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2008 World Shoot In Bali


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Having been to Jakarta and Bali, it can be a scary. I found the ever present poverty to be more disconcerting than the religious overtones. Especially when Suharto was living in gold plated palaces at the time.

It should be noted that Bali is one of the few areas in Indonesia that is mostly Hindu. The rest of the country is mostly Muslim. The reason the Bali area has attacks is that the terrorists know that it is a tourist destination.

I remember my first day in Indonesia. It was in Jakarta. I was woken in the early morning by something being broadcast by loud speaker across the entire area (no A/C so you have to keep the windows open). I found out later that it was the morning call the prayer. It would wake me up every morning I was in Jakarta.

Edited by vincent
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Uhh...guys...if I took a poll here in the states, I'll will bet you lunch that 1 out of 10 Americans would happily ban all religions besides fundamentalist Christianity...and would enforce it at gunpoint. And all of them would do so because "that's what Jesus would want."

Bali has its ignorant, intolerant dumbasses. And we certainly have ours. The only reasons I wouldn't want to go to Bali are because of the logistics and expense. I visit far more dangerous places than Bali on a regular basis.

FWIW...

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I visit far more dangerous places than Bali on a regular basis.

Just because you live in the Serial Killer Capital of the USA? ;)

Not many places I wouldn't go if I had locals to show me around and speak the language. Lots of places I wouldn't go without a trusted guide. I suspect group of heavily armed ISPC shooters might not be a good target for the terrorist types.

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:D

What Eric said. You can get killed here for being white, black, hispanic or just stupid. Not to mention for driving a car or being a pedestrian. You can get shot for being in school or blown up for going to work. Don't worry about it.

If you do need to worry about it and need outside help to get through the day, I'll sign you up for my one true religion, for only 5% of your gross salary. That's 50% less than the other guys! We'll take care of worrying for you and you can get about your life knowing in your heart you are not alone. PayPal accepted. :)

Edited by AikiDale
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I visit far more dangerous places than Bali on a regular basis.

Just because you live in the Serial Killer Capital of the USA? ;)

Odd you should mention that. I'm not remotely joking when I say that I regularly drive past property with "Trespassers Will Be Shot" signs. And no shit, they mean it.

Some goofy ass local shot a pilot just for landing his plane at a perfectly legitimate airfield. And got let go scot free!

I won't even go into the sh*t that I've seen and experienced first hand. Arabs with bombs...hell that's kid stuff compared to a normal day here in Deliveranceville.

Edited by EricW
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I visit far more dangerous places than Bali on a regular basis.

Just because you live in the Serial Killer Capital of the USA? ;)

Odd you should mention that. I'm not remotely joking when I say that I regularly drive past property with "Trespassers Will Be Shot" signs. And no shit, they mean it.

Some goofy ass local shot a pilot just for landing his plane at a perfectly legitimate airfield. And got let go scot free!

I won't even go into the sh*t that I've seen and experienced first hand. Arabs with bombs...hell that's kid stuff compared to a normal day here in Deliveranceville.

Umm...dude, move. C'mon down to Oregon. We don't have any crime.

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You don't see fundamentalist Christians kidnapping nuns and slitting their throats. The Religion of Peace did that in Indonesia.

You don't see fundamentalist Christians kidnapping children from religious schools, cutting their heads off, and leaving the bodies on the school steps. The Religion of Peace did that in Indonesia.

And I was blocked from posting (and called "racist", amusing since the last time I checked religion was not a "race") on IPSC/Vinceland for posting links to newspaper stories of same in a WS/08 discussion thread ;)

I'm living in a Religion of Peace country right now. This is the best one of the bunch (by far), but these people are gunning down other Muslims because they are not intolorant enough. Go figure. In the other Religion of Peace countries that I've lived in over the years, it is FAR worse.

No WS for me, either. I get paid extra for going in harm's way; I don't need to do it for free.

Alex

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Uhh...guys...if I took a poll here in the states, I'll will bet you lunch that 1 out of 10 Americans would happily ban all religions besides fundamentalist Christianity...and would enforce it at gunpoint. And all of them would do so because "that's what Jesus would want."

I think you might have forgotten a few zeros at the end of the "10". :P While we do have our own "nuts" in America, they are much less concentrated and considerably less extreme.

I wouldn't go because I'm scared of tidal waves and tarantulas! :)

Are tidal waves in season that time of year?

Edited by Unleashed
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And I was blocked from posting (and called "racist", amusing since the last time I checked religion was not a "race")

Alex

Man, how long you been out of the world? Here's the deal; if you disagree with or criticize any one other than a white Anglo-Saxon male heterosexual Christian baby boomer you are racist, homophobic and just don't get it. :D

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Respectfully. Do y'all keep up with current events? I don't read the news, nor watch TV, and even I know about what happened in Amish country. Do you think people outside of America boycott the Nationals because of it?

And there's plenty of beer in Bali. Bintang beer was one of the sponsors last time. Did you even see the pictures of the match? It was absolutely spectacular. Until a bunch of gringos put on a match that's that well-dressed, I'd be a little more hesitant about chucking rocks in my glass house.

I think I'm going to start saving my lunch money. Now I want to go to Bali just because I know there will be more beer and Bintang girls for me. ;)

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Isolated killings by nuts in the US don't equal 10% of the population wanting to see you dead.

