Shooting Aboard An AAL Flight . . .

It's a phase. The forum's actually a living, breathing creature with ebbs and flows. On the positive tip, the forum's a lot faster, but on the negative tip, it's even more convenient to blast off a sarcastic quip which makes things roll out of control a little swifter now.

I seriously blame our "TV Generation". Taking broad issues and trying to crunch them down into palatable 20 second partially-researched segments in between seven minute commercial breaks. Then the folks with the loudest mouths, the most extreme views and the best media savvy get coverage and people form strong opinions based on what they see/hear on the 31" Sony Trinitron.

42" plasma if you've got a Costco card and the wall space! ;)
 
FlyChicaga said:
........

For some of you with your loud claims of screening only young arabic males, what would you do when a young arabic male is your captain? .....

I hope these ethnic arguments are just a passing phase.
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And what if your wingman is of Iranian descent (sp?);) Or your FO is of Afghani descent? ;)

Well said, Fly.....
 
FlyChicaga said:
I really want to know, why as of late (like the past week or so) has there been so many posts related to race and ethnicity? It seems as quite a few threads on the boards now have turned into very in-depth and heated discussions about race issues and racial profiling. Many members coming out with very strong opinions on these issues, as well as some threads where it quickly turns into a racial debate after someone reads too much into a post.

I was thinking about making this a thread of its own in the lav, but decided against it. You really need to realize that in this business you will be working with every breed of human on the planet. White, Black, Arabic, Asian, Indian, Straight, Gay, Bi, Left-wingers, Right-wingers, Southern Baptists, Muslims, Agnostics, Catholics, Athesits, Men, Women, people who smell good, people who smell bad, pretty people, ugly people, handicapped people, mentally ill people, young kids, the elderly... the list goes on. There is no room for these discussions in the cockpit, and these strong opinions must be quelled. I know this is only an internet message board, but remember aviation is a small community. Voicing your strong opinions here will in fact reflect on you in real life.

Growing up I was subjected to many in my neighborhood (and even family) who have very strong opinions on race and various ethnic groups. I even have friends who hold similiar opinions. It's up to you to decide if you'll allow their shortsightedness to influence your own opinions.

For some of you with your loud claims of screening only young arabic males, what would you do when a young arabic male is your captain? One of my best friends is half arabic and an airline pilot. He actually changed his name because of the backlash he recieved in this industry. A former Marine, and damn fine individual, turned on because of his name. Sickening. His father, a very senior captain at a major airline, has received even worse treatment. He is 100% arabic, with a strong accent, and arabic name. Would you disrespect him in the cockpit due to his ethnicity in this current environment? After 9/11 he did receive backlash from crews. Be better than that.

I hope these ethnic arguments are just a passing phase.
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I agree with you.

My only "outrisings" are to defend the same stuff you are talking about, to stop racial profiling, or AT MINIMUM show the outcome of that.

Being persian (middle eastern) i understand that the arrogance will only increase as the older i become. I try to change peoples views, but sometimes its just useless and i just accept others ignorance and arrogance.
 
Hey I know a guy who is flying with an FO named "Osama Bin Johnson"

No really. He's from Iowa! Well that's what it says on his ID anyway LOL!

Thanks to Mike Orensteen for that one btw,,,
 
Bigey said:
I agree with you.

My only "outrisings" are to defend the same stuff you are talking about, to stop racial profiling, or AT MINIMUM show the outcome of that.

Being persian (middle eastern) i understand that the arrogance will only increase as the older i become. I try to change peoples views, but sometimes its just useless and i just accept others ignorance and arrogance.
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With time you'll realize sometimes it's best just to let something go, rather than try to change everyones viewpoint. Simple fact is, you won't change their opinions. You'll just start an argument. Also, best to not read into things... not always is someone making a comment against someone's ethnicity. If I said "we must profile if we are going to succeed in the war on terror," nowhere in that statement did I say we must persecute people of Middle-Eastern descent.
 
FlyChicaga said:
With time you'll realize sometimes it's best just to let something go, rather than try to change everyones viewpoint. Simple fact is, you won't change their opinions. You'll just start an argument. Also, best to not read into things... not always is someone making a comment against someone's ethnicity. If I said "we must profile if we are going to succeed in the war on terror," nowhere in that statement did I say we must persecute people of Middle-Eastern descent.
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I guess i should of said i sometimes try to change, instead of just change.

Most of the time, i'll let ignorance be bliss!
 
You can be the image of 'perfect' for any society you're in and people will still dislike you because there's nothing they can see that's wrong about you in their eyes. No point in trying to make everyone like you because you'd sooner get a glass of icewater in hell!

Live life, be happy, embrace those that reciprocate and stare indifferently on those that don't.
 
