Why we will not be visiting the US in the forseeable future

To each his own, I guess. But having just made an international trip to the U.S. and back, I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth the security checks went.

Now the airlines on the other hand ...

I love this, "We need to find and stop the terrorists but we have to do it without the government knowing anything personal about anyone" mentality. How do you propose we identify them? Have some mystic observe their auras?
Click to expand...

No kidding.
 
drkitten said:
How about by doing some real police work? You know, by identifying particular suspects, talking to witnesses, and collecting evidence?
Click to expand...
Oh, so we should identify the bad guys in our midst only after they've blown up a building. Thanks a bunch.

But apparently if they simply and blindly fingerprint everyone at the local airport, that somehow becomes an effective technique for criminal investigation.
Click to expand...
The object is to stop them before they commit a crime.

If someone plants a bomb in Rome, and we can somehow get his fingerprints by tracing him back to the apartment where he lived, do you think that might make him think twice about trying to get into the U.S., if he knows he's going to be fingerprinted?
 
BPSCG said:
If someone plants a bomb in Rome, and we can somehow get his fingerprints by tracing him back to the apartment where he lived, do you think that might make him think twice about trying to get into the U.S., if he knows he's going to be fingerprinted?
Click to expand...

No... No I don't. I believe that person will find a way around the system. Also, I believe a person who is willing to die for his mission will take any chance, and the only way to prevent it is to find out about the plan ahead of time through tipoffs and intelligence reports. That's how they stopped the liquid bomb in the UK.
 
Godmode said:
No... No I don't. I believe that person will find a way around the system.
Click to expand...
So why should we bother putting any barriers in his way?

I assume you don't lock the door to your flat. Or do you just not bother with a door? After all, the burglar will find a way into your home somehow.

And of course, you don't lock your car. The thieves will find a way to steal it anyway. I'll bet you even leave the keys in the ignition for them - after all, they can hotwire the car if they really want it.

And you just toss your old credit card statements in the gutter. Why bother safeguarding them, when identity thieves will find a way to steal your personal information?

Antivirus software on your PC? Bah!

Godmode's Doctrine of Self-Protection: If a system doesn't provide 100% foolproof protection, don't bother. We're all doomed anyway.
 
BPSCG said:
Godmode's Doctrine of Self-Protection: If a system doesn't provide 100% foolproof protection, don't bother. We're all doomed anyway.
Click to expand...

As opposed to BPSCG's doctrine: It doesn't matter if a system works or not. Use it anyway. Cost and personal privacy are so 18th-century considerations.
 
BPSCG said:
Godmode's Doctrine of Self-Protection: If a system doesn't provide 100% foolproof protection, don't bother. We're all doomed anyway.
Click to expand...

Please don't put words in my mouth, ecspecialy stupid, untrue ones. Thankyou.
 
drkitten said:
As opposed to BPSCG's doctrine: It doesn't matter if a system works or not. Use it anyway. Cost and personal privacy are so 18th-century considerations.
Click to expand...
You still haven't explained how we catch the guys before they blow up a building.
 
Interesting people, aren´t they? They are so scared out of their wits (such as they are) that they´ll agree with *anything* that they´re told makes them safer, no matter what it is. And then, they have the chuzpah to call other people cowards...
 
Godmode said:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1984496,00.html

In a nutshell, the EU has signed an agreement with the us, so that if we visit we are basically allowing them to access our credit card histories, and monitor our email (coming and going!) forever, and whenever they wish. Plus, we get to give them our fingerprints. No thanks, Bush.

I gave my Mom (who is in the US) the bad news today, she was very supportive, but disapointed of course.


For a long time I have dreaded visiting the US because I can't stand the intimidation at airports, this is the icing on the cake. And P.S. USA, it is possable to be secure and POLITE. They do it all over Europe. Only in the US do I feel afraid to ask simple questions, made to feel unamerican and like a criminal, and generally unwelcome... and I AM NOT A SECURITY RISK. You can rest assured anyone who is will easily find away around your stupid rules and regulations. The only people hurt by this are the law abiding ones.

I miss the America I used to know... land of the free and home of the brave.
Click to expand...


