Oh you mean people from the Middle East cough*saudiarabia*cough attacked us! Well good thing we are in Iraq fighting them.

"Not everyone who wears a turban is a terrorist but every terrorist has worn a turban."

One time I put on a lamp shade on my head and sodomized a cat, your point is?

If I walked around Teheran wearing a kippot carrying a copy the Old Testament I would not be "interrogated" I would be killed in the street. These clowns need to shut up and take their medicine and stop being shocked when the are treated with suspicion.

I was "detained" in Istanbul in 5/2002 for taking pictures of the U.S. consulate. I thought it was cool seeing the American flag against the backdrop of the city.

After hanging out in a room at the front gates for about 30 minutes chatting it up with a low-level assistant, a mid-level manager came in asking for an explanation. They let us out in about another 30 minutes.

My friend that was with me happened to be registered with the U.S. embassy (anyone U.S. citizen living abroad can do this), but still, we're talking less than a year after 9/11 in a Muslim country and they let us out in an hour. Our consulate is located directly next door to the British consulate that was truck bombed last month killing more than 27 people and injuring more than 450 people.

This profiling thing is equivalent to not allowing us to bring tweezers on board an airplane. It's not efficient, it will never work. There is a white Muslim extremist population in this world. Wake up Bush administration!

Sorry I forgot to mention, we are both White.

GodsRightHandGimp

One time I put on a lamp shade on my head and sodomized a cat, your point is?

I can't fault you for that, you do live in Idaho...

"These clowns"

Indian sikhs?
Double majors?
Computer geeks?
Guys who wear something on their head other than a cowboy hat?
Bearded guys?
Photography bugs?

What clowns?

Sikhs are not Muslims.

The Sikh turban is distinct from the Muslim turban (see pics on link):

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/lifestyles/links/turbans_27.html

I don't recall seeing any of the 9/11 hijackers wearing one.

I don't recall seeing ETA, FARC, IRA, MILF, UDF terrorists wearing turbans either. MILF: heh, heh.

Good God, lets get this Turban crap over with.

These are HIJACKER/TERRORIST head dresses...


This is a Sikh Turban.


This is a dumbass hat.


This is a COOL guy hat.

Awright, what NYC Farkers are gonna volunteer to dress up as Muslim and go to the GOP convention and take snapshots of the convention area?

Criiikey! If it takes them 5-7 hours to rule out each 'possibly suspicious' person they come across and they keep going for people wearing turbans, ALL of our buildings will be coming down on our heads!

First, as soon as they found out he was a legit student and a Sikh, they should have logged the information and left.

Second, I don't think anyone trying to destroy us is going to be so overtly suspicious and wear a turban at this point.

/our SS is dumb

Oh Snaps, I do live in Idaho. You sure did own me.

"These clowns need to shut up and take their medicine and stop being shocked when the are treated with suspicion."

I agree with you fellow Nazi....you are taking about jews right?

Nanookanano

yes, mostly computer geeks.

If I go to Harlem wearing a t-shirt with a confederate flag on it I am going to at best get my ass kicked and I will probably be deservedly dismembered. Will anyone care that I a lifelong New Yorker? Will anyone ask? No and no. Is that all warm and fuzzy and *right* in the politically correct sense? No, but it is reality. The same goes for turbans in this country at the moment. Bottom line: if you wear laundry on your head the burden lies with you to make us comfortable when you are in our country, not the other way around.

GodsRightHandGimp

That was a zinger, now go upstairs and see what your mom is cooking for dinner.

So, X, when you go to Borneo to study cannibals you'll certainly eat human flesh with them, just in order to fit in, right?

Oh wait, that's against your moral standards and/or religous code.

Nevermind.

Hey, will we finally get them damned, dirty, disrespectful jews to start taking off them yamykas during the Nation Anthem?

(Whut kinda stoopid hat aint got no bill on it anyways?)

Nanookanano

I'm not sure I follow but for the record I have neither moral standards nor a religious code.

Does eating your sister make you a cannibal? If that's the case I am afraid we may have on in our midst in the form of my good friend GodsRightHandGimp. Tastes like chicken, btw.

What about the color of their skin? That can't be changed or hidden to make you feel more comfortable.

Even people who "look" middle eastern are feeling the hostility: Indians, Georgians, Greeks and southern Italians.

D_Moran

Georgians? I was in Atlanta last week and felt quite comfortable, ubiquitous loud rap music aside.

/joking

I was thinking of guys like Jimmy Carter. Heh.

Light?

I_ate_an_X:
Your right, Tim Mcviegh's turban was hidden where again? The weathermen, who exploded a bomb at the capitol were muslims from what country?

