Los Angeles Is Covered in Delicious Fruit and No One Is Eating It A story of immigrant populations, gentrification, and the free loquat bonanza.

los Angeles does, contrary to what some believe, have seasons; they just aren’t the same as those in the Northeast or Midwest. There isn’t really a fall or a winter. Instead, there’s Fire Season, Rainy Three Weeks, and June Gloom, among others. But there’s another way to measure the passage of time: by fruit. We’re not talking about what’s in the farmer’s markets, but what’s growing on the streets, in parking lots, in plots of land that may or may not belong to anyone.

Los Angeles, especially the hotter, drier East Side, is not home to an unusually large number of native edible plants, but it is home to an absolutely berserk amount of non-native fruit trees, planted both intentionally and accidentally. Many of these simply line neighborhood streets. Among them, especially prominent on the East Side, in now-trendy neighborhoods like Silver Lake, Echo Park, and Atwater Village, is the loquat.

The loquat—an extremely juicy, incredibly prolific, mighty delicious sweet-sour fruit, bright yellow in color, somewhere between a plum and a mango in flavor—is so common that you can hardly walk more than three or four houses in these neighborhoods without passing one. And yet it isn’t celebrated, prized, or, for the most part, eaten at all. You can tell this because if they were valued, then all those trees wouldn’t be absolutely heavy with fruit. “Nobody eats them,” says Alissa Walker, a Los Angeles–based journalist and loquat enthusiast, of the loquat trees in her neighborhood. “They just hang on the trees, and I’m like, ‘Is anyone going to eat these?’”

[[What does them being a Muslim have to do with your story?]]

These people- who happen to be muslims, who came here recently from their countries- Apparently feel entitled to do this in the town i live in- At least those around us do- I don’t care what nation a person is from, what race- when those around me engage in crap like i described i have an issue with it- race has nothing to do with it- If white city folks came to our neck of the woods and pulled the same crap I’d have an issue with that too - If white people from the next town moved here and pulled that crap I’d have just as much an issue with that too- Race or religion has nothing to do with it UNLESS a religion or culture feels they are entitled to trespass and take what isn’t theirs!

I never said ALL muslims do this- whether they do or not- i don’t know, i can only speak to what those around us have done, and how those around us are acting, which is in conflict with how others in our town act- Whether they are muslim, protestant, catholic or whatever- I don’t care- but it is a fact that the particular people who are doing this happen to be muslim- whether because that is how they are raised or not I don’t know- all i know is that they are doing this here- noone else is doing it- because they respect boundaries- Black folks in town don’t do it, the irish in town don’t, mexicans in town don’t do this, just the folks who are from arab nations are doing this in our town- that isn’t bigotry- that is simply a fact- it is also a fact that several muslim families were arrested for major multimillion dollar crimes/scams around us- This isn’t a bigoted statement- it is a fact- regardless of whether you like it being mentioned or not- so again- enough with the idiotic accusations of bigotry-

" What does them being a Muslim have to do with your story? Or is being a bigot just something you do naturally? "

Having lived in a American low-income (= higher income 3rd world) city for 28 years. I suspect the poster is likely referring to Somali Muslims which are of a poorer and proud culture versus Moroccans or Jordanians for instance whose culture is different. As is (I would say) the culture of black Ethiopians vs. American black culture. Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party rep. Ilhan Abdullahi Omar is from Somali.

Warning: Off-the-cuff essay.

Culture with its social as well as moral and beliefs can be a clear product of a religion, which to varying degrees itself expressed a culture in its beginnings, or to varying degrees religion can be used to justify an ingrained or adopted culture which is actually contrary to the culture the religion originally expressed. And of course the more depth and clarity that a religion provides via its authoritative sources then the better it can express a culture and thus shape the faithful, while the more obscure such sources are and or the less faithful the adherents are then the more diverse and deviant its expression is.

Consider the difference btwn the "Protestant work ethic" (though not restricted to Protestants) and affirmation of basic values and beliefs as expressed in votes among those who most strongly esteem Scripture as the accurate authoritative word of God, versus the typical black church (and there should not be black or white churches) and what it manifestly supports. The former is clearly what is taught in Scripture as its extensive (in scope and depth) revelation shows, requiring morality and work as well as charity but clearly contrary to supporting immorality and the demonic victim-entitlement mentality. Yet as the professed members of this group increasingly adopt the post--Christian culture in which they exist, then their culture increasingly becomes contrary to the culture of Scripture. The way many evangelical women dress even in church would be considered scandalous in Biblical times as well as in Muslim counties which retain that aspect of culture.

