Racist?

I think this is an example of that circular tautology in internet forums,"82.4% of cited statistics are bogus."

It isn't clear to me that you understand what 'peer review' actually means. It might be more clear if you would link directly to your source, instead of to a wikipedia page. That Semetic people have 'always' been classified as Caucasian is false. That is the problem with racial classifications. Various groups and individuals disagree on where the dividing line stands between clasifications.

Right, but you're not avoiding black people, you're trying to get away from poverty stricken areas. White, hispanic, black or otherwise. As are most people, even poor people. Their goal is to get out of the ghetto/trailer park/barrio too.But to say "I avioding being around black people" would be a very racist comment. Which, your comment about Cuba and other comments made it seem as though you don't want black people around you. C'mon, bro. You said you wanted to go to Cuba, then I told you it was 85% black, then you changed your mind. I personally wouldn't give a shit if it was 85% black, like Jamaica or Bahamas. I'd go without an issue at all; you made it clear you wouldn't.I'd say that means you care a bit, right? You misunderstand. I didn't mean that being poor makes you a criminal. I meant that poor people struggle to survive and are prone to criminal activity to circumvent having to do without. Aside from dictators or the like, crimes committed by the rich are usually white-collar crimes and aren't violent. The crimes I'm refering to are armed robbery, assault with intent to steal, breaking and entry, etc. The kind you would find in poor neighborhoods and the kind that people fear. It is when the person robbing you has a knife or a gun, or any harmful weapon.Crimes in poor neighborhoods are usually in the theft or drug related catagory. Those are pretty dangerous, but they are born out of necessity.Its easy to see, how many black NBA stars live in shitty ghettos and commit violent crimes? None? Maybe one?Color of skin has nothing to do with violence and criminal activity; its all about poverty and necessity.I'm just saying, black people have been dealt a shitty hand in this country up until about 40 years ago, and even after that it hasn't been a walk in the park. Plus, capitalism makes sure the poor stay poor, so large communities of black ghettos are likely to never rise above the poverty line. It's easy to point to these areas with large concentrations of black residents and say, "Its because they're black that they are violent and poor," because the bigger picture, the one that would require a conscious effort to help out the poor in this country, is preferably ignored and dismissed.- Oni

Sure it does, it points you to a non-corporate run news source without any left/right bullshit. Just straight news, sans hyperbole. Ok, I see what you meant by "independent." You're talking about voting labels. I meant more of an independent opinion on matters. Not taking a left or right opinion, but rather your own, separate opinion. The intro to Tom Sawyer is still one of the best intros to any rock song I've heard.- Oni

Of course Semetic people are classed as white. Why else do people refer to Arabs as "sand crackers"?

This depends on whose racial classification you use. There are lumpers and splitters.Some use three categories--Caucasian, African, and Mongoloid. Those are the traditional groups.Others, such as Stanley Garn, see dozens of groups.Both are correct, as it is all arbitrary anyway.Given that, Semitic peoples either are, or are not, Caucasian.

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Religious belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge.

I think Coyote addressed this succinctly enough, but I did want to point out that I put 'always' in quotations to point out that they were not -> 'always' <- place.

Favor, can you make your map zoomable. I can't make out the details. You can do this by enclosing it in 'thumb' tags. Thanks. Thanks for the history lesson from Wikipedia. I am pretty familiar with the Jewish race and its ethnic and religious origins. Wikipedia is not a credible peer reviewed scientific source. It is a conglomeration of articles written by a wide variety of people, sometimes they are accurate, sometimes not. Um, ok. My point was that calling people "white" or "black" or "oriental" is totally inaccurate. We are all shades of tan and skin color been scientifically proven not to have any bearing on one's mental capacity or preponderance for violance. Culture (non-genetic social norms passed down from generation to generation) has more to do with how people act than skin color.Judaism is a religion and a culture not a race. Jews come from a wide variety of ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. So I guess technically we are both wrong. Jews originally came from a Semetic ethnic stock. However, you are right in that in the past 2000-3000 years Jews have intermarried with other ethnicities, including Europeans, and thus are harder to physically distinguish. Most people think Jesus was this white caucasian dude with long flowing blond hair and beard (kind of like a young Charles Manson). That is far from the truth. He probably look more Arab than anything else, with kinky hair and medium dark skin.As far as being considered Caucasian, I think that only in the past 20-30 years through genetic research and DNA analysis have Arabs and other Semetic ethnicities been grouped into the caucasian category. However, colloqualy many still do not consider people of Jewish and Arab descent as caucasians. In face the term 'caucasian' has only been really used within the last 150 years or so.Again, I am not a big advocate of grouping people just by the color of there skin unless it is required for clinical or scientific research. Just my thoughts on the matter. BTW, my grandmother was from Jewish ancestry and my brother-in-law and nephew are Jewish by blood though my brother-in-law is a non-practicing Jew. Actually I never said your were anti-semitic. Yes, I did call you that based on your previous comments. You were stereotyping all people of other races (namely African Americans) as having a propensity for violance and criminality. Again I never called you anti-semtic. If you claim not to be racist, I believe you. However how do you explain your previous racially insensitive remarks. Maybe I should just place your previous comments in the same category as Don Imus's 'nappy-headed hos' comments; that is racially insensitive and wrong but not necessarily pre-meditatively racist. There I admited I am wrong. Happy?Edited by DevilsAdvocate, : No reason given.

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"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World

Actually, the way he put the map in his post (with the img [filename] /img command) should make it zoomable. The problem is that it's of a very low resoilution, so you can't really zoom in. I suggest uploading it in a much higher resolution, so the things on it can actually be made out.

Yes I am aware of that.You still haven't shown the difference between me perceiving someone as liberal, and actually knowing someone is liberal.I also never said they needlessly call the cops.

That's just it though, I don't have any negative attitudes that would define me as a racist, or prejudice. Of course I do not agree with what people think sometimes, and that may piss me off, and then lead me to not getting along with that person, but it has nothing to do with race, culture, color. I expect the best of people first.

Are you saying I'm not wrong 80% of the time? lolWell I won't get into it, because I am pretty proud of everyone in this thread so far for really keeping it on topic. It is a good thread.

River, river, DO you not realize that there is a record. So you think it is necessary for them to call the cops every time someone farts?
Ok, ok I get it. You never used the word needlessly, you only implied it. So big bad me for inferring it.Maybe I am misreading you. All I have to go by is what you post.
How about we drop this. We are getting now where.

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Facts don\'t lie or have an agenda. Facts are just facts

Depends on how many classifications you have.If you have only the traditional three, Caucasian extends from Norway to North Africa to India, and through much of Eurasia.At least that's what I learned in a Human Races class in graduate school a few decades back.

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Religious belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge.

Exactly my point, dividing up human beings soley by skin color is arbitrary and has evolved over time.

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"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World