This post is just to remind you that, no matter how good your intentions, or how well you think you have everything figured out, not everyone in the world thinks like you do. It is also to remind you that freedom is not free.This young German protester (above) has it all figured out, too. If we can only get the UN and their repulsive food and protection out of Sudan, things would be peachy. And do send money for reparations. Reparations for how we have made the situation how it is today, I guess. The dictators would surely use the money to take care of the people, right? No intervention.
They were doing so well before the intervention.
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And Britain? Let's have a look at how your policy of tolerance for all things non-British is paying off, shall we?
1. Londonstan in the making:
2. Well, at least they are respectful of your society.
3. And share common values... 
This one, below, is especially hilarious. The speaker just doesn't get it. 
At least your tolerance is appreciated and returned to you... 
Slay. Butcher. 
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I don't preach against Islam and I don't preach against immigration and I don't preach against tolerance, whenever tolerance is needed.
I do preach against misguided tolerance and against lilly-livered citizens who refuse to stand up for what belongs to them.
Religion of all brands has much to answer for, for the condition the world is in today. But I don't preach against religion, either. I believe those of quiet faith must now stand up and condemn those who would pervert their faith. That goes not only for Muslims, but for Christians as well.
Muslims: stand up and condemn these heretics. To non-Muslims around you, your silence is implying your agreement. These people do not represent your beautiful religion. Christians: stand up against the lawless vigilantes who kill abortionists in your name. And thank you to the thousands of Christians in my own country who ARE standing up and speaking out against the recent atrocity committed in the name of your religion. Vengance belongs only to God.
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I have written so many posts about misguided tolerance. I am growing weary of preaching to the wind.
Tolerance does not apply to evil. You must not tolerate evil. Evil must be confronted, not tolerated.
Yes, you have the right to define evil in your society.
Evil is that which will steal from you your entire history and way of life. Evil is malevolent. Evil seeks to currupt. Evil does not care about what you want, doesn't care about your values, doesn't care about your history. Evil wants only to destroy that which you hold dear.
You must not sit and watch these protests on television, sitting on your couch and shaking your head. You must be on the streets, standing with your own signs, standing shoulder to shoulder behind your police, showing your police they are not out there alone. The television cameras must record that there is opposition to this evil that is infecting your country.
These people are not in your country to assimilate. They are in your country to proselytize and take over. They are there to subjugate you to their own beliefs.
Britain used to be filled with warriors who wouldn't take this kind of crap. Where have the warriors gone? All dead? Or are their sons and daughters merely cowards? Evil is already in your midst; time to fight back.
If it is worth living in, it is worth fighting to keep.
Under British law, most of those placards render their holders arrestable, inciting racial or religious hatred is an offence, as is inciting violence, threatening behaviour etcetera.
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time I was seriously considering permanent residence in scandinavia. I picked up the Swedish government's immigration papers. They outlined certain requirements to be met by incomers.
You have six months in which you are entitled to Swedish lessons, language, cultural norms etc. Following that, you are expected to conduct your affairs in swedish, celebrate swedish festivals, eat swedish food, support swedish sports teams etc. Your children will be taught in swedish, and if you don't like that, well, tough.
Yes, you can celebrate your own culture, but you have no right to special treatment. If the meal at work is meatballs, well, you can choose not to eat it, but don't expect the dish of your choice in its place. Meatballs... or no meatballs, that is the choice.
Here? Oh deary me. My local city council sends me its junkmail, like notices on which day refuse is picked up. I can have them in pretty much any language. Of course, I'm paying taxes to have all this stuff translated into somali, urdu, vietnamese, farsi, etc.
I did once ask the receptionist in the town hall, "Do you have this in Welsh?" The answer? hmmm. gaelic? hmm.... No, we don't have those, nor kernow, nor manx, no, not in our own languages. But kiswahili? of course. Even Jamaican patois.
I would adopt the swedish principle, and lay out to incomers, the basics of britishness, and ask them if they accepted those values. If the answer was no, then they'd better look for a country which has their desired religion, diet, language, culture. I hear the Yemen is very nice. Or maybe Libya. Bye-Bye.
One british member of parliament was castigated for suggesting we applied the "cricket test" in a match between say, Pakistan and England, which country do you cheer for? if the answer is Pakistan, then maybe you should live there, not here.