Doug Taylor said:
You can be the image of 'perfect' for any society you're in and people will still dislike you because there's nothing they can see that's wrong about you in their eyes. No point in trying to make everyone like you because you'd sooner get a glass of icewater in hell!

Live life, be happy, embrace those that reciprocate and stare indifferently on those that don't.
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I like the live life part.

End in end, just live your life.

You dont always have to be happy because theres some bumps in life eh but i catch your drift.


Side Story: My uncle's name is Akbar, and in Farsi we say Amou for uncle along with their name, just like we do in english. When we went on our flight last year to RDU he suddenly disappeared, so there i was hollering out Amou Akbar! Amou Akbar!

The looks on peoples face were priceless. I wish they would of known i was just calling for my uncle!:cwm27:
 
I dont see a problem with racial profiling. There is a much greater percent chance of a terrorist being middle eastern and muslim than any other group of person (just look at all the terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan). Its still a small percent, but it seems foolish to me to not pay extra attention to these types of people as they are passing through security checks.
 
What happened today kind of reminds me of that Brazilian man killed in Europe a few months ago by police. I believe they tought he was a threat and asked him to comply to their orders and he ran into a subway. They shot and killed the guy . I think it is very tragic that people have to die like this, but perhaps it could have been many more people over that one person who foolishly put himself/herself into that position in the first place.

Something else that gets my attention is how the media are always speculating on where the terrorists might strike next. To me they are doing nothing more than giving them more ideas than they might already have.
 
pkrgod said:
I dont see a problem with racial profiling. There is a much greater percent chance of a terrorist being middle eastern and muslim than any other group of person (just look at all the terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan). Its still a small percent, but it seems foolish to me to not pay extra attention to these types of people as they are passing through security checks.
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Refer to Cherokee and Fly Chicaga.
 
pkrgod said:
I dont see a problem with racial profiling. There is a much greater percent chance of a terrorist being middle eastern and muslim than any other group of person (just look at all the terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan). Its still a small percent, but it seems foolish to me to not pay extra attention to these types of people as they are passing through security checks.
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Side note:

Seems that all the terrorists were from Saudi Arabia, and not Iraq or Afghanistan.
 
Bigey said:
Side note:

Seems that all the terrorists were from Saudi Arabia, and not Iraq or Afghanistan.
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They may be from Saudi Arabia, but end up in Iraq or Afghanistan eventually. Like I said, terrorsits are typically middle eastern, regardless. No offense to you. The way I see it is if the odds are in your favor, you are a sucker for not exploiting that and will pay for it eventually if you dont.
 
Philip said:
yeah, why... I'd much rather see them blow up an airplane than get blasted by an air marshall :banghead:
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Except he didn't have a bomb.

And I'm with Lloyd. If the FAMs never had to fire their weapons, that would be fine by me. We have never launched our nukes, and I hope we never do, but you can't tell me they don't serve as a deterrent!
 
pkrgod said:
I dont see a problem with racial profiling. There is a much greater percent chance of a terrorist being middle eastern and muslim than any other group of person (just look at all the terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan). Its still a small percent, but it seems foolish to me to not pay extra attention to these types of people as they are passing through security checks.
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gaaaawwwww? Some of you people just don't get it do you? Furthermore you'd be singing a different song if you were the constant subject of said profiling. So you find it soooooo easy to say sure screen all those Arabs.
I might remind you of points made on this topic in a thread in the lav. About all those blone/blue jihadist ready and willing to blow themselfes up and anyone near them who don't fit the profile of so called islamic terrorist.
Lastly...as I mentioned previously. Terrorist look for holes or cracks in a society. So with an establish profile in effect the current government profile isn't accurate. More especially now since women are now actively being recruited as suicide bombers.

-Matthew
 
pkrgod said:
They may be from Saudi Arabia, but end up in Iraq or Afghanistan eventually. Like I said, terrorsits are typically middle eastern, regardless. No offense to you. The way I see it is if the odds are in your favor, you are a sucker for not exploiting that and will pay for it eventually if you dont.
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Yep, that Tim McVeigh. Musta come from Saudi Arabia.

And yep, that Belgian woman who pulled off a suicide bombing in Iraq sure looked like a "middle Eastern male."

Nobody's ever been able to tell me what a "middle Eastern male" looks like. Folks, before you start ranting about Muslim extremists, do me a favor. Tell me what the country with the highest Muslim population is. And then tell me if they look like "middle Eastern males."

I tell you what, man. I know a guy who's helping fight the terrorists who looks like a "middle Eastern male." Maybe we should pull him off the front lines. We'd lose a hell of a pilot if we did that.
 
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