(Guest blogged by Nonny Mouse)
The travel and tourist industry is one of the United States' biggest money-makers, generating $103 billion in tax revenue every year. Without this tax revenue, every American household would pay nearly $1,000 more in taxes every a year. But while the travel business is flourishing internationally, tourism to America has been on a steep decline, dropping 36 percent between 1992 and 2005, with a loss of $43 billion in 2005 alone. The nation's international tourism balance of trade declined more than 70 percent over the past 10 years - from $26.3 billion in 1996 to $7.4 billion in 2005.
People are simply choosing to go elsewhere. But as a follow-on to Logan Murphy’s excellent post on the increasing invasion of privacy by the soon-to-be approved Passenger Name Record for passengers entering international airports, allow me to present a personal view into why tourists are deciding not to spend their money visiting the States.
I moved from Great Britain to New Zealand last week, requiring a flight of 26 hours crammed into a big metal tube with about four hundred other brave souls, the vast majority of us packed into the Economy Class part of a 747, with the usual narrow seats, no leg rests, and poor overheated air ventilation that inevitably leads to sharing every virus on board with everyone else. I dropped at least half my on-board meals down my cleavage trying to eat with elbows pressed together, my ankles swelled to the size (and shape) of a small elephant’s, my calves were a mass of cramps, my eyes throbbed from trying to watch too many movies on a tiny screen eight inches from my nose, my back ached from trying to sleep at twisted, unnatural angles, and my throat tickled with what I knew would end up being a full blown head cold. No, long-haul flights are not fun. People take them because it’s about the only way to get where they really, really want to go. And I really, really wanted to go to New Zealand.
At least there was a chance for a small break once we’d landed in Los Angeles to change flight crews, restock the food galleys and drinks trolleys and refuel the plane, a chance to stretch our legs in the transit lounge and take a breath of fresh air. So you would think…
And you would be so wrong.
We were told to disembark with all our carry-on luggage, leaving nothing on board. Those who were flying from London to Auckland were told to line up against a wall in a corridor while those whose flights terminated at Los Angeles filed past and disappeared. And there, in a hot, cramped corridor we stood and waited. And waited. And waited. I finally couldn’t stand it, and asked where to find the ladies’ loo – to be ordered not to leave the line. (Sod that, thought I, or rather, my bladder) and I wandered up the queue to discover that we were being processed, slowly, one by one, by a single officer in a tiny booth. After a quick dash to a toilet, I made my way back down the line to where I’d left my new comrades-in-arms – Judy, a petite, smartly dressed 61-year-old Kiwi schoolteacher in London on compassionate leave going home to Auckland to see her terminally ill father, and Derek, a wiry Scots engineer with an acerbic sense of humour. ‘You bloody Yanks seem to think terrorism is something new and only ever happens to Americans,’ he groused to me. Being possibly the only bloody Yank going from London to New Zealand, I became by default the sole available representative for my fellow countrymen. ‘We’ve had the IRA and the French have the Algerians and the Spanish have ETA. Now you know what the rest of Europe’s been living with for the last few hundred years. Why don’t you lot just grow up?’ Heads around us nodded in irritated agreement.
To our relief, we were finally moved out of the corridor, all following another LAX official to what we were expecting to be the transit lounge… but to our collective dismay, we were herded into a bigger Immigration area, where all those who were not US passport holders filled out long green cards asking detailed personal information, to be handed over to US Immigration officials busy taking everyone’s fingerprints and photographs. There was some confusion about just what to do with me, as I was a US citizen, but was flying on to New Zealand. Eventually, I was given a shorter blue form to fill out. A couple of students with worried expressions – Germans, I think, judging from the language – were being led away by uniformed police who were having interpretation problems. It was a very repressive and rather frightening atmosphere.
Bear in mind here… we were all ‘non-stop’ transit passengers, due to get straight back on the same plane we’d just gotten off and fly on to Auckland, never setting foot outside the airport and onto American soil.
Judy, in her strong Kiwi accent, demanded from one of the officials standing guard around us why they needed to take our fingerprints or our photographs. ‘It’s the law,’ he mumbled, a bit shamefaced, and spouted a few disconnected bits of pre-memorized clichés about terrorism and security before stuttering to a halt and looking away. Not even the officials at the airport understood why.
The Immigration official at the booth was not so polite to her. ‘Take your glasses off,’ he demanded. I could see her stiffen, an elderly respectable schoolteacher unused to being so brusquely ordered around. ‘I beg your pardon? Why do I need to take my glasses off? What right do you have to take my fingerprints or my photograph?’
Again, came the refrain. ‘It’s the law’.
We finally were allowed, once we’d all been ‘processed’, to sit down and have a cup of tea or coffee in the transit lounge… for about fifteen minutes before they reloaded the plane. Judy looked angry and close to tears. ‘I’ve never been treated like this before,’ she said. ‘It’s all one thing when you read about it, but having to actually submit to being fingerprinted? I feel… violated. Like I’m some sort of criminal.’
Would she ever consider returning to the States, as a tourist?
Absolutely not. And the next time she flew from London to Auckland, she’d make damned sure the flight did not stop to refuel in America.
This was pretty much the general feeling of every passenger on that flight – none of them had ever intended to enter the United States; it was just a place they had to wait in transit to somewhere else. But their experience had soured them on even considering the States as a potential holiday spot to visit. It didn’t matter how cheap the US dollar got.
And they have friends and families, too. Some people don’t like it when their 61-year-old mothers are treated like potential al Qaeda terrorists.
While the rest of the world is enjoying a boom in tourism, and our own tourist industry is begging the government for a let-up on such draconian policies, the abysmal way we are treating air passengers – even those who have nothing to do with visiting America as tourists – is costing the country millions of dollars a day, our reputation as debased as our currency.
We are not becoming a police state.
We are one.
Login or Register to post comments.
things are gettine worse
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tMACzBomDK4
Oh, damn-----Frist!!!
Oh, damn! *lol* NOT!
Security is ridiculous. Having flown to Israel recently, and seen how much more reasonable their security is, it's mindblowing. However, once you start with the common sense arguments, the right starts to scream that we should profile. So instead of that, we overreact in the other direction. Where's the balance.
Good luck in New Zealand, Nonny. And thank you for the well written article.
Did the German students make it back to the flight??