An interesting case in point is the Irish diaspora. The world is full of people who are oh so proud to be irish, look at Boston and New York, look at saint Patrick's day around the world.
Turn to your green-hatted, shamrock-brandishing and guinness-drinking neighbour and ask this: If Ireland so good, how is it none of the irish want to live there?
Amen to you Max, and to soubriquet's comment.
ReplyDeleteIf we're going to spread the anger, why not spread some kudos as well to folks in Iran who are not quietly accepting the oppression and lies, but are in the streets risking life and limb (literally) for themselves and their families to protest what they see as a travesty, to call for change.
ReplyDeleteThere are stupid people everywhere. The morons who demonstrate at Gulf War casualty funerals, celebrating that it's God's judgment against gays are no better than the morons you've shown who are manipulated by hatred and spread it blindly.
I am not one of the anti-immigrant crowd, I'm afraid. A US citizen can stand up and say, "I hate my government," or "My president is a crook or a socialist." If the right to speak freely doesn't apply to everyone, it's not really a right.
I do agree, however, that saying nothing as bad things go on is a part of the problem.
ReplyDelete"History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
You read the wrong tabloids.
ReplyDeleteBut I don't believe confrontation on the streets is the only way, nor that the alternative is silence. There is a middle way. If you want moderates to speak up, you must expect them to be moderate.
"These people are not in your country to assimilate. They are in your country to proselytize and take over. They are there to subjugate you to their own beliefs."
These people? Which people? I've heard people say the same thing about Roman Catholics.
@Soubriquet - I understand. It is much worse here. I am still not against immigration since that is what my country was founded upon. But it was people who left their countries for a better life and had no remorse. They were eager to learn English and fit in. Today the American melting pot has a lot of insoluble lumps. That means, to me, people are coming to milk the cow rather than with any desire to love the country or the way of life. I think people DO need to have some basic things in common if it is going to work. I often wonder, in a mean-spirited way, I suppose, if I were to cross the border south into Mexico, what kind of welcome I would receive if I had no money or job. Would they speak to me in English? Would they give my children instruction in English? Would it be reasonable for me to expect them to conform to my values and be tolerant of my criticisms?
ReplyDeleteI honestly try very hard not to be a mean-spirited person. But in today's world of being constantly taken advantage of, one must fight very hard to not become a cynic.
Thank you for sharing, my friend.
PS- Soubriquet, I am not going to touch the Irish part of your comment. A person whom I hold in very high esteem is Irish. :)
ReplyDelete@Stephanie B -
ReplyDeleteStephanie said: "If we're going to spread the anger..."
You think I am the one spreading the anger rather than the anarchists immigrants or visiting protesters? You think by my shining some light on their hate, I am doing wrong and being unfair to them, denying them their freedom of expression?
Stephanie, you know you don't believe that this post is meant to be a vehicle to spread anger.
I make no apologies for not showing more tolerance to people who want to kill me and destroy my way of life, and I would further remind you that, in the U.S. anyway, "Free Speech" does not extend to those who incite riot and violence, or who advocate the overthrow of the government by illegal means. Your compassion for their right to have their hate be heard and seen is misguided.
Then Stephanie said: "There are stupid people everywhere. The morons who demonstrate at Gulf War casualty funerals, celebrating that it's God's judgment against gays are no better than the morons you've shown who are manipulated by hatred and spread it blindly."
I cannot believe you think there is no difference between these baby-killing bomb-throwing terrorist sympathizers and a group of idiots who chant "God hates fags" on a street corner, or "I'm glad your son got killed in Iraq" in a cemetery. Words do not hurt you. Bombs in subways and marketplaces DO hurt you. Society must protect itself, has a right to protect itself, and sometimes that protection needs to be preemptive. I admit you don't have to agree with that last.
Yes, I applaud the protesters of the apparently rigged election in Iran. Although am sure they will meet the same fate as the Chinese protesters did a few years back, it is still a good feeling, and one hopes. At the same time I am saddened that our President doesn't publicly speak out strongly in support of them. But I suppose he knows more about the diplomatic situation than I do.
I am not one of the anti-immigrant crowd either. This is what I said in my post:
"I don't preach against Islam and I don't preach against immigration and I don't preach against tolerance, whenever tolerance is needed."