I wish the news would brodcast how much more likely you are to die from being struck by lightning in your lifetime, than to be killed by terrorists. Of course, that wouldn't sell any extra commercial time would it?

flame indeed. I guess I get the flame starter award this evening. It takes two to tango though and GodsRightHandGimp is quite a flamer...(did I say that out loud?) In his defense he only ADMITTED to beastiality, not the other perversions that have been alleged.

2004-07-30 07:25:38 PM I_ate_an_X

If you think sikhs wear laundry on their heads you have some serious racist problems.

Also, if you wear a confederate flag in Harlem, it's still ILLEGAL when other citizens assault you.

And besides the point, this is totally different than the Federal Government doing it.

Maddogjew

Yeah you are right, I'm sure the 3000+ people that died in the WTC would have all met their demise from lightning or a meteor or spontaneous combustion by now anyway...we should all just move on and passively wait for the next attack.

"I have neither moral standards nor a religious code"

I was pretty sure of that before you told me.

This student, however, does. His religious beliefs include the absolute rule that he shall never cut his hair nor beard, but wrap them up in a turban. He does this out of respect for the creations of God, one of which is his own body. But, you think he should loose the turban and, no doubt, get a 'decent' shave and haircut, so he'll look like a (what?) "REAL AMERICAN"?

Wow X, the master debater. Has no foundation to stand on so he goes for personal attacks. I hope at this point you are willing to admit you are a racist. Be honest, your one of those people who sees a Muslim and automaticly thinks "terrorist". On another note, out of curiosity do you have any non-white friends.....oh didnt think so. Well thats cool, keep holding onto Bush's belt loop. He will protect you from the scary turban monster.

I_ate_an_X:
Well, cars kill more people than 3000+ a year, lets outlaw them. I'd rather be at risk, than to have America turn into a country of paranoid, zenophopic, bastards, who are willing to lock anybody up because they don't like the way they look. I have a novel idea. Let's not stick our noses into regions and areas of the world in which we have no business too.

Oh, and everyone dies, it's just a matter of where and when. I want to die free.

Wow, this kid was in my computer graphics class with Ames when I was a senior, and he seems like a good kid. Its unimaginable that he has done anything in his life that would warrant this. I can't believe that my dear Alma Mater didn't kick those a$$h0les(the Secret Service) off campus and told them that if they ever come back, the Jesuits would treat them to a beating royale. This is why you just can't give away your freedom for protection. You give people like this an inch and they will take a mile and your tax dollars will pay for it. America, I understand you are scared, but in the last three years, who has been spoon feeding you fear? Also now that we are in Iraq, do you feel safer? Where is Osama? Its unfortunate but we didnt go to Iraq for WMDs or to stop terrorism. Ironically we added both to the equation. So where do we go now? I don't care if you are for Bush, Kerry, Nader, or Ronald McDonald. There is little this government is doing that smacks of "freedom", "civil rights", or "democracy". Why are we giving these goons our freedom? So Halliburton can rake in more cash? So a small group of people can make even more money? My life in the public space hasn't gotten any better or safer. If anyone else out there is like me, how much more should we take in silence? F*** an apology, these a$$holes deserve to be fired post-haste. You dont come to BC and try to muscle someone around, that is the job of the jocks and the meatheads. Its time for change. How? No clue, but we cannot continue down this path.
/Apologies I normally don't go into "opinion" rants without articulating my interpretations of facts. But this is personal. They have seriously gone too far.

Good

"...we should all just move on and passively wait for the next attack."

OK then X what are you doing to prevent another attack. Please, let us in on your plan.

D_Moran

What about the color of their skin? That can't be changed or hidden to make you feel more comfortable.

Even people who "look" middle eastern are feeling the hostility: Indians, Georgians, Greeks and southern Italians.

I can attest to that. I am an American citizen of Sri Lankan decent (and a freakin buddhist to boot) but I still get looks from people when I sit next to them on a plane because of the color of my skin.

This racial paranoia in America would be halved if people understood that all brown people aren't Arabs (and all Arabs aren't Terrorists)

If it's OK to profile all remotely arabic-looking people because of ONE terrorist attack (albeit really big one...) why is it not OK to profile the blacks?

Blacks are responsible for over half of all violent crime in the US. Yet if a white officer so much as looks at a black man funny anymore, it's "Racist cracker cop!" all over the headlines for months...

C'mon. Better safe than sorry, right? So what if a few "innocent" blacks get pulled over and harrased by cops "just for being black!" They COULD be violent, rapist drug dealers!

Imagine, if a cop pulled over a black man who "wasn't doing anything..." at the time, only to have him shoot the owner of a 7-11 in the face a week later. Why, you'd be SCREAMING that the cops didn't do their job for not arresting that darkie right then and there on the spot when he had the chance!

fark, this is all about making the middle-class white folk feel safe anyway... why not go all the way?