I think numbers like that are really fuzzy. It may make $103 Billion in taxable income, but that doesn't directly translate into all that money still being needed. The travel industry COSTS a lot of money that are paid with those tax dollars. Without the tourist industry there would be less revenue, but less revenue would be needed.
Back to our regularly scheduled thread. :)
I'm Canadian, and I don't mind needing a passport to travel to the U.S. now (we didn't have to have one until recently). But I was alarmed by reading about that fingerprinting and name gathering stuff.
Think we'll stay home and explore our own country...
You would think with the price of the dollar right now that we would be flooded with travelers from Asia and Europe looking for bargains.
After reading this first hand account of how our wonderful(not) government is and has been treating flyers, I wouldn't fly(esp. commercial) if my life depended on it.
This sucks and frankly I hope it just sinks the tourism industry.
Nonny,
Welcome to Aotearoa New Zealand! In the future, fly through Singapore or Hong Kong to London to avoid LAX. LAX is notorious and the experience is always universally bad. Just what nobody needs on a long transcontinental haul. Depending on the transit time through Singapore, you can get a tour of the city, go swimming at the airport, or even take a hotel room inside the air terminal. What is so troubling about the USA is that it all the extra security seems to be about fearmongering. Its classic Orwellian. It certainly is not good security. LAX TSA was notorious for stealing stuff out of luggage and flogging it off at the local flea markets! It happened to us. You will find NZ as an enormous breath of fresh air.
We're not a police state, we're a national security state. For those of you who have been living in the parallel universe of middle clas america for the past thirty years, welcome to reality.
Michael @ 9:
Well, at least Coca-Cola, which has some 70% of their income from other countries, earn a huge profit from the currency rates, when they swap their income back to the US.
And I get lambasted on this site when I say how the USofA is the "new" Soviet Union.
This country was always meant to turn out this way. Anybody who truly knows the real history of the USofA knows this.
Things WILL get worse. You can bank on it.
Cafeenman, think of all those people that will be put out of work because there's less demand for hotel maids, and any other tourist related jobs. In some places without the tourist dollar, roads aren't repaired, hospitals subsidized, etc.
Our Administration is cutting off its nose inspite of its face (or however that saying goes).
Hell, even flying within the U.S. is ridiculous. You can't carry on a tiny swiss army knife with a 2" blade (really, can you bring a plane down with something like that?), you can't carry on a bottle of water, and EVERYONE has to remove their shoes.
I'm reminded of the old saying, "That's like closing the barn doors after the horses are out."
bookworm @ 8:
a very wise choice because you might be trapped here when bush declares martial law in his eventual overthrow of america!
Oh Nonny, your post and story had me crying before the end. I felt as if I were watching a movie and seeing a friend being so mistreated. Like most movies, at least this one had a happy ending and you are in a country that is, from everything that I hear, wonderful. For that I am so happy for you.
Our country has lost it's way in the name of fear. We are no longer the home of the brave. We are the home of the afraid and controlled. What a sad, sad situation. I don't know if there is a way back for us at this point.
Ranger Jay @ 16:
Considering that the democrats tried to make armored doors to the pilots mandatory during the 90's, but the republicans destroyed the initiative, its more like trying to jamming close the doors they refused to put locks on in the first place.
Hey - we're missing a great opportunity here! We could have trained (or not) christians standing by to preach the word of
godbush to all these poor, lost travelers! Just think of the glory! To lead 400 souls to salvation through the lord our god,jesus christgeorge bush! Hallelujah!bookworm @ 8:
Many Canadians ,myself included, feel the same way. Hardly worth the bother to go to BushCo US anymore. Talk about nutty and paranoid. There is so much to see and do in Canada anyways. Most Canadians going south of US to catch some sun, Cuba included ,make sure they have direct non stop flights to their destination. We still havent forgotten the Arar affair either. Pleas from Canadian Government on his behalf fell on deaf and paranoid ears there too. Nice way to treat guests.
Really great guest blog. The founding fathers would weap if they saw the draconian nature of the junta
This kind of stuff happens on domestic flights, too. Not the fingerprinting, but the long, poorly explained waits & the understaffed & uninformed security is now part of our travelling experience.
Jeez, your story sounds like it comes from the depths of the cold war and is about a stopover in Soviet East Berlin.
Next time, if you have to fly from UK to NZ again, go the other way, stop over in Singapore, they have a hotel inside the airport with a lovely swimming pool inside the security ring, juts the thing to break up a long haul flight.
If you have a longer stopover it is trivial to leave the airport and visit the city, minimal red tape.
America is just off my vacation list for the foreseeable future, I am in the UK and can go to so many different places in the world without a whole list of self important clerks getting in my face.
Welcome to America!
If they thinks all fo this crap is making us safer, they are full lof shit!
Fear controls people, and this is exactly what they wanted, and it is EXACTLY what Osame wants. Cripple our economy, cripple our movement, and eventually bankrupt our econmomy by spending last last nickel on defense and security.
And guess who gets richer?
aloha nuie nonny mouse , have a safe trip and please keep thoes tyree sayings safe for postarity, send me a pic of you in your mori dance costume and for gods sake dont let them musculard mori indian guys eyeball your charms to much!
Why the hell would anyone want to come to America with all the shit that's going on ATM? One minute you're chillin' on a beach next minute your snatched up by the goons in the black suits because your name is similar to some dipstick they have on a list somewhere.
Oh, and whatever you do don't got to an airport if you have a long beard. Two words - No lube.
wow. i'm speechless. all i have to offer is --> :(
thank you for sharing, nonny. how depressing...
the day he declares martial law is the day all those civilian militias will implement their plans to create thier one race one god state..
I live in Manhattan, NYC, and the place is PACKED TO THE GILLS with tours, tour buses, and tourists.
Don't have a clue what you're talking about here.
Let's see I can spend my money in any other country in the world and be treated like royalty or I can go to the U.S. where everyone wants your money but nobody wants to provide service, no deep thinking required.
I'm curious: Does anyone know what was causing the drop in tourist numbers before 9/11? Nonny's figures start 10 years before the ridiculous and pointless security.
I, too, am horrified at this story. I certainly won't be going to the US any time soon. There are more than enough other tourist destinations clamouring for my hard-earned money.
[deleted - check your attitude.]
I am sad, angry and outraged all at the same time. What you have described is SO unconstitutional it just blows my mind and I believe the Constitution applies to all, not just US citizens. The fearmongering going on is enormous and nothing can justify what you went through. My pride in this country has just taken another hit. Glad you finally made it to New Zealand, I'm afraid they may start getting many more US expatriates. We need to reverse course soon or it will be too late, I continue to hope it isn't already.