I always go back to the American civil rights struggle as an example when I think of confronting evil. You alluded to it as well, in your comment. Nothing was said for a long time; only tolerated. Then came a black Moses, Martin Luther King, as you say. He showed how evil must be confronted. One could not remain quiet in the face of such evil. And sometimes it is not enough to simply speak out against the evil. I truly believe segregation and Jim Crow were evil. I don't agree with A. that there is almost always a middle road. Evil is very black and white. The confrontation does not have to be violent always: non-violent confrontation was the case with Martin Luther King’s "passive resistance." But you always need to be right up in evil's face. Always.
With the pseudo-Islamic fascists, however, I don’t believe passive resistance is the answer. This situation (not of the British or American's making) requires affirmative action. They are killing people. Intervention is required. Negotiation where possible, physical intervention when words fail. In the end, one's homeland and way of life is non-negotiable.
@A. - One need not get one's news from tabloids to realize the West is under attack. All of us know who the enemy is.
ReplyDeleteI knew as soon as I typed "Those people" that I would get a reprimand from people who remember the phrase's past use. But what else would you say? The signs they carry and the hate they spout negates even common courtesy by the ones they hate. They are who they are, and everyone knows who they are. Why pussyfoot? Why fool yourself by thinking our clever words and honest welcomes will somehow deter their goals or blunt their hatred of us? Why? Have we not tried? Do we not continue to try? I'm sorry, A. - it's time to drive them out of the temple. And, yes, I'm sorry for that metaphor too. But I speak the truth.
And I don't want moderates to speak up. I want patriots to speak up. I want firebrands who know the score to stand up. The moderates are more than welcome to sit on the sidelines. Chamberlain was a moderate.
@Alison - My original response to your comment got lost in space. But, boy, was it ever clever and insightful!
ReplyDeleteThe only part of it that I can remember word-for-word was "Hello stranger!" and "I understand how you feel."
But I may have just been sucking up to you. You know me. :)
It is still good to see you stop by, though.
Firebrands do speak up. They're called the BNP. You are very close to inciting racial hatred when you ask for that sort of action, and that isn't going to solve anything. From this morning's news:
ReplyDelete"More than 100 Romanians were sheltering in a church hall today after fleeing their homes in Belfast because of racist attacks."
I don't expect clever words to win over any extremists. I don't expect firebrands to do it either. And I most definitely don't sit on the sidelines.
@A. - People are fleeing their homes in Belfast? That news hasn't yet paddled its way across the pond, I guess. Soubriquet says all the Irish have left Ireland, so who is doing the chasing?
ReplyDeleteOh, I do wish you would sit on the sidelines. Your "Maybe" protest sign is confusing.
Why the hell isn't prince Harry doing anything about this?
I don't want to incite riots. Or interrupt tea. I will be quiet. I'm sure the universe is unfolding as it should.
I think I will go back to the Russians.
OK I'll go back to my sidelines. Best place for me. :) Just be careful of those Russians - I've heard the Communists are trying to take over the world.
ReplyDeleteI can't let the Irish question pass unnoticed. I would suggest that the majority of people who celebrate St Patrick's Day don't think Ireland is so great at all. I don't even think that, for the most part, they are celebrating their heritage. It's just a good excuse for a few bevvies, and the whole thing is largely commercially driven by people whose connections with Ireland are tenuous at best.
ReplyDeleteI only saw signs in your pictures, Max, not bombs. Just words.
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, there are plenty of home-grown creeps willing to cause mayhem here. 9-11 is #1 on our terrorism scale. OKC bombing is #2.
As for not spreading hatred, perhaps I misread your title: "Caution: Relax Max is frothing at the mouth"
Since you were bemoaning the Muslims who wanted not to be represented as extremists, I thought the Iranian protestors were pertinent.
By the way, US immigrants represent 10% of the Mexican populace. Many US go there to retire where their retirement funds buy them more than they can get here. And Mexico encourages it. (Check out their immigration webpage).
Ha! I awaken to a few comments by the head-in-the sand folks.
ReplyDeleteA. - Good morning!
The Commies DID try to take over the world. Thankfully, they were thwarted by patriots with eyes wide open who were unwilling to compromise or appease. The threat is still socialism, but now from within.
I am staying out of the Irish opinions with you too. No comment from here.
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@Stephanie - I wish you would not try to comment so early in the morning before you have reached your full reasoning capacity. :)
Will you do me a favor and take the following as friendly remarks? You know how I speak bluntly and sometimes it seems like a personal attack. It isn't. (So get ready, K?)
