I trying to come to grips with a disturbing experience I had in Alexandria Northern Va a few days ago!

We were coming outta the Federal Building in down town Alexandria....me An African and a Phillipino when I observes a young Arab man walking towards us with a non-discripted brief case in his hand...traditional dress and all. We all stood on the sidewalk waiting for the lift to take us about ten stories down to the subway! While we waited...the briefcase guy stopped....stood next to us as if he was waiting on the lift as well! Hell...by this time my mind was running all over the place! When the lift arrived, I could not get on the lift..in that confinded space...with a young Arab man carring a briefcase in the US capital!!!!!!

When I arrived into the subway, my friends asked..."why you een come down with us"!!! I looked right into their faces and "lied" right through my teeth! "I was checking something up there"!

The rest of the time in DC met me "hailing" every Arab looking person...trying to sooth my condemnation of my earlier actions. How are the rest of you guys handling this overload on "terrorists" that we see and hear about everyday?:cutie:

I guess it all depends on if you believe the hype.

it used to be the same with Irish people back in London during the time of the IRA bombings..

so yeah its the flava of the day ... but i dont think 1 breifcase is the kind of damage the Islamic Terrorists are looking for ... personally id only notice it if they were in full islamic gear ... otherwise how do you know they are muslim anyway. Also, id be cautious for anyone that seemed suspicious, white guys too ... ;)

I guess it all depends on if you believe the hype.

gotta really watch out for those bohemians ... they the most dangerous, specially if they been drinking them caliks ... :friday: :p

I trying to come to grips with a disturbing experience I had in Alexandria Northern Va a few days ago!
We were coming outta the Federal Building in down town Alexandria....me An African and a Phillipino when I observes a young Arab man walking towards us with a non-discripted brief case in his hand...traditional dress and all. We all stood on the sidewalk waiting for the lift to take us about ten stories down to the subway! While we waited...the briefcase guy stopped....stood next to us as if he was waiting on the lift as well! Hell...by this time my mind was running all over the place! When the lift arrived, I could not get on the lift..in that confinded space...with a young Arab man carring a briefcase in the US capital!!!!!!
When I arrived into the subway, my friends asked..."why you een come down with us"!!! I looked right into their faces and "lied" right through my teeth! "I was checking something up there"!
The rest of the time in DC met me "hailing" every Arab looking person...trying to sooth my condemnation of my earlier actions. How are the rest of you guys handling this overload on "terrorists" that we see and hear about everyday?:cutie:

I know what you mean! A few months ago I was sitting in my car at the Montague when a motorcycle pulled up next to me.:escape: The man and women were clearly of Middle Eastern appearance. Both had back packs! My first instinct was to move before the “bombs went off!” But then I told myself not to be such a fool these were tourists, nothing more.

I think Marichal is right. We are being swept away by the hype! We need to keep our guard up but not to become paranoid.

I believe in facing reality, Better Safe than Sorry!!!!

I believe in facing reality, Better Safe than Sorry!!!!

:tup:

Funny how I've been off this board for about 6 months, yet the same old topics keep coming round - just with different wording! This one is perhaps a really good one though, becuase all the media hype about "islamic fascists and terrorrists" is beginning to wear on people, and many people are simply fed up with the media/govt. propaganda and fear-mongering.

I would be lying if i didnt say it - sure once or twice in my life i became a bit uneasy when people of a darker hue or arab appearance boarded my plane, but two experiences in my life made me see beyond passengers wearing hijabs and gallabeyas and chattering away in arabic:

the first was 7/7 London bombings - you will recall I was living in London then. Immediately, 'arab looking' people were opening stigmatised, but it was later revealed that these bombers were home-made bonafide 'brits'. of course now we have reverted to this distinction of pakistani-british, sri lankan-british, iraqi-british, white british - the latter of all three lucky enough to not be victimised at home, while the others are. if you are a dark male carrying a bag - you are a suspect and could be shot 8 times in the head while travelling to work - as the brazilian learned the hard way.

anyway, the second experience which made me realise i was losing it along with the rest of all the 'mainstreamers' (who sip their *starbucks* coffee in the morning while watching Fox News), was my move to Egypt. Sure my parents were less than ecstatic that i was going to work there, but once I was there, my whole outlook changed (as did theirs). The way these people live, the way the are treat you as a foreigner, they way they practice and believe in their religion - it made me realise, that hang on, maybe we really have it twisted. these people have a different mentality yes - but their ideas certainly do not revolve around killing off all the westerners and islamising the whole world (like we are being indirectly being led to believe)! these people are not terrorists! on the contrary - i had never experienced such hospitality and felt so safe in my life! a kind of safety us in the west could only dream or reminisce about (since we cant event walk down the street late at night, without fear of being raped or mugged)!

