Spot-on comment about the definition of "racism."

Many people mistake racism for cultural signifying, or "sign-specific traits"- something that is determined not only by ethnocentrism, but by many other factors, even within a single ethnic culture.

(btw- what are Uggs? nevermind, I'll Google it...)

This is Cultural Anthropology 1A. But it seems that the concept is still too complicated for a lot of people out there- especially those who haven't even sought to learn cross-cultural communication "code-switching" skills.

a LOT of Saloniks are Lyndon LaRouche far right wing 'libertarian' types

LaRouche has never been anything close to libertarian in either his professed social attitudes (Drug Warrior ne plus ultra) or his professed economics (idiosyncratic, to say the least- an amalgam of socialism, corporatism, and centrally directed, ultra-ambitious technocratic engineering projects (such as NAWAPA and fusion research), coupled with a loathing of reserve banking policies.)

And while some libertarians can be more or less effectively shoehorned into the category of "far right wing" (particularly in their attitudes toward centralized government and economic theory), many cannot.

Just a reminder : )

I've wondered about this event ever since September 11, 2001, when Flight 77

perform[ed] a rapid downward spiral, flying almost a complete circle and descending 7,000 feet in two and a half minutes. [CBS News, 9/21/2001]

330-Degree Turn - At 9:34 a.m., Flight 77 is about 3.5 miles west-southwest of the Pentagon. But, at an altitude of around 7,000 feet, it is flying too high to hit its target. [CBS News, 9/21/2001; New York Times, 10/16/2001; National Transportation Safety Board, 2/19/2002 pdf file] Based on an analysis of radar data and information from the plane’s flight data recorder, a 2002 National Transportation Safety Board report will describe the maneuver the aircraft then performs: “[Flight 77] started a right 330-degree descending turn to the right. At the end of the turn, the aircraft was at about 2,000 feet altitude and four miles southwest of the Pentagon. Over the next 30 seconds, power was increased to near maximum and the nose was pitched down in response to control column movements.” The aircraft accelerates to about 530 miles per hour as it closes in on the Pentagon. [National Transportation Safety Board, 2/19/2002 pdf file]

...

Washington flight controllers are watching Flight 77’s radar blip. Just before radar contact is lost, FAA headquarters is told: “The aircraft is circling. It’s turning away from the White House.” [USA Today, 8/13/2002] Then the blip disappears (see 9:34 a.m.- 9:37 a.m. September 11, 2001). Its last known position is six miles from the Pentagon and four miles from the White House. The plane is said to be traveling at around 500 mph, or a mile every seven seconds. [CBS News, 9/21/2001; Newhouse News Service, 1/25/2002; USA Today, 8/13/2002; ABC News, 9/11/2002]

Flight 77 goes on to slip below radar, apparently using the easily visible straight-line approach of Columbia Pike t draw a bead on the Pentagon, racing toward the final collision at a low altitude that ends by clipping a few light poles in the Pentagon parking lot before first hitting the ground at a heliport just short of the Pentagon building, bouncing the plane head-on into the the brick wall on a side of the Pentagon that was undergoing renovations. (personal recollection from reading)

The final collision speed at <30 ft. altitude is estimated at 460mph.

Patrick, what is your estimate of the level of skills required to successfully accomplish that feat of aeronautics?

(from the History Commons 9/11 Timeline-- 9:34 a.m.- 9:37 a.m. September 11, 2001: Flight 77 Flies Complex Near-Circular Loop before Striking Pentagon)

http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a934aa77loop#a934aa77loop

Complete Day of 9/11/2001 Timeline for Flight 77

http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?day_of_9/11=aa77&timeline=complete_911_timeline&startpos=100

[link by clicking on my signature, "cabdriver"]

Are you [JoeDon] suggesting that Iran is the standard by which we set the barometer of values in the America?

I think that implication is inescapable.

who's fitted themselves out with a screen name that resembles a portmanteau of "incontinent", Oxycontin", and "dim."

I mean- why ruin it?

Not even in the darkest days of the George W. Bush presidency- when he was attempting to pull move like this one

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Democracy_America/Due_Process_Bush.html

[link by clicking on my screen name, "cabdriver"]

did I ever criticize the Bush administration with purple prose like "raping the Constitution."

And Obama hasn't approached nearly that level of power madness.

Iran's indefinate and arbritrary detention of those three young American hikers, without one shread of due process

If I'm not mistaken, foreigners who cross over U.S. borders without prior permission, visas, or evidence of documented legal resident worker status are routinely detained by police authorities whenever possible. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, even if they possess all of those clearances, they're still supposed to be crossing into U.S. borders at official checkpoints for U.S. Customs.

And the legal system of Iran has, in fact, recently charged them with espionage.

I can't comment on how they're being treated, or how fair their trial is going to be.

But the familes of the three Americans are apprised of where they are (detained in jail, in Iran), the three have been charged (with espionage), and they are going to receive a trial. And that does in fact fit the description of "due process."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/11/09/iran.hikers/index.html

[link at signature]

I'm not up on the case, other than apprising myself of those facts. If there are details of the case of which your aware that refute my opinion that they are getting due process, let me know.

But I can't say that we'd be treating a group of three Iranians who found themselves on the U.S. side of the border, having gone astray in their travels from Mexico or Canada, any differently than the Iranian government is treating those unfortunate hikers.

I heard a local Sacramento right-wing talk-show host musing aloud to one of his callers over his bewilderment at the resistance by some of the Iraqis...he mused

Why can't we just drop "the mother of all bombs" on them?"

That was indicative of his level of sophistication, on military affairs. And in general.

If you don't understand that there's a disconnect with reality there, your level of stupidity is practically incomprehensible to me.

But, no doubt, you'd make a great right-wing talk show host on an American radio or TV network. Because those are exactly the sort of people who survive the final cut, and get hired.

"...Married, With Children!"