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Don't Fly During Ramadan
An anonymous reader sends in a harrowing story from Aditya Mukerjee about his recent attempt to fly from New York to Los Angeles. After being pulled aside in the security line, he faced hours of interrogation by uncommunicative officials from several different agencies. When he was finally cleared, his airline, Jet Blue, wouldn't let him on the plane anyway. When he got home, he found evidence that it had been searched. He writes,
"It was 2:20PM by the time I was finally released from custody. My entire body was shaking uncontrollably, as if I were extremely cold, even though I wasn’t. I couldn’t identify the emotion I was feeling. Surprisingly, as far as I could tell, I was shaking out of neither fear nor anger - I felt neither of those emotions at the time. The shaking motion was entirely involuntary, and I couldn’t force my limbs to be still, no matter how hard I concentrated. In the end, JetBlue did refund my flight, but they cancelled my entire round-trip ticket. Because I had to rebook on another airline that same day, it ended up costing me about $700 more for the entire trip. .. But no matter how I’ve tried to rationalize this in the last week and a half, nothing can block out the memory of the chilling sensation I felt that first morning, lying on my air mattress, trying to forget the image of large, uniformed men invading the sanctuary of my home in my absence, wondering when they had done it, wondering why they had done it."
It's called jihad.
When an entire religion declares that non-members are subhuman kafirs who deserve death, and the "moderate" members of that religion tacitly allow that, it's bad enough.
But it's even worse when that religion places the "holy" duty of jihad on all its members to go out and literally wage war against kafirs.
You reap what you sow.
TL;DR: Old School McCarthyism
Why you ask? Because despite your bigotry, if you had read the article you would have noticed the guy is Hindu.
Didn't read the article, did you?
The author's not a muslim, and even if he had been, his treatment was asinine.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Hey, America,
Are you proud of yourself yet? Proud of what you've become to yourself, your citizens and to the rest of the world?
no.
Um, no. The Talmud doesn't say that. You should probably stop reading Neo-Nazi and Jihadist websites.
He's a Hindu. Not a "Muzzie".
Moron
Yes, a huge percentage of Americans are actually quite proud of the version of the USA that exists in their heads. Just letting you know.
Another agent came over and handed me a paper slip
Notice that he's already receiving different treatment, despite absolutely zero evidence that he's any kind of threat to anyone.
“You can leave, but I’m keeping your bag.”
Something that would have been interesting to try at this point: "Ok, then. I presume there's a procedure for handling bags you've collected in this fashion, let's fill out the necessary paperwork and do everything by the book, and I'll need to be kept informed about which office to contact for retrieving such evidence once you've discovered that there's nothing criminal about it."
“What is your religion?”
This whole line of questioning is so obviously in violation of the Free Exercise clause it's not even funny.
I am officially gone from
It is about numbers. You can read books by Muslim women talking about what they see as dominant trends in their culture, in places like Egypt, Gaza, and where Islamic culture spreads to Europe and America. It isn't as simple as "extremists are a tiny minority". I also see it personally with friends who come from Muslim families -- despite being born in the West, they cannot extricate themselves from the old culture without being completely ostracised from their family. Many would rather conform than leave. And to do it they'll live a double life. Anyway like I say, read what Moslem women like Nonie Darwish, Ghazal Omid, Qanta Ahmed.
A sample from Darwish: "We often hear that “moderate” Muslims are the majority and that terrorist supporters are a minority fringe group. However, when genuine Islamic moderate leaders stand firm against terrorism, we do not see majority Muslim support for their views. To the contrary, such “moderates” shout the speakers down, condemn, and threaten them."
Anyway this is a separate point to racial profiling by security services.
Since the the entire religion is based on the koran and [it] states that all non-muslims are infidels
No, it doesn't. The Koran distinguishes believers on one extreme, infidels on the other, and "people of the book" in the middle, who must be protected by believers even though they're (thought of as being) in error. Christians and Jews are explicitly cited as "people of the book". Afterwards Buddhists, Hinduists and others were added to the list.
By the way: traditional Muslims in Egypt have been helping protect Christian churches from the fundamentalist Christian-hating ones. In particular, they've been protecting Coptic Christian churches, the same Coptics that both Catholics and Orthodox Christians were persecuting several centuries ago and who had to flee from Europe and find refuge there, in Islamic Egypt, back in the day fundamentalist Islam hadn't been invented yet (this one's an English Puritanism-inspired 18th-century innovation).
Conservatism: (n.) love of the existing evils. Liberalism: (n.) desire to substitute new evils for the existing ones.
If you had actually read the article, you would have noticed that he's not Islamic, and not an Arab.
http://www.geoffreylandis.com
Yes, you idiot. The passage you quote is Rabbi Yochanan being slapped down for saying something stupid and wrong.
