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#41
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"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message nk.net... wrote in message ... His point was that if you profiled pilots instead of Arabs, you would have had a greater proablility of a hit on a 9/11 hijacker. Would we? What fraction of worldwide terrorism is perpetrated by Arabs and what fraction is perpetrated by pilots? You've got the statistics backwards. The probability of a hit on a hijacker if you profile trait X depends on the fraction of X's that are hijackers, not the fraction of hijackers that are X's. And as I mentioned earlier, the fraction of pilots in the US who were among the 9/11 hijackers is larger than the fraction of Muslims in the US who were among the 9/11 hijackers. (Both fractions, of course, are miniscule.) You replied, first, that none of the 9/11 hijackers were pilots. When I documented the falsehood of that reply, you retorted that none of the hijackers were 757/767 pilots. The only apparent reason for you to segue to that non sequitur was to avoid acknowledging that your first reply (which was at least germane) was factually mistaken. --Gary |
#42
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wrote in message ... Would we? What fraction of worldwide terrorism is perpetrated by Arabs and what fraction is perpetrated by pilots? Wrong question. There's nothing wrong with the question. The point is, a greater percentage of the U.S. registered pilot universe have committred terrorism against the United States, than have the percentage of the Arab uninverse. Show your figures. Therefore you would have been more likely to get a terrorist hit by sampling the American pilot universe than by sampling the Arab universe. The fact that more terrorism is perpetrated by Arabs than pilots is irrelevant. Actually, it's completely relevant. |
#44
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#45
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"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
... wrote: His point was that if you profiled pilots instead of Arabs, you would have had a greater proablility of a hit on a 9/11 hijacker. And if you had profiled Muslims, you'd have had virtually a 1.0 probability. No, you're addressing a different probability. CFII and I were talking about the probability that a given passenger screened for trait X would turn out to be one of the 9/11 hijackers. That probability is higher for X=pilot than for X=Muslim (though miniscule in both cases). You're addressing instead the probability that one of the 9/11 hijackers exhibits trait X. That probability indeed equals 1.0 for X=Muslim, or X=male, or X=non-Asian, and many more. Obviously, then, that probability is not the right criterion for identifying an effective profiling trait. --Gary |
#46
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#47
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Gary Drescher wrote:
"Matt Whiting" wrote in message ... wrote: His point was that if you profiled pilots instead of Arabs, you would have had a greater proablility of a hit on a 9/11 hijacker. And if you had profiled Muslims, you'd have had virtually a 1.0 probability. No, you're addressing a different probability. CFII and I were talking about the probability that a given passenger screened for trait X would turn out to be one of the 9/11 hijackers. That probability is higher for X=pilot than for X=Muslim (though miniscule in both cases). I have no problem with airports screening pilots more severely than other passengers in the wake of 9/11. I don't know that the probability is higher for pilots than for Muslims, however, I'll bet that the probability of male Muslim pilots is much higher than for any other demographic and thus worthy of being singled out for much greater scrutiny at airport security screenings. Matt |
#48
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so profile towards Muslim pilots its not a case of either / or
Not at all either/or. There should be and probably are a number of methods ("profiles") for picking a subset for more intensive review. Some are publicized, like buyers of one-way tickets bought at the last minute. The point is that if Muslims or Muslim pilots are logically determined to merit extra attention then it is stupid political correctness to use the pejorative "racial profiling" and argue that it should not be done. "Racial profiling" may be just as valuable as "type of ticket buyer profiling." You can also profile for groups which merit minimal attention. For example, "Chinese grandmothers" would be a good candidate group where screening effort could be minimized. This, too, is sensible "racial profiling." Personally, I would argue that "fat old white guys" is another "racial profile" where screening could logically be minimized. Then I could get through airports faster. :-) There are lots of reasons to use "racial profiling." In medical research, for example, it is logical to use race when studying sickle cell anemia (blacks), cystic fibrosis (northern Europeans), and Tay-Sachs disease (Jews). It is unfortunate that the "political correctness police" have hijacked a perfectly innocent phrase and made it pejorative. |
#49
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#50
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"Mitty" wrote in message ... There are lots of reasons to use "racial profiling." In medical research, for example, it is logical to use race when studying sickle cell anemia (blacks), cystic fibrosis (northern Europeans), and Tay-Sachs disease (Jews). and bull****itus (N Americans) |
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