The Rampant, Irresponsible Political Thread

[Jan]

I don't think that anybody's thinking that lawyers would be likely to get involved in anything appearing here. For this site, it's really just a matter of respecting and being aware of the copyrights of writers/authors/posters.

I think that the proper attribution should always be appended but what I generally request is that they at least post a link to the source that they're quoting.

Jan

[Andrew_Swallow]

Be careful with racial profiling. In Israel suicide bombers have been known to trick the guards by shaving off their beards and dieing their hair blond.

Also the incident was not racial profiling but religious profiling. By acting in a manner different from the rest of the crowd they had committed a suspicious act.

[David Panzer]

Or by congregating in an area which arouses suspicion, the main air intake duct for the stadium, which is next to the food prep area.

If you're going to pray, make sure it's not a sensitive area.

[Dr Maturin]

I don't see a problem with profiling Muslims, as I've said before. Sure, some redneck from an anti-government group can be a terrorist, but how many terrorist cats have been commited by them compared to Islamofascists? I'm not saying to check every single person of Arab/Pakistani/North African descent, but they should be the groups that we concentrate on.

[Shr'eshhhhhh]

Since the majority of road accidents are caused by Heterosexuals should all straight drivers be banned until they go for a re-test?

What about Irish Americans?
Do they need special screening after funding years of terrorist activity in the UK?
Most of these terrorists have beards maybe we should send hairy types to be shrink wrapped?

[Dr Maturin]

Since the majority of road accidents are caused by Heterosexuals should all straight drivers be banned until they go for a re-test?

There are more heterosexuals, so of course there are more accidents caused by them.

What about Irish Americans?
Do they need special screening after funding years of terrorist activity in the UK?

I doubt the UK would condone such activity, so they wouldn't ask us to help them out in that regard.

[Radhil]

There was an article a while back in my local paper that made a decent case for - not direct racial profiling - but at least reverse profiling. That is, all right, so we can't pull over every turban wearing nut, but can we at least stop pulling little old Baptist ladies out of airline boarding to be searched? Or that was the gist. Don't concentrate on one race or factor, but give a pass to those who are obviously not even close. Eliminate the PC "everybody's a suspect" bull. It was a suprising angle, and one I'd support if anyone with sense actually tried it.

As for home-grown terrorists, islamics may have committed more atrocities at large, but for big attacks on American native soil, it's about even. And I kinda thought that was the whole point, protecting what we got here.

EDIT: The stadium bit is a bit sad, but not really suprising or noteworthy. Other than ask for a less paniced response - which can't happen with the Prez around - it sounds by the books.

[The Puzzled Pak'Ma'Ra]

... Every foreign terrorist to attack the US in the last 25 years has had the same racial profile (Middle-Eastern).

... Yet profiling is a bad thing...? To be honest, I think it sucks, and I'd be more than a little pissed if I were an Islamic American (Syrian, Arab, Iraqi-American, etc.....) and got harassed only because I had that unlucky DNA. But leave old ladies and the like alone already. Sure, I'll stand for a search in an airport line - for the sake of PC, though I know it's a waste of resources and ineffective...

... Of course I know how to fix the whole thing, though the President seems uninterested in my ideas - pump all that anti-terror and war effort cash into alternative fuel research (Hydrogen battery automobiles DO exist - they run on water - just need work to be meade ready for mass production). Get that done and who needs the Middle East? Let them beat on one another while we stay home and watch B5 on our large screen TVs!

... one man's opinion, that's all it is. Cheers.

[David Panzer]

I wouldn't know how bad airports have gotten since I've only flown on a plane once. I prefer roadtrips even though they take longer, the experiences are well worth it

[Dr Maturin]

... Of course I know how to fix the whole thing, though the President seems uninterested in my ideas - pump all that anti-terror and war effort cash into alternative fuel research (Hydrogen battery automobiles DO exist - they run on water - just need work to be meade ready for mass production). Get that done and who needs the Middle East? Let them beat on one another while we stay home and watch B5 on our large screen TVs!

The thing is, there are other ways to reduce or eliminate Middle-Eastern involvement in our petroleum usage without jumping into "alternative" energy sources. The hard fact is that money makes the world go 'round, and right now the money is with oil.

As for home-grown terrorists, islamics may have committed more atrocities at large, but for big attacks on American native soil, it's about even. And I kinda thought that was the whole point, protecting what we got here.

Well, aside from the convoluted and isolated incident of the OKC bombing, there haven't been any large attacks carried out on US soil by non-Islamics that had pathological reasoning to them. I mean, Ted Kaczynski (and others like him) was just some lone kook and didn't cause a large amount of deaths. Abortion clinic bombings are definitely pathological in their executions, but less than twenty or so people have died, so they cannot be considered anything close to "large." More numerous, sure, but on that train of thought, how many people die as a result of gang violence on a weekly basis in the US? And the people who commit such acts are already here in the US. We can't profile white males boarding planes in fear of them hijacking the planes for the purpose of crashing them into abortion clinics. But we can and do investigate suspicious characters potentially involved in such antics. Remember, those types want to be heroes, so their actions are usually preceded by speeches and protests.

So, really, the number one terrorist threat is Islamofascism. Of course, it is also important to stop gang violence and abortion clinic bombings, but they must be dealt with in a different way.

Here is a reference to terrorist attacks worldwide:

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/pubs/fs/5902.htm

[Shr'eshhhhhh]

"There are more heterosexuals, so of course there are more accidents caused by them."


Of course, no one in their right mind would sanction any action based on that sort of statistical bias. And yet you would consider profiling and (presumably sanctioning restrictions of freedom based on the data collected) a section of the community based on religious conviction alone, or would race also be a factor here.

I seem to remember the Nazi making simular studies before they interned and exterminated large sections of their population.

[Dr Maturin]

"There are more heterosexuals, so of course there are more accidents caused by them."


Of course, no one in their right mind would sanction any action based on that sort of statistical bias. And yet you would consider profiling and (presumably sanctioning restrictions of freedom based on the data collected) a section of the community based on religious conviction alone, or would race also be a factor here.

My point was that it's logical that more accidents are caused by more heterosexuals because they greatly outnumber homosexuals. What if by percentage homosexuals caused more accidents? Besides, accidents are just that...accidents. You don't accidentally crash two planes into adjacent buildings.

I seem to remember the Nazi making simular studies before they interned and exterminated large sections of their population.

I seem to remember the Nazi Party rising to power by, among other means, the demonization of the successful middle-class and rich, which was largely made up of Jewish people. Hmmm...now who does sound like in America these days?

[David Panzer]

Who does that sound like? Sportswriters who complain about high paid athletes, especially when their agent is Drew Rosenhaus.

Or were you expecting an answer with a tiresome "conservative vs. liberal" attitude

[Dr Maturin]

I was expecting a less cynical answer...

But specifically, labor unions do a great job of attempting to rile up their members, posing as doers of great deeds, all the while being nothing more than a source of income for Democrat political campaigns. Note the use of the word "attempting." It looks like in this age where information is more readily available due in large part to the advent of the internet that even the Teamsters aren't going for it anymore:

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=977136

At least they have an idea of why union membership has been in a steep decline.

[Dr Maturin]

Think of it this way, if an American and an Iraqi were on the same military outpost 10 years from now (or from whenever the occupation ends), how do you think they would treat each other?

Considering that we saved Iraqis from living under a brutal regime? Pretty well.

You should have used North Koreans or something...