1. (I am beginning to like numbered lists, spurred on by A.) If all you saw were words on those signs and not desires to kill and butcher and take you over, then I'm the one who is blind. Those words are illegal in my country. Yours too, unless you've moved. One cannot incite to violence. One cannot publicly advocate mass murder. Look it up.
2. I must agree that there are indeed plenty of home-grown creeps and brainwashed individuals who must be watched and dealt with. That is no reason to stop watching our enemies from without as well. They pose a greater danger right now. McVeigh, hopefully, was an aberration (usually these people just grumble instead of kill babies) but we cannot take a chance. I agree with you. Many enemies look just like "regular" Americans. Your point is well taken. Thank you for pointing that out. If there is a scale for dislike, they are higher up on my dislike list than the outsiders. It's just that the present attention is directed to the ones who can probably hurt us most: the assholes who are pretending to be Muslims.
3. "Max frothing at the mouth" means Max is up on his soapbox. It doesn't mean Max is trying to spew hatred. It means Max is upset about something and wants to get your attention by using cheap shock tactics.
4. You are unclear about what is going on in Iran right now, so let me explain. The protesters there are not protesting the treatment of American and British innocent victims of hatred. They are not standing up to the radicals and condemning their activities or methods. They are protesting an election that was probably rigged. They could care less about radical murderers. Compared to the Mullahs, I suppose they might seem moderate. But I am not recruiting moderates, I am recruiting good Muslims who have had enough and are no longer willing to remain silent. Muslims who will speak up, not because we are pressuring them to speak up, but because it is the right thing to do. So, yes, the Iranian election protesters are irrelevant for the time being. I do wish them well.
U.S. Immigrants represent a large percentage of the Mexican population? Might it be because the Democrats have spent so much forcing the taxpayers "to do the right thing" that the dollar isn't worth much anymore, and that the retirees would starve in the U.S.? Hmmmm? But I still wonder if the Mexicans provide materials in English to them. Are the ballots printed in English to accommodate them? I think you CHOOSE to miss the point that we do too much to accommodate newcomers here instead of demanding they assimilate or leave. You probably can't tell, but I'm with Soubriquet on this one.
I hope you don't think I am being deliberately blunt with you. I just think you are wrong, Stephanie.
*sigh*
ReplyDelete1. I mentioned that they were only using words in answer to YOUR comment "Words do not hurt you." - I don't find the individuals spreading hatred at funerals less (or more) destructive than the folks in the pictures. You can disagree, but spreading hatred is equally reprehensible no matter who's spreading it and words work just fine. That was my only point, not to excuse one or the other.
2. The US has one of the highest rates of violent crime of any industrialized nation. Think of all the violent acts we've had the past three months. I'm not quite so quick to excuse ourselves of extremism. Nor do I agree (though you are welcome to your own opinion)that anyone can do as much damage to us as WE can.
3. I meant to use the term "anger" not "hatred" - frothing at the mouth tends to indicate rage.
4. The people protesting in Iran are supporters of a moderate presidential candidate. And they risk injury and death to do so. And they've been nonviolent. Exactly what more could you ask for if that's not good enough?
@Stephanie B - Hello Stephanie. I am losing the will to fight you. You have beat me down. :) Almost.
ReplyDeleteI acknowledge that
1. I said "Words don't hurt you" when I should have said "SOME words CAN hurt you." (For example, by inciting people to kill you.) This is worse than telling me you hate me or are glad my son is dead.
2. (I acknowledge that) you don't think people bashing gays or insulting parents at funerals are less or more harmful than people advocating you be butchered; that they are both simply spreading hatred and one is not inciting to riot and kill; they are both the same. Okay. I feel differently.
3. (I acknowledge that) You think the U.S. is a really violent place. I happen to believe that one major reason for this is that all citizens are not allowed to carry concealed weapons. After a brief spurt upward on the crime graph, I believe it would drop amazingly low once the criminals started getting shot as they tried to do violence. But, yes, I agree that freedom carries a price. I don't want to live like Singapore folks live where you get caned for spitting gum on the sidewalk. So it's a give and take: we have violence; we have great personal freedom, without police shadowing us.
