Posted on 10/08/2004 6:22:16 AM PDT by Mike Fieschko
GROZNY, October 8 (Itar-Tass) - Russian federal troops have eliminated four bandits in Chechnya’s Kurchaloi region. According to preliminary data, one of the four men was a foreign mercenary, an Afro-American.According to a source in the regional headquarters of the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus, work is in progress on the dead man’s documents, including a passport and a driver’s license.
Then does that mean that FR has changed its rules so that I can "spice up" the threadline of any article I choose to post in this way? Golly, I hadn't heard that.
The man was identified as an "American" in the original article title, not a "US black".
Then does that mean that FR has changed its rules so that I can "spice up" the threadline of any article I choose to post in this way?
I’ve always understood the rule to be that you must include the entire original headline, so anybody searching for it will find it and not double-post it.
If you want to draw more readers by elaborating on why they might find it interesting, you put it in parentheses.
I’ve posted hundreds of threads that way, and have NEVER had a single complaint from anybody.
"All the 'news' that's fit to print". OK.
Did something else occur to you (about the title or my thoughts)?
Yes. I questioned why you felt that the man's race was important enough to specifically add it in parentheses to the threadline.
If yes, please tell us what went through your thoughts about the title and me.
I thought that it was odd that the man's race was an important enough issue to be added after the fact to a threadline. And I don't know enough about you personally to make any judgements or statements of any kind about you.
What. He had big hair???
I would use a term other than "interesting" to describe it. But that's just me.
I'm guessing you don't get a lot of shootouts in Chechnya’s Kurchaloi region between black American men and Russian forces. If it was a white American, I would probably just assume he was an American of Chechneyan or Russian descent. But his ethnicity rules that out, which makes me more curious about his reasons for being over there.
I've read many of your posts, and know you to be quite intelligent. If this is your concern, don't you find it even the least bit insulting that the original poster apparently didn't trust you to find the race of the man for yourself in the body of the article?
Why are you so sensitive?
I'm merely asking a question. I don't consider it "sensitive" in any way.
And, I've already received my answer (both overtly and covertly), both in the silence of certain entities and the overt replies I've received in this thread. And I'm not sure I like the answer I received. But that's something I'll deal with in my own good time.
Maybe he's NOI.
Maybe he thought it wouldward against shrapnel..
Scary thought.
I've understood the same thing. That's not in dispute.
If you want to draw more readers by elaborating on why they might find it interesting, you put it in parentheses.
I question why FR readers would find the race of the man relevant and/or important enough to add it in parentheses.
I’ve posted hundreds of threads that way, and have NEVER had a single complaint from anybody.
Do you identify the race of the protagonist(s) in these threads this way?
It's important for the same reason pointing out "johnnie talibans" race was important. A lot of people this that in a certain conflict the people can be assumed to look a certain way. If there turn out to be a lot of exceptions to this it raises eyebrows and challenges certain racial profiling assumptions. Furthermore, the black muslim movement in this country has been suspect for quite some time and you are hard pressed not to wonder about it here.
If this is your concern, don't you find it even the least bit insulting that the original poster apparently didn't trust you to find the race of the man for yourself in the body of the article?
To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t have even opened the article. It’s not that strange or interesting to have some white Russian or Chechneyan, who also happens to have American citizenship, killed over in that far-flung corner of the world. And that’s what I would have assumed happened here, if not for his addition to the title.
The fact that he was black meant that the story was different from other stories in that regard. In the same way an Asian American spy in North Korea would be less interesting than a African American spy in North Korea. Or a white American mercenary in Zimbabwe is more interesting than a black American mercenary in Zimbabwe.
He wasn’t an American returning to his ancestral homeland to take up a cause, as is usually the case when you read about something like this. That makes the story more interesting, regarding his motives, his contacts, and his personal history. That’s why I clicked on the thread to learn more. Unfortunately, that part of the story wasn’t found on this thread.
Do you identify the race of the protagonist(s) in these threads this way?
