I suppose I have lived in England too long & have missed the point in many of the posts on this subject, maybe not by accident, just by not acknowleding my mistake of NOT KNOWING what is going on in Goa these days, shame on me! I do not like it when owners of property set this type of criteria for renting out property, they should NOT say "foreigners only" in large print on the pathway, this is absolutely unacceptable in my opinion. The need for good tenants is not just a Goan problem, it happens all over the world. The fact that a foreigners (or White Europeans is what was meant by the sign, that I did pick up in posts here) is probably more likely to leave the property at a given time (visa issues etc) and is therefore guaranteed to have his property returned to him in a better state than if it was rented to non-whites (Goans included) then I still feel this is wrong, in my bones it says that we have discrimination here, and I do not feel comfortable with this "black/white" "brown/white" "mixed race" issue we have not dealt with in our midst. There are some purists out there, who are NOT racist who would put their countrymen / women first and would expect a hefty deposit up front if in doubt about any rent law issues, with a contract (and references, guarantees from banks etc) to state that a regular inspection of the property will be undertaken, say every 3 or 4 months by which time, if any issues come to light, then this will be resolved by the tenant etc. I dont wish to cover every ill in a contract but wear and tear is one thing, deliberate acts of vandalism is not acceptable. All this & any costs will be covered in the high rents charged, if no issues or vandalism then there is the RETURN of the deposit at the end period. But in reality, I understand you cannot cross every T or dot every I, this is the chance you take whether you rent to a Goan, an Indian (yes there is a difference but I do not wish to get any hackles up here), or to a European / white. Equality is something that may take time to come into play here, but it wont be in my lifetime, perhaps in my daughters' lifetimes it may do so, there are laws to abide by, but sometimes the law is a ass, which does not bode well when most of the law makers and those who are supposed to support the law & the citizens of Goa, are themselves rather corrupt, not only some of the politicians and police but those in-between.... I take everyone's point and opinion on this subject very seriously, everyone has expressed themselves very well on this subject, but can we REALLY allow signs like to be displayed PUBLICLY on someone's footpath? Next we will see it in newspapers and magazines, on the tv, and so forth. No, tear down this sign the next time you see it displayed, anywhere, complain & write letters to newspapers and such like, dont accept this sitting down, stand up for your rights, you are human, we are all human and ought to be treated as such! When the Nazis came to power in the 1930's, there was much ignorance of what was going on, Germany was in the grips of high inflation, high unemployment & only the "rich" were able to get the best food, the best clothes & petrol for their cars, the Nazis started to blame everyone but bad goverment for the cause of this, slowly they removed the minorities, because it did not effect or affect the majority, firstly they got rid of the Communists, no one complained, then they got rid of homosexuals, nobody complained, then they got rid of the Jews, nobody complained, then it was the turn of the neighbours, they were too high class, nobody complained, they took away members of German families, someone protested but it was too late, by this time, everyone in the world was against the "normal" man in the street, kill the Nazis, kill the Germans..... Nazis yes, they were mostly all eradicated (not totally as we know from experiences) but why involve the poor old German people, surely they were innocents in this? Yes, to begin with they were, but when they knew what was happening in the gas chambers of various "concentration camps", the locals did nothing, they did not protest. After all, they were ok, they got free workers to farm the land, the benefits were too valuable for them, so they colluded with the Nazi authorities to eradicate their own peoples, and those of other countries whose hair, clothing, shoes and gold teeth fillings were helping the war effort against democracy. At what cost is Goa going to accept the first slap? Well they did take the first slap, they did not gain independence for themselves, Goa is a State of India, and now has to continually take slaps here and there. But when will Goans stop accepting insults? They have started already, and nobody is taking any notice, because it does not directly affect, effect anyone yet, but when they start to cement over villages, someone may protest, but his or her voice will not travel far, too many people are interested in selling off their plots of land to developers............ who in turn will build houses and apartments for foreigners, mostly white ones who will pay the price, but in reality the price has already been paid! Dont we all wish we could kick ourselves sometimes for saying something out of turn, but then smile secretly, because it had to be said, then find that you are in a majority of one, left alone to defend the undefendable against a horde of money hungry neighbours? John Monteiro 10.11.07.........17.50hrs (UK) ----------------------------------------------- "Rajan P. Parrikar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From the feedback I have received on this issue, most seem to have missed my point. By "Foreigners Only" what he really means is "Whites Only." The landlord has every right to set criteria for admittance of tenants. My only problem is that the sign did not say "Goans Only." As I have said before, I am a Goan chauvinist and "Goans Only" would be consistent with my credo.Warm regards......r -----------------------------------------------
