# So, Birmingham (England) is a Muslim City. Most stupid/crazy thing I've heard from Fox News. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 11, 2015, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575 "2015-01-11T22:25:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/41 "2015-01-12T22:56:09Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Most likely the plan was to spout off with the “Foxfact”, the Fox viewership eats it up, then he releases the (probably) pre-written apology if the rest of the world notices and raises a stink. The Fox viewership ignores said apology, and in future years will now continually regurgitate the “fact” that Birmingham is a Muslim city living under the iron fist of Sharia law and harboring terrorists. `Maybe some even note the apology but also understand he’s been forced to apologise for telling the truth; WE’RE NOT ALLOWED TO KNOW THE TRUTH!! That might fit with some Fox-friendly mindsets … ---
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/42 "2015-01-12T23:00:11Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t think it quite tops the time they claimed that, if Stephen Hawking had been born in the UK, he’d never have survived with ALS as long as he has due to the terrible nature of British healthcare. That’s quite marvellous! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/43 "2015-01-12T23:46:02Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Look at a quote from his apology > > “for having made this comment about the beautiful city of Birmingham”. > The mans a bigger idiot than I thought - that is not any sort of description to give to Birmingham 😕 That can’t be true! I mean, I’ve never been there, but everybody knows that way down South, in Birmingham, I mean South, in Alabam’, there’s an old place where people go to dance the . . . wait . . . ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/44 "2015-01-12T23:55:01Z")
“Oh wait, you’re talking about Birmingham, England? I’m sorry. I thought we were talking about Mecca which is commonly called the Birmingham of Saudi Arabia.” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/45 "2015-01-13T02:59:57Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Oh, and it’s not just Fox. According to some yammerer on [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/11/politics/obama-kerry-paris/index.html), ‘France is the United States’ “deepest ideological ally,” ’ > > Freedom fries, anyone? > [@Stringbean](#): > > President Obama should have gone to France and locked arms with the European heads of state. > > If nothing else, it will engender good will toward our closest ideological allies. How the heck did you quote someone who posted after you? (SB, you’re Poeing, right?) ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/46 "2015-01-13T03:29:42Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [Ignorant chappy apologizes.](https://twitter.com/rafsanchez/status/554398193866534912) [Ignorant chappy compares the replaying of his gaffe to being waterboarded](http://media.smh.com.au/video-news/video-world-news/another-gaffe-for-fox-news-commentator-6159706.html). Yes really, he went there. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/47 "2015-01-13T03:38:47Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t think it quite tops the time they claimed that, if Stephen Hawking had been born in the UK, he’d never have survived with ALS as long as he has due to the terrible nature of British healthcare. Wait- please tell me that actually happened, because it would truly make me happier than you could imagine… ---
**Author:** ![Wash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9dc877/32.png) [@Wash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wash)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/48 "2015-01-13T03:47:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > “Oh wait, you’re talking about Birmingham, England? I’m sorry. I thought we were talking about Mecca which is commonly called the Birmingham of Saudi Arabia.” Well, now you come to mention it, [Mecca](http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1183990) _is_ in Birmingham. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/49 "2015-01-13T03:50:36Z")
I am reading this whole thread with an English accent in my head and getting all sorts of tickled. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/50 "2015-01-13T04:22:56Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > Wait- please tell me that actually happened, because it would truly make me happier than you could imagine… It was an economic newspaper, [Investors Business Daily](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investor%27s_Business_Daily). This is a link to the [now-corrected article](http://news.investors.com/073109-503058-how-house-bill-runs-over-grandma.htm). The paragraph over it states that it has been corrected, oops, me bad. Some responses, taken from the links listed in wikipedia that are still live: [The Register](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/12/hawking_british_and_alive/) [Washington Post](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/08/how_stehpen_hawking_proves_tha.html) (gotta love the stehpen for stephen in the link itself…) [Telegraph](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6017878/Stephen-Hawking-I-would-not-be-alive-without-the-NHS.html) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/51 "2015-01-13T05:01:37Z")