Let me post my version of the summary:
He had explosives residue all over him according to multiple tests
- The End
You can all put your race cards away now
I think I can safely say that's an unfair representation of the text you quoted? I mean, people who say that the Koran says to kill non-believers are off base(it does say to kill ex-believers, which isn't much better), Shariah law(the "accepted" interpretation of the Koran's rules) suggests a tax on non-believers is the most that can be demanded.
The converse that all terrorists are Muslim is a common sense generalization, however.
All Terrorists are Muslims... Except the 94% that Aren't
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
What the heck are you one about?
The bible is a collection of stories, what stories go in it is decided by each branch of christianity. They vary quite a bit. The constitution is one document written at one time and not a collection of oral traditions only written down centuries later.
I would say less than 30 years ago this was true. Now, not so much.
I was thinking the same thing. The country as it is today is, in my opinion, not much of something to be proud of. The government is blatantly corrupt, people that are woefully uninformed are electing the wrong people into government (or electing anyone at all for the wrong reasons), and one cannot travel quickly within the country without having basic rights violated.
It's pretty sad when the American government makes likes of Vladimir Putin look like a "good guy".
When politicians are involved, everyone loses.
The terrorists exist, and you've probably seen them already (on the news or in other media). They're a small fringe group whose members are, by and large, not particularly competent or capable. They got extremely lucky once, but even counting that, they're about as much of a threat to individuals, the United States, or civilization in general as home accidents and bad weather.
One of the best descriptions I can recall reading of terrorists was along the lines of, "criminals who want to be warriors". Terror is probably best handled in a low-key manner by law enforcement. The "War on Terra" has given them exactly what they want, and was probably the worst possible response. America's over-reaction to 9/11 and the terrorism "threat" in general is doing far, far more damage than any terrorist could directly do in their wildest dreams.
Living in the US with dark skin is like being a jew in NAZI Germany. Between "if you see something say something" white trash morons fingering every person that looks like a stereotypical Muslim to them and the typical dumb-as-a-rock law enforcement thugs who see every dark skinned person as a terrorist this is a country I would want to flee from.
I wonder what would have happened if he had clammed up and refused to answer any of their questions. What he should have done is tried to leave the airport and fight to get back his possessions if necessary. Once an explosive detector is set off leaving the airport is really the best course of action for anyone. You won't be permitted to fly without being thoroughly violated at that point anyway. May as well come back and try your luck another day. TSA agents have no power to detain you. You are within your rights to take your stuff and walk away. If they try to physically stop you you have the right to defend yourself. The only power they have is the power to prevent you from flying that day out of that airport.
Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
Minor bitch:
Reign in the NSA? Should be our top priority.
Rein, not Reign (w/ the g it means "to rule over")
That's all, have a great weekend - hope it doesn't rain.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Oh, then we can have the southern 20 nations re-implement Jim Crow. Face facts: localized government has done even worse by most measures than the federal government.
How many of those countries have an NDAA and allow their citizens to be militarily imprisoned without a trial?
How many of those countries have a "constitution free" zone that covers most of their population?
How many of those countries have continue to hold innocent prisoners cleared for release a la Gitmo?
How many of those countries have openly assassinated one of their citizens for engaging in protected speech?
You're either snarking the shit out of us, have limited to your travels to places like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, or have a terminal case of American Exceptionalism.
I know! That's why we never heard of Constitution on Chest Guy, Little White Boy with Terrorist's Name & Friends, Veteran with Too Much Implanted Metal or TSA Pen. Tester Guy. The media just isn't interested in the plight of the white man.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Explosive test comes up positive in an airport and you wonder why they react strongly? You truly are a fuckwit.
A few years ago, I got a new computer bag. I flew with it a couple of times, but the first time that the bag was randomly selected for a swab test, it came up positive. I got lots of questions (in the public area). Eventually I had to provide some contact and other information and was allowed on my way. A few flights later, the bag was selected again and came up positive again. Got the same kind of questions and had to complete the same form again. After that I stopped flying with that bag.
I was not interrogated in a private room and I wasn't kept off of the plane by the airline. Then again, I am pasty white and I don't fly Jet Blue.
The historical ignorance, it burns, it burns...