A lot of these articles are full of crap as they're pushing someone's agenda. If I was planning on going to the WS, I'd check into it a lot more closely.

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Respectfully. Do y'all keep up with current events? I don't read the news, nor watch TV, and even I know about what happened in Amish country. Do you think people outside of America boycott the Nationals because of it?

Comparing widespread terrorism in the name of religion to tragic murders in Amish country? I'm not really sure that is a fair comparison.

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Well, I guess I have a different sense of adventure level than most.

The news media excels in only present the bad. You can take that bad stuff and metastasize it into any excuse you want for not doing something. Yes Bali probably has issues with violence. So do we. So does the UK. So does everywhere in one form or another.

The news is a horrible choice in lenses through which to view the world. There's no shortage of Europeans who think the U.S. is literally a war zone thanks to their media. Is it really?

Put the fear mongering aside, and let reason be your guide at least briefly. Do you really think you're going to land in Bali and be greeted by 10M bomb-chucking Islamic radicals at the airport? Seriously now.

Nobody would put all that effort into a match if they didn't want you there.

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And...there are a lot of things that don't make the paper because they don't fit the rose-colored-glasses world view of the newspapers/mainstream media. I didn't join the military because I didn't have a sense of adventure; but I get paid to put my neck in harm's way...and that with the full backing of the military might of the world's only superpower <_<

I live in a Religion of Peace country; you don't see much on CNN about violence over here. Not counting the things that go on here that I have not seen firsthand (a Catholic priest being shot in the head by a boy screaming slogans of the Religion of Peace, hey, wait, that has happened three times that I remember offhand...in the last few months...), I've been having lunch near the Embassy when a Religion of Peace riot broke out...several times now...I've been downtown with bombs going off...I was three hundred yards away when a Religon of Peacenik, shouting Religion of Peace slogans, blew the brains out of a senior judge for not voting "properly"...

Hey, maybe I'm just bad luck :P

And this is considered a SAFE Islamic country. Indonesia is NOT considered a safe Islamic country.

Beyond the "gun" incident that Carina posted about, how about a guy getting pulled off a bus by a mob? Here are the results of a quick check since 01 Sep:

Sulawesi, 10/16: Christian priest shot dead by Religion of Peace mob

Poso, 10/01: Christian man pulled off a bus and stabbed by a Religion of Peace mob

Poso, 09/09: Christian female killed in her house by Religion of Peace bomb

Tangkuran, 09/06: Another Christian killed by a Religion of Peace bomb

And what does all that mean? Here is what the US State Department has to say about Indonesia:

http://www.state.gov/e/eb/ifd/2006/62358.htm

The Department of State warns citizens to defer all non-

essential travel to Indonesia. There is potential for

violence and unrest; both can erupt without warning. There

are threats, including the possibility of terrorist

activity, throughout Indonesia. Sectarian, ethnic, communal

and separatist strife, and violence are ongoing threats to

personal safety and security in various areas, including

Maluku, North Maluku, Sulawesi, Papua and West Timor. The

Department of State encourages American citizens considering

travel to Indonesia to review carefully the information

available in the State Department's Consular information

sheet (CIS for Indonesia), at

http://travel.state.gov/indonesia.html, which is available

at any US Embassy or Consulate abroad and on the Department

of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs' web site

http://travel.state.gov.

Of course, we should be perfectly safe if all the female shooters wear burkas and all the male shooters wear long pants and long-sleeve shirts...wouldn't want to offend the Religion of Peace :P

I wonder if you can wear your holster over a burka? :D

Alex

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I visit far more dangerous places than Bali on a regular basis.

I suspect group of heavily armed ISPC shooters might not be a good target for the terrorist types.

It is my understanding that the WS host nation does permit visitors to carry for protection and, the last I checked, competitors will be required by law to leave their guns in an armory which will be set up at at least one of the major hotels and may not even keep the guns in their hotel room for the evening. My guess is that it would be a serious violation of law to carry a hot gun to the range, even on a direct route from your hotel room.

So, with the possible exception of events at the range, this assertion would appear to be irrelevant.

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The Department of State warns citizens to defer all non-

essential travel to Indonesia. There is potential for

violence and unrest; both can erupt without warning. There

are threats, including the possibility of terrorist

activity, throughout Indonesia. Sectarian, ethnic, communal

and separatist strife, and violence are ongoing threats to

personal safety and security in various areas, including

Maluku, North Maluku, Sulawesi, Papua and West Timor. The

Department of State encourages American citizens considering

travel to Indonesia to review carefully the information

available in the State Department's Consular information

sheet (CIS for Indonesia), at

http://travel.state.gov/indonesia.html, which is available

at any US Embassy or Consulate abroad and on the Department

of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs' web site

http://travel.state.gov.

Don't really think it should change anyones mind about going to a Bali match because I'm not sure of the credibility of the TSA but they have listed the airport in Bali as one of 3 or 4 in the world with questionable security.

That may just mean it's easier to get on a plane there with something nasty than it is to go there with something nasty.

What bothers me is the macho approach being taken by the IPSC GV forum whenever the problems there are mentioned. It's like you are a "wimp" if you don't want to go or suggest the match could be held somewhere else where the natives might be friendlier.

Frankly I won't be going because I could never afford it - that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

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