�t going to end up in prison I was still sure of losing my expensive test equipment. But we ended up OK, walking back out to the plane, digging our bags out of the pile dumped by the airport truck and handing them to the plane baggage handlers. Once off the ground, we breathed a sigh of relief.

My next experience was visiting Israel a couple of times, again for computer installations. While most people don�t think of Israel as a Muslim country, there are actually quite a few of them there.

Although the work was in Tel Aviv, of course I had to take a bus trip to Jerusalem. The old city has these wonderful walls installed by Suleiman the Magnificent some years ago; really a beautiful city. The bus dropped us off right outside the Damascus Gate. We were immediately surrounded by young Muslim men offering to show us the city on a personal tour. I didn�t want that but finally gave in to one persistent man in a suit coat. One thing he asked right off, was what religion I was; he seemed confused that I had none, but I suspect he decided what to do later based on my answer.

He started showing me some sights. The second place he took me was what I recall he said was the �Well of Bethel� or some such. The interesting thing was that it was probably the only deserted place in that crowded city, essentially just a deep hole in the ground. As soon as we got there he loudly and angrily started shouting, �Give me my money!�

I suppose he wanted to scare me with the prospect of being pushed into that hole, but the funny thing was that I was pretty buff back in those days, and probably outweighed this kid by 20 pounds, even though I�m not a big guy. I smiled at him and walked toward him, maybe giving the impression that if anyone was going into that hole, it was him. I explained that I expected a full tour before he would get a penny of his fee. He quickly decided to agree, and continued our personal tour with me. After I had seen enough I paid him, and he thanked me. Heh.

My experiences were anecdotal. They were also prior to even the Gulf Wars. I never did see or hear about any heads getting chopped off. A few Libyans had a hand missing (punishment for theft) and one sad sack had both hands gone. Personally I would prefer not to have Muslims around; they just seem more trouble than they are worth. Conservatives seem to favor more government action to keep them out—walls and border patrols and such, but I bet getting rid of welfare would keep their populations small enough that they would just remain a curiosity rather than a threat. For some reason, nobody wants to try that, though. They prefer to keep socialism going and viable! �Welfare for me, but not for thee.�

Maybe without welfare, the people with the signs on their lawns would, on their own, host some Muslims anyway. But since that was probably really just posturing, they might not. Or maybe the Muslims they invite would wear out their welcome by raping the family goat (such gets reported frequently on gab.ai so it must be true). Who knows how this �Muslim problem� will end, but it probably will be a bloody ending. Oh well…

Note: I showed this to a friend, who thought it went too far. I suppose the comment about goat-raping (supposed to be a joke) might have gone overboard, but I'm just fed up with PC tyranny around campuses and I'm a grumpy old fart so I don't care if it bothers some people. If people can't take a joke, to Hell with 'em.