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British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

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Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#81

Post by mcv »

goodcanadian wrote: post #73
gcb0 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a barrage of clingy text messages after a break up. Looks like border patrol was really trying to save the american person in this one case. /rimshot

Funny you say that. It would seem to be standard to call the girlfriend to check his story. If she said she didn't want to see him, that would cast a great deal of doubt on his stated reason for coming.

It certainly could be interpreted in a somewhat stalkery way. We have no idea what the girlfriend thinks about this. Calling her could have cleared up a lot.

Of course it's also possible they did call her and kicked him out exactly because of something she said. We only have his part of the story. It could be a complete misrepresentation.

He also seems rather eager to share lots of private photos of them together. Could be a red flag.

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#82

Post by mcv »

Nextgrid wrote: post #12

Just wondering as to why people even bother with the US at all? What does the US give you that UK doesn’t, besides a fucked up government (even more so than the UK - see who’s in charge of the FCC or the tax filing situation), crazy & unreasonable immigration policies, etc? This won’t change as long as people accept it. But if tomorrow tourism & business travel slows down to a crawl because of this you can bet you’ll…

You can also get a fucked up government and crazy and unreasonable immigration policies in the UK. There's no reason you'd have to move to the US to get those.

People who have lived in the UK for decades are suddenly getting kicked out or are being denied access to the country they live. Bizarre xenophobia, both from the government and from people, has been dramatically on the rise since the Brexit referendum.

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#83

Post by DanBC »

burfog wrote: post #78
Aromasin wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd agree if this were most other countries - but the man was British. The freedoms we get here, disregarding gun and drug law, are the same in my eyes. The only reasons I'd be able to think of moving there would be if I was keen on a big city life that doesn't == London, if I was looking to work for a FAANG company, or as in the case of the article, for a girlfriend. I feel much more free travelling and living in ma…

In your country, a guy got in trouble with the law for making a comedy video with a little dog saluting Hitler. You literally can't take a joke. Reporting on court proceedings can get you arrested. Rude comments made on the internet, not even involving actionable threats, can get you arrested. Orwell was British, but "Freedom is slavery" was supposed to be fiction. It was not written as an instruction manual. You've…

> Reporting on court proceedings can get you arrested.

No, interfering with trials will get you arrested.

> a guy got in trouble with the law for making a comedy video with a little dog saluting Hitler.

It wasn't the Nazi salutes that caused the trouble, it was broadcasting the repeated use of the phrase "gas the jews".

He tried to use the "it was just a prank bro" defence in court, and they rejected it because i) to show it to his girlfriend he didn't need to put it on youtube, ii) there's no evidence she even saw it and iii) "gas the Jews" isn't funny.

Also, you can own a gun legally in the UK.

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#84

Post by mcv »

avocado4 wrote: post #63
hnarn wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who, like you, was born in Europe, I feel like half of those points are open for debate and the other half are nonsensical. Are you saying that the nation that is the home of the Flint water crisis and has a weaker Environmental Protection Agency than ever is something you move to in order to get "cleaner air and water"? What do you mean when you say "diversity"? Have you been to the mid west? There are "u…

http://maps.who.int/airpollution/

It is entirely unclear to me what that map represents. Is air pollution the worst in the Sahara, where practically nobody lives?

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#85

Post by mcv »

foldingmoney wrote: post #48
zaarn wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno if you have been to Europe but we have plenty of all that outdoors, clean air and water. From my location, it's less than 3 hours to the alps if you need even cleaner air and water with triple the outdoors. And lots of diversity there too, almost any place has somewhere around 2000 to 1500 years of history on the books, you can walk from your current location to another place with wildly different customs and…

Interestingly, 'villages of people with wildly different customs and traditions going back 1500-2000 years' is basically the opposite of what's meant by 'diversity' today, which is a high population of newly arrived immigrants. The former exists precisely because people historically didn't mingle much.

It's a different kind of diversity. But Europe has plenty of ethnic diversity too. If you were to believe American right-wing pundits (you shouldn't) we're being overrun by Muslim immigrants here. That's an exaggeration of course, but there are many European countries with significant numbers of immigrants and expats from all over the world. Amsterdam, not New York, is the city hosting the largest number of nationalities in the world.

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#86

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

hvidgaard wrote: post #41
hyperdunc wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does the US give you that the UK doesn't? First and second amendment protections. Perhaps those are not an advantage in your book?

Apart from the right to bear arms, what is different? Many people even see that as a benefit to the UK.

You can "bear arms" here in the UK if you like. Just go down to the Post Office and buy a license. I'm not even joking - I live in a rural area and know multiple people with shotgun licenses. You'll be subjected to a criminal background check of course.

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#87

Post by DanBC »

hyperdunc wrote: post #22
Nextgrid wrote: post #12

Just wondering as to why people even bother with the US at all? What does the US give you that UK doesn’t, besides a fucked up government (even more so than the UK - see who’s in charge of the FCC or the tax filing situation), crazy & unreasonable immigration policies, etc? This won’t change as long as people accept it. But if tomorrow tourism & business travel slows down to a crawl because of this you can bet you’ll…

What does the US give you that the UK doesn't? First and second amendment protections. Perhaps those are not an advantage in your book?

UK has freedom of speech, as defined in ECHR. That right isn't total, it's balanced with other people's right to life and protection from genocide.

https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventio...

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#88

Post by n4r9 »

bloak wrote: post #60
atemerev wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are not wrong. I am Russian living in Europe, occasionally visiting the US. Here in Switzerland, and to a lesser extent in the rest of the western Europe, I will always feel like an immigrant. It is cultural, there is always a divide of those who lived here before and those two came after. Perhaps only my children or their children will be able to fully integrate here. In the US it is different. There are a lot…

It's probably not possible to have both these things together in the long term: * A strong distinctive local culture. * Treating immigrants just like locals. Immigrants aren't going to learn the local dialect of Schwyzerdütsch unless you give them some kind of incentive, are they?

The way I see it based on atemerev's comment, the American treatment of immigrants is part of their strong local culture.

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#89

Post by polotics »

baybal2 wrote: post #44
jopsen wrote: post #8

Because most illegal immigrants are British, lol :) Being an illegal immigrant in the US is extremely unattractive -- decent jobs require paperwork.

You know, you will be surprised that the charts of biggest illegal immigrant nationalities worldwide is topped by Swiss citizens. Developed countries' citizens consistently outmatch people from undeveloped countries when in comes to immigration crimes almost everywhere

Wow really? Interesting! Citation needed please!

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#90

Post by mruts »

Nextgrid wrote: post #12

Just wondering as to why people even bother with the US at all? What does the US give you that UK doesn’t, besides a fucked up government (even more so than the UK - see who’s in charge of the FCC or the tax filing situation), crazy & unreasonable immigration policies, etc? This won’t change as long as people accept it. But if tomorrow tourism & business travel slows down to a crawl because of this you can bet you’ll…

Money? Low taxes? Richest country in the world?
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