It's for the children!

Lamune_Baba:
ok, you said...er.. typed that better than I could have. Good point.

What does any of this have to do with badgers?

Reminds me of an incident in Charleston back in May. During the Spoleto festival, police transmissions came over the scanner about a panicky woman calling in about four "suspicious-looking Middle Eastern" men filming all of the bridges in the area (Charleston has three very large bridges going across the Cooper River, along with a new one being built... they could make significant targets, I suppose).

Well, all the police agencies in the area went the alert to find these four men, sending out BOLOs all over town.

I called up the sheriff's spokesman and asked her if she was aware that a well-known Italian filmmaking crew was in town shooting video for the festival. Our newspaper had done an article on them.

She started making phone calls and soon the "suspicious-looking Middle Eastern" men were pulled over in the vehicle the woman had described. And, of course, they spoke Italian, looked Italian, and, in fact, were from Italy.

Such are the times we live in, I guess. You got medium-dark skin? You might be terrorist. Welcome to America.

GodsRightHandGimp

Sorry if the living in moms basement hit a nerve. I really meant nothing by it. In fact in the more enlightened parts of the world, like Europe, men live with their mothers well into their 30's. So in a way you quite the euro-progressive. If you can save enough of your paycheck from Blockbuster to buy a Vespa and a beret you will truly be on your way my friend.

I am really not a racist. Have I used hyperbole and some incendiary verbiage? Perhaps I have (Yes, I know I have in spades). But, the only responsibility that I feel I have here is to not be boring.

My point is merely this: how things *should* be and how they are are vastly different. The hihackers on 9/11 were all muslims and in fact did what the did because they are muslims (admittedly they have perverted Islam for their own purposes but the point holds true). To ignore that fact serves only those who would continue what they started. Right or wrong that is the current state of events.

Lamune_Baba

"Blacks are responsible for over half of all violent crime in the US."

Could you provide the source of this statistic please? I have heard it only in rumor but could never find any hard evidence.

Lamune_Baba Not that I'm saying Arabs should be profiled, but they are responsible for MUCH more than one terrorist attack.

NiveK- Apology accepted. Glad that you have the ability to recognize your own ignorance and need to make issues out of thin air.

I pity that you have the inability to conduct a rational conversation without denegrating to personal attacks on a stranger.

Oh well. I bow to your superiority. You obviously know better what someone is thinking when they type something because, godless forbid, a sentence means exactly what it says, or that after a period at the END of a sentence someone might create a new sentence with a whole other meaning.

You want to disagree with me because I think that detaining a person during a very high security event after being reported as suspicious isn't the end of the world, fine, you're entitled. That doesn't mean that "people like me" caused the holocaust, and frankly, that anyone would immediately jump to that kind of language and accusation is disgusting and quite a disappointment.

I wish you luck with your narrow and unhappy existence.

KarmicHoax

You want to disagree with me because I think that detaining a person during a very high security event after being reported as suspicious isn't the end of the world...

No, it's not the end of the world. Just a nice way to start the end of our American civilization if we keep pushing bullshiat like this.

That doesn't mean that "people like me" caused the holocaust...

Apathy towards victims of the Holocaust partly helped it grow to the numbers it did. That doesn't mean you're the type of person who would cause another Holocaust... then again, maybe it wouldn't hurt to be safe and stand up for your fellow man.

So when someone of middle eastern descent blows something up, and it is revealed that he was noticed (but not questioned by) the authorities beforehand, you liberal types won't be wringing your hands and blaming Bush for not defending you, right? Right??

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/race.htm

There ya go!

Just GIS "violent crime by race"
Simple.

2004-07-30 09:17:59 PM EnemyFrank

So when someone of middle eastern descent blows something up, and it is revealed that he was noticed (but not questioned by) the authorities beforehand, you liberal types won't be wringing your hands and blaming Bush for not defending you, right? Right??

Since when is India in the middle east? And since when is "middle eastern descent" a homogenous group? If the IRA started taking out American targets, should we detain and harrass all European looking men?

And if a Sikh EVER blows ANYTHING up, I will be the first to absolve the current administration from blame.

Yep. My graph just shows that black folk are victoms of violent crime twice as much as white folk.

(Trying to catch somebody with that. Shucks!)

No Sikh is going to blow anything up.

A Sikh is going to want to be able to smell your breath while he avenges your offense to him by gutting you like a pig.

(They're rather like good Southerners that way.)

What freedoms exactly are you Americans trying to protect by waging wars against phantom terrorists? It seems to me that in your pathetic attempt to "root out global terrorism" you've given up everything that made your country great.