# 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:** 4
**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 16, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/61 "2015-01-16T21:26:07Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Birmingham **IS** a muslim country. Confirmation from a muslim who lives in Birmingham. > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Gg7gdk5qk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Gg7gdk5qk) That accent though. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/62 "2015-01-16T21:34:13Z")
Apparently now they’re claiming that many neighborhoods of Paris are ‘no-go’ zones. The derp, it burns. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/63 "2015-01-16T21:49:45Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Apparently now they’re claiming that many neighborhoods of Paris are ‘no-go’ zones. > > The derp, it burns. [Indeed.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=746049) ---
**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, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/64 "2015-01-16T21:50:30Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > That accent though. :eek: The way he says, “it was on the news” cracks me up. ---
**Author:** ![Boogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Boogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boogly)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/65 "2015-01-16T21:59:41Z")
Search google for #foxnewsfacts and check out some of the ‘facts’ in response to this. > **['Bearded fanatics have a history of running sporting institutions'](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2908019/Hilarious-responses-foxnewsfacts-claim-Birmingham-Muslim-city.html)** > > Online wits used images of Mecca Bingo, the Queen wearing a headscarf and bearded football manager Roy Keane to satirise the bizarre statement made by Steve Emerson on American television. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/66 "2015-01-16T22:30:34Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Yeah, well, don’t forget that it was the Republicans who saved us from Ebola. Which is from Kenya, you know… Got a long form birth certificate to prove that, have you? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/67 "2015-01-16T23:22:12Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Got a long form birth certificate to prove that, have you? Yeah, but you need a microscope to read it. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/68 "2015-01-17T00:28:44Z")
For those who think this incident is a particularly example of the unreliability of Fox News; almost any article or report you have seen or read over the past 4 decades warning of the rise of the far right in Europe have been proven false. The past year or two may be an exception(we have yet to see real evidence). But all those articles, and there have been many, were at best a lie and at worst poor reporting. These fear mongering topics are in existence on both sides. Please, dont ask for a cite. Your wasting your time and mine if you do. ---
**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 19, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/69 "2015-01-19T01:05:55Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > almost any article or report you have seen or read over the past 4 decades warning of the rise of the far right in Europe have been proven false. The past year or two may be an exception(we have yet to see real evidence). But all those articles, and there have been many, were at best a lie and at worst poor reporting. These fear mongering topics are in existence on both sides. > > Please, dont ask for a cite. Your wasting your time and mine if you do. Yeah, what that devious liberal media reported of the far right making gains in Europe was bad. [http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304811904579585732459776154](http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304811904579585732459776154) Yep, that “liberal media” like the Wall Street Journal. Regardless, Fox is still unreliable and since you do not want to point at specific examples what you said was just a red herring. What this affair showed to me is that the right wing bubble can report something for years and almost no one on the right bothered to see if this issue of the no-go cities in Europe was poppycock. I found a now “classic” example from World Net Daily: > **[Coming soon: America's own Islamic 'no-go' zones \* WorldNetDaily \* by Bob Unruh](https://www.wnd.com/2013/07/coming-soon-americas-own-islamic-no-go-zones/)** > > ... Read more > [@](#): > > Coming soon to dozens of locations across the United States: America’s own “no-go” zones where Muslims install their own courts, government, justice and punishment, much like the zones that already exist across the European Union. The way that report comes it seems that the “no-go Muslim cities” canard was old “news” already in 2013 in the rightosphere, anyone can find earlier examples or sources? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/70 "2015-01-19T14:11:07Z")
[Apparently even Fox News decided it couldn’t double down on this one any longer;](http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/01/18/3612900/fox-news-apologize-no-go-zones/) > [@](#): > > “To be clear, there is no formal designation of these zones in either country, and no credible information to support the assertion that there are specific areas in these countries that exclude individuals based solely on their religion,” Fox News anchor Julie Banderas said. “We deeply regret the errors and apologize to any and all who may have taken offense including the people of France and England.” > > Jeanine Pirro, who was interviewing Emerson when he made the comments, also apologized Saturday, saying she should have challenged Emerson’s “serious factual error.” The morning show Fox & Friends, which previously showed a map of all the places Muslim extremists had supposedly conquered, also backed down somewhat, saying “some of the neighborhoods were highlighted incorrectly.” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/71 "2015-01-19T15:00:27Z")
