True story: In the weeks following September 11, 2001, there were many cases of airline passengers being wary of flying with Middle Easterners. If you think this is "racism," you're an idiot. It's called a "survival instinct," and it's the most basic instinct humans have (along with the desire to get laid).

 

A good friend of mine, who I will call "Mike" (an American of Irish decent) had his own encounter in the skies. Two weeks after 9/11, he took his wife and child on a trip to Las Vegas. As you can imagine, emotions were still running very high, and people did not want to board planes if there were any Arabs flying. Mike, however, is different. He's got a black belt in karate and is skilled in the martial arts. Although he's of average height and build, I've personally witnessed him kicking the crap out of a guy much larger than he is. I'll admit, the guy had it coming, but it was interesting to note that Mike could have avoided the fight. He simply chose to get back in the guy's face after being insulted. Mike is very confrontational, but he's a decent man. He would never start a fight, but as far as I know he's never run away from one.

 

A couple of summers ago (when we were on a backpacking trip), some 'tard hunter had come over to our campfire a couple of times to "scare" us. He was drunk, and kept hinting that something could happen to us if we weren't careful. Finally, he said "You'd better watch yourself, there are people with guns out here." At that point Mike stood up, looked the guy right in the eye and said "I don't give a fuck if you do have a gun. Because if I think you're going to do me any harm, I will kill you right fucking here. See this knife on my vest? I can cut your throat faster than you can run back to your camp to get your gun."

 

The guy left, and we never heard another peep from him. He may have thought he was "joking," but Mike just doesn't put up with shit like that. It was the most intense I'd ever seen him, and I had no doubt that he would have killed the guy if he had made one more threat, empty or not.

 

Which brings me back to Mike's trip to Vegas. On the return flight, there was a Middle Eastern man at the gate (obviously a passenger on the same flight) who was acting very strangely. He was nervous and somewhat menacing. He was behaving like he was up to no good. Several of the people at the counter had expressed fear over this guy, and Mike took notice. He went up to the lady at the counter and said, "See that guy? I want to sit right across from him." The lady was somewhat confused. After all, everyone else was scared. Mike, on the other hand said he wanted to keep an eye on him during the entire flight (which he did). Mike was seated across the aisle from this guy, and he hardly ever took his eyes off him. The flight was about two hours, and nothing happened. Perhaps nothing would have happened, but Mike gave this guy the evil eye and stared him down for the duration of the flight. The guy noticed, and was probably angry that someone was suspicious of him, but who cares? There's no doubt in my mind that if this guy had tried something, he would not have made it off that flight in one piece.

 

Again, there are several rumors and urban legends surrounding 9/11 and its aftermath, but this story is absolutely true.

 

Here's another one. It didn't happen right after 9/11, either. It happened three weeks ago on a flight from Detroit to Los Angeles. Columnist Annie Jacobsen (of WomensWallStreet.com) was flying with her husband and young son on June 29th, 2004. According to Ms. Jacobsen, the flight was a nightmare, as 14 Middle Eastern Men did what can only be described as a "dry run" for a hijacking. Here's the lead-in to the story from the e-editors at her website:

 

 

Sound intriguing? It is. And it's scary as hell. Read the entire article. Then do whatever you possibly can to ensure that John Kerry is defeated. I can't imagine that his anti-American wife (and the anti-American causes she supports) would ever (under any circumstances) allow "President Kerry" to do what needs to be done in order to prevent another 9/11. This is serious shit, and you need to tell everyone you can.

 

 

'Coop

 

Update 1): It appears that the Syrians on this flight were members of a musical group called Kulna Sawa. So what? They could still be scouting out airline security systems. Or perhaps they just wanted to fuck with the passengers. If that's the case, then I'd like to take my friend Mike to one of their "concerts." I'd link to their website, but I don't want to give them any publicity (even though the sole female member of the group is a hottie).

 

Update 2): There are people throughout the blogosphere (a term invented by Bill Quick, by the way) who are calling "bullshit" to this story. Some are saying that it's too detailed, others are saying it's a fake story designed to get people to subsribe en masse to WomensWallStreet.com. I'm not so sure. At minimum, it looks like the Syrian passengers were deliberately trying to attract attention to themselves. Is it possible that Annie Jacobsen is lying? Yes. However, if this is a fake, I don't see how it would help WomensWallStreet.com one iota. They would lose all credibility in an instant (even if it turns out to be a bogus article floated to test peoples' reaction to it). Time will tell.

 

Update 3): The group in question has been determined to be the back-up group for a Syrian artist named Nour Mehana. Here's a list of their greatest hits.