On CSPAN-3 Conyers is once again attempting to obtain testimony from Harriett Miers
and Bolton under the duly issued subpeona, BUT he is AGAIN making statements that
he is recommending that further contacts be made w/WH and others in order to obtain
a "compromise"...What a whimp...
This short episode does a pretty good job of boiling the current reality in the U.S. down to its essence. We're led to believe our "terrorist" problem is worse and different than anywhere else and we have an American iron fist answer to the problem. We're acting like a not-so-bright, spoiled drama queen not thinking or caring about anyone else but herself, unaware that everyone else looks at her with a mixed sense of pathos and disgust.
shuttleworth @ 30:
perhaps you're witnessing domestic tourism, not international. nonny's not talking mere observation here. check the link RE: steep decline.
1984....just a few years late. Congrats adolf dubyah and his henchmen reich-wing.
el kanuckistani @ 39:
So, are you saying Canadians call themselves "Americans"? I've seen this hissy fit before; quit being a whining twit. When someone says America, it ALWAYS means the USA and there is never a confusion.
A·mer·i·ca
–noun
1. United States.
“There ought to be limits to freedom.”
~ George W. Bush
Our Country has indeed been hijacked by a bunch of Neocon Paranoid Fearmongers and this is the result- I am so sorry, ashamed, horrified, and sickened by it...to the passengers I just want to scream to them- I AM SO SORRY for what you have been enduring - it is like 1930 's Germany here- I - ME ...A MOM..A NURSE..a Sometimes activist, very patriotic ...I am on a NO FLY LIST...I can go by train, or car or ??? BUT NOT Fly....I found this out in 2005 when I tried to travel for medical care....So I KNOW that we are in Trouble, and Draconian Systems are dangerously in place....hurting all kinds of people...and creating a Police State....
thanks for sharing this Nonny....I am so sorry...
Well, at least you can carry your cigarette lighter on board. (shakes head)
I take a flight to Asia about three times a year, riding economy class on the 747's.
A 16 hour flight.
My advice to all is get yourself a prescription for Valium. You really don't care about the length of the flight nor the hassles accompanying the trip. And sleeping is easy.
christine @ 15:
It's not the US cutting off its nose to spite its face (http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/cut+off+nose+to+spite+face). These are purposeful and senseless acts to acclimate people to the police state by fascists in our midst. This creeping police state has been going on for a long time now and was vastly accelerated by 9/11. This particular prong is not directed at US citizens except to the extent that it sends messages to US citizens, i.e., foreigners are dangerous, we are at war against foreigners who are entering the US and are among us, more security is required, and it may inconvenience or even affect you, etc.
Thank you for this post. Basically, the Bushies have confirmed that they have let the TERRORISTS WIN. The terrorists HAVE changed our lives. We are at their mercy, thanks to the Bushies. I am embarassed that you were treated in such a way, especially as a TRANSIT passenger. It's all just a waste of time and money. I'm ok with security checks at check in, xray of luggage, hand carry on... that's all reasonable... but what you have described is bureaucratic masturbation. A dog and pony show, for no reason.
You are right not to want to visit the U.S. It's not worth it. There are sights and wonders far greater than what is in the US just about everywhere now. The rest of the world has surpassed the U.S. The U.S. is passe.
I hope you enjoy New Zealand. Good luck.
CafeenMan @ 6:
what fact(s) back up that assumption? tourist go to the same points of interest as americans and thus add revenue. the cost per attendee is built into the profit calculations for any attraction. so loss of revenue from fallen attendance directly translates into loss of profits.
My feeling about airport security is this: Hassle me, but in a meaningful way. If you're going to check baggage, do it. X-ray it, chemical sniff it, open it if you have to. Ask questions that will make real terrorists nervous, maybe give themselves away. I've experienced real security, flying from Frankfurt into the old West Berlin, etc. You know when you are dealing with serious, committed security folks who are working to prevent something bad from happening.
What I always feel entering the US is that the people in immigration and customs are part of a demoralized bureaucracy, mechanically and meaninglessly making people's lives miserable. As in this post, they create more enemies for America and then mutter "its the law." This administration is ideologically committed to the idea that government cannot do anything effectively, and this attitude has visibly infected the people charged with protecting the borders. U.S. security is not only rude, stupid and unpleasant, it is ineffective, a very bad joke.
Clearly, the airline security system is fucked up in the US, but a little context is in order for balance. I recently flew to and from Scotland via London, and by far the worst experience I've had flying was with British Airways who screwed up each and every possible thing it could (canceled one flight, delayed the next, lost luggage, in flight entertainment system went down after first hour, long queues for everything, yadda yadda).
Upon returning to Newark Liberty airport (one of the worst in the US, no less), expecting long delays going through immigration, I handed my card, my passport, answered a couple very brief questions, and was off to baggage claim (which for once had NOT been screwed up by British Airways). Took maybe 5 minutes total to go through inbound security.
I'm not saying tales of security woes are not widespread, but with the volume of people traveling, and the fact that nobody ever mentions GOOD experiences because stories of things going well just don't get our attention, I think it is good to try to keep some perspective. Fix what's broke, but acknowledge that lots of it is not broke.
Thanks for this article Noony Mouse.
I have something to add as far as the security matrix goes.
I received a check from a friend. When I tried to cash his check at his bank I was required to enter the bank and give them my right thumb print in order to do so.
When I deposited cash money into another friends account since I was going by our bank anyway I was required to remove my sunglasses at the drive through.
I don't know why they wanted/needed to positively identify me on either occasion. I complied but not before telling them it was a bunch of BS.
Don't know if this is happening everywhere in the good old USA, or only here in Huntsville, Al.
Of course revenues are down. who in their right minds wants to visit or support a rogue/totalitarian police state. America isn't a place to come to so much as it's becoming a place to flee from.
Jay: they ORDERED an older woman to take off her glasses. Rudely. After making her wait in jail-like conditions for hours.
You don't see the problem? - then you're part of the problem. Republifascist.
We are not becoming a police state.
We are one.
Precisely!
We need to stop talking in the conditional about "what we could become if we continue..." and start recognizing what we have become, thanks to BushCo.
Dr. Matt @ 40:
I think his point is that usage is inaccurate and excludes others, rendering them irrelevant to the entire continent. I happen to agree. We're all Americans in America (or "the Americas").
