And THIS is why I support "Racial profiling"

[Whitecloak]

not all terrorists are middle eastern men. timothy mcveigh?

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: whitecloak
not all terrorists are middle eastern men. timothy mcveigh?

Cue rant about 'the new normal'

 

[ndee]

yeah, shows how retarded you are Shockwave.

 

[slag]

Originally posted by: Whisper
Sorry, but I see nothing wrong with that. There's no way of knowing just who might pose a threat on an airplane; who might be "in on" an attempt to hijack another aircraft, or who might simply be crazy and have gotten it into his head that he was going to try and hurt someone that day. Terrorists aren't the only ones to be worried about on airplanes. So what, now we're supposed to narrow the searches to those that only seem "physically able" of causing havoc? Who knows what kind of shape someone is in, whether or not they're elderly; perhaps that person's limp is a ruse, etc. Just because someone is old, white, or an armed services veteran does not make them harmless.

Agreed, I see nothing wrong with what they did. Did they make him strip to his skivvies and sing YMCA?

No, they didnt. The screener did nothing wrong and should not treat one person different from another.

I recently flew from podunk Wichita KS airport to Cincinnati and at the Wichita airport they did the exact same thing to 3 of the people waiting to board our flight. If they would have picked me, I'd have complied to their request as well. Its all in the name of safety.

 

[Thraxen]

I'm sorry, but I think a certain amount of racial profiling must be done. To do otherwise is to stick your head in the sand and ignore obvious facts for sake of remaining PC. You don't think Israelis racially profile Palestinians? You think they just equally search both Israelis and Palestinians at checkpoints? Somehow I doubt it. It wouldn't even be remotely smart to do so.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: whitecloak
not all terrorists are middle eastern men. timothy mcveigh?

McVeigh
that Hispanic dirty bomber
Jamaican shoe bomber

And before anyone says McVeigh was the only time, no it isn't. For some reason white males keep wanting to blow up government buildings.

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: maziwanka
i think the article was well written. the author never calls for "racial profiling" as the OP does. he states that there should be a better method for screening passengers, which i do agree with. at the very least, airport security should treat travelers with a certain minimum level of respect.

Respect takes time and have you seen how long the lines are at some security gates?

I say move on and don't take it so personal. Obviously there's a line, but this particular screener didn't really cross it and just did his job.

I'm surprised none of the terrorists have figured out to bomb the security lines. They've moved the large groups of people from inside the "secure" area to outside it.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: whitecloak
not all terrorists are middle eastern men. timothy mcveigh?

McVeigh
that Hispanic dirty bomber
Jamaican shoe bomber

And before anyone says McVeigh was the only time, no it isn't. For some reason white males keep wanting to blow up government buildings.

You pull that last little bit out of your backside or do you have a list of other incidents to back up that statement?

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: Thraxen
I'm sorry, but I think a certain amount of racial profiling must be done. To do otherwise is to stick your head in the sand and ignore obvious facts for sake of remaining PC. You don't think Israelis racially profile Palestinians? You think they just equally search both Israelis and Palestinians at checkpoints? Somehow I doubt it. It wouldn't even be remotely smart to do so.

Not to open another debate, but I wouldn't take Israel's practices as a model of 'how to do things right'. Israel doesn't pretend to treat people equally. Whether this is justified is another debate, and there are about a thousand threads on it in P&N, but they definitely don't place much emphasis on equality.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: Linflas
You pull that last little bit out of your backside or do you have a list of other incidents to back up that statement?

What'd Ted Kazinsky blow up? Anyone remember what colour his skin was?

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: Linflas
You pull that last little bit out of your backside or do you have a list of other incidents to back up that statement?

What'd Ted Kazinsky blow up? Anyone remember what colour his skin was?

Ted Kaczynski blew up people, not buildings. The people he aimed at were mainly academics involved in technology. And yes he was caucasian.

A chronology of The Unabomber

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: Linflas
Ted Kaczynski blew up people, not buildings. The people he aimed at were mainly academics involved in technology. And yes he was caucasian.

A chronology of The Unabomber

By golly you're right, and only some of them were government or pseudo-government officials.

It's still close enough for me, but maybe not for others.

 

[venk]

to OP:

Are you saying a 27 Year old American with Middle Eastern Decent who has been the perfect citizen for his entire life does not deserve the same amount of respect that the old man in this article does?

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: venk
to OP:

Are you saying a 27 Year old American with Middle Eastern Decent who has been the perfect citizen for his entire life does not deserve the same amount of respect that the old man in this article does?

The problem with your question is that the security screeners have NO IDEA who has been a perfect citizen and who hasn't.

 

[venk]

Of course not, but there is no way of knowing if the old man was the prime influence in the life of Timothy McVeigh. When you start focusing on a specific profile, then those that do not fit the profile make it through. i.e. THe Shoe Bomber

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: Linflas
Ted Kaczynski blew up people, not buildings. The people he aimed at were mainly academics involved in technology. And yes he was caucasian.

A chronology of The Unabomber

By golly you're right, and only some of them were government or pseudo-government officials.

