Racial Profiling Test

[Cobra6]

Please pause a moment, reflect back, and take the following Multiple Choice test. The events are actual cuts from past history. They actually happened! For all you Realists and Liberals out there....we will give you the answers because we would'nt want to hurt your feelings...the ANSWERS ARE ALL "D"

Do you remember?

1. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by:

a. Volga Orbit
b. Sitting Bull
c. Arnold Schwarzeneger
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

2. In 1979, the U.S. embassy in Iran was taken over by:

a. Lost Norwegians
b. Elvis
c. A tour bus full of 80-year-old women
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

3. During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by:

a. John Dillinger
b. The King of Sweden
c. The Boy Scouts
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

4. In 1983, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:

a. A pizza delivery boy
b. Pee Wee Herman
c. Geraldo Rivera
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

5. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American Passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by:

a. The Smurfs
b. Davy Jones
c. The Little Mermaid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

6. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a U.S. Navy diver  trying to rescue passengers was murdered by:

a. Captain Kidd
b. Charles Lindberg
c. Mother Teresa
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

7. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:

a. Scooby Doo
b. The Tooth Fairy
c. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

8. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:

a. Richard Simmons
b. Grandma Moses
c. Michael Jordan
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

9. In 1998, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:

a. Mr. Rogers
b. Hillary Clinton, to distract attention from Wild Bill' s women problems
c. The World Wrestling Federation
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

10. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles to take out the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the passengers. Thousands of people were killed by:

a. Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd
b. The Supreme Court of Florida
c. Mr. Bean
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

11. In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against:

a. Enron
b. The Lutheran Church
c. The NFL
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

12. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by:

a. Bonnie and Clyde
b. Captain Kangaroo
c. Billy Graham
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

Nope, .........I really don't see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you?

So, to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics intent on killing us, airport security screeners will no longer be allowed to profile certain people. They must conduct random searches of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, secret agents who are members of the President's security detail, 85-year old Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winning former Governors, and leave Muslim Males between the ages 17 & 40 alone because of profiling.

As the writer of the award winning story "Forrest Gump" so aptly put it,

"Stupid is as stupid does."

[Suicide_Commando]

Very true.  

[Rishon]

Yep. Once again, the American Public ruins America...

Yes, It is the (popular) Publics want to not offend anyone, but to be the Country EVERYONE likes. Aint'a gonna happen.

[Cocobolo]

Profiling. It is how cops do their job, a tool used to identify a suspect or person for the purpose of preventing or solving a crime. It brings out strong responses on both sides of the argument. The problem is not with the tool but the abuse of the tool.

When the topic is terrorism, the stakes are very high, and profiling is accepted as a neccessary compromise to individual rights. (Right prohibiting unwaranted search and seizure, etc.)

When the topic is something else, like driving, the stakes are lower. Profiling is not widely publicly accepted as a means to catch random criminals at the expense of a vast majority of innocents' rights. But  living in NJ, and being a minority, I know full well how profiling gets abused. NJ troopers are responsible for the negative connotation and could be responsible for bringing the term "racial profiling" into the vocabulary of the mainstream.

Several unwaranted shootings of unarmed men on NJ freeways were the catalyst, which led to indictments of several troopers and brought the practice of profiling into the spotlight. For example, blacks are about 10-15 percent of the NJ population, but comprised over 60% of all traffic stops by troopers. The attention also exposed a biased culture in NJ that had corrupted much of the Troopers' leadership, and ecouraged the practice's abuse.

Any good American will submit to a routine securty check at airports, etc, and will understand the nature of the reason. We should just be careful that we don't start thinking with an "us vs them" mentality when dealing with other US citizens.
  Nobody likes being searched, and everybody should be able to say their opinion about it whether they agree or not. That's the freedom that everybody always loves to talk about, the reason we are told is why we wage war, and the thing that is infringed when the tools such as profiling get abused.  Individual freedoms are what makes the US what it is, and the more those freedoms are reduced or restricted, the more we become like those who we are trying to stop.

Now I should say, I'm no conservative, not a Bush supporter, etc. The thing is, when talking about rights and security, politics really shouldn't have anything to do with it.  I believe that cops should be able to do their jobs wihtout politics, and I also believe that any limitation on individual freedoms be the absolute last resort, and definitely not the first choice, although it may seem an easy choice...

[WardenMac]

Well said coco, I understand what your saying. However, any public service job will always be effected by politics and on every level. Just the way it is.
Profiling? I use it everyday, as already stated you just have to be careful and act on facts.
Im extremely conservative and a Bush supporter. I think hes doing a good job, as good as anyone else.

[58th_Razor]

I'm 46 years old.  I remember being horrified at the hostage taking in Munich in 72, and that was at age 14.  I was in the Marine Corps from 77 to 85, I lost friends in Beirut and I was around for several of the above listed events.   It's gonna sound a little red, but I'm damn tired, real tired.  Know what I mean.  

