9 ms·

The article glosses over an important detail. It is far more likely that he raised suspicion by wearing a keffiyeh, or 'Yasser Arafat scarf', as he calls it on

by Zuider 10y ago

The article glosses over an important detail. It is far more likely that he raised suspicion by wearing a keffiyeh, or 'Yasser Arafat scarf', as he calls it on his Facebook thread concerning the issue. The Palestinian Liberation Organization is still on the proscribed terrorist list. Edit: See tuna-piano's comment below where he links a picture of Guido Menzio wearing a scraggly beard and keffiyeh combo. http://web-facstaff.sas.upenn.edu/~gmenzio/index_files/self4.jpg http://web-facstaff.sas.upenn.edu/~gmenzio/index_files/self4... Edit: Guido Menzio has since deleted, or made inaccessible to the general public the relevant Facebook page.

datashovel 10y ago
Do you think this would somehow exonerate the "concerned citizen"?
- Zuider 10y ago
  It would certainly exonerate the "concerned citizen" from the accusation that they regarded writing mathematical symbols on a page as a terrorist act.
  - 2muchcoffeeman 10y ago
    The linked Washington Post story specifically says the concerned passenger notified staff because of the math she saw.
    - Zuider 10y ago
      The identity of the passenger has been kept secret for privacy reasons. For that reason, she could not be contacted to confirm or deny Menzio's claim. All we have so far are Menzio's own words, possibly further distorted by the Washington Post, and his characterization of what others told him. If she did come forward, I suspect that we would get a more nuanced and complete explanation for why she became suspicious of Menzio. There are already clues in Menzio's own account where he notes that he maintained a dismissive and non-committal attitude to her attempts at conversation, and remained locked with 'laser like' focus on his writing. In short, he was behaving in a strange and hostile manner.
      - Cyph0n 10y ago
        Are you serious? If I notice someone focused and scribbling equations onto a piece of paper, I leave them the fuck alone so they can concentrate. Also, since when has practicing mathematics on a plane become a "strange and hostile" activity? Would she have reported him if he was focused on a Sudoku puzzle? Either way, the woman sounds like a genuinely disturbed and extremely paranoid person.
        burfog 10y ago
        Sadly, he's right. Most people have never experienced a desire to do a bunch of math. They don't get it. They don't understand the need to concentrate or why one might voluntarily subject oneself to math. It's strange behavior. For some people it is also intellectually threatening; people don't react well to things that could make them feel stupid. She may also be used to having men nearly always willing to chat with her. The fact that he is unwilling is strange and possibly insulting. She is likely an extrovert, and expects it of others. Social interaction is expected. She expects others to enjoy what she herself enjoys; why would you not? Of course people want to chat!
        Cyph0n 10y ago
        She has the right to feel however she wishes, but I don't understand why she thought that the airline staff needed to know this too.
      - bachmeier 10y ago
        I don't understand what you're saying. Nothing you've written justifies reporting him.
      - mpnordland 10y ago
        So now being an introvert, or just having to get work done is anti American activity? Simply because you are sitting next to me is not a valid reason to demand my attention and conversation, much less is my refusal to grant it a reason to accuse me of terrorism.
  - bachmeier 10y ago
    Because it's better to report someone because they look like they're from the Middle East?
  - Dylan16807 10y ago
    By making her extra racist instead? Weird thing to qualify as 'exoneration'.
pastProlog 10y ago
> It is far more likely that he raised suspicion by wearing a keffiyeh > a picture of Guido Menzio wearing a scraggly beard and keffiyeh combo. He is not wearing a keffiyeh in that picture. A keffiyeh is a square scarf that is worn on the head. In that picture he is wearing a non-square (fringed) scarf, and around his neck. Only a nut would look at that scarf and make the leap "Yasser Arafat" -> "Palestinian Liberation Organization" -> "terrorist" as you do. TV cook Rachel Ray made an ad for Dunkin Donuts a few years ago, in which she wore a scarf around her neck. The Trump-supporting type nutcases came out of the woodwork and said she was wearing the scarf to support the terrorists. You can see a sample of it if you Google "Dunkin Donuts" "Rachel Ray" and "keffiyeh". Most of the articles are by people who appear on Fox News regularly. Only a wack job makes the leap from a math professor who is presumably an American of Italian descent that wears a scarf to the scarf being a keffiyeh! That Yasser Arafat wore! Who was in the PLO! Which is proscribed as terrorist! By make the leap I mean make the leap like you did.
- Zuider 10y ago
  >He is not wearing a keffiyeh in that picture. A keffiyeh is a square scarf that is worn on the head. A keffiyeh can also be worn around the neck (the favored way for Westerners, though also found in the M.E.) covering the face, or even wound into a turban. Wikipedia: "The Palestinian keffiyeh is a gender-neutral chequered black and white scarf that is usually worn around the neck or head." https://archive.is/0ZS0E https://archive.is/0ZS0E >Only a nut would look at that scarf and make the leap "Yasser Arafat" -> "Palestinian Liberation Organization" -> "terrorist" as you do. Here, we are in total agreement. Menzio himself made a point of calling it his "Arafat scarf" and posted an image of himself wearing it to the Facebook discussion in order support his delusion that he was 'racially profiled' by a racist Trump supporter who was unable to distinguish mathematical notation from 'terrorist writing'. If you are looking for a nutter, you need look no further than Menzio himself.

by Zuider 10y ago

datashovel 10y ago

Do you think this would somehow exonerate the "concerned citizen"?

