If anyone wonders where I stand on the "scary Mooslims" story making the rounds like a crack-laden Rorschach inkblot test, I'm pretty much 100% with Rev. Sensing, here.

Sure, swarthy people are scary for sheltered whiteys, but tough cookies. The most we learn is how scared people can get when they feel like they're locked in a small space with their nightmare. Always intriguing, but nothing special.

Sensing-sensei sums up the 6 relevant points in the originals quite nicely -- and they're all subjective experience. Which is nice, but tells us nothing of any wider use. Though it might be useful as a pointer for young Muslim guys on how not to needlessly alarm nervy whiteys, thereby saving themselves wasted time in chats w/ the TSA/FBI.

Only one point I'll add to Sensing-sensei's remarks about "the 14 men, who were in fact guilty of nothing except stupidity or inexcusable unconcern/arrogance at how their fellow passengers were reacting to them." Actually, I'm sure they have somewhat simply become hardened to the reactions of people recoiling from them -- especially if they travel as a group, they've seen scared Annie-Jacobsen-types more times than they can count in the last years. There's surely not much they can do to allay fears based on their inherent racial+social identity.

And as for all the guys who "made eye contact" and the "nod", well, if you knew you perfectly fit the profile of the archetypical hijacking terrorist, wouldn't you want to see if any of your friends got hung up while boarding, say... because you all fit the archetype? Of course you would. Ever look over your shoulder going down the runway to see if your spouse/gf/cow-orker is right behind you? Gotcha! Now multiply that by n, where n is a factor multiplying by your religious conservatism, anarchist connections, skintone darkness, and foreignness of your name...

The guys sound wholly normal to me. Also, I miss arrius. :<