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Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

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Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#321

Post by aet »

gress wrote: post #280
aet wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reuters and AP are reputable and have reporters on the ground. AP has won 50+ Pulitzer prizes. See http://www.ap.org/company/pulitzers .

That doesn't address the point - many mainstream 'news' outlets work by rewriting stories syndicated from Reuters and AP - not by having their own reporters. The comment I was responding to was attacking the wsws for not being 'news' because it doesn't have it's own reporters. It's perfectly reasonable to criticize it for having a political stance that you don't credit, but I don't see a case for somehow categorizing…

I actually have no problem with people citing the World Socialist Website. That being said, the WSWS offers "Marxist analysis" of the news whereas Reuters and AP, although they may offer analysis, focus on objective reporting of the facts as opposed to analysis. Take a look at Reuters "trust principles" on their website. One principle is: "That Thomson Reuters shall supply unbiased and reliable news services to newspapers, news agencies, broadcasters and other media subscribers and to businesses governments, institutions, individuals and others with whom Thomson Reuters has or may have contracts." Now, consider the mission of the WSWS: "The standpoint of this web site is one of revolutionary opposition to the capitalist market system. Its aim is the establishment of world socialism."

I think it is clear why AP and Reuters citations will be more widely accepted than sources that are inclined to political bias and activism.

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#322

Post by Nelson69 »

blisterpeanuts wrote: post #67

U.S. Immigration agents are trained to look for certain traits in visitors: nervousness, unusual or inconsistent answers to questions, history of visiting certain countries. Any of these characteristics trigger an automatic escalation in the interrogation process. This individual, albeit sounding perfectly innocent, unfortunately triggered several hot buttons and the hapless agents were too unimaginative, uninformed,…

Was he rejected because of nervousness (his claim or maybe suggested by his article) or was he rejected for making some smart ass answers to their questions?

So when they reject him, there is really only a couple of acceptable explanations that they can give, regardless of the truth, they aren't going to say "we just don't like your attitude" they're going to say "it looks like you run with some countries that we don't like." Maybe I've been re-educated or programmed by Our System, but I simply cannot fathom uttering 'al qaeda' at a border crossing just like 99+% of us wouldn't consider talking about 'bombs' or 'explosives' while in the TSA lines at the airport. Think of it as a pass/fail IQ test and from the sound of it, he failed. Probably doesn't make nearly as interesting an article to read though.

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#323

Post by goatforce5 »

twoodfin wrote: post #315
goatforce5 wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A TSA employee gave me a series of rapid fire questions about a pizza place in Boston after he physically removed me (via a firm grab on my arm) from a line of passengers about to board a plane (ie, well after the normal security checks). Something along the lines of: "Where have you been today?" "Santarpios." "Never heard of it. What's that?" "Really? It's right next to the turn off to get to the airport." "Never he…

Yeah, TSA has been pilot-testing behavioral profiling at Logan for a couple of years now: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/02/passengers-face-behavio... Your description sounds like a guy who wasn't particularly good at it. They're supposed to be direct, but not argumentative ("Never heard of it.") If they're too pushy or intimidating, it's hard to spot genuinely suspicious answers or behavior. One of the main probl…

My Santarpios conversation happened about 7 years ago.

Santarpios is great and highly recommended. Galleria Umberto's is possibly better though (and far easier to get to).

I've just remembered that when I was waiting at a gate (before boarding had commenced) at LAX about 3 weeks ago, there were about half a dozen very young looking TSA agents receiving some training at the gate about how to approach people, being reminded to keep it friendly, etc. They then wandered off to another gate and I thought nothing more of it.