It's a gripe, not a "hissy fit." Don't be an asshole.
Good Luck Noony Mouse
BIG WET SQUISHY KISSES FROM US.
GOOD LUCK ! GOOD LUCK !
Watch out for Australia.
If the World were a human body
Australia would be the Anus.
Dr. Matt @ 39:
Dr. Matt -
Do you get out much? Do you know anybody from South America? Sure, they may not refer to themselves as "Americans," but that doesn't mean that they aren't Americans.
By definition, if you are from North America or South America, you ARE an American. Just because one resides in, say, Brazil, and refers to themself as a "Brazilian" doesn't make them any less of an American. They just choose to narrow their place of residence in the Americas down to a specific native country.
Conversely, our tendency to refer to ourselves as "Americans" inherently means we are not specifying a native country. Think about it - France and Germany both reside in Europe, but very few of their citizens refer to themselves first-and-foremost as "Europeans" - rather, they specify their residence in a native country by referring to themselves as "French" and "Germans."
We are citizens of the United States of America if you want to be nativist about referring to yourself. We are not, however, the only or true "Americans." Everybody on the continents of North America and South America lay claim to that title.
Jeremiah @ 36:
This ain't drama queen stuff. the meanness of the people at dulles airport make this crew look like girlscouts. "It's the law!" is just the beginning! These security people are underpaid, undertrained and are instructed that they have near unlimited authority. Some may have a conscience, but most do not. Read some accounts of how a mother was attacked for actually having a bottle of baby formula. The security at dulles wouldn't even let her drink it. so she could proceed. They humiliated her, physically abused her and called for re-inforcements when her husband tried to help. Eight abusive people for one woman who wanted to be able to feed her baby. Here's the punchline: She worked for US Homeland Security.
Tom @ 48:
Want to buy a condo in baghdad?
Orwell's Illegitimate Son @ 54:
Do you get out much? Do you know anybody from South America? Sure, they may not refer to themselves as "Americans," but that doesn't mean that they aren't Americans.
duncanidho @ 29:
they will join with Blackwater as the newly deputized domestic police force.
Dr. Matt @ 39:
No. We don't call ourselves Americans. We call ourselves Canadians. The people from Mexico call themselves Mexicans. I'll refer to meatheads like you as USer's or USraelis.
When I say America, I'm referring (ALWAYS) to the two continents between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
I know your government tells you you are the greatest, and you believe you rule the world, but , as Iraq, Viet Nam, North Korea and a lot of other "evil doers" have shown, that is not necessarily true.
See? It wasn't a WHINE. It was a rant, and I guess I was only thanking the rest of you for letting me have it.
I landed at logan from Iceland last year. The Customs person told us in a loud voice "Americans on the right, immigrants and others on the left". She repeated this three times to which my buddy said in a loud voice "I saw this on Schindler's list". They were not amused.
They finger printed every Icelandic citizen aboard that flight.
[...] And there, in a hot, cramped corridor we stood and waited. … article continues at Logan Murphy brought to you by travel and [...]
Japandrew @ 57:
Actually, my Brazilian friends do call themselves Americans, South Americans, depending on the context. They've sensitized me--sweetly, but clearly--to the degree it grates for them to hear US citizens appropriate the term "American."
Oh! Thanks for the story, Nonny. Sorry for your trouble. Truly disturbing.
Ace Armstrong @ 12:
Welcome to unreality, you mean. This national security state is a ruse. As soon as the next bogus national disaster, we will be a police state OVERNIGHT. We EXPECT it.
Most of us are neither blind nor retarded nor of any particular class.
Chuck @ 7:
i never could stand alex jones, though i thought he was on to something when it came to a handful of issues. i'm really starting to believe a lot more though. we don't share political ideaology, but as far as being opposed to police state, etc...
over the top is right- i thought his bohemian grove stuff was really nutty. i mean, it's kinda scarey, a bunch of old farts acting out seemingly satanic rituals, but i really think it's more or less an overblown fraternity for rich old sob's who have exhausted everything else there is to take interest in...
still, all his productions on the creeping police state do seem to be true, and they're getting bolder and bolder. i've noticed it for a while and always did think it started way before "W."
can't help but hope he's wrong about it getting much worse though.
If you don't have to fly, for God's sake, don't. If you must, avoid the United States if at all possible. You don't need the hassle. Sad to say...
I am "An American in Canada" and I have NO DESIRE to return to the US. I now consider Canada my home and as soon as I qualify for citizenship, I'm going to get it.
My Mom (and rest of family) think I'm crazy of course, but they don't see what I see.
I am traveling to the US for a week in August and I am quite frankly afraid of being there and will be very glad to get back across the border.
Col Kilgore @ 21:
That's the trouble with having some arrogant Repuglican thug in charge of Homeland (how I hate that term) Security.
The assholes make a big show of harrassing people who have absolutely zero chance of being terrorists, stealing people's shampoo, and generally wasting a monumental amount of our time.
Here is why 9/11 happened- aside from the Repug criminal incompetence in ignoring plain warnings about an impending attack:
1) Box cutting knives were not prohibited and the highjackers were allowed to carry them on board. All cutting instruments are now prohibited.
2) Because of lobbying by the airlines, cockpit doors were not secure against invasion from the passenger compartment- and the idea of copying the Israeli policy of using some sort of gas to incapacitate the passengers in case of a planned uprising has not even now been implemented.
*the disgraceful harassment of the passengers (execpt of course the super-rich who own their own planes) is just to keep the fear freak on. Pure and simple, it is thought to benefit the Repugs at the polls.
shuttleworth @ 30:
what you're seeing is people who are probably looking to buy US real-estate and other goods because your currency has been plummeting.
Cantor de Mambo @ 44:
Yeah, I know... I was trying to be optimistic.
What happened on Nonny's flight was stupid, arrogant, a total waste of resources, and meant to instill to foreigners that once you get to US soil, you have no rights (anymore). I wouldn't be very surprised if other countries started reciprocating the interrogations and I wouldn't blame them either. From Nonny's post it sounded like some of the airport workers thought the requirements were stupid waste of time, but did it because they want to keep a job to pay the rent. "‘It’s the law,’ he mumbled, a bit shamefaced, and spouted a few disconnected bits of pre-memorized clichés about terrorism and security before stuttering to a halt and looking away."