If you think unarmed security is intimidating, and the idea of US authorities having the temerity to actually take an interst in who is coming through our borders has you so scared you'll disappoint your own mother, then you clearly have no grasp of either "free" nor "brave." But boy oh boy, you sure have the "polite" thing down, dontcha? Ever notice how rarely "polite" appears with either "free" or "brave"?

Go figure. America will get by without you.
 
BPSCG said:
You still haven't explained how we catch the guys before they blow up a building.
Click to expand...

Good old-fashioned police work. For example, looking for suspicious activity and following up on it, instead of wasting money, brains, time, and manpower on fruitless blanket investigations.
 
drkitten said:
Good old-fashioned police work. For example, looking for suspicious activity and following up on it, instead of wasting money, brains, time, and manpower on fruitless blanket investigations.
Click to expand...

Don't be ridiculous drkitten, that would be logical!;)
 
drkitten said:
Good old-fashioned police work. For example, looking for suspicious activity and following up on it, instead of wasting money, brains, time, and manpower on fruitless blanket investigations.
Click to expand...

German police has occasionally used blanket investigations ("Rasterfahnung" or "grid investigation") in the past now and then, usually in connection with some terrorism or another. It always turned out to be terribly ineffective. Not just inefficient as in "too much work for too little bad guys caught", but ineffective as in "too much work, and no bad guys caught".

This stuff is good at giving people - that is, voters - a (false) sense of security and making politicians appear like they´re doing something about that terrorist threat, but nothing else.
 
Chaos said:
Interesting people, aren´t they? They are so scared out of their wits (such as they are) that they´ll agree with *anything* that they´re told makes them safer, no matter what it is. And then, they have the chuzpah to call other people cowards...
Click to expand...

Yep. Conservatives, right-wingers, republicans, whatever you want to call them, are whiny pussies.

"Waaaa, that towel heads are coming, that towel heads are coming, we have to surrender our freedoms to our ignorant white-trash president."
 
Last edited:
drkitten said:
For example, looking for suspicious activity and following up on it...
Click to expand...
And how do you look for "suspicious" activity without observing innocent people as well as the bad guys?

"Here comes Mr. drkitten with his boarding pass..."

"Don't look at him! He's not a suspicious character!"

"How do you know if you don't look at him?"

"Never mind that! Ah, Mr. drkitten, please step around the metal detector."

"Uhm, don't you want me to walk through it?"

"Don't be silly! You're not behaving like a suspicious character!"

"Uhm, okay. Here's my driver's license with my picture..."

"Oh, please, sir put that away! If we think you're acting like a suspicious character, we'll ask you for it, never fear! We take security quite seriously, here, almost as seriously as your personal privacy. Have a pleasant flight, sir!"
 
Jocko said:
If you think unarmed security is intimidating, and the idea of US authorities having the temerity to actually take an interst in who is coming through our borders has you so scared you'll disappoint your own mother, then you clearly have no grasp of either "free" nor "brave." But boy oh boy, you sure have the "polite" thing down, dontcha? Ever notice how rarely "polite" appears with either "free" or "brave"?
Click to expand...

Ever notice how rarely "dark green" appears with either "free" or "brave"?















What? That's a total non sequitor you say? Why yes, I'm glad you can see that.
 
BPSCG said:
The self-contained irony in this statement is delightful.
Click to expand...

Yep, I'm the president. The real irony is that you embody everything in Chaos' post, but are too blind to see it. You have a lot of growing up to do.
 
Last edited:
Kerberos said:
Ever notice how rarely "dark green" appears with either "free" or "brave"?


What? That's a total non sequitor you say? Why yes, I'm glad you can see that.
Click to expand...

No, it only looks like a non sequitur to someone who misses the point. Politeness, as Godmode describes it, is deference. The free and brave do not kneel so easily.

Hope that helps. Tomorrow we'll tackle the concept of "irony."
 
I'm imagining a terrorist completely stumped by the email address requirement.

"Dammit, Hajib, I gave them my email address that I use to communicate with AQHQ! We're f-ed!"

I tell ya, the gubmint is brilliant.

As for the fingerprint requirement, I am with you all the way, Godmode. Maybe if enough tourists decide it just isn't worth visiting the US any more, the Schutzstaffel, er, I mean, the Department of Homeland Security will get wise and back off.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom