181–190 of 238 posts
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I start with the assumption that "All Cops Are Bastards." It may be prejudicial, but it makes me think before I do anything that anyone could mistake for criminal activity. If this makes the "cops who care" uncomfortable, they should put the blame squarely on the "cops who don't care" not on me.
This sort of assumption is prejudicial, but it's the sort of cynicism that leads to erring on the side of caution and making sure your rights are respected. You can't trust most people, cops are no exception. In that regard, it might be viewed as pragmatic.
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> "Contextually relevant!" That's a good one. :-) It's true on a global scale, not just in the Arabic context. As you immerse yourself in a language, you're encouraged to follow newspapers/articles/tv/shows/etc. It is entirely unreasonable to censor your own learning process. Take this unfortunately common headline: Death toll of Yemen anti-Houthi bomb blast rises to 49.[1] Now censor your knowledge: [? ?] of Yemen a…
If someone is a genuine threat, you can bet your ass he won't be carrying "suspicious" flashcards in airports. It's a myth that all dangerous criminals would never make a simple mistake.
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This sort of assumption is prejudicial, but it's the sort of cynicism that leads to erring on the side of caution and making sure your rights are respected. You can't trust most people, cops are no exception. In that regard, it might be viewed as pragmatic.
I am sorry you're getting downvoted but this is absolutely right. Remember to never talk to the police. This sounds a little sarcastic but I promise you that it is not. Never, ever "help" the police, even if you are not a suspect. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc The police do not have a duty to protect you [nytimes]. Why do you have a duty to help them? [nytimes] http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics…
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> Problem is that in Norway parents have ZERO rights. This is obviously not true. Norway has laws that safeguard both parents and children, and is in the process of ratifying the relevant Hague convention. Bear in mind that when you read or hear about these seemingly horrifying stories, you only hear one side of the story. This is due to very strict privacy laws protecting all parties.
Um, the horrifying side of the story is of the parents and the child. What other part of the story would be protected by privacy laws.
So you get the stories about the "unfortunate parents" that do not understand why their child(ren) were taken away. The reality is that you never hear about the abuse or neglect in these cases... and that is the truly horrifying part.
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Other notable facts: recent travel to middle east, flash cards included words like "terrorist", "explosion", "bomb", "to kidnap", etc., didn't follow basic screening process guaranteeing an elevated inspection (left large electronics in bag), had the cards in his pocket and handed directly to the TSA agent. As soon as someone arrived who had the necessary pay-grade to release this guy, he was released. Sorry for miss…
You are blaming the victim for having his rights violated. Thinking, "of course he shouldn't have had a flash card with the word 'bomb' on it, if you do that you'll have your rights violated" is blaming the wrong party, while accepting an unjust status quo.
So now Nick has failed to follow all the basic instructions (empty pockets, electronics out) and he's got a pocket full of What The Fuck.
If Nick pays any attention in the security line that day and follows simple instructions none of this happens.
As usual, his rights were not violated until the police showed up. Only at that moment do I concede anything wrong happened.
If you think about it, either TSA is a glorified toiletry inspector, or they are trying to use their brains to deduce who should be screened more thoroughly. If we ask them to use their brains, and given as a society we don't want our Elon Musks of the world as TSA agents, you tell these agents to look for certain flags and then tell them they must call for help. That's exactly what Jane Doe TSA agent did. Kudos to her for actually trying to make it more than security theater.
Make no mistake, when the agent calls for help assessing a cooperative passenger, the $25k cringeworthy thing to do is handcuff them and drag them away to sit in a cell for a few hours until help arrives.
We've all heard the stories of the guy who says sarcastically to TSA "well its not like I have a BOMB or anything?!" I see this similar to that.
It's not even "put the cards in checked bags" it's simply follow instructions to get through security, empty your pockets and put the cards into you carry-on.
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"It is cheap, basic and widely available around the world. Yet the Casio F-91W digital watch was declared to be "the sign of al-Qaida" and a contributing factor to continued detention of prisoners by the analysts stationed at Guantánamo Bay. Briefing documents used to train staff in assessing the threat level of new detainees advise that possession of the F-91W – available online for as little as £4 – suggests the we…
Available on Amazon for ten bucks: http://www.amazon.com/Casio-F91W-Digital-Sports-Watch/dp/B00... Looks nice enough for what it is and the price.
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There were 80 cards total. At least 10 were bizarre words that would get you arrested if you handed to a bank teller. Lucky he hadn't handed them a dictionary then. That has all the bad words. By the way, given you seem to agree with the TSA that it is suspicious for a traveler to be learning certain words, how would you plan on reading the news in a foreign language without learning words like bomb and kidnap?
What I actually think is that the blog post left out some key details and slightly altered the "money quote" to make the story appear much more ridiculous than it really was. In reality after considering the totality of the evidence, this was a bizarre case which is way above the pay grade of the average TSA agent. They perform the smell test and this one reasonably doesn't pass. To the point of another poster re "se…
As for myself, I'd much rather support someone who provides all facts than conveniently leaves out stuff that could damage his cause. What happened to him was bad and this extra details would not have made much of a difference. By leaving them out he gave them far more importance than they would have been before…
Different anecdote. I majored in Arabic. I have a chip on my shoulder. I live in the Arab world, and have stickers from many countries in the Arab world, and Iran, AND China (lived there teaching with a family for a year). Beyond being asked what I do for work in my country residence. I have never been harassed. I expected the opposite and joke about it often. I carry novels in Arabic, and used to carry learning mate…
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If you think the presence of Arabic on the cards didn't help twig the TSA screener, then I have a bridge I would like to sell you.
They screen Arabs every day. They screen people who speak Arabic every day. Why haven't we heard about the illegal arrest of any of those people? Because those people don't use the English words "bomb" or "terrorist" or "murder" in front of security screeners.