my point is this - sure terrorism is real AND terrifying, but we cannot allow this thing to take hold of us. terrorism has nothing to do with islam. muslims are not terrorists. Just as the crusades had nothing to do with Jesus, neither does terror have anything to do with Mohammed. Yes, so we are fed this drama of jihad...a concept which in fact has its roots in Christendom! if anything, WE sold the idea to them 1500 years ago! Of course you have psychos that flaunt it in the name of religion, but i challenge you to pick up a koran and find where it condones such hideous behaviour. no more than the bible, does the koran teach violence,and this distorted view which our leaders are trying to make us see doesnt exist.

what the war on terror has in fact done, is create another dimension of 'haters'. Initially, this struggle was mostly to do with the Palestinian injustices - bombers were trying to get their points across (in the wrong way of course) so that govts would take the palestinian issue seriously. however, now, we have given them another reason to blow up themseves. It doesnt take a genius to figure out whats happening in iraq, afghanistan, palestine, lebanaon, is obviously going to creat hate. hatred for a political ideal that comes onto their turf, radically and illegal changes their govt., then leaves the normal people in tatters to fear for themselves -after half the breadwinners have been shot, killed and/or tortured in jail!

Anyway, this is too much for my first real post after half a year's absence - but its the effect of drinking coffee and typing first thing on a friday. But really, i ask you all to remember when we (blacks) were victimised because of our skin - in, fact, well, we still are. black males in america are doomed, and yet, we know, that there is only a small minority of bad apples that spoil the tree. I am going to Istanbul for holiday next month - and i cant wait, because i know, after living in an islamic country, that the hospitality, food, culture, history, people - it is all so overwhelming beautiful and that feeling to me cannot be substituted. my only wish is that people could separate the ideology of terrorism from religion, but this impossible becuase half the people with the most to say about 'islamic terrorism' - know nothing about islam! (I mean, lets think about it, how can you give a lecture, if you don't know the subject?). My personal belief is that there is a dimension of terrorism which is being falsely linked to religion, but in reality, the two are really divorced from each other. there is no way the two can actually co-exist if you are serious about the religion.

I think terrorm is more of a political struggle. Astruggle that has everything to do with palestine - and trust me, there is no end in sight unless and until that problem is solved. that in turn means dealing with Israel (ensuring she abidies by international standards and norms set by the UN as well as abiding by the hundreds of UN resolutions she simply continues to ignore)..so well, unfortunately, i guess there will never be peace - which is a shame, considering the beauty of the middle east.