On the other hand, while the concept of liberation is clearly supported by Scripture (and many leading evangelicals supported abolition) as are the basic morals which black churches typically profess to support, yet as regards liberation, unlike groups such as the Chinese, American black churches have responded to past abuse and discrimination by embracing the seductive victim-entitlement mentality and racial consciousness and pride based upon skin color which white liberal elites promoted in order to obtain power (as being the "saviors" of the oppressed). And thus over 90% of historically black churches vote liberal. And which is related to the decay and and problematic condition of the general black family with its 77% of Black babies in America (aside from immigrants) being born to unmarried mothers and fatherless families. This is despite them overall professing belief in the Bible as the word of God, but as with cults, this profession vs. possession of authority can be employed in order to justify un-biblical ideas.

However, this is an issue of culture making use of color, and is not a problem due to color. A a non-PC Berkeley study published in 2007 of the attitude and treatment of recent African immigrants by American blacks serves to illustrate this (FR thread). Excerpt: "Growing up in Africa . . ., the culture of White racism and prejudice was not part of the African upbringing . . . . [w]e were aware of the history of slavery but, in all cases, we were wil ling to forget and forgive. It never occurred to us that we would be the targets of hate simply because of the color of our skin. Interestingly, ou r Black and brown skins did not open the doors wide for us in the African American community either. We were, and remain to many African Americans, outsiders or beneficiaries of their struggle against a racist society. If we are too successful and live in a nice White neighborhood, then we are accused of betraying our race, being "Black Bourgeois" and wanting to be White. To White neighbors, we are safe because we are Blacks from Africa . . ., not from the South or Brooklyn and, to their stereotypical way of thinking, we do not do drugs or alcohol or have big late night parties."

Therefore much of what is carelessly labelled "racism" in the US is actually not that of aversion to skin color but to a culture that typically identifies it in America

Now as regards Islam, the Quran, being a small book of a monologue btwn Mohammad and his demon which seriously lacks the manner of contextual historical narrative and systematic theology of the Bible, and which has supplementary competing traditions that it has little separation of religion and civil authority and supports religious violence, means on one hand that it sanctions the use of the sword of men against both other Muslims (as deviant) and unbelievers, with no clear theology on just what constitutes war against Islam and thus who one can use this sword against (physical threat or ideological and moral) .

On the other hand it retains ancient culture in which community among those of like faith is strongly supported and fostered (the film Not Without My Daughter) illustrates this) with its "us" versus "them" identity. But when this becomes a prideful community of racial consciousness that is infected with the victim-entitlement mentality and the resentment toward another race as oppressors and the sanction of demands of reparations and theft and violence, then you can have BLM and bloody jihad as cousins, both of which seeking power as proxy servants of the devil, together with anarchists which do the same. Thus both justify looting government as well as private property.

But not without divisions within races and religion. Many Muslims abhor religious violence and are here to escape the Taliban-type oppression, yet the see the wokist cults as also adverse to what they believe. However, what their religion fundamentally teaches is religious violence against both Christians with family values as well as unbelievers and pagans, and so what will they choose? It is true conservative evangelicals that should be providing the alternative, through persecuted by all who are not.

No, these folks are from Arab nations. My post was not to malign all Muslims, I simply was wondering If Muslims where the fruits are covering the streets gathered them like the ones around us do. Many old world cultures gather and preserve fruit, that is all I was speaking to about that issue. My original post about the issue was supposed to ask ‘what about the homeless? What about Muslims in the area there? Do they never gather the fruit. The I explained how those around d us do, but they do so in a way that is illegal and they evidently feel entitled to it. This accounting had nothing to do with the question I asked.