4. Our worst loons in the U.S. are not a fraction as "extreme" as the folks in the pictures. My opinion. Lots of people's opinion too, actually.
5. I am glad you meant to use the word "anger" instead of "hatred" but I didn't intend to "spread" either. I intended to call attention to an evil that needs to be confronted. You are welcome to confront that evil without anger or hatred, as long as it is confronted and not merely discussed in the abstract.
6. (I acknowledge that) you feel the current Iranian protesters are relevant to this post. I still do not. True Muslims who stand up and speak out against terrorism in the name of Islam are who I am talking to in my post. Maybe it is I who am missing something, but on tv I have not seen any signs which condemn the terrorism and perversion of true Islam. All I have seen are signs about an election. As I say, I wish them well, with all my heart, and hope this may be the start of a more free life for them. Later, down the road, perhaps (one never really knows) if they are successful in forming a new government, they may stand up and condemn terrorism. But I haven't seen it yet. I am not really looking to convert moderates as much as I am looking to ask all people, including Muslims, to confront evil. The protesters ARE confronting an evil, it just isn't the one this post is about. Confronting their evil government is certainly a start. I will grant you that. But the reason for the confrontation is not quite what I am looking for yet. Frankly, I don't know if the protesters are right or wrong in assuming they won the election. They will have to sort that out themselves.
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I don't think I am going to convince you of much of this, because we are simply too far apart in our ideologies, but I thank you for the debate. I have been given pause from some of the things you've said. So it is worth it.
One way Britain can confront this evil is by insisting immigrants meet a few more standards than they do now. (Us too, btw). Otherwise, you will continue to import trouble. So... if you are British and you are reading this, and you want to do more than just carry a sign, I recommend you consider going after your lawmakers and make their lives miserable until they pass the laws you want them to pass. (Read Soubriquet's comment above.) That is more constructive than getting into a shouting match on the corner. Anyone can write letters and anyone can organize marches on parliament. If they don't do your bidding, their replacements will.
ReplyDeleteThe huge majority of people from other lands who REALLY want to live in the UK because it is a great place to live, will conform with your new immigration laws. They will.
Nicely written, and well done to you...
ReplyDeleteI threw my rock into the water and watched the waves. As I'd guessed, there were opposing opinions.
ReplyDeleteAnd there is a belief that criticism of outsiders in our society is the thin end of the nazi wedge, and a short step away from genocide.
Let's reveal a little more. I live in a multi ethnic community. This city has been a haven for those fleeing persecution for a thousand years. They came, found work, settled, and became part of us.
As different groups came, so did the synagogues, temples, mosques, and meeting houses, the cafes and the restaurants, the shops selling bright sari material, the grocers selling yams and plantains, spices and mysterious things whose labels I can't read.
Walk up my street, I wonder just how many differing ethnicities and origins there are. Mostly we seem to get on all right together, we have the second largest caribbean carnival in britain, after Notting Hill, in London. We have an asian Mela, chinese dragons weave through the streets spouting fire, we love it.
Opposite my back gate, is an old man from Tobago, he tells me stories, laughs a lot. My upstairs neighbour brings back bottles of his auntie's coconut rum for me, the chinese children play with the bangladeshis, the poles invite the latvians to their barbecue.
On the other side... there are the bad guys. the car that crashed outside my front door with a stash of counterfeit passports spilling out, there are the asian guys who work as waiters and cooks but run blinged bmws far above a waiters financial reach, the shootings, the trafficked girls, the crack and heroin, the little kids wearing big gold chains... the taxi drivers selling heroin...
Last night the police helicopter was up, roaring over, circling, bright night-sun probing the streets, why? I don't know. probably another pool of blood, another grieving family, high-fives amongst some more kids who've proved their loyalty to the gang.
And some communities seem to turn a blind eye. Dealing drugs, toting guns and knives, these things are known and seem accepted. After all, it brings wealth?
No, it brings material goods, and fear. Communities who don't support schooling, who turn a blind eye to domestic violence, who believe it is a man's right to beat his wife, girlfriend, children. Who believe that a daughter or sister who kisses an outsider can be cut with knives, mutilated, beaten to death to restore the family's "honour". People who believe that it is wrong to call the police, to give evidence.
Am I exaggerating? No. Ritual torture of a five-year old to "expel her demons"? check...