I suppose that’s true, in the sense that some means “all”. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/72 "2015-01-19T15:51:57Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > [Apparently even Fox News decided it couldn’t double down on this one any longer;](http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/01/18/3612900/fox-news-apologize-no-go-zones/) A retraction from Fox? What’s next: cats sleeping with dogs? Republicans suddenly admitting that Obama has been right all along? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/73 "2015-01-20T01:35:56Z")
[They left Bobby Jindal off the e-mail.](http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/19/politics/jindal-no-go-zones-london/) ---
**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 20, 2015, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/74 "2015-01-20T01:42:17Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > [They left Bobby Jindal off the e-mail.](http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/19/politics/jindal-no-go-zones-london/) Yikes, Jindal really looks there like an ignoramus thug… and then sounds like one. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/75 "2015-01-20T01:54:03Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > [They left Bobby Jindal off the e-mail.](http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/19/politics/jindal-no-go-zones-london/) Well, exactly. Jindal is just an unusually high profile example of exactly what Fox News was doing; convince millions of true believers that Muslims are taking over European cities and neighborhoods. The retraction’s an irrelevance, because the hard core Christian conservative viewership doesn’t listen to retractions. They’re now convinced the stories are true, and will remain convinced. That Birmingham is a Muslim city and Muslims have their own little kingdoms in Europe is now absolute fact to tens of millions of Americans. Nothing will change that belief now. It’s done. Since they now believe Muslims have taken over Birmingham and other places like that, they become more frightened and easily pandered to by… Fox News, as well as the various Fox News personalities who write books, and they continue to watch Fox News and buy the books. Fox News doesn’t care that the claims about Birmingham are false, and doesn’t care if they have to apologize or not. Within a month or two, there will be similarly ridiculous claims made on Fox, which will continue to frighten their target demographic and keep scared and ignorant people watching Fox. Marketing wise, it’s brilliant. CBS, ABC, CNN et al. are all trying to give a relatively balanced view of the news; it’s American-centric and all that but whatever, it’s balanced by U.S. standards. But, as a result, if gives the viewer no particular reason to favor one over the other. Unless you are particularly fond of one anchor or whatever, those networks’ news presentations all look and sound more or less the same, and you an move from one to another. But if you’re a fundamentalist, conservative Christian who finds new things a bit scary, Fox news is selling directly to you. It’s to the benefit of Fox to reinforce the very emotions and beliefs that make people watch and agree with Fox in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/76 "2015-01-20T02:21:45Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > A retraction from Fox? What’s next: cats sleeping with dogs? Republicans suddenly admitting that Obama has been right all along? …or stating that their exciting new ideas for [del]2008[/del] [del]2009[/del] [del]2010[/del] [del]2011[/del] [del]2012[/del] [del]2013[/del] [del]2014[/del] 2015 are repealing the healthcare act, rolling back capital gains taxes, and leaving illegal immigrant to rot in limbo. * * * I’m just very thankful that Birmingham is a Total Lie. I have yet to visit it (or the UK) and I really do wish to. Perhaps what Jindal meant was that Ignorant Right Wing FOX Extremists are not allowed there. If that’s the case, I’d like to picture Jason Statham dressed in Terminator Gear yanking them out of their rental cars as they try, stating, “Get… Out…!” 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/77 "2015-01-20T05:39:31Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > A retraction from Fox? What’s next: cats sleeping with dogs? Republicans suddenly admitting that Obama has been right all along? Media Matters tallies substantial Fox News factual screwups almost every day. Those don’t receive comment. But I’ve noticed when the Daily Show takes them on, that some sort of correction is often forthcoming, though it is often distorted and lame. So high profile spotlights often result in responses. I still find it hilarious that modern conservatives watch that network. I mean you have to be pretty fucked in the head to watch news shows that consistently mangle their facts. By and large I understand that Fox News personnel are in on the joke. They certainly haven’t lost any money by over-estimating the intelligence of their viewers: I respect their financial management. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/78 "2015-01-20T14:10:56Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > I’m just very thankful that Birmingham is a Total Lie. I have yet to visit it (or the UK) and I really do wish to. Perhaps what Jindal meant was that Ignorant Right Wing FOX Extremists are not allowed there. As a (former) Birmingham resident, I suggest giving it a miss. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/79 "2015-01-20T21:49:04Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > As a (former) Birmingham resident, I suggest giving it a miss. I really need to tie my daughter-in-law to a chair in the basement and [del]torture[/del] query her about her Muslim affiliations. She’s from Manchester, but that’s just up the M6 from Birmingham, so you know - terrorist. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-birmingham-england-is-a-muslim-city-most-stupid-crazy-thing-ive-heard-from-fox-news/709575/80 "2015-01-20T22:24:57Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > As a (former) Birmingham resident, I suggest giving it a miss. So it is a no-go area! I knew it! [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=3) [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=5)