Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dulouz]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/18/news/flight.php

Is there something indulgent about this article? Its point of view? Its scope?

[Manner of Speaking]

Reminds me of the kind of journalism Barbara Ehrenrich does. It's a very interesting and thought-provoking article - thanks for posting it!

[Ya-ta Boy]

I enjoyed it too. Too bad it takes a non-Moslem in disguise to write it, rather than a real Moslem telling her experience. Like the guy said, "As a Muslim you feel you can never have a bad day," Asma Akhras, a Syrian-American math teacher, had told me. "When you get cranky in traffic or in the shop you feel you can't show it because you fear that people won't just think 'cranky woman,' they'll think 'cranky Muslim.' It's tiring."

[ddeubel]

Good article and one of the reasons I like the IHT, besides being able to find it the world over and also use it as a barometer for the relative cost of things in any nation (like the Big Mac index, I find the ratio of its price to bread. The greater the ratio, the cheaper it is for me in that country.)

I also remember a piece in Harper's of the same vein. Will try to find it but unfortunately Harper's puts very little online. I do think these kind of articles appear often in the Arabic and Muslim press. We'd be well advised to not judge what Muslim's think, feel, believe through the lens of our English press. That seems to be the point of her article, we should use our eyes along with our brains, not independent and emotionally thereof....

DD

[dulouz]

My take on this article, as well as The IHT and its parent, The NY Times, is that it is a whole wall of propaganda, manufactored consent and wicked manipulation.

So a liberal White girl from Europe puts on a boogie man costume and says "boo". This is way beyond jounalism. She not only does not report news, she makes it and lies about it as well. When the police do this its called entrapment, when a journalist does this its called enlightenment. Honk.

There are many offences in this article. I'd need a day to elucidate all of them but you'll get the best now.

The concept of of driving While Black" is a hateful myth and unfortunately thats the strength of this article. Even before I introduce statistics, be aware that two others concepts that besmacked the commoners that had the misfortune of reading this trite. First was a generic accusation and then and than and accusation of racism. These aren't critical analysis inducing concepts, they are concussion grenades meant to disorient and weaken and subsequently not cause people to not challenge or question. Dude, you been had.

Please remember the power of accusation. Our legal system has that guilty until proven innocent aspect but the truth is once accused or smeared, you are pretty much dead meat. There is a court of popular opinion and thats why have libel lawsuits. The lawsuits seek to redress bad convictions in the court of popular opinion.

Facts concering DWB can be found here.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_17_57/ai_n15655345

What was the point of sending a White girl to do this? Her experience won't be the same. Were they trying to find a customs official bigot to call her a race-traitor? Is she a new NBC stunt Muslim? Further, the track record on converts is pretty bad. These people are easy targets for terrorist grooming and these folks have a tendency to be unstable. Hi, I'm a big fat target and I actually dare you to do something, nyah. Thats so very reprehensible.

There are few more episodes of yellow jounalizing. She got permission to wear her cloak -(|)smooch. She quoted one Muslim that said he wanted world peace and attributed that to all Muslims. Lastly, is this really news? "But it spoke loudly about how Islam and terrorism have become intertwined in the collective subconscious." Duh.

Our security officials have a hard enough job without these indulgences on the government's time and money. The NY Times gives the terrorists exactly what they want on our dime.

[Ya-ta Boy]

[Manner of Speaking]

Actually there is an American precedent for this kind of journalism, a very famous book published in 1959 called Black Like Me by John Howard Griffith. Griffith, a white journalist, used drugs and special dyes to change his skin and hair color to make himself look African-American, and travelled across the US South for several months, staying in segregated hotels, hitchiking, and generally living as an African-American would live. For many Americans, Black Like me was one of the most eye-opening insights into racism and civil rights ever published, and had a significant effect on changing attitudes in the US in the 1960s.

In the most recent hardcover edition of this book, Studs Terkel wrote, "In our era, when "international" terrorism is most often defined in terms of a single ethnic designation and a single religion, we need to be reminded that America has been blinded by fear and racial intolerance before. As John Lennon wrote, "Living is easy with eyes closed." Black Like Me is the story of a man who opened his eyes, and helped an entire nation to do likewise."

I think this German journalist deserves to be lauded for what she did. It was a thoughtful opportunity to explore what it might be like for a conservative Moslem woman to travel by air, and I don't think she made a deliberate attempt to single out the US, US security agents, or to provoke hostility in people around her. And as a newspaper regularly read by expatriates and frequent flyers, the IHT was an appropriate medium to publish investigative journalism of this kind.

It's unfortunate that there aren't more journalists out there willing to do this kind of simple but brilliant journalism. It's actually a very simple concept: before you judge, put yourself in the other person's shoes.

[dulouz]

Muslims don't get picked on for what they look like, they get picked on for what they do.

The article didn't refer to "Black Like Me", the article refered to DWB. BLM is outdated, DWB titillates more. Its called trolling.

[Ya-ta Boy]

[Manner of Speaking]

[dulouz]

Yea sure, the discomforting thing is that its old hat. Real old hat. Its been 40 years since that book came out and you are still fixated on it. Can you progress? Is it possible? You act conservative, like you want things to be like they were in the 60's. Back in the old days, when things were good. You should put on a letterman jacket and go to the drive-in for a malted milk and cheeseburger.

This young woman needs to go to Saudi Arabia for some real action. Yes, the very epicenter of world intolerance but thats off the map for some reason, especially for this "worldy" newspaper.

[Manner of Speaking]

The project she undertook is discomforting to some on several levels, because by undertaking to wear a hijab and travelling internationally, the journalist is implying that the life experiences of a Muslim are as valid and worthy of consideration as yours or mine. Her actions demonstrate that she thinks ** gasp ** Moslems deserve as much respect as anybody else -- an idea some people find very disturbing.

Finally, the responses she experienced from the people around her are disturbing because they imply the allegation that Muslims are discriminated against simply on the basis of their appearance is true.

[dulouz]

Act of omission.... gaps in logic and integrity. Olde Olde arguments.

[Manner of Speaking]

[Manner of Speaking]