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#324

Post by dublinclontarf »

dnautics wrote: post #256
tnuc wrote: post #76

He tried to enter on the US Visa Waiver program. If the guard doesn't like you then you don't get in. Getting a visa in advance does make the guard do more paperwork if they refuse entry. From some US gov website; --- To use the program, visitors must waive all rights of review or appeal of decisions made by an immigration officer and all rights to contest action in deportation except for asylum.

moreover, he considers it a system with graft to be preferable to what he endured in the US, which basically is an attitude of massive entitlement. While I personally believe a person should generally have the right to unconditionally enter any country, this guy doesn't (as evidenced by his excitement and apparent delight at passing through border controls). So, what, is 'getting the green light' some sort of persona…

It is a very unpleasant experience being refused entry to a country, which has considerable lost costs as a result. I had much a similar experience as OP and can only agree.

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#325

Post by jacalata »

wisty wrote: post #138
cstross wrote: post #24

Interestingly, in the developed world it seems to be the Anglophone countries that have the shittiest attitude towards border control these days. The US is notoriously user-hostile at the borders. The UK is doing its best to catch up in a Mini-Me way with the USA's Dr Evil, and is actually on course to become even more hostile than the USA -- the only mitigating factor is that the third degree is reserved for non-cit…

> Australia under Tony Abbot runs concentration camps for victims of famine, civil war on Nauru They are called "refugee camps". And Australia has a reasonably high refugee intake. Unlike most countries, though, Australia resettles most of their refugees, so they aren't classified as "refugees" anymore. It's a pain finding the numbers, since everyone wants to talk about "refugees per head of population". There's hund…

That doesn't make any sense. Refugee applications/admittals are normally counted per year. A refugee who was awarded citizenship/residency would be counted in that year. But there are very few of them (certainly not hundreds of thousands) since Howard introduced the TPV in '99, and anyway who cares? Do you also need to know how many Australians are descended from 1 pound Poms to see how many refugees we should allow in this year? Does the refugee policy in the '80s being reasonable somehow excuse how awful it is today?

You should know that 'resettlement' actually means 'sending to a third country', and yes we do resettle more refugees than anyone but the USA and Canada. That doesn't get counted in our refugee population because we sent them to another country.

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#326

Post by drunkpotato »

asimeqi wrote: post #273
cstross wrote: post #24

Interestingly, in the developed world it seems to be the Anglophone countries that have the shittiest attitude towards border control these days. The US is notoriously user-hostile at the borders. The UK is doing its best to catch up in a Mini-Me way with the USA's Dr Evil, and is actually on course to become even more hostile than the USA -- the only mitigating factor is that the third degree is reserved for non-cit…

You most probably hold a British passport which is a very valuable document. Let me tell you as a holder of a not as valuable passport, who needed a visa to get anywhere, how I have seen the world. I now live in the US. Before coming to US I visited many European countries. At the border of all those European countries I was treated as a criminal. I waited very long hours while people in front of me holding same kind…

Thank you for sharing your story. It's easy to find negative stories of crossing the US border; it's generally easier to find negative stories about anything. Positive stories like yours can help give perspective that can otherwise be lacking.

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#329

Post by feralmoan »

girvo wrote: post #119
tphan wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your Australia-related articles were posted in July. Tony Abbott didn't become Prime Minister until September.

Yep. Although, if you're an Australian like I am, you must know that this is all going to get worse. I'm sick of our Government (no matter who seems to be in power at the time) taking every single page out of the American playbook. I like our country, why do we have to try and be them? :(

British colonial hangover and the general Australian penchant for self-flaggelation has a lot more to do with authoritarianism in Australia than any philosophy the USA extrinsically promotes. Isn't the island borrowing its culture from Asia now, anyway?

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#330

Post by dnautics »

dublinclontarf wrote: post #324
dnautics wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

moreover, he considers it a system with graft to be preferable to what he endured in the US, which basically is an attitude of massive entitlement. While I personally believe a person should generally have the right to unconditionally enter any country, this guy doesn't (as evidenced by his excitement and apparent delight at passing through border controls). So, what, is 'getting the green light' some sort of persona…

It is a very unpleasant experience being refused entry to a country, which has considerable lost costs as a result. I had much a similar experience as OP and can only agree.

I'm not disputing that, but I would suggest a recalibration of the author's other attitudes, then. The author revels in the pomp and circumstance of the border crossing... Just what does he think those are there for?
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