Politics: J'accuse!

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by bilmore
Huh? I thought he got pulled over for a missing plate, and they never had a clue about him for several hours after they got him to the station.

According to nthsa, you're right.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/outr...1995/TT108.htm


Though that's still a far cry from being pulled over because he was a white guy with NRA stickers on his car (which I realize is not something that you said).

[Diane_Keaton]

Have to run and can't give this the kind of attention it deserves, but....

Originally posted by bilmore
If they had done this kind of profiling pre-9/11, I would have been squawking, too.

I was thinking more of the squawking being done by Dems re: what the Bushies should have done....

If there were forty Arabs of swarthiness in the country, and your information said to look at swarthy Arabs.. then you probably have cause to stop those you run into. Given that there are millions, though, I think you have a real constitutional problem treating them any differently from everyone else, even when you know that the next twenty terrorists are going to be swarthy Arabs.

Constitutional? You're talking about millions of Arabs "in the country" but are you including visitors and non-citizens? Also - if there was a warning that an upcoming attack was going to be brought on by a group of Muslims who have been in the U.S. a short time, why can't our government at least let field offices attempt (if they can) to hone in on the would-be perpetrators by investigating as many Muslims-in-the-country-less-than-one -year as they can? That would be profiling (even if it is only investigations), and even though it's really two factors (Muslim/In country less than one year), it's still the kind of profiling against Muslims that a lot are still bitching about.

(what is "swarthy", anyway?)

Shit, I don't know. Not my term. Ask S....er....T.......

DK

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Originally posted by bilmore
Huh? I thought he got pulled over for a missing plate, and they never had a clue about him for several hours after they got him to the station.

You're right. My bad. Google confirms you are correct.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Sexual Harassment Panda
Based on a vehicle description more than his hair length, race or feelings about the 2nd Amt, but okay. Whatever.

Wasn't he speeding?

eta: stp

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Diane_Keaton
Constitutional? You're talking about millions of Arabs "in the country" but are you including visitors and non-citizens? Also - if there was a warning that an upcoming attack was going to be brought on by a group of Muslims who have been in the U.S. a short time, why can't our government at least let field offices attempt (if they can) to hone in on the would-be perpetrators by investigating as many Muslims-in-the-country-less-than-one -year as they can? That would be profiling (even if it is only investigations), and even though it's really two factors (Muslim/In country less than one year), it's still the kind of profiling against Muslims that a lot are still bitching about.

I think the more sophisticated and complex your filters - i.e., the more factors you are subdividing by, like swart, time in-country, recent purchases of explosives, tirades at neighbors about how their corrupt infidel society is going to be QUITE SORRY next Tuesday morning at nine, so you don't really care if they play their goddam redneck Jewish music so loud, but maybe if you could turn it down a little - once you start doing that, you are identifying more and predicting based on protected areas less.

We have protected classes and categories purposefully, because, in the past, membership and groupings within those categories have been unfairly misused. We have decided, as a society, that, in order to avoid future unfair misuse, we will forego what might possibly be useful ID tools, and accept that drop in efficiency, in order to avoid more racial/religious/sexual/nationalistic strife.

That''s a policy decision, and we shouldn't jettison it easily.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Diane_Keaton
I will agree with this. We DON'T do this well. Probably because "we" usually means some hick cop with an attitude (and small penis) who can't tell the difference between a Muslim and a Sikh, or even a Hassid from an Amish dude, and so sucks at profiling anyway.

I remember in the pre-9/11 world my favorite Stop-n-Go clerk, Javed, yelling angrily at a customer, "I'm not Mexican. I'm Pakistani!" I think he goes by Javier now.

[Atticus Grinch]

Just to stop the racial profiling thread from being a "You're right"/"No, you're right" love-in that's so unbecoming of this board, consider this little exercise in racial profiling.

A Southern police chief is approaching hundreds of black men in town, telling them they've been reported as "potential suspects" in a serial rapist case because they were "acting suspiciously," and suggesting that they could easily clear themselves by giving a DNA sample.

• "The suspect is a black man, and he needs to be caught," Turner said. "But the way the police are conducting this investigation, because the suspect is a black man, every black man is a suspect."

That about sums it up.

'DNA Dragnet' Makes Charlottesville Uneasy
{Spree: Today's WaPo. For-profit newspaper. Reg. required.}

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
Just to stop the racial profiling thread from being a "You're right"/"No, you're right" love-in that's so unbecoming of this board, consider this little exercise in racial profiling.

A Southern police chief is approaching hundreds of black men in town, telling them they've been reported as "potential suspects" in a serial rapist case because they were "acting suspiciously," and suggesting that they could easily clear themselves by giving a DNA sample.

Totally different. We're talking about ARABS here.


(Or Muslims, but same diff.)

[SlaveNoMore]

AIR AMERICA 'BOUNCES CHECK'; LIBERAL RADIO NET TAKEN OFF IN LOS ANGELES, CHICAGO AFTER ONLY TWO WEEKS

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
AIR AMERICA 'BOUNCES CHECK'; LIBERAL RADIO NET TAKEN OFF IN LOS ANGELES, CHICAGO AFTER ONLY TWO WEEKS

They can't bill me if I never listened, right? This always seemed like a dumb idea to me.

[dtb]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
They can't bill me if I never listened, right? This always seemed like a dumb idea to me.

Here's Air America's response.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
They can't bill me if I never listened, right? This always seemed like a dumb idea to me.

Well, not a "bill." I think they characterize this as donations, in exchange for which you get a Jeanine Garofolo tote bag.

[SlaveNoMore]

dtb
Here's Air America's response.

Apparently, Drudge isn't the only one picking up the story as it's on the AP wire

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Apparently, Drudge isn't the only one picking up the story as it's on the AP wire

With a slightly different spin, you must admit.



Well, you won't admit it, but still.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by dtb
Here's Air America's response.

At least they have a sense of humor about it.