Funny how I've been off this board for about 6 months, yet the same old topics keep coming round - just with different wording! This one is perhaps a really good one though, becuase all the media hype about "islamic fascists and terrorrists" is beginning to wear on people, and many people are simply fed up with the media/govt. propaganda and fear-mongering.
I would be lying if i didnt say it - sure once or twice in my life i became a bit uneasy when people of a darker hue or arab appearance boarded my plane, but two experiences in my life made me see beyond passengers wearing hijabs and gallabeyas and chattering away in arabic:
the first was 7/7 London bombings - you will recall I was living in London then. Immediately, 'arab looking' people were opening stigmatised, but it was later revealed that these bombers were home-made bonafide 'brits'. of course now we have reverted to this distinction of pakistani-british, sri lankan-british, iraqi-british, white british - the latter of all three lucky enough to not be victimised at home, while the others are. if you are a dark male carrying a bag - you are a suspect and could be shot 8 times in the head while travelling to work - as the brazilian learned the hard way.
anyway, the second experience which made me realise i was losing it along with the rest of all the 'mainstreamers' (who sip their *starbucks* coffee in the morning while watching Fox News), was my move to Egypt. Sure my parents were less than ecstatic that i was going to work there, but once I was there, my whole outlook changed (as did theirs). The way these people live, the way the are treat you as a foreigner, they way they practice and believe in their religion - it made me realise, that hang on, maybe we really have it twisted. these people have a different mentality yes - but their ideas certainly do not revolve around killing off all the westerners and islamising the whole world (like we are being indirectly being led to believe)! these people are not terrorists! on the contrary - i had never experienced such hospitality and felt so safe in my life! a kind of safety us in the west could only dream or reminisce about (since we cant event walk down the street late at night, without fear of being raped or mugged)!
my point is this - sure terrorism is real AND terrifying, but we cannot allow this thing to take hold of us. terrorism has nothing to do with islam. muslims are not terrorists. Just as the crusades had nothing to do with Jesus, neither does terror have anything to do with Mohammed. Yes, so we are fed this drama of jihad...a concept which in fact has its roots in Christendom! if anything, WE sold the idea to them 1500 years ago! Of course you have psychos that flaunt it in the name of religion, but i challenge you to pick up a koran and find where it condones such hideous behaviour. no more than the bible, does the koran teach violence,and this distorted view which our leaders are trying to make us see doesnt exist.
what the war on terror has in fact done, is create another dimension of 'haters'. Initially, this struggle was mostly to do with the Palestinian injustices - bombers were trying to get their points across (in the wrong way of course) so that govts would take the palestinian issue seriously. however, now, we have given them another reason to blow up themseves. It doesnt take a genius to figure out whats happening in iraq, afghanistan, palestine, lebanaon, is obviously going to creat hate. hatred for a political ideal that comes onto their turf, radically and illegal changes their govt., then leaves the normal people in tatters to fear for themselves -after half the breadwinners have been shot, killed and/or tortured in jail!
Anyway, this is too much for my first real post after half a year's absence - but its the effect of drinking coffee and typing first thing on a friday. But really, i ask you all to remember when we (blacks) were victimised because of our skin - in, fact, well, we still are. black males in america are doomed, and yet, we know, that there is only a small minority of bad apples that spoil the tree. I am going to Istanbul for holiday next month - and i cant wait, because i know, after living in an islamic country, that the hospitality, food, culture, history, people - it is all so overwhelming beautiful and that feeling to me cannot be substituted. my only wish is that people could separate the ideology of terrorism from religion, but this impossible becuase half the people with the most to say about 'islamic terrorism' - know nothing about islam! (I mean, lets think about it, how can you give a lecture, if you don't know the subject?). My personal belief is that there is a dimension of terrorism which is being falsely linked to religion, but in reality, the two are really divorced from each other. there is no way the two can actually co-exist if you are serious about the religion.
I think terrorm is more of a political struggle. Astruggle that has everything to do with palestine - and trust me, there is no end in sight unless and until that problem is solved. that in turn means dealing with Israel (ensuring she abidies by international standards and norms set by the UN as well as abiding by the hundreds of UN resolutions she simply continues to ignore)..so well, unfortunately, i guess there will never be peace - which is a shame, considering the beauty of the middle east.

Are you saying that in going after the terrorist, it is causing more terrorists to sping up?
If that is the case what do you do then just let them do what ever they want and let it go.
Just wondering for clarification of your post.

Are you saying that in going after the terrorist, it is causing more terrorists to sping up?
If that is the case what do you do then just let them do what ever they want and let it go.
Just wondering for clarification of your post.

:realmad: err...is it not apparent to you that this assinine concept of the war on terror is pointless? i thought my post was clear, but if you wish, i will clarify later today, for now im off to court.

:realmad: err...is it not apparent to you that this assinine concept of the war on terror is pointless? i thought my post was clear, but if you wish, i will clarify later today, for now im off to court.

please dont bother.

please dont bother.

My My My - Just like a 5 year old girl in her new pink dress and shiny white shoes! You are simply so demanding! HELLO RORY! Is that what you wanted?:fly:

Hobo:
You asked if I think going after the terrorists will make more spring up? Well, its a little obvious whats happening don't you think? As much as you (and others) might not want to accept it, you cannot kill out the terrorists and to think you can, is not only stupidly naive, but exceedingly dangerous.

And do you know why? because of the nature of terrorism. its not as simple an issue as Bush & Co. try to make it seem. and believe it or not, they are aware of the real reasons, but they dont give a damn ! they use it (terrorism) as a pretext to suppress our rights at home and overthrow democratically elected governments abroad. they use it to invade perfectly sovereign states! c'mon, which rock are you living under??? :eek: or are you one of those people perfectly happy to go through airport security with your little ziploc baggie, in the name of Big Brother's "protection"?

you cannot kill all the terrorist, you have to eliminate their cause. and as long as we push our ideologies and way of life onto people who don't want it, as long as we believe our way is the only and superiorway, as long as we bomb the sh*t out of innocent women, children and refugee camps, as long as we push this venomous mentality of capitalism onto others who completely reject the notion - as long as as continue to live by one standard for the west and another for the everyone else, as long as we meddle in the name of oil and try to spread our corporate cloaks like the be all and end all, as long as we use terminolgy like "islamic fascists" and "crusades", these people will distance themselves from us. they will leave the negotiaton table and they will do what they have to do to survive...even if it means bombing the sh*t out of us.

as i said in my previous post, before they had one reason to terrorise us (a couple at most), now all of a sudden, there have one hundred. read your history, and i would advise you go wayyyyy back.