It's still close enough for me, but maybe not for others.

Ted Kaczynski as an example in no way supports the statement "For some reason white males keep wanting to blow up government buildings." which is what my original response was regarding. Hell if you wanted to try and support that statement you might want to start digging back and throwing out the names of Weather Underground activists who actually were white and did want to blow up government buildings. Problem is that "The Revolution" has been over for 30 years and they are all either in jail or part of "The Establishment" they once despised.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: pulse8

Originally posted by: venk
to OP:

Are you saying a 27 Year old American with Middle Eastern Decent who has been the perfect citizen for his entire life does not deserve the same amount of respect that the old man in this article does?

The problem with your question is that the security screeners have NO IDEA who has been a perfect citizen and who hasn't.

Sounds like those security screeners aren't very good judges of character. I can take one look in a man's eyes and know if he's gonna blow some sh!t up.

 

[OutHouse]

its NOT Racial Profiling!!! :|

Its CRIMINAL PROFILING!!!!!!
and yes i support it as well.

 

[Thraxen]

When you start focusing on a specific profile, then those that do not fit the profile make it through. i.e. THe Shoe Bomber

But the question is whether or not you would stop more of those that do fit the profile and had ill intentions. These few exceptions you people keep bringing up are exactly that... exceptions. Also, why couldn't you stop more people who fit the profile while still mixing in random searches? Lastly, there is no reason you can't treat people with respect during a search (i.e. I'm not advocating rounding up everyone that fits a certain profile and treating them badly). But reality must intrude on your PC world at some point. Sorry.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: Whisper
Sorry, but I see nothing wrong with that. There's no way of knowing just who might pose a threat on an airplane; who might be "in on" an attempt to hijack another aircraft, or who might simply be crazy and have gotten it into his head that he was going to try and hurt someone that day. Terrorists aren't the only ones to be worried about on airplanes. So what, now we're supposed to narrow the searches to those that only seem "physically able" of causing havoc? Who knows what kind of shape someone is in, whether or not they're elderly; perhaps that person's limp is a ruse, etc. Just because someone is old, white, or an armed services veteran does not make them harmless.

you are a complete dumbass.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: Linflas

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: whitecloak
not all terrorists are middle eastern men. timothy mcveigh?

McVeigh
that Hispanic dirty bomber
Jamaican shoe bomber

And before anyone says McVeigh was the only time, no it isn't. For some reason white males keep wanting to blow up government buildings.

You pull that last little bit out of your backside or do you have a list of other incidents to back up that statement?

That guy in chicago that was arrested for trying to blow up the US courthouse just recently. I wasn't even thinking about the Unabomber, but I can amend it to "white males keep wanting to attack government targets" and so then he'll be added to the list, too.

What about John Walker Lindh (Johnny Taliban guy)? Do you consider him a terrorist? I'm not sure if I should put him on the list, but he sure seemed to be fighting violently against the government.

What about Eric Rudolph? Maybe I should add him to the list since he bombed the Olympics (it can be assumed to be a government target I guess). Maybe I should just amend it to "American-born white males who participate in terrorism" and that will be a large list, too and include his abortion bombings.

Oh, there's also that Texas couple with the pounds of cyanide & other chemicals which were enough to kill everyone in a department store-sized building. It was one of the largest domestic-terrorism cases since OK City.

So we now have:

McVeigh
Unabomber
Chicago bomber
John Lindh
Eric Rudolph
Texas couple

I'm sure there's a lot more. The reason you don't hear about them is that they're not very 'special' I guess. The Chicago bomber was in the headlines last week, but it was overshadowed by other events.

 

[RabidMongoose]

If some of the elderly are willing to commit murder and smuggle drugs, then they are certainly capable of much more. What's wrong with this situation by the OP? Nothing really.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: Citrix
its NOT Racial Profiling!!! :|

Its CRIMINAL PROFILING!!!!!!
and yes i support it as well.

Actually, it is not legitimate criminal profiling; the OP is either suggesting that old people, or white people (not sure which) should be given a free pass. White guys with grey hair have blown things up before, and will probably do it again.

Real profiling involves weighting many factors, not only one, and doesn't involve 'free passes' for anyone.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: Citrix
its NOT Racial Profiling!!! :|

Its CRIMINAL PROFILING!!!!!!
and yes i support it as well.

Actually, it is not legitimate criminal profiling; the OP is either suggesting that old people, or white people (not sure which) should be given a free pass. White guys with grey hair have blown things up before, and will probably do it again.

Real profiling involves weighting many factors, not only one, and doesn't involve 'free passes' for anyone.

 

[Doboji]

I support background based profiling simply because there are so many people to search on a regular basis, that narrowing down the field massively increases the odds of finding a suspect and avoiding an attack. I do still support random checks as well, and I'm sorry but being elderly should not make you free from random checks. It's just far to easy to either find a complicit older person, or simply make someone appear old.

Racial profiling is kinda stupid though, because how do you identify the difference between someone from say... Brazil and someone from Iraq... it's pretty difficult.

-max