I never thought I'd live to see the process of the US becoming a police state, even though history has pointed out time and again that as civilizations/states evolve, a police state is a 'natural' and eventual progression. I just hope that the US police state is very short lived.
GWB, America's first dictator.....
Air travel has become inhuman.
You should have been provided day-rooms with showers and an expansive lounge area. Though I would not balk at the prospect of finger printing and photographing the entire world as they passed through the U.S., plenty of security people rested and armed with kind words would have gone a long way. But no, not in America. Its just to costly, and, we are after all, selfish capitalist pigs and must not be denied our cheap-shit ways.
Ace Armstrong @ 12:
What the hell is this supposed to mean? It make no sense, except the parallel universe!
America is 2 continents, South and North. ONE country on the Northern continent is call the United States of America. You are so full of yourselves to say you are "Americans".
I have learned to say "The states", or the "US", but the rest of you egomaniacal ethnocentrists can't seem to get it.
.Dr. Matt @ 39:
Greg @ 24:
Orwell's Illegitimate Son @ 14:
Living in then West-Berlin I was never treated like that when I travelled to East-Berlin or other socialist countries. No one ever took a photograph let alone fingerprints. All I needed was my GFR passport and some cash for the mandatory money exchange.
To make it short: The USSA is worse than the Soviet Union has ever been.
sorry nonny as useual when its early in the mornings i dont read the post first before i comment, so it seems you are allready in new zealand , good on yah gal, your flight sounds like pure hell, are you sure it wasnt a grayhound bus you were on ? it sounds like the experiences i had going to my ships reunion in san diego in the early 90s, it took over three ungodly days of sheer torture for me, it was so bad that for the first time in my life i did what i said id never do ,get on an air plane to return to indiana, of couse that was before cheny attacked us, so the airplane ride surprised me by not crashing !!!! still want you not to shake that thang at them hostile mories!
shuttleworth @ 30:
BS. Why would anyone want to go to New York?
To quote Homer Simpson, "If you don't like it, move to fucking Russia." Attitudes like yours are what's causing the country to lose the war on terror. I bet you also think McDonald's hamburgers taste like masking tape.
Salmineo @ 74:
to see thoes holes the government made!
Zealander @ 11:
I've longed to visit NZ for years. Any advice on a reliable realtor? We may consider moving there after we visit. I hear it's quite expensive, however.
My recent flight story (7/20/2007) is another horror story..... Had a lovely 3 week vacation in Crete and Athens Greece, wonderful services, hotels, rental cars, ferry staterooms and taxi's. BUT we had to fly back on US Airways, our flight to Greece was not a pleasant experience, it took days for the bruises on my knee caps to fade and today my latest set are just about gone but that particular point is still tender.
BUT this is not the story..... we had a 11:20am flight from Athens to Philli, both myself and my boyfriend are Premier status with star alliance but since we have never flown out of Athens arrived more than 2 hrs early to complete the process. Web check in was a bitch but the actual check in process was a breeze and given a pass to the British Airlines lounge (thank God) which was before security. We left the lounge an hour before our flight to get through security, hey did not have to take off my shoes and the Greek security was like it was prior to 911. BUT TSA has inserted itself into EU countries by asking them to comply to the water restriction. So our bottle of water was gone, sitting in a gate lounge without ANY services except the WC. All commercial vendors are outside of security in the Athens Airport. Ok, not an issue since we will be taking off soon BUT we had a flight delay of 3hrs 50 minutes so in total we waited almost 5 hours without food or water.
The issue was that some cargo in the inbound plane had shifted and wedged against the cargo door which could not be opened by any means. That means that the inbound passengers also did NOT get their bags. The plane was moved, KLM crew worked on the plane and eventually it was cleared BUT still we waited without any knowledge of why.
We were starving and I decided to dash out and back to security to buy food hoping that it would be a fast process which it was BUT running back to the gate, found that they were loading the passengers without any announcement. The flight attendants on US Airways flight was nasty and pretty much surly. Later we found out from one that they were 14 minutes from having the whole flight canceled as they would be outside their flight window for time in the air.
On both flights, the bathrooms ran out of TP, the video system did not work, my hand rest came off in my hand exposing the wiring. At least on the return flight we received MORE than a tiny TV dinner and was fed at regular intervals which was NOT the case of the first international flight.
Because of the flight delay, we missed our connecting flight. It took us an hour for each step, one for immigration, one for customs and one to go through security again even through we never left the airport and went from one part of the same building within a secure building under the watchful eye of someone in uniform.
Over and over again I heard passengers saying they would never fly US Airways but it also was the face of America that non-citizens experienced by the treatment on the flight. I could not speak of the non-citizen immigration/customs process but they did have to fill out the same forms. A fellow passenger was returning home to Canada and had to fill out all those forms just for a couple of hours layover and plane change.
I was shocked how much US TSA processes has invaded and affects how passengers are treated in foreign airports when flying into the USA. Which mean that we went through the Greek TSA screening and THEN prior to entry to the gate lounge, we were screened again where our carry bags were hand searched.
It is too bad that a heavenly vacation was nearly ruined by a US airliner and TSA requirements forced on passengers in an airport not configured to deal with these water restrictions.
the 4th Reich is rising @ 72:
Then, I guess I should more correctly say the "new and improved" Soviet Union.
I get your point totally. Thanks for the post.
Did you explain many of us don't want to be here either!
Cantor de Mambo @ 44:
That was Nonny's conclusion too:
el kanuckistani @ 59:
okay, i'm with you on the americans from the US aren't americans and can see why it would peeve other americans (and i find myself feeling terribly guilty for my previous unintentional arrogance when referring to myself as an American and meaning i'm a citizen of the united states...) but the israel garbage is really soiling your argument- what complete and utter BS!
so a handful of israeli lobby groups have some influence on american foreign policy and domestic politics (supposedly)- but so do neocons, and pharmaceutical companies and many others. by your logic, perhaps we're the US of Lobbyist, or the US of NeoCons, maybe we should call ourselves Lobbyistians, or Neoconians? and what about USA influence in britain- should the Brits start calling themselves Kingdom of United States? stop spreading the effing nazi propaganda. :roll: now thank you for letting ME have my little rant/tirade.
Trevor Valle @ 75:
Going to war against "terror" in the first place is what is causing this country to LOSE the war on terror. You go to war against other humans - Not against "terror" - how can you possibly win? Can you go to war against bad dreams? Or ocean rip tides?