Yeah, let's go back to the days when states could decide that people with dark skin couldn't sit at the same table as people with light skin. Let's let women in shithole red states be subject to state legislatures that think the world portrayed in The Handmaid's Tale would be a mighty good idea. Let's zip on back to the corruption of the Gilded Age
We can rationally argue about the current balance of federal and state power, sure. There are many areas where the feds have overstepped their bounds. But taking away anything to balance state power? I'm sorry, but that's just a damned stupid idea. The idea that state governments are more friendly to liberty than the federal government can only be entertained by someone ignorant of historical and political reality.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
As a person who grew up in Soviet Union and still keeping in touch with things that are happening in all of the Soviet republics, I can tell you that Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan easily qualify as an answer to all four of these questions. BTW, who in the United States have been militarily imprisoned without a trial? Are the constitutional rights REALLY including freedom of speech, religion, the right to own a weapon, the right against self incrimination, the right to own a property are really not protected in these zones? Does the government really suspended entire constitution in these zones? Or are the government with agreement of the courts (who are the constitution) expending the right of limited warrants for the cause for search and seizure? Are the prisoners in Gitmo really innocent? Can I put a big sticker on you that says, "JEW" and put you in the same room as Khaled Shekh Muhammad? (You know, he personally cut the throat of Daniel Pearl, for being Jewish.) Perhaps I don't need to label you as a Jew. I can just add you as another American in a Gitmo room full of "innocent" jihadists. Lets see how long you last. And where and when have we assassinated one of our own citizens for engaging in protected speech? The only assassinations of the American citizens are those of the Yemeni cleric from Detroid (I think). And he was running an Al Quada media wing. Was that only because of the so called "protected" speech on his part?
Nope! It turns out, Senator McCarthy was right. There really were Communists in the State Department.
This forces us to re-evaluate the entire phrase of "McCarthyism" as the current (wrong) meaning implies falsehood. Please stop using this phrase, it is deprecated.
As I've pointed out before, if you think McCarthyism is wrong because he was accusing people who weren't communists of being communists, you don't get it. The problem with McCarthyism is that he was trying to hurt people for their political views. In this country, you have the right to be communist.
Obviously you don't live near or have experienced "roadside safety checks" where the local gestapo indiscriminately pulls over every vehicle in a fishing-expedition for anything from forgotten safety-belts (seat belts) to that roach that's been under your seat for 15 years, or perhaps some actual rare real violation such as drunk driving, etc.
They pull vehicles over with no probable cause and subject them to searches if they twitch or sweat or the carefully trained "police dog" sits on command to please it's trainer and thus will hit on everyone, every time so they will always have cause to search you. Or they might ask you a few questions to see if you appear nervous. Well, of fucking course you're nervous, you are in severe danger of having your life fucked with, completely upset and turned upside down with a mere crook of their finger.
Also, lately they have been talking about expanding the role of TSA to harass people at sporting events, and at train and bus terminals, so the erosion of our freedom/society is not only continuing, it's expanding, or trying to.
This, all the suburban traffic cops are all dressing like SWAT-team members for either the intimidation factor, or that they think it looks "cool" and there was oodles of extra Homeland Security grant money to pay for all that neat stuff.
[Godwin Alert] This is just shy of the good old Nazi checkpoints - "Papers, Please" and actual jackboots would be the only things missing. So, yeah - even travel within supposedly safe areas of this "free" country is getting fucked up and are becoming hazardous to your rights and so-called freedom. What little you (we) have left, anyway.
-- You are in a maze of little, twisty passages, all different... --
Other things that will set off the detector/test if you handle your lugage at any time while contaminated with them include:
The list goes on, but the point is, even transporting your lugage in the same trunk as you carried potting soil in 2 months ago is going to get you flagged as a positive. After that, it's going down hill for you.
Totally complete list of totally amazing freedom enhancing things done in the name of states' rights:
Sure, I'll bite:
In 1869, Wyoming granted voting rights to women. It would be 50 years before federal law caught up with them.
In 1982, Wisconsin prohibited employment discrimination against gays. 30 years later, most of the nation still hasn't caught up with Wisconsin.
In 1780, Pennsylvania voted to abolish slavery. Massachusetts followed suit in 1883. Federal law would continue to permit slavery until 1865; It was only state law which protected the freedom of black americans in the north.
These are the ones that pop into my head, but I'm sure I could list of similar examples all day long. State law has been at the forefront of just about every major civil rights issue in our nation's history.
None of those are examples in which the federal government heavily resisted state autonomy to make such a decision, with the exception of the Fugitive Slave Act. Thus, none of them are things done in the name of state's rights.
These are the ones that pop into my head, but I'm sure I could list of similar examples all day long. State law has been at the forefront of just about every major civil rights issue in our nation's history.
They've also been at the far other side. Many of the Southern states refused to ratify the 19th Amendment and led the charge against women's suffrage; several never even signed it until the late 20th century. Many states (also again in the South) have amended their own constitution to deny gays the right to marry.
Do we even need to talk about slavery and race relations? Except maybe to acknowledge the nadir of American race relations post-Reconstruction? How about California's "Foreign Miner's Tax" of 1850 or the "Anti-Coolie Law" of 1862 to go after the Chinese? (19th century California's hate-on for the Chinese is frequently forgotten.) Or how about their "Greaser Act" against Mexicans from 1855?
You also have wonders like Texas leading the way in 1883 on the convict-lease system to use prisoners as slave labor. You know, the chain-gangs of old.
I'm from the South. I don't trust my state legislature not to attempt to put the screws to anyone that's likely to vote against them. Just look at the wave of laws North Carolina passed as soon as section 5 of the Voting Rights Act got knocked out.
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