AIBU to think Katie Hopkins is even more of a tw--a--it...

[GigiB]

.. she really is. Check out this headline:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3627352/KATIE-HOPKINS-Welcome-Midsummer-madness-Ramadan.html

who wants to help me plot how to get her put in a box and posted to the north pole with no ski's?

Leelu not leeks. Silly autocorrect.

islamqa.info/en/141646

islamqa.info/en/132438

If the column had been written about Scientologists or Jehovas Witnesses fasting you would all be agreeing with her and saying how wacky and nuts they are and how unsafe it was for them to be driving around and performing operations when they had not eaten or drunk for so long.

More bollocks from KH again. Muslims have been going about their fast for years without any problems, why is it suddenly a huge problem that's going to results in maiming and death this year? And now any atrocities that happen will be blamed on it being Ramadan, not on ISIS being a bunch of arseholes.

I've worked with Muslims during the fast and they've done their job perfectly well. The only thing I thought was that it must be bloody hard sitting through lunchtime with us lot eating, but they never complained, or made us eat elsewhere.

I worked in a government office in an Islamic country a few years back. It was well acknowledged that productivity would drop significantly because, frankly, everyone was exhausted. From a mixture of the fast itself but also the lack of sleep that is also typical in Ramadan. We had a note on our website stating as much.

The authorities published warnings to stay off roads, no one in their right mind had non essential surgery and everyone worked reduced hours all because it was widely understood that concentration was not optimal. And that's fine. It was accepted as the way it is. No issues at all.

So I find it utterly bizarre that now in the west we pretend that everything is as it would be if food and water was being consumed when it's simply not true.

I understand that people feel offended when they read KH - she is a professional troll - but to go in to denial does everyone trying to have intelligent debate a disservice.

Where in the world are these stay off the road warnings I'm supposed to be seeing? Funny. I see a lot of "Drive Safely and enjoy Ramadan with your families" but then again, I saw those at Christmas home (granted it was aimed at drinking and driving not fasting and driving).

Spent a week in the hospital in Dubai during Ramadan a couple years back. Funny, everyone seemed fine. No one running down the corridors screaming and spurting blood anywhere from a botched surgery.

The reduced working hours have less to do with poor work performance and more to do with the fact that Ramadan is about spending time with family and prayer. So work places give you more hours to spend with your family and to pray! to be honest it's only really government offices that get them. The drop in productivity is acknowledged in the same way the drop in productivity is acknowledge in offices during Christmas or school holidays. People are enjoying their holidays.

She's got a point.

I wouldn't want someone who hasn't eaten for 20 hours to drive me home. And I think children need food to concentrate etc. Each to their own but it's a bizarre thing to do...

Fatty there are warnings issued by the government about road safety during Ramadan. I posted an extract from one upthread.

Given the appalling standard of roads and driving that we have here, I personally think that any additional risk is too much. It's nuts to pretend that the roads are not even more utterly dangerous places at sunset and if you are in the ME then you will know this perfectly well.

There was a recent case where a UK driver who caused a fatal road accident was criticized by the judge for staying up all night the night before chatting to a woman online. It's the same - or it should be - if you have stayed up all night iftar and suhoor-ing and then get behind the wheel.

I would hope that people behave responsibly when fasting but my eyes tell me that isn't always the case!

Whispering, if you can't understand my comment then just leave it. You sound like one of those thicko EDL members who keep banging on about something without any idea what they're banging on about. There are people on this thread who understood exactly what I meant and there are others who have made the same point.

Muslims have been fasting in this country for many many years. The only reason this is an issue for people like KH now is because islam is the "big bad" in this day and age. Write an article about "deadly Islamic fasters who can kill you driving" will attract even more attention. Attention = money.

Also the comment about 8 year olds fasting: whoever makes their 8 year old fast 18-20 hours is an incompetent parent. My dd is 8 and voluntarily fasted 6 hours last year and plans to do it again over the weekend. Never at school.

YoungGirlGrowingOld I can't find the link. But as I said, there "warnings" are no different then drink driving campaigns done in the UK during the Christmas holidays.

I was driving from Abu Dhabi to Dubai at Iftar last night. I saw 2 cars on the highway. Yes, the driving does get a bit worse during Ramadan because people are tried, but honestly, it's my favorite time of the year to drive because the roads are also generally empty! It's fantastic.

I wouldn't hesitate to get in a cab, even if the driver was fasting. I wouldn't hesitate to go to a doctor, even if he was fasting, and I wouldn't hesitate to take a plane, even if the pilot was fasting (will actually be doing so next week). I assume that they are adults who know their bodies and are fasting responsibly (which you also see lots of 'warnings' from the government about).

It's true that the roads are empty during iftar time (and probably safer!) It's just the hour beforehand that fills me with fear...

One poor lady keeled over in HSBC last year. Luckily me and another customer caught her, but it did seem to be very sudden - chatting one minute, unconscious the next. I hope you are right and that people would be sensible when they are in positions where they are responsible for others' lives (but I am a cynical old hag generally!)

It's just the hour beforehand that fills me with fear... smile

When I lived in Qatar I was scared around then too. However Qatari's drive like Emirati's before Iftar year round. The highways in the UAE are such a breeze comparatively that I don't even think twice.

My Mom had a boy pass out at school last year. He was about 8ish and determined to fast like his big brothers and parents. He didn't tell his parents he was doing it, just did it anyway. Poor kid got a bollocking when his Dad showed up. LOL.

Otherwise, ten years here (and I used to work for Oil & Gas at a massive construction site) and I've never heard of anything more severe than some heat stroke and upset tummies from massive Iftars!

Haha - I must be a real wimp then because I get the fear on SZR even when it's not approaching the end of fast! DH always laughs at my post-driving white knuckles!

I was driving from Abu Dhabi to Dubai at Iftar last night

I couldnt be bothered replying to the poster a few pages ago who said 5 seconds after Maghrib the roads are like Wacky Races - when in actual fact the roads are deserted because everyone is at home or in the Mosque breaking their fast.

I think she's a tad confused.

Tattie that was me and I am not confused, I was was simply describing my drive home - I have often waited until after the Maghrib thinking that the traffic would be better. It isn't if you don't wait long enough!

YoungGirlGrowingOld I think I've adapted to the point that I drive like the locals now LOL! I always get in trouble when I go home and drive because I'm so aggressive! (Tailgating and flashing your brights to tell someone to get out of the way is just not the done thing).

"When the IRA was at its peak did we give Catholics a hard time? No"

During The Troubles my Dublin born Catholic Mum lived and was raising her family in London .I can tell you (from first hand experience of observing how certain idiots treated her when they heard her accent as well as talking to her about it in later years) that the bigots haven't changed in the intervening years. She experienced the same tarring them all with same brush stupidity from a dim minority that moderate Muslims endure today.

I am a convert to Islam

I think that would be 'revert'.

People who think the fasting is a problem, what powers do you think employers should have that they don't have already? The power to set a minimum number of calories a day for their employees perhaps? How would that work?

My DH is from the ME and also drives like that in the UK. I just keep my eyes closed...

" When the IRA was at its peak did we give Catholics a hard time? No"

er I hate to burst your little bubble but in fact the answer is 'yes' and not only 'Catholics' but anyone with an Irish accent.
I think I lost count of how many 'jokes' I heard in the 1970s about Paddy blowing up cars.

When the IRA was at its peak did we give Catholics a hard time? No

I was yelled at in a cafe in London when I was 16 because the guy thought I was Irish. I'm originally from Newfoundland, Canada. It was quite bizarre.