Just because we think this is being terribly handled doesn't mean we should leave. It means we should repair it.
By the way, McDonald's hamburgers taste like shit.
BaScOmBe @ 55:
My post was not very clear. I'm not describing the airport security's actions as being drama queen stuff, I'm talking about a higher level view of our country's attitude and personality as a whole in reaction to 9/11.
pissed off patricia @ 18:
i agree - we can't make it here anymore
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jTW0y6kazWM
All of this is adding up to unify the remainder of the u.s. citizenry who may need a little more convincing.
Sarah @ 83:
If I had a BigMac every time I heard somebody complain about Bigmacs.....I'd be dead.
Trevor Valle @ 75:
I am either not getting the irony, or you are serious, at which point you should check how the US government has misspent the piggy bank left by 8 Clinton years, both in cash, and international goodwill.
Trevor Valle @ 75:
And just who the heck are you to supply alternatives?
Trevor Valle @ 75:
:lol: :lol: :lol:
teh satire is teh funnay/
especially when this post is written by an
americanunited states expat.and mcdonalds hamburgers taste like and probably consist of poo.
Norse @ 88:
you aint getting the message champ ,its our country ,people like you just breath our air while waiting to die! vallie!
Trevor Valle @ 75:
Please go away. Any person who quotes HS, then uses McDonald's in reference to taste, is nothing but a sheep. That is, unless you are doing this in jest?? If that's the case, you are not communicating your humor very well.
You do, however, make a compelling argument for expats everywhere. Better yet, why don't YOU move to the most polluted, desolate area on the planet??? Sounds like you'd be comfortable in a toxic environment!!!
Blessings to you, and masking would be a healthy choice to the mystery meat.
Nonny,
Don't you think you were a little hard on those people at LAX. I mean, they were just following orders...
Trevor Valle @ 75:
you could use a few pounds of that chinese catfish and some good cardboard noodle pods!
Thing Fish @ 93:
so was der gestapo!
I do so weep fopr what this country has become under the cheney/bush administration. The fascist theocrats have taken over, and there is not much other than relive the War for Independence that we can do about it.
I would not travel to this place either, if I lived elsewhere.
pinhead @ 82:
You've been known as Americans all my life. I have no beef with that, and I don't believe I said that.
Almost, all my life, you referred to your country as the US, or the USA or the States.
My rant was about your calling the United States "America.
When I look at US foreign policy, I tend to refer to you as USers, because the spelling is soooo appropriate. When I look at those forming so much of your foreign policy (at least in the Middle East) I tend to lean toward USraelis.
I also grew up thinking that the US was one of the greatest places on the planet. Talk about a fall from grace. I sincerely hope that you as a nation can someday soon return to that position of leadership in the world, and that the rest of the world can have someone to look up to.
Unfortunately, for the moment it's not looking too good.
Hey, maybe that's my beef with you calling it America. You're making two continents look bad, instead of just one country. You decide.
We've allowed Israeli airport procedures/fear to be imported here, just as we have the upcoming wall on the southern border.
Thing Fish @ 96:
That´s the common excuse loads of NAZIS used to utter after the 1 000 year Reich has finally collapsed : "I was just following orders".
Where have you been. He already did... Most of the country slept through it...
tyree @ 98:
It flows downhill until everyone gets it. Comes a time responses need to sharpen. Since everything the u.s. gov't dumps on our heads effects everything and everyone, trusting our honest reactions leads us further along to acting on our own sanity. First in smaller ways, then bigger ones.
Jeremiah @ 36:
Well said.
Man Nonny. that's precisely why I don't see myself flying out of this country ever again-even when I do have the money to do so. I'd rather drive a couple hours to or from BC. It'd probably actually save time.
That said, those sods at LAX probably get treated like the 'just following orders' twats they are every time an Aussie or Kiwi flight comes rolling through there...
Congrats on making it to there.
I've been looking for the trail of a great great great auntie who emigrated to Dunedin, Otago from Manchester in the 1860s...I'll bet she got there in better nick than you...and without all the swelling.
Grey Lady Down?
I have two related stories to relate:
Flying back from Scotland in June through Newark NJ. Went through normal security at Glasgow, went through customs at Newark, NEVER LEFT THE AIRPORT OR A SECURE AREA but was required to go through screening again to get on another plane to my final destination. TSA people rudely tore all of my luggage apart, telling me I had a "complicated picture" (I carry a digital camera and some batteries). When I protested that I had been through security at Glasgow and never left a secure area, they told me to shut up. An incredible waste of time and money to re-screen everyone, let alone the rude and aggressive behavior. I wanted to speak to a supervisor, but my sons dragged me away.
Second story: Newark NJ customs, returning home from Glasgow with my 2 sons, one of whom is an adopted Korean. Handed the agent my form. She looks at my two kids, wants to know (in a very aggressive, huffy tone) just WHO is THAT person, and how is he related to me? Now she has all of our passports, with our names (same last name) and indentifier information, and she is giving me a hard time about my kids? Give me a break. In the name of security? This is a license to be rude and obnoxious, totally out of control. I am certain there are hundreds of stories like mine every day. And an increasing number of people who swear they are not going to travel any more.
Don't think, don't question. Be a 'good German'. Roast up another thousand Jews.
I don't want my son asking me why his friends are calling me a "Good German."
If it wasn't for the TSA, where would all the knee-jerk jerks be? Buford T. Justice...
el kanuckistani @ 100:
US foreign policy is "formed" on the basis of the desire for oil, expansion, and profit. i get so sick of reading comments that insist it's some israeli conspiracy and yours seemed to toe that line. it is about greed and power- plain and simple, and it does not stem from one little country in the middle east alone.
and if i were in canada, i'd be just as wary of my own government, what with the recent conservative-elect. without mentioning that kooky nau tinfoilhattery, don't think canada is any more safe from bad policy and fascism than the US was. just sayin.
ysbaddaden @ 107:
More like Watership Down.
Don't cross the Road!
It's not only tourism that is being affected. Commerce is also suffering. Business people across the globe are finding alternatives to travelling to the US. I know of a British software designer who refuses to travel to the US, for business or pleasure, because of the gratuitous, insulting behaviour displayed by Immigration and Customs.
Nonny, that was a chilling story. It's shameful and outrageous what passengers had to endure for US security. Please tell the folks in New Zealand that this isn't our US anymore. It was stolen from us, and we are desperate to get it back.