I was not implying that Muslims everywhere trespass to get the fruit, I can only speak to those aRound us that do. I a.so related that The ones around us have also been caught committing welfare fraud and also sending money overseas. One prominent Muslim who owned several tire shops was caught for that. This is not to imply Muslims everywhere do this, only that this has been the experience with those around us. It is an issue that bothers the town folks and myself included, because we were not raised that way. That is not to say some white people don’t steal and ignore boundaries as well, obviously some do, but on the whole, with the Muslims around d us, it seems to be a way of life with some of them, others not so much. The one issue doesn’t have anything to do with the other, (gathering fruit legally as in my original question,, and doing it illegally as in my follow up commentary on our experience around us)however, I mentioned it to explain that an old world culture does tend to gather, but sadly aroundus they don’t do so ethically and legally- that is all

I would rather get a purple car than have a yard without mulberries. Then again, cutting down the mulberries here wouldnt do any good because the birds would still do the same with the elderberries and everything else around here and I wouldnt dream of getting rid of all those other things.

I think though that the concern about bird splatter is more of part of the character of those that are raised closer to town. I have flocks of screaming seagulls wheeling overhead all the time, flocks of turkeys come sit on the house and like to roost on vehicle roofs, plenty of visiting geese that stop by though they dont seem intent on interacting with the geese that mow my lawn, not to even try to mention everything that comes down the Mississippi flyway.

Theres a new phenomenon here, flying chihuahua turds. We dont know where they are coming from. Youll just be sitting in the house and hear something hit the siding. When you go out and look there is a bent half dried chihuahua turd laying there. A lot of locals are blaming the pelicans because the problem seems to have started and increased with the pelicans returning and their population increasing. The thing is that pelicans dont shoot torpedoes, theyre painters too and I think theyre being blamed because they are the most visible of the large birds that have returned.

The large birds here had disappeared by the 30’s but somewhere around 2000-2001 everything returned. Cranes, egrets, pelicans, bald eagles, and a bunch of other things returned like they all had simultaneously gotten an invitation so no one here has enough experience to know for sure what is doing it.

I guess I live in some sort of weird bird guano wonderland. If there was some way to scoop it all up Id be rich.

We used to get really great citrus from Florida, Arizona, Texas. I havent seen any in years. I know there is somebody down there growing these things, I just can figure out why the citrus trucks seem to be able to go East but not North.

(If those SOBs at “Cuties” trick me into buying one more bag of mislabeled tangerines like they do at the end of every clementine season then Im tempted to drive to their HQ and go postal. Im so damned tired of them ripping me off...nah, wouldnt waste vacation time on that as fun as it may be.)

Im sure that problem distributors are part of the issue. I once complained here on FR about the fact that there were no real grapes in any stores from Chicago to Marquette and hadnt been for 20 years. Almost literally over night we had every conceivable color and flavor of grape appear in the stores and those damned sour little green footballs that covered the shelves for decades had disappeared.

I thought, “Wow, thats quite a coincidence. Maybe there is somebody on FR that makes a living shipping produce around the country.” So I tried again when a previous citrus conversation came up. I was hoping that something from the Southern US would appear. I made the comment that I had only been buying things coming from Spain, Morocco, and Chile because everything from California was crap. Well, if anyone noticed that then it backfired. All the foreign stuff disappeared and now theres nothing but California garbage citrus on the shelves.

I live in Wisconsin. A person might think that there are a lot of great beer drinking opportunities here. That person would be wrong. Well, at least in my quarter of the state. There is effectively a single distributor that provides the same bad beer to every event. You might think that they would make more money actually selling beer but maybe it just takes too much effort to move that many barrels. It didnt bother me too much because I could always just go into one purveyor or another outside the event and order a beer but that effort has turned into a bad Monty Python sketch.

“Hi, what kind of beer do you have?”
“Well, a lot of people like My Left Nut. Its is a choco-mocha chestnut rosemary infused IPA.”
“Ah, no. Anything else?”
“Well, we have an Irish red doghair and sardine...”
“No. Beer. I want a beer. Do you have anything like a helles? A kolsche? An alt or maybe a bock? No? How about just a some kind of pilsner?”
“Ummm...we have Bud lite.”
“Stop it. No...Ill...just... go elsewhere.” (Yes, the Shatner pauses are important.)

Thats become more difficult too as the same place seems to be taking over distribution everywhere.

We cant blame it all on the distributors though can we? Who creates all these bad products in the first place? Is it a mental problem that just kind of takes over whole industries?

The market?...Responding to....Its those damned Millennials again! Some of the best scientific proof that the intense vaccination schedule is damaging our children is that we have an entire generation with some sort of taste bud autism.

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