I don’t recall doing it, but I would have if I found this story. It is the most curious part of the story. Aren't you at least a little curious what a black American man was doing in a gun battle in Chechnya’s Kurchaloi region?!
No it doesn't, Islam means " to submit" or "submission"
I'm not convinced that "johnnie talibans" race WAS important or relevant.
A lot of people this that in a certain conflict the people can be assumed to look a certain way. If there turn out to be a lot of exceptions to this
I don't see how one admittedly "preliminary" report of the man's race (disclosed in the body of the article) equates to a "lot of exceptions".
Furthermore, the black muslim movement in this country has been suspect for quite some time and you are hard pressed not to wonder about it here.
The original article did not claim that the individual was a "black muslim". It merely said "Afro American". Unless of course you have additional information about the individual not disclosed in the original article - if you do, please share it with us?
To be perfectly honest, I'm beginning to become heartily sorry that I did.
It’s not that strange or interesting to have some white Russian or Chechneyan, who also happens to have American citizenship, killed over in that far-flung corner of the world. And that’s what I would have assumed happened here, if not for his addition to the title.
I wasn't aware that a lot of American citizens (of whatever race) were returning to Chechnya in particular or Russia in general to participate in this conflict. I myself would classify ANY American, of any race, being found dead over there to be newsworthy. But I would still feel that his race is irrelevant at best and unimportant enough to wave in my face in a threadline where it wasn't there before at worst.
The fact that he was black meant that the story was different from other stories in that regard.
I must have missed that glut of stories about Americans returning to Chechyna (apparently on mass chartered flights and/or troopships) and getting caught up in the violence over there. Guess I need to upgrade my news sources.
(And my opinion of this web site and some of its posters has been changed).
Hey, I'm in possession of no inside info, but I'm here to tell you that the dude fighting with the Chechen terrorists is bloody-well a black muslim, and not merely 'Afro-American', as you put it!
You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure that out!
LOL!
"Good for black women"
Maybe he liked white women. Maybe he has already produced a ton of half-bred children by several white women!
What does this have to do wih anything.
See how these type of posts just go down hill! The poster had nothing but evil in mind when they posted the race.
It adds another dimension to the story. Does it bother you that race and color is included? Should everything be so PC that you can't mention the criminals background? This little fact, as I said, adds another dimension to the story, and raises a question. Was this black Afro-American a ex-con muslim convert? I'd also like to know if the criminal was an Arab American, Indonesian American, or Whitey. The reason? It seems muslim converts in America pursue the more violent part of the Islamic cult, while immigrants to America already have that trait in some ethnic backgrounds, and may be called American because thats what the passport they are carrying says. Some black muslims from the Africa continent are quite different types of muslim, and aren't usually violent, like the ones being slaughtered by the arabs in Sudan. All this information and the question itself dissapears if you try to be PC and hide the persons particulars. American born Afro Americans who convert are being duped, because these Wahabbi Arab muslims, generally the most violent and extremist of all, look down on black muslims as litle more than slaves.usefull tools when needed, slaves most other times. Black slavery among the Arab Muslims is still a thriving business even today.
I must have missed that glut of stories about Americans returning to Chechyna (apparently on mass chartered flights and/or troopships) and getting caught up in the violence over there. Guess I need to upgrade my news sources.
Gee, goofy sarcasm now from the supposedly intellectually high and mighty. I never said anything even remotely like that, so your furious knocking down of that strawman isn't all that impressive.
Listen, if you don’t find the race of a black American shot in a gun battle with Russian forces in Chechnya interesting, that’s your mental disconnect.
But your lame hints that others are not as morally pure as you on matters of race because they do is just a trifle pathetic. Instead of preening about with vague haughty statements ("My opinion of this web site and some of its posters has been changed..."), why don't you try the intellectually more rigorous route of explaining clearly and conclusively what your point is?
Or you can just fluff your feathers and impress yourself some more.
My first thoughts were of a big afro hairstyle under a turban prancing around the countryside, and how amusing and out of place that must look. Whats the big deal--do some posters prejudge hairstyles?
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