My My My - Just like a 5 year old girl in her new pink dress and shiny white shoes! You are simply so demanding! HELLO RORY! Is that what you wanted?:fly:
Hobo:
You asked if I think going after the terrorists will make more spring up? Well, its a little obvious whats happening don't you think? As much as you (and others) might not want to accept it, you cannot kill out the terrorists and to think you can, is not only stupidly naive, but exceedingly dangerous.
And do you know why? because of the nature of terrorism. its not as simple an issue as Bush & Co. try to make it seem. and believe it or not, they are aware of the real reasons, but they dont give a damn ! they use it (terrorism) as a pretext to suppress our rights at home and overthrow democratically elected governments abroad. they use it to invade perfectly sovereign states! c'mon, which rock are you living under??? :eek: or are you one of those people perfectly happy to go through airport security with your little ziploc baggie, in the name of Big Brother's "protection"?
you cannot kill all the terrorist, you have to eliminate their cause. and as long as we push our ideologies and way of life onto people who don't want it, as long as we believe our way is the only and superiorway, as long as we bomb the sh*t out of innocent women, children and refugee camps, as long as we push this venomous mentality of capitalism onto others who completely reject the notion - as long as as continue to live by one standard for the west and another for the everyone else, as long as we meddle in the name of oil and try to spread our corporate cloaks like the be all and end all, as long as we use terminolgy like "islamic fascists" and "crusades", these people will distance themselves from us. they will leave the negotiaton table and they will do what they have to do to survive...even if it means bombing the sh*t out of us.
as i said in my previous post, before they had one reason to terrorise us (a couple at most), now all of a sudden, there have one hundred. read your history, and i would advise you go wayyyyy back.

OK so how do you eliminate their cause

Also if terrorism is growing because of the war what explains the attacks in America and elsewhere during Clinton’s Presidency.

I still don't get from you what do you do about their attacks.
What makes them stop.

If it is the war and interference of the west (and we know you mean America) how does that explain the attempted attacks in Canada and Spain. What about the attacks in India and all the other attacks or attempts all around the world in countries that have very little influence in world matters.

I trying to come to grips with a disturbing experience I had in Alexandria Northern Va a few days ago!
We were coming outta the Federal Building in down town Alexandria....me An African and a Phillipino when I observes a young Arab man walking towards us with a non-discripted brief case in his hand...traditional dress and all. We all stood on the sidewalk waiting for the lift to take us about ten stories down to the subway! While we waited...the briefcase guy stopped....stood next to us as if he was waiting on the lift as well! Hell...by this time my mind was running all over the place! When the lift arrived, I could not get on the lift..in that confinded space...with a young Arab man carring a briefcase in the US capital!!!!!!
When I arrived into the subway, my friends asked..."why you een come down with us"!!! I looked right into their faces and "lied" right through my teeth! "I was checking something up there"!
The rest of the time in DC met me "hailing" every Arab looking person...trying to sooth my condemnation of my earlier actions. How are the rest of you guys handling this overload on "terrorists" that we see and hear about everyday?:cutie:


I think most are like that now. You go to the States, and before 911, Madrid and London you would have seen muslims and not think too much about it....other than the strange custom of the burka and the constant prayer devotion. Now you see them and people keep a distance, while surveying what they carry.....I did this too. I was on Discovery last week and a some muslim was on board...possibly going back home. He was doing his praying and bowing with his little copy of the Kuran one of the staircases. Man I think he was the lonliest guy. People were diverting their routes....it was like stay away from the muslim or something.

it used to be the same with Irish people back in London during the time of the IRA bombings..

so yeah its the flava of the day ... but i dont think 1 breifcase is the kind of damage the Islamic Terrorists are looking for ... personally id only notice it if they were in full islamic gear ... otherwise how do you know they are muslim anyway. Also, id be cautious for anyone that seemed suspicious, white guys too ... ;)

lol..there are times I am afraid of white people too...
Especially when I am on the Eastern Road driving at 3 am...
lol