9/11, an alternate view

[Mike62]

Yesterday, the common theme was, “we knew that history had changed, forever”
Yet, I wonder...is the world REALLY that much different?
Hezbollah and Israel fought before, they fight now. No closer, no farther from peace.
Was the bombing of Iraq any different than the bombing during the Gulf War?
Afghanistan, the home of al queda, was a barren rockpile before. Its still a barren rockpile, with a few more holes in it.
Men and women were dying in wars before, they die today in wars. Different neighborhood, same result

Does being swept with a metal detector detract from your enjoyment of a hockey game?
Our bags were checked at the airport before, theyre checked now.
A Canadian team still hasnt won the Stanley Cup.
Politicians still lie and run up expense accounts.
Dancers still try to scam us on song counts.
Tim Hortons still serves the double double.
The price of gas still goes up on long weekends.

 

[Gyaos]

Afghanistan, the home of al queda, was a barren rockpile before. Its still a barren rockpile, with a few more holes in it.

Ah, ah, ah... Afghanistan AND Pakistan, the home of Al Qaeda. It will continue until the might of the USA tells Pakistan to spread 'em. Something George W. Bush Jr refuses to do so which makes him as bad as any government that "harbours terrorism", a phrase so elequently coined by the Romper Room President himself.

 

[woolf]

Nothing much has changed for "whitey" ... but then "whitey" doesn't have to worry about being mistaken for a terrorist, made to wait for hours under armed guard while some jerk who never finished high school gets to determine their fate.

I know one person who does a lot of consulting work in the USA ... he's not Arab or Muslim, but was born in a North African country and looks the part, and he has to go to the airport hours ahead of time to account for the usual extra hour or two wait while he is asked to step aside to be checked out for any security risks ... If he needs to attend a meeting he has to leave a day earlier than a normal person would because there is always a decent chance that his security checks will cause him to miss his plane. (and yes, he has the fancy pre-checked security pass, or whatever it's called, which he says has reduced the "random checks" by about 20%.)

But none of this applies to us "whities", so I guess as long as it's only the "brown people" who have to pay for our security with their liberties, then who really gives a fuck? Right?

 

[MarkII]

Nothing much has changed for "whitey" ... but then "whitey" doesn't have to worry about being mistaken for a terrorist, made to wait for hours under armed guard while some jerk who never finished high school gets to determine their fate.

I know one person who does a lot of consulting work in the USA ... he's not Arab or Muslim, but was born in a North African country and looks the part, and he has to go to the airport hours ahead of time to account for the usual extra hour or two wait while he is asked to step aside to be checked out for any security risks ... If he needs to attend a meeting he has to leave a day earlier than a normal person would because there is always a decent chance that his security checks will cause him to miss his plane. (and yes, he has the fancy pre-checked security pass, or whatever it's called, which he says has reduced the "random checks" by about 20%.)

But none of this applies to us "whities", so I guess as long as it's only the "brown people" who have to pay for our security with their liberties, then who really gives a fuck? Right?

Interesting point of view. I do find the tone of using the term "whities" a bit much.

The mainstream often does not hear of such occurences, and even here it's a second hand accounting.

I know I sure as hell wouldn't want to go through that every time I travelled. On the other hand I do. I have to show up hours earlier than I used to. It's just part of the expierience of flying.

Unfortunately some individulas fit the "profile" better than others. Here in North America that profile will not be a young white male. Thats just the way it is. A young white male travelling in Pakistan or Aphganistan might draw a similar second look. Israel continues to look at every person who is not Jewish with very suspicious intention.

We now live in a world where there is no safety inside any border. What some here will say is too much it will be the reverse in another part of the world.

To me what is truly troubling is the amount of tension worldwide when it comes to people who are not the norm. Doesn't matter where you go, you'll get watched and watched closely.

This much tension makes for itchy trigger fingers and thats a bad thing no matter where it is.

M2

 

[woolf]

Unfortunately some individulas fit the "profile" better than others.

And by "profile" we mean?

Most serial killers are white males ... why is it that neither I nor any of my white males friends have ever once been stopped and questioned for some serial killings?

I mean I, a white male fit the "serial killer" profile just like all those brown males fit the "terrorist profile".

Could it be that if it's a case where the "profile" might disrupt the lives of white males we decide that we need to come up with a more accurate and specific "profile" to work with, but if it's just "brown people" we are bothering then why go to all that effort of actually giving a fuck?

 

[MarkII]

And by "profile" we mean?

Most serial killers are white males ... why is it that neither I nor any of my white males friends have ever once been stopped and questioned for some serial killings?

I mean I, a white male fit the "serial killer" profile just like all those brown males fit the "terrorist profile".

Could it be that if it's a case where the "profile" might disrupt the lives of white males we decide that we need to come up with a more accurate and specific "profile" to work with, but if it's just "brown people" we are bothering then why go to all that effort of actually giving a fuck?

Wolf,

By profile you know what I mean. It has nothing to do with serial killing. Customs officers all over the world have ben instructed to look at certain people who fit that countrys danger list. It varies from country to country.

Please don't try and put words in my statement that were not there or conjecture that I meant something I didn't. I essentially agree with your post. It is unfortunate that your friend goes through the customs "passage" evermes he/she flies. But as I said we all do to some extent.

In Canadian major cites the "brown people" as you called them, not me, have every aspect of society available to them. Here in Toronto it's a fact of life and we live side by side. My neighborhood is very muticultural and I love it.

I don't see what your point is in stirring things up to create a have and have not world. I live across from a schoolyard. Every ethnic group in the world is there at recess. They seem to have no problems getting along. It's their parents that create the animosity.

Learn from the children.

M2

 

[woolf]

I don't see what your point is in stirring things up to create a have and have not world.

I think you've got that backwards ... I'm not the one making up arbitrary and too general "profiles" putting all brown people who fly into the world of the "have nots".

Pointing out existing inequities does not make me the bad guy ... people who enforce these inequities and people who accept these inequities are much worst than the people who simply notice them, point them out, and question the fairness and effectiveness of these inequities.

My comments from the previous post were not specifically directed at you, they were directed at the general "sleep walking" public who allow themselves to be such big cowards that they don't give a shit about whole groups of people being put through the wringers as long as it give them the illusion that their miserable little lives seem a little bit safer