Just look at what bush and cheney have done to our US economy, our precious jobs and our precious dollar and our precious Constitution.
We have to remember that Cheney, Bush and advisors, and the "media" are
not only working to undermine our people and Country...
Enter in the North American "media" ..
Look what has happened to the recent elections in...
--> Mexico
Canada
( yes Cheney and Bush are working with corrupt globalists )
They have all been working with the corrupt corporations of America to undermine the people of America.
They have all been working with the corrupt corporations of Canada to undermine the people of Canada.
They have all been working with the corrupt corporations of Mexico to undermine the people of Mexico.
...under the guise of "those bad immigrants"
( dont forget divide and conquer)
While they had us all focused on Iraq ( and the distracted american idol idiots) ...
Make no mistake their is another plan behind the scenes..
NAFTA 2.0...
September 13, 2006
--> Ron Covais, The president of the Americas for defence giant Lockheed Martin, and a former Pentagon adviser to Dick Cheney, he's one of a cherry-picked group of executives who were whisked to Cancún in March by the leaders of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, and asked to come up with a plan for taking North American integration --> beyond NAFTA.
http://oklahomacorridorwatch.com/News/Meet%20NAFTA%202.htm
Back in May 2004...
A summit meeting of the North American International Trade Corridor Partnership, or NAITCP. ...the document was signed by 90 people. Representatives from Canada, the United States and Mexico unite in Kansas City to plan a concentrated strategy as NAITCP moves forward. Just take a look at the Proposed Solutions..
http://www.oklahomacorridorwatch.com/documentation/NAITCP%20summitreport...
Oh Canada..
http://www.canadians.org/water/documents/NA_Future_2025.pdf
Where will North America will be 4 years from now..???
Dont forget…Follow the evil Global plan..
Thats why we are at the CRTICAL POINT .. we need good leaders in EVERY country to respect the people. There is no law without true Sovereignty.
I will just tell you all, I live near a National Guard Base/with landing stripe in Southern Cal. It is like I live near a "MASH" unit. Like what I watch on TV when I was very young. The movement, helicopters, planes, and fighter jets, have increased 10 fold since the administration mention increase threats.
I am afraid they are doing practice runs in preparation for a disaster they will unleash on the LA area.
Does anyone else live near a military base.
I am the director of a major international award for composers. Naturally, some of the winners are not US citizens. A couple of years ago the winner was a very distinguished European composer. Fortunately, although Hungarian, they are also French citizens, so at least they didn't require visas. However, it took a couple of months to persuade them to come to the US for the festivities, as they had heard so many horror stories about entering and leaving the US. On top of that, they were of advanced age (80 and 77, although in excellent shape for their age) and their English wasn't great. OK, but not great. Only the fact that they wouldn't have to get visas (and I had to fax them the relevant pages from the State Department website, since they don't do email) convinced them to come. I was on tenterhooks the day they were travelling. They don't do cell phones, either, so I just had to trust they made their flights and connections. Their last flight was a bit late, but they hadn't had any hassles when they went through customs and immigration.
All went well until they left. I escorted them to security, where I had to leave them, although I stayed to watch and make sure they got through. To my horror, I saw them take her aside, go through her belongings and pat her down. Remember, this was a 77-year-old woman, a very distinguished musician and teacher in her own right. What in the world did they think she was going to do? Of course I couldn't say or do anything, as that would only have made matters worse, but it was truly mortifying. When they called to say they had made arrived home, they were very gracious about the incident, but I can only imagine what they thought, and what they told their friends and colleagues (who include some of the most important classical musicians in the world).
Lots of performers (classical and otherwise) have had to cancel US tours because of burdensome requirements, or being refused visas. In one of my favorite examples, the cellist of a well-known European string quartet couldn't get a visa because as a teenage exchange student in the US some 20-odd years ago, he had shoplifted something (I think it was a pair of scissors, worth a couple of bucks, but don't remember for sure). The quartet cancelled their tour. I could see it if he had committed any kind of violent crime, but a shoplifting misdemeanor? C'mon!
Thanks, Nonny, and hope we continue to hear from you. My daughter, a nurse, is headed to NZ. I'm in communication with someone in Christchurch, and he says there are more & more American expats all the time. He had the sense to leave as soon as Bush was installed.
I have been traveling to the US once a month for a while now, on business, and yes, the security hysteria is simply amazing. However, the reason I believe people from my part of the world (scandinavia) do not go to the US on vacation is that the women refuse to travel there. My wife and the wifes of my colleagues can not be convinced that the US is not thoroughly evil and will not go there with us for a vacation. And if the women refuse to go there for a summer vacation... well, then the rest of the family wont go either.
And it is rather sad. Specially because every single american I have met on my business trips has been overwhelmingly hospitable, friendly and warm. But it does not matter. People over here are generally sick of how the US has conducted its matters the last years. And it is not really the blood and gore we get served every night on the news. It is rather the lies, the self pity, the nations apathy and willingness to be hearded like sheep, the arrogance, the untermench-ization of anyone non-jewish living in the middle east and the rise of facism in general.
I had a Norwegian couple visiting here last week. Both with a university degree, he is a writer, she is a scenograph, liberals, agnostics, parents. Through and through a typical scandinavian couple. But when I told them a bit about my work and from there the conversation whent to discussing the US in general, she got physically ill and had to leave the room.
Changing this is not going to be simple.
(The only funny thing I found about US airport security was the security guy in Boston that held up my deodorant stick in one hand and my shaving soap (solid) in the other and told me to choose wich I wanted to keep, or as he put it: "I have to confiscate something!" :)
GalfromCal @ 116:
i do not live near a military base, but i live near an airport (louis armstrong international), and, yeah, since chertoff's gut feeling and all that jazz, i have have definitely noticed an increase in activity. every time i notice it, someone calms me down and says it's just routine training, they have to mix it up every once in a while. first time i've seen them in a good while though.
pinhead, thanks for your reply. I have to tell you they fly over my house all day. The helicopters are the worse. The sound just "thumps" in my house and when I am outside I raise my third finger to them or give them an Italian "shove it". My neighbor tells me they can't see me, but I don't care. They are approaching this base with armament as they fly over homes and schools. It worries me that their equipment could fail. It is the U.S. military equipment, (not well maintained).
Nonny,
Bad flight aside for the moment. I wish the best of life in your beautiful new land.
Interesting article.
I'm from the UK and have been to the US three times.
All three were great holidays , Florida x 2 , NY-Las Vegas + San Francisco for my honeymoon.
