Single-Wing UAV
 

Lockheed Martin's got a neat new Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, a drone.

The Maple Seed Drone

A youtube video is here

Those maple-seeds also made very good whistles.
I remember using the green ones as a kid back in Dearborn, Michigan.

Is there any connection between your conversion to Islam and growing up in Dearborn?

We used a blade of grass.

Never tried the seed.

Dearborn, before the auto industry tanked was probably a nice place.

Michigan just has not made the transition to the 'new world'.

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Thats a good question Kerry, and one that I have asked myself.
In terms of being exposed to Arabs on a level that most Americans never have the opportunity to-
I would say that I did notice a differance in the Arab community as opposed to the caucasion community-
In terms of, the absence of drunken fathers/wife beaters..the drug addiction/experimentation that gripped my peers.
Also, the sense that the Arab community were very cohesive-and pretty much self-sustaining.

There were scores of Arab immigrants that came to the states (in particular Detroit/Dearborn) and went to work in the automobile factories, beginning in the 30's.
A good number of them could barely speak English, but they never complained..took the jobs that white men did not want..saved their money..brought their family's over..and became entrenched.

The 70's brought about a shift in their focus. Now they had a peice of the American dream, homes, cars, businesses etc..and at this point they began sending their children to colledge to obtain higher education.

From this crop came the Engineers, Doctors, Lawyers, and other professionals, who are taking the Arabs to the next level in American society.

In terms of religion..to be honest, in 1965-72, I had no idea that these neighbors were Muslim, and had no clue as to what Islam was.

My conversion came about after going through a transitional period in my life that began in 2001. And did not come about until after I had done a lot of research on differant beliefs, religions, enlightenment paths etc..

Do you think that even though you did not know they were Muslim, you're experience of Arabs is not of the 'Other' but as a member of your own community? I think most Americans see Muslims as 'Other' than them.

In my youth I also had no idea that people were of different religions nor that it mattered.

I recall sewing a Notre Dame emblem on my swim suit because I liked their basketball team. My mother freaked, saying what would the neighbors think, that we're Catholic? I had no idea what she was talking about.

Later when I acquired friends of different cultures, beliefs, etc I was quite unaware of them as 'different.' Intelligence, social norms and to some extent socio-economic levels was the basics template that I used for understanding those about me. It probably wasn't until my 20's that I became aware of there being a 'difference.'

Since you speak of researching your path what are your perspectives that started in the 70's that Blacks should avoid Christianity because, primarily, according to the story of the day, European Christians had put Blacks into slavery?

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What am I missing here? How did this topic get into the conversation?

Well, you're the one who sent this thread into a tail spin. Went from maple seeds to conversion in just one post. Usually we manage to get 8 or 10 posts in before it veers off into the void.:D

I guess I did but there was a connection between my question and the previous post about Dearborn which was a new piece of information to me. Not many non-black US males convert to Islam so the geographic influence is intriguing.

Yup, I thought it was a good question but ya gotta admit, it sure was south of the original topic.

Getting back to the drone, what's it good for besides scattering seed? It'll be interesting to see how software creates a continuous panoramic view of the landscape. Or a really dizzying image.

Sixto
87 300D

Jesus does not approve. Its in the bible.

He spoke of his search for a path.

I think it was during the time period I asked.

He said he examined many options.

He used the archaic term Caucasian.

So I asked if his choice of Islam was influenced by the 'bad press' Christianity was getting at that time in the Black community.

1 --> 2 --> 3 --> 4 --> 5

A sequence of steps.

Nothing nefarious.

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Just trying to have a pleasant conversation.

I'd been happy to hear about Dearborn or maple seeds or UAV but it went to his relationship with Islam and I saw the word Caucasian (which made me think I was watching an old dragnet show from the '60s).

I started the thread because I was jealous of the engineers at LM who got to play with that fun toy.

BTW - I had no way to know if he was white or black or grey or ... (as if I care) and just asked a question.