Posted on 10/10/2006 6:12:43 AM PDT by Verloona Ti
By Tom Lyden
Web Produced by Michael Durkin
MINNEAPOLIS – In her bright pink hat, Paula Hare has found herself waiting on her stoop a lot lately, for taxi cabs that never come.
Not to avoid confusion, Paula even tells the taxi dispatcher she’s transgendred. But on three occasions when the taxi actually showed up, she says Muslim drivers have refused to give her a lift.
“This is more than just religion, it’s flat out discrimination,” hare said. “And we’ve got laws against that in this state.”
The city of Minneapolis says she’s right.
Of the nearly 2,000 taxis in the Twin Cities metro, estimates are as many as half the drivers are recent immigrants – many Muslim.
The culture clash is most apparent at Twin Cities international Airport, where two to three times a day, taxi drivers refuse a fare because someone is carrying a bottle of alcohol. Some drivers believe the Koran forbids it.
Soon, the airport will even color code the light bar above taxi’s to indicate those who won’t carry booze.
When FOX 9 stopped by the airport taxi lot to talk about the controversy, we got a near riot. No one said they would give us a ride with a bottle of wine, and they told us to go somewhere else.
Back at Paula’s place, the taxi arrives this time, although the driver gives her quite a look. Paula Hare doesn’t care, as long as she gets there.
“They say it’s their religion, but they pick up women without veils,” Hare said.
The owner of Blue and White Taxi says they suspended one of their drivers who refused to give Paula a ride. That driver eventually quit.
The owner also says three local imams, Muslim religious leaders, have said there is no violation of the Koran if you transport alcohol – they just can’t touch it.
While the airport is compromising on this alcohol issue, mainly it seems out of a fear of litigation. The city of Minneapolis is not making a compromise, saying if the passenger has alcohol, or is going to a liquor store, cabbies must still give them a ride.
"Paula even tells the taxi dispatcher she’s transgendred."
Sure.
"If the cabs are privately run companies, then they should be free to pick up/ not pick up anyone they want."
But what if you have to have a city licensed medallion to operate a cab? Doesn't that make it analogous to, say, NBC, a private broadcaster operating under a license and therefore unable to broadcast something because of nasty letters to the FCC?
Well, Ms. Garrison was so excited about his new vagina that he had to tell everyone!
"Well, Ms. Garrison was so excited about his new vagina that he had to tell everyone!"
I guess that would give one bragging rights!
From the local Minnesota board
heard it. It was Bob McNaney from KSTP TV. MAC is trying to keep this very quiet. They know the PR will be bad. People won't want to come through MSP if they hear this. Some of the Muslin cabbies say this is not a religious belief. Those that think so are misinterpreting the Koran.
That said, he thinks it's more a case of them finding out it's a short fare and using the no alcohol as an excuse not to take it. What the starter at the airport is doing as of now is sending that cabbie to the back of the line to wait again if they refuse a fare.
They are not independent. The are under contract by the MAC and have to abide by the rules.
A lot of discussion on the program about pharmacists that refused to fill the morning after pill for religious reasons and the employer basically saying fill it or else you're gone.
Local media was, (of course), NOT on the side of those pharmacists. They had to abide by the rules of their employers. Now we shall see how sympathetic they are to the Muslim cabbies. Somehow I don't think it's going to work out the same way.
Apparantly some religions are more equal than others.
Learn about Islam through pictures. Pretty much self-explanatory.
You might think about passing this around to naive acquaintances.
Remember - VERY GRAPHIC
http://www.faithfreedom.org/gallery.htm
LOL! There were a couple of them that used to come into the PO where I used to work. They looked like the ex-jocks in drag trying to get in for "Ladie's Night" in the old beer commercials.
Although they were real bruisers they were pretty nice people in how they treated everyone, until someone picked on them.
Mostly they got into hissy-fit mode. Still, a 200 lb 6 footer in pearls and size 14 heels with an attitude could be a bit intimidating.
I'm laughing myself silly picturing some self righteous skinny Somali hack driver stoned on khat pi**ing one of them off!
I seem to recall luncheonettes in Alabama back in the 1950's, making the identical claim that they were privately owned dining establishments and had the right to serve or not serve customers.
Yup. They were correct then, and the poster is correct now.
Personally, I wouldn't eat in a place that wouldn't allow blacks, but they'd be perfectly in their rights to do so IMO, if we still had such a thing as "private property" in this country.
I seem to recall something about a Civil Rights movement. Are we living in the same country?
But alcohol is no problem, no problem at all. Simply tell the driver, "This may look like a bottle of wine, but it's actually liquid explosive." I'm sure he'll find that acceptable.
If these subhuman pig-O-phobes are allowed to discriminate while operating with a public license then they have inserted the first wedge in the door to getting their insane laws woven into the fabric of our legal system.
According to FOX the subhuman mudslime are now 75% of the cab drivers at MSP Airport.
This human debris cannot be allowed to slowly infect our country with their own brand of cancer.
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