Once again, I say, if you want to live here, in our tribe's village, then you must obey our tribe's laws, you must respect our culture, our beliefs, our way of life. If you expect us to house you, protect you, treat you when you fall ill, then treat our world with respect.
Or get out. Beyond our thorn-hedge that protects us all from the dangers outside, get out. make your own thorn-hedge out in the wilderness, or carry on your lawlessness, tear each other to pieces if you must, but don't do it whilst claiming our hospitality.
Austrian Times: "Leaders of a gypsy crime gang that tricked more than a hundred people into a life of slavery in Ireland are facing 15 years in jail as their trial begins.
ReplyDeleteRemus Fusteac, 40, led a family gang which demanded 2,500 Euros to ferry people into Ireland and set them up with work.
But once there they were forced to hand over 30 per cent of their pay to gangmasters and if they refused their families back home were threatened with torture and beatings, Romanian police said."
Helsinki Metro:-" The Helsinki District Court charged a gang of seven Romanians with around 70 counts of theft and fraud on Tuesday. The gang caused a clear spike in Helsinki’s pickpocketing statistics for last summer.
A larger group of Romanians was behind the pickpocketing, which occurred in July and August. At least two members of the league managed to escape the Finnish authorities.
A part of the defendants arrived in Finland at the beginning of July. They sought asylum under false identities, and immediately left the reception centres. The fact that the true identities of the culprits was not known hampered the police investigations considerably.
The Romanian Embassy in Helsinki aided Finnish authorities in the investigations. "
No pattern there, then?
I'll bet those Belfast Romanians were just innocent victims of racist fascists. It's reported that they were attacked also by nasty Polish and other east european immigrants who claimed they were giving all immigrants a bad name, why, I wonder?
As for rhe Romanians in Belfast, driven from their homes, by violent mobs, I'm not sure of the exact circumstances.
ReplyDeleteThe Times, :
"Dozens of police officers carried out a series of dawn raids yesterday against modern-day Fagins who have trafficked more than 1,000 Romanian children into Britain and taught them how to shoplift and pick pockets.
The children, who will now be interviewed by specialist officers, are often bought for as little as a few hundred pounds from their Romanian parents and sent to towns in England to steal from tourists, businessmen and commuters.
The crimes have led to a surge in street offences in almost every big city in Britain, including London, Manchester and Cardiff.
Senior officers working closely with their Romanian counterparts estimate that the child thieves are making about £100 million a year for their masters.
Most of the money is either wired back to Romania or sent in suitcases. The leaders are said to have built several large mansions in a relatively poor Romanian village.
Some of the children are as young as 18 months and will be used by women begging for money.
Since Romanians started to travel to London a year ago, pickpocketing offences rose by about 750 per cent compared with the year before in Westminster alone.
Officers, who emphasise that other nationalities also pickpocket, including Algerians and Britons, have built up their intelligence after collaborating with the Serious Organised Crime Agency,
Four Romanian police officers are now working in Britain with their counterparts to address the problem.
Commander Steve Allen, of City of Westminster police, said: “We know from intelligence we have received that a lot of the children are trafficked, used as a commodity and taught to carry out crimes and taught to pickpocket.
“The information we have is that families in Romania are paid between €200 and €400 to give up their children. This is happening all over the country in almost every major town as well as Spain, France and even as far afield as Canada.
"The fastest growing industry in Romania is the money-transfer business.”
Source: The Times.
From Spain's El Pais "“Police say that around one third of the women they have rescued from prostitution rackets over the last two years are Romanian. They also believe that Romanian mafias have virtually complete control over prostitution networks in Catalonia, Valencia and Murcia, as well as a significant share of the sex industry in Andalusia and the Balearic Islands.”"
Croydon Guardian:-" A gang of Romanians was jailed after a £700,000 conspiracy to steal from railway ticket machines.
The four men were held responsible for a spate of thefts and criminal damage at Leatherhead, Kingswood, Chipstead and Woodmansterne, Sanderstead, Croydon and Belmont, Sutton stations among others, and jailed on Friday for a combined total of eight years and four months.
Romanian nationals Adrian Timis, 22, Damian Pop, 23, Jonut Jepu, 20, and Nan Vasile, 18, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal.
Timis, Pop and Jepu had only arrived in the UK in July and Nan had been in the country for just over a week when he was arrested.
To curb the thefts British Transport Police set up Operation Taurus, to trace the culprits. "