[Raven2367]

Profiling. It is how cops do their job, a tool used to identify a suspect or person for the purpose of preventing or solving a crime. It brings out strong responses on both sides of the argument. The problem is not with the tool but the abuse of the tool.

When the topic is terrorism, the stakes are very high, and profiling is accepted as a neccessary compromise to individual rights. (Right prohibiting unwaranted search and seizure, etc.)

When the topic is something else, like driving, the stakes are lower. Profiling is not widely publicly accepted as a means to catch random criminals at the expense of a vast majority of innocents' rights. But  living in NJ, and being a minority, I know full well how profiling gets abused. NJ troopers are responsible for the negative connotation and could be responsible for bringing the term "racial profiling" into the vocabulary of the mainstream.

Several unwaranted shootings of unarmed men on NJ freeways were the catalyst, which led to indictments of several troopers and brought the practice of profiling into the spotlight. For example, blacks are about 10-15 percent of the NJ population, but comprised over 60% of all traffic stops by troopers. The attention also exposed a biased culture in NJ that had corrupted much of the Troopers' leadership, and ecouraged the practice's abuse.

Any good American will submit to a routine securty check at airports, etc, and will understand the nature of the reason. We should just be careful that we don't start thinking with an "us vs them" mentality when dealing with other US citizens.
  Nobody likes being searched, and everybody should be able to say their opinion about it whether they agree or not. That's the freedom that everybody always loves to talk about, the reason we are told is why we wage war, and the thing that is infringed when the tools such as profiling get abused.  Individual freedoms are what makes the US what it is, and the more those freedoms are reduced or restricted, the more we become like those who we are trying to stop.

Now I should say, I'm no conservative, not a Bush supporter, etc. The thing is, when talking about rights and security, politics really shouldn't have anything to do with it.  I believe that cops should be able to do their jobs wihtout politics, and I also believe that any limitation on individual freedoms be the absolute last resort, and definitely not the first choice, although it may seem an easy choice...

damn man you always stunn me with what you write! Its all truth and the way you said it makes me think about it. WD

[WardenMac]

Figured I would get bashed for my Bush comments  . Sad day when I cant get a rise out of the folks around here  

[Cocobolo]

This is one of those issues that can't be encapsulated into a 5 minue soundbite, and really takes some thought. Political views aside, the main thing is our constitution and bill of rights are here to restrict the power of government and ensure the people's rights.  I know that LE has their job to do, and they get hit with a lot of politics, just look at the border patrol.  

 Benjamin Franklin said, "I am naturally very jealous for the rights and liberties of my country; and the least appearance of an encroachment on those invaluable privileges is apt to make my blood boil exceedingly."

 The main thing is for people not to be afraid. Are you afraid to drive your car? Your chances of getting killed in a car wreck are thousands of times higher than being a terrorism victim. Now how many people would give up their licenses in the name of security? Fear is the main thing that allows those who would reduce liberties to do so, and is also the goal of the enemy in the first place. I am from NY and have always lived within 30 minutes of it, and when I was a kid in the late 70's early 80's, I was afraid of a mushroom cloud from a russian ICBM. I knew at age 5 that I was within the blast radius,  a terrorist just doesn't stack up well against that to me.

[WardenMac]

I get what your saying, and belive me I dont want to stir up a damn political debate with anyone. Im too hardheaded anyway  .
I understand your heightened observation of some type of attack. Never been to NY, dont want to go, too many damn people for me, but I grew up next to military bases all my life. There was always some alert it seems, so I understand where your coming from too. I am a firm believer of "when its your time, its your time" Ive seen to much adn been through too much to see it any other way.

On another note coco, Im still trying to get that info for you. No one has responded.

[Cobra6]

If you remove humans from the profiling aspect of the equation, you remove most all of the problems. The problem with Profiling and Law Enforcement is personal bias's all humans have. Can you remove the bias's, and profile criminals in a matter that does not violate a persons basic rights? Sure you can but LEO's must be honest with themselves and do some real soul searching to see if their own personal bias's are part of the equation. I knew an officer who could look at someone driving by him and tell if that person was holding some sort of illegal drug. Most of his eqation was not based on race, and had to do with time of day, location, and types of vehicles. When you profile in this manner the racial aspect of the eqation is gone and he was probably 95% correct and led to alot of arrests. And if you go back and look at his stats, most of his contacts were probably with white males, but since he did not use race to determine his stops the issue never came forward. There is a difference between criminal profiling and racial profiling.

[WardenMac]

Damn, both you boys need to stop reading those bighead books. You two actually sound intelligent. Good thing I know differently  

[Cobra6]

Coco and spoke about this some time ago since I had to give a presentation on Racial Profiling for my promotion process.

[Cocobolo]

Right I remember. And true, there's a difference with criminal profiling and racial profiling, you illustrated the point well. In the context of catching suspected terrorists, I figured the racial element would be in play because of the orgins of most of the terrorists we've seen. Cobra you said it best, the LEO has to know himself and not let personal things interfere if possible.