Zuider 10y ago
It would certainly exonerate the "concerned citizen" from the accusation that they regarded writing mathematical symbols on a page as a terrorist act.
- 2muchcoffeeman 10y ago
  The linked Washington Post story specifically says the concerned passenger notified staff because of the math she saw.
  - Zuider 10y ago
    The identity of the passenger has been kept secret for privacy reasons. For that reason, she could not be contacted to confirm or deny Menzio's claim. All we have so far are Menzio's own words, possibly further distorted by the Washington Post, and his characterization of what others told him. If she did come forward, I suspect that we would get a more nuanced and complete explanation for why she became suspicious of Menzio. There are already clues in Menzio's own account where he notes that he maintained a dismissive and non-committal attitude to her attempts at conversation, and remained locked with 'laser like' focus on his writing. In short, he was behaving in a strange and hostile manner.
    - Cyph0n 10y ago
      Are you serious? If I notice someone focused and scribbling equations onto a piece of paper, I leave them the fuck alone so they can concentrate. Also, since when has practicing mathematics on a plane become a "strange and hostile" activity? Would she have reported him if he was focused on a Sudoku puzzle? Either way, the woman sounds like a genuinely disturbed and extremely paranoid person.
      - burfog 10y ago
        Sadly, he's right. Most people have never experienced a desire to do a bunch of math. They don't get it. They don't understand the need to concentrate or why one might voluntarily subject oneself to math. It's strange behavior. For some people it is also intellectually threatening; people don't react well to things that could make them feel stupid. She may also be used to having men nearly always willing to chat with her. The fact that he is unwilling is strange and possibly insulting. She is likely an extrovert, and expects it of others. Social interaction is expected. She expects others to enjoy what she herself enjoys; why would you not? Of course people want to chat!
        Cyph0n 10y ago
        She has the right to feel however she wishes, but I don't understand why she thought that the airline staff needed to know this too.
    - bachmeier 10y ago
      I don't understand what you're saying. Nothing you've written justifies reporting him.
    - mpnordland 10y ago
      So now being an introvert, or just having to get work done is anti American activity? Simply because you are sitting next to me is not a valid reason to demand my attention and conversation, much less is my refusal to grant it a reason to accuse me of terrorism.
- bachmeier 10y ago
  Because it's better to report someone because they look like they're from the Middle East?
- Dylan16807 10y ago
  By making her extra racist instead? Weird thing to qualify as 'exoneration'.

pastProlog 10y ago

> It is far more likely that he raised suspicion by wearing a keffiyeh > a picture of Guido Menzio wearing a scraggly beard and keffiyeh combo. He is not wearing a keffiyeh in that picture. A keffiyeh is a square scarf that is worn on the head. In that picture he is wearing a non-square (fringed) scarf, and around his neck. Only a nut would look at that scarf and make the leap "Yasser Arafat" -> "Palestinian Liberation Organization" -> "terrorist" as you do. TV cook Rachel Ray made an ad for Dunkin Donuts a few years ago, in which she wore a scarf around her neck. The Trump-supporting type nutcases came out of the woodwork and said she was wearing the scarf to support the terrorists. You can see a sample of it if you Google "Dunkin Donuts" "Rachel Ray" and "keffiyeh". Most of the articles are by people who appear on Fox News regularly. Only a wack job makes the leap from a math professor who is presumably an American of Italian descent that wears a scarf to the scarf being a keffiyeh! That Yasser Arafat wore! Who was in the PLO! Which is proscribed as terrorist! By make the leap I mean make the leap like you did.

Zuider 10y ago
>He is not wearing a keffiyeh in that picture. A keffiyeh is a square scarf that is worn on the head. A keffiyeh can also be worn around the neck (the favored way for Westerners, though also found in the M.E.) covering the face, or even wound into a turban. Wikipedia: "The Palestinian keffiyeh is a gender-neutral chequered black and white scarf that is usually worn around the neck or head." https://archive.is/0ZS0E https://archive.is/0ZS0E >Only a nut would look at that scarf and make the leap "Yasser Arafat" -> "Palestinian Liberation Organization" -> "terrorist" as you do. Here, we are in total agreement. Menzio himself made a point of calling it his "Arafat scarf" and posted an image of himself wearing it to the Facebook discussion in order support his delusion that he was 'racially profiled' by a racist Trump supporter who was unable to distinguish mathematical notation from 'terrorist writing'. If you are looking for a nutter, you need look no further than Menzio himself.