The Austin Pilot Attacker and Double Standards on Terrorism

Before I begin, I want to make something clear. While I certainly do not condone what Stack did with his plane in Austin, I do think he made many valid points in his goodbye letter about our system of corruption and business/government intermarriage. I think what happened and the fact that lives were taken is a truly terrible thing.

I have two beefs with our media right now following this event.

One: Where is the discussion of Stack's motives? The letter has gone largely unmentioned and uninvestigated as a source for reason behind the attacks. When the 9-11 pilots did a similar attack, their motives were widely covered (albeit distorted) and used to begin two wars and a revamping of our security in the U.S. The media has largely ignored his letter and what drove him to do this. Again, the media drops the ball on serious investigation of the matter (like Iraq), yet we know how much his house was worth and what commentary there is over what Tiger Woods is going to say publicly tommorow. This is one example of the ridiculous media we live with in the U.S.

The truth is that the letter raises serious questions abour government and it's actions, and this is why it's not mentioned. The media, yet again, tucks tail and mentions nothing when it could implicate the massive complex of business and government.

Two: Where is the investigation of Stack's religious/ethnic background, as well as the resistance groups he mentions all over the letter?

After 9-11, all news outlets mentioned the ethnic/religious backgrouns of the attackers as "Muslim" ("radical" Muslims at that). This was heavily tied to their actions and motives for the attack. However, there has been no similar coverage of Stack as a representative member of some ethnic or religious group. There has been no coverage of how his being a member of these resistance groups he mentions during his suicide letter could have aided his actions and extremism, and there has certainly been no governmental move to eradicate them as some 'enemy force' in the same way it did with respect to Muslims and Arabs in similar 'problematic' groups.

Stack is instead viewed as an individual, much like McVeigh, Kazinsky, and other 'individual' terrorists who had beefs with the government (See Kaczinsky and the Leftist Manifesto, or McVeigh's Libertarian and anti-government beliefs). All of these men belonged to or worked for goals of anti-governmental organizations, yet no smear campaign comparable to that of the 9-11 attacks takes place. There is a racial component here as well that is undeniable. If you're a white male committing terrorism, you're a troubled person. If you're a Muslim (like the Ft. Hood shooter or 9-11 attackers), get ready to have your whole ethnic group put on the spot. Meanwhile, white males can rest assured their way won't be hampered with bothersome questions all over the media about their legitimacy in the country.

Our media is a failure, yet again, and this coverage of the terrorist in Austin proves it.

Sometimes...

...I can be a real asshole and not even realize it. It's worse when it's the day after Valentines Day. I hope my girlfriend can forgive me for being careless with my words.

Sometimes I wonder why she puts up with me, as thoughtless as I can be inadvertently.

Test Video 2

Very broad, no outline, just me talking about terror and America for a sound test.
Enjoy. All comments, criticisms are welcome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dijGtb46Stc

OKAY, here it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKHHfluJnYk

First video, about Whiteness in America. Kinda weak, did it on the spot. Will have better audio and picture soon.

Comments appreciated. Be gentle. :)

BTW, I had a discussion with my friend James Rodriguez the other day. We came to a nice little conclusion: "Illegals aren't crossing our border. Illegals created the border".

Excellent piece.

http://godheval.net/an-open-letter-to-steven-sailer/

This is an excellent piece written by Godheval.

His premise: Okay fine, so let's accept for a moment the 'studies' that show inferiority amongst 'lesser' races under the 'superior' White man. So what? Where do these arguments go? Justified racism and discrimination?

If we're going to look at behavior and IQ that way, Godheval argues, let's look at more temporal and spacial behaviors by Whites (namely the propensity to rape, pillage, murder, and commit genocide, all the while exploiting the land and resources of non-Whites). Is it fair to label them sick, twisted thieves?

I sure hope Godheval doesn't mind, but I'll be remembering that argument for future engagements with others on racism.

Myth: America "lost" it's moral authority.

It makes me snicker when I hear some conservative bray on about American exceptionalism in a world of backwards actions, immoral leaders, and corrupt governments. It makes me shake my head when I hear some liberal run his/her mouth about how America has "lost it's moral authority" in the world.

What moral authority did it ever have to begin with?

I think displaced Native Americans, past and present, might have a say on this.
I think Black slaves, then "freed" to be segregated, might have something to chime in with.
I think subjugated women might have an opinion.
I think Jews stopped at a Florida harbor and sent back to Germany by FDR might have something to say.
I think Mexican-American Tejanos in grossly underfunded schools for decades and decades might ask where this authority was,
I think the hoards of exploited European and Asian immigrants might want to see this morally sound benchmark.

Perhaps those in 1950's Iran who watched their elected leader be overthrown with the help of a CIA coup might have a say in this?
How about those who watched American interventionism in Latin America for decades?

Or can we cut these people out of the discussion on moral high ground and exceptionalism?

I've had it.

You know, sometimes it dawns on me just how much I can only ever really know about what it is to be Black in America.

No, I didn't just watch the CNN special of the same name, and no, I didn't just take an African-American studies course. I'm actually finding out more of how it seems Black people must feel in regards to their place in American society the more I study white society.

Because some Black people are featured as rap artists, sing and rap about things considered lewd and base, any black youth that listens to it is not only considered the rule for all black youth, but that music alone is what is stapled to their identity (even if they also enjoy jazz, punk, metal, techno, rock, or country). Meanwhile, the suburban white youth who buy the same rap CD's are viewed as "also listening to rap" in addition to their other, 'normal' and at the same time 'appropriate' artists, like Hawthorn Heights or Alan Jackson.

Loud, obnoxious bands like Blink 182 are primarily the listening products of white youth, contain lyrics that can easily be shown as lewd and inappropriate on the same grounds, yet are not tipified with white youth as being a problematic culture. Instead, it's seen as a mere nuissance that kids "grow out of" or "can turn down when it's too loud". Even in extreme examples like Marilyn Manson, it's a "contaminating" culture that makes victims out of it's listeners. With rap and black youth, the black youth "embrace" it as their culture. No victim status is awarded for them. There is a clear cut racial double standard, yet it is never discussed or challenged.

White youth who attend frat partys, drift by through coursework with a sub-par GPA, and have a higher propensity to binge drink and abuse alcohol are "experiencing college", yet if by chance a Black person walks into the store to buy a 40 oz., a less than flattering stereotype is placed upon them. And people wonder why Black Americans are not as quick to go grab a flag to go wave around, ready to march into a country for war?

Watching Chris Matthews say on TV after the State of the Union that "he forgot Obama was Black for an hour" as an attempt to prove a post-racial society makes me both laugh and feel sorry for our country. Why the fuck does one have to forget that somebody is Black in order for them to make a good speech, come across as a uniting figure, or have serious and substanative ideas for our country? What would it mean if Matthews had all of a sudden decided to think of Obama as Black during the speech? What if Obama had said or done something stereotypically "Black", if even for just a few seconds? Would that have erased any certainty that he was capable of doing what he does?

Anyone with a degree of common sense already knows the answer to those questions, so there's no sense beating around the bush with this: America is far from post-racial. Yes, MLK was right when he said "We all came on different ships, but we're in the same boat now." He just forgot to mention that we still, though it is lamentable, sit in different seats.

Sr. Thomas...on video.