An easy mistake, since he does not have an English accent. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/52 "2015-01-13T11:53:17Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I can imagine what you would have said if he _had_ done such a thing, since your mindset is that Obama is automatically wrong, no matter what action he takes. I’m picturing a last-minute development that results in Fox’s yammering bobbleheads denouncing A when Obama actually does B, a la: > [@](#): > > The speech had been proceeding for perhaps twenty minutes when a messenger hurried on to the platform and a scrap of paper was slipped into the speaker’s hand. He unrolled and read it without pausing in his speech. Nothing altered in his voice or manner, or in the content of what he was saying, but suddenly the names were different. Without words said, a wave of understanding rippled through the crowd. Oceania was at war with Eastasia! The next moment there was a tremendous commotion. The banners and posters with which the square was decorated were all wrong! Quite half of them had the wrong faces on them. It was sabotage! The agents of Goldstein had been at work! ---
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/53 "2015-01-13T13:27:17Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > [Ignorant chappy compares the replaying of his gaffe to being waterboarded](http://media.smh.com.au/video-news/video-world-news/another-gaffe-for-fox-news-commentator-6159706.html). Yes really, he went there. He really sounds like he is on meds. Maybe his dossage is wrong. It could explain this whole mess. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/54 "2015-01-13T15:32:12Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What about the purported 750+ Islamic “no-go areas” in France that the RW is talking about this week? Are they for real? _…appear[s] to stem from translation confusion over what are known as “zones urbaines sensibles” (ZUS) or “sensitive urban zones” in France. While some pockets of citizenry (including high-density Muslim populations) in France have indeed been identified as ZUS, and the term is not a designator for large populations of Muslims. Rather, the highlighted areas are ones that have been afflicted with issues such as crime, poverty, unemployment, and blight and are therefore targeted for urban renewal initiatives._ [Sharia Law Muslim 'No-Go' Zones | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/nogozones.asp#6pzfLjssBKLJvmad.99) I believe in America we call those “shitty neighborhoods” full of “poor” “brown” “people” some of whom, _quelle horreur_, are immigrants. Its true in the US that some white people are so afraid of poor brown people they don’t like to go into their neighborhoods. I don’t doubt that France contains the same brand of ignorant racists in copious supply. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/55 "2015-01-15T19:52:08Z")
Try this vid At around 45s he makes a great comment, Birmingham does have an ability to take the breath away, probably not for the same reasons that the commentator seems to hint. Some of the comments are pretty funny too > [@](#): > > Many have tried to improve this place, even the Luftwaffe gave up Check out the over 40s disco, place hasn’t changed, the dirt is a bit older is all. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/56 "2015-01-16T00:53:05Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Try this vid One of my favourite ever videos. I wonder how much Savalas was paid to extol the virtues of the inner ring-road from the comfort of his hot tub in Beverley Hills? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/57 "2015-01-16T01:04:15Z")
> [@BOOM](#): > > LOL. > > I sense a Death Panel approaching from the East … With a 50% chance of pestilence and famine coming out of the Northeast at twelve miles per hour. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/58 "2015-01-16T01:13:41Z")
Yeah, well, don’t forget that it was the Republicans who saved us from Ebola. Which is from Kenya, you know… ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/59 "2015-01-16T01:33:37Z")
[quote=“casdave, post:55, topic:709575”] Try this vid [/QUOTE] “The uploader has not made this video available in your country.” What are you trying to hide, BBC4? :dubious: Also available [here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoHVO1eSMFc&spfreload=10) The view that took his breath away is of Warsaw Pact Modern architecture, with a dash of '50s English “We’re still rationing.” Needs some more Luftwaffe redecorating. 😉 “You feel as if you’ve been (pause) _projected_ into the 21st century.” I assume that Telly absorbed enough of Birmingham’s atmosphere to have used “fucking” in that pause, though not enough to prevent him from speaking. In fact there were remarkably few “fucks” in that show. I wonder if he does better in his tour of [Aberdeen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhIyj64TQPg&spfreload=10) or [Portsmouth.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EmrGSqteGo&spfreload=10) ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/60 "2015-01-16T20:55:32Z")
Birmingham **IS** a muslim country. Confirmation from a muslim who lives in Birmingham. [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Gg7gdk5qk) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575.md?page=4)