I DON'T KNOW

[FAHQTOO]

I agree with MS and Aussie.

[sally]

I agree that it needs to be controlled and people shouldn't have to be PC about it, but I don't agree that Obama is a Muslim with an agenda to take over the world. That's crazy talk. I suppose he had his hands in ⁹⁄₁₁ too .

[Jimbone]

This story has gone full retard.

I just saw on the news here that they held a prayer vigil at Ahmed's school, complete with a little boy calling the faithful to a Muslim prayer. WTF?

[HairOfTheDog]

I agree that it needs to be controlled and people shouldn't have to be PC about it, but I don't agree that Obama is a Muslim with an agenda to take over the world. That's crazy talk. I suppose he had his hands in ⁹⁄₁₁ too .

Everyone has agreed that any potential threat should be checked out and taken seriously, and nobody has suggested anyone has to be PC in their commentary.

If people want to profile and discriminate for their own reasons and they own it, that's their choice. Personally, I think school administrators and people in general need to be alert and vigilant, regardless of religion. To date, it's not the Muslims who are doing most of the killing in this country.

And, suggesting that Obama is a secret Muslim agent out to destroy America is batshit to me too.

Declaring that the 14-year-old can't be an inventor because Muslims aren't innovative is nonsense as well. The kid was doing engineering projects and winning contests for his inventions in middle school. Regardless as to how the story plays out, he is in fact innovative, just like the many Muslim software engineers I worked with.

On a related note, Donald Trump committed to a birther that he is looking at how to get rid of the Muslims today.

Plenty of extremist idiocy on both sides.

[Blindgreed1]

\m/\m/

[Maggot]

Part 6 subsection 5 paragraph 4 has been implemented.

[HairOfTheDog]

Do you think President Obama is a Muslim foreign-born operative out to Islamatize the U.S. and attack Christian religious freedoms, Maggot?

[Maggot]

Do you think President Obama is a Muslim foreign-born operative out to Islamatize the U.S. and attack Christian religious freedoms, Maggot?

I believe he was indoctrinated into the Muslim culture and that his college was paid for by another country sympathetic towards Muslims.
I don't believe he is here to disrupt the country intentionally although that's probably been influenced by certain radical factions he has had contact with throughout his life. Alinskis rules for radicals comes to mind. There have been things he could have done that might have alleviated the suspicions people have of him had he released his college transcripts and his birth certificate in a timely manner if at all.
His record as a Senator is not stellar and the fact that he seems to have come from nowhere does not help any of the suspicions.
He may be egotistical enough to have a gleeful outlook on these accusations. Altogether its not a unifying gesture on his part to make an attempt at quelling these suspicions that many have by staying silent.

He has another year and I believe George Bush will be treated more kindly by history than Barry Sotero will.

I also do not believe he believes in God or any God for that matter. That's just a mask.

[Duchess]

I believe George Bush will be treated more kindly by history than Barry Sotero will.

I disagree. The very first thing that came to mind when I read that was that his actions/lies haven't caused the deaths & maiming of tens of thousands of people. I'd even go so far as to say that Bush/Cheney actions play a role in the state of the Middle East right now.

[Maggot]

Do you believe the Arab culture is willing to accept American culture once here or do you think they will come to try and change their host countries ideals HOTD?

[Maggot]

I believe George Bush will be treated more kindly by history than Barry Sotero will.

I disagree. The very first thing that came to mind when I read that was that his actions/lies haven't caused the deaths & maiming of tens of thousands of people. I'd even go so far as to say that Bush/Cheney actions play a role in the state of the Middle East right now.

Well I knew you wouldn't agree but that's OK he certainly wasn't perfect but for some reason I could believe him easier than Obama. Maybe Bush was not bright enough to lie as well as Obama. IDK.

[Duchess]

Sometimes I think I should just shut up. I don't like being argumentative with you. It's not nearly as much fun as it is with MS. His panties get twisted.

[Maggot]

Politics and Religion two things that have destroyed entire civilizations. My one vote only buys me my right to bitch. nothing else.

[HairOfTheDog]

Do you believe the Arab culture is willing to accept American culture once here or do you think they will come to try and change their host countries ideals HOTD?

I'm sure some acclimate gladly and easily, and others don't. But, I don't have any way of knowing which is the majority. I can tell you my first-hand observations from my experience though.

I think I mentioned before that my graduate degree is in International Business. I've worked in several countries and managed global teams from the U.S. as well.

A good majority of the foreign-born engineering and program management staff I managed or worked for in the U.S. acclimated well in the workplace, my Arab Muslim colleagues included. Religion and religious accommodation was never even an issue, and my teams were large and very diverse. But, I can't say if that was representative of Arab and/or Muslim immigrants now (I left the corporate world 10 years ago), nor if it applies equally to people not in skilled positions or academics.

Here in San Francisco, socially, it's a huge melting pot culturally, racially, religiously, sexually...I haven't encountered systematic cultural or lifestyle clashes. But, I'd guess that large groups of immigrants settling in parts of Texas or Midwestern states where the existing demographic is more homogeneous might not acclimate so fluently - either because the locals unrealistically expect them to drop their own cultures and lifestyles completely in order to be accepted, or the locals loathe diversity, or the immigrants aren't willing or aren't able to acclimate to American culture easily, or a combination.

Anyway, for me, as long as immigrants respect the laws of the land and contribute to society, I think they are equal and should be treated equally (or at least with tolerance). I don't expect them to change their beliefs, or styles, or only ever speak English or anything like that (regardless as to whether they're Arabs, Muslims, Asians, Hindus, Jews, Hispanics...). I know not everyone sees it the same way, and I get why.

[Maggot]

I agree that years ago it was different. I think the media showing beheadings and the atrocities outnumber anything good that might come along. If people only see one thing attributed to one culture they form an opinion based on their exposure.
I know Egyptians, Saudi Arabians and a few others and they have the same mindset as most people. Fear is a funny thing and I would rather be cautious towards anyone I didn't know. No matter what they looked like.

[HairOfTheDog]

I agree that years ago it was different. I think the media showing beheadings and the atrocities outnumber anything good that might come along. If people only see one thing attributed to one culture they form an opinion based on their exposure.

Yeah, I see your point. When I lived in Japan, most of the the locals regarded L.A., California (and, in some cases, the whole U.S.) as either Hollywood-like or always enveloped in a Rodney King type riot. That's what they saw about America in the media.

But, when it comes to Muslims, it doesn't seem to matter much to a lot of peple in the U.S. how many good peaceful American and foreign Muslims they encounter or hear about. They think that all followers of Islam want to destroy the non-Islamic world and that all the ones who seem good are just lying in wait or something. Case in point: Sarah Palin.

Palin has been chiming in on the Ahmed Mohamed story.



'Yep, believing that's a clock in a school pencil box is like believing Barack Obama is ruling over the most transparent administration in history,' Palin wrote in the Facebook post. She also shared pictures of her kids' pencil boxes (inset top) and compared them to the homemade clock (inset bottom). 'Right. That's a clock, and I'm the Queen of England,' she added.

...Well, the Queen of England, Sarah Palin, just called the Obama administration the most transparent in history.

Pssst, Sarah -- nobody disputes that the device is a clock (except you). Ahmed was never accused of making a bomb. A teacher, a principal, and investigators reportedly suspected that he might be trying to pass off what is, in fact, a clock as a "hoax" bomb.

She kills me.

[Duchess]

I can see Maryland from my house.

[Maggot]

What difference does it make now?

[HairOfTheDog]

What difference does what make now, Mags?

[Jimbone]

Oh you two!