The can-do attitide of the people we met was infectious , I just love the place.
But I'm afraid we'll be looking elsewhere next time - fingerprinting,photographing and now very personal information is just to much for me. Guilty until proven innocent is no way to treat guests in your country.
Would love to come back , perhaps in 09? :)
I respectfully disagree. [Deleted. Fabricated theist claptrap. So you were there? Sitemonitor]
Left Behind Advocate @ 124:
To each his/her own: KNOW YOUR FINGERPRINTS. Know your image/photo. Know your boobs/buttt (while getting 'patted-down' ). Where was it in your bible ? My Jesus was never into ANY of it. Yours is certainly made in USSR/ USSA, with a NAZI hallo above.
[Quote edited-Sitemonitor]
We thought to avoid the hassles of flying this summer and drove roundtrip, Vermont to California to Vermont, visiting family and wandering off the beaten path.
We arrive at Mt. Rushmore. Beautiful! We park the car (in a new multi-level facility) and leave the dog inside despite the heat (no dogs allowed at the mountain). On approach to the gates, I have a deja vu feeling -- am I at an airport? Everyone is queueing up for a search of self and handbags.
The delightful guards (why do these guys have NO sense of humor) ask me, "Do you have a pocket knife or pepper spray?" I decide to bite my cheek and shake my head "no." I glance surreptitiously at my husband who is emptying his pockets. My guard proceeds to rummage though my purse, rifling through every nook and cranny, pocket and pouch.
Okay... what the HECK did they think I would do with my pocket knife or pepper spray?
Take over Mt. Rushmore? Disarm a guard with my pepper spray, steal his gun, and shoot George Washington in the face? Huh?
Quite franklly, with a parking garage that vast, why aren't they checking cars? One suicide bomber and "oops" there goes the hillside. I just wonder about these things. Nobody even looked inside our car as we pulled into pay our fee. But...
After the purse search, we giggled over scenarios while we spent all of ten minutes at the monument. They'd taken any semblance of "fun" out of the experience. I was hot and tired, AND I could compare this US Govt experience to our previous stop.
Down the road, at the Crazy Horse Memorial, things were quite different. They welcomed us with big smiles and told us our dog was also welcome anywhere we went, just hold him if we went inside shops. He's only 12 pounds and that would work for us. The entrance fee is a bit more than US Parks, but the Lakota Nation (I think?) is NOT taking any money from the government. No. Nada. Nope. Thank goodness. They are so smart not to take a dime. And it's a beautiful monument, with so many terrific ideas for the entire area. I would return to that part of the Black Hills.
I agree with the idea that we need to rethink how we approach these issues. Why don't we talk to nations who have lived with terrorism for a lot longer than we have? Why don't we have a summit and find out what works and what doesn't? Every time some idjit with half a brain attempts some asinine "assault" on the airlines (or a city or a building or a transit line) we all end up having to take off our shoes or dump our water bottles or.. who knows what's next?
We are constantly playing catch up with the latest fad when what we really need to do is HAVE A PLAN and TRUST ourselves. Maybe I'm naive. But I don't think this way is working, so what's the difference.
Oh, I just saw Bill Maher's routine. He's calling for a "Fly at Your Own Risk" Airlines. Good idea.
On the back of the ticket: shit happens.
the 4th Reich is rising @ 102:
Yes. I was being sarcastic. (Really need to come up with a better visual clue than ellipsis. ^_^)
Left Behind Advocate @ 124:
I don't know Jesus's piece, at least not in the Biblical sense.
pinkythebrain @ 103:
you aint seen nothing yet!wait untill moveing day! to the death camps!
This sort of travel horror story is common now because the people with power and influence don't have to deal with this kind of harrassment. Travel is segregated by class.
The Richard Mellon Scaifes, Bill Gateses and Rupert Murdochs of this world, and the army of hired CEOs they deal with, fly by private jet, the use of which has boomed in recent years. Fractional jet ownership and leasing allows even medium sized companies and garden variety wealthy people ($10 mill net worth and up) can avoid most travel on airlines.
If you have enough to be one of Bush's Rangers (min contribution: $250,000), you have enough to fly privately.
Congressmen, Senators, cabinet members, senior bureaucrats and military staff now get to fly on gov't planes, with the excuse that public travel jeopardizes national security.
And if such important people did have to travel on an airline, does anyone think they would have to stand in line for hours or be fingerprinted like Nonny was? Not on your life.
Left Behind Advocate @ 124:
I respectfully disagree. ... This is just pure BS story used to generate book sales.
Talk about passive aggressive.
Thing Fish @ 127:
I´ve probably missed the sarcasm due to being a non native English speaker.
pinhead @ 111:
The "oil, expansion, and profit" bother me at a personal level, seeing as Canada has lots of oil, and you can guess how being so near makes the expansion part a little worrysum.
Obviously you miss the part about middle east policy. why would the USA be so concerned about that little rock pile known as Israel if there wasn't a very powerful lobby group helping set policy?
And don't you think for one second that I'm not concerned about the fools running Canada right now. Harper is just bushlite. Luckily for us he has a minority government. Unluckily the opposition has no leader. Sort of makes them like the rest of America (North).
Oh, and there's no tin hat here.
i am a 68 year old grandmother and american citizen. i flew from california to philadelphia to see my children and grandchlidren. to travel i had to take off my shoes and at the philadelphia airport have my purse searched by a muslim women with an attitude. it is not only people from other countries that are treated badly. i am sorry that you were treated badly. this country should be better than that and used to be .
helen kenney
Left Behind Advocate @ 124:
Err.. you mean to tell us that your Church has some kind of special exception to the Homeland Security procedures? That your members coming in from abroad do not get fingerprinted or put through the onerous searches? You mean to tell us that your Christianist faction has some kind of inside job going on inside the government, and the securocracy apparatus, which enables your members to sail through all those "security" precautions with ease? You mean that you are now officially addmitting to having succeeded in perverting the government to your fascist ends?
Go on, don't be shy. Flaunt it some more. Give us more details of your new "privileges", not available to us, mere commoners.
[Quote edited-Sitemonitor]
Noony Mouse has cleavage!! ;-)
Best of luck in New Zealand!!
Wish I could be there!
New Jersey?
helen kenney @ 134:
Huh? How do you know you were searched by a muslim woman? Did you ask her to fill a form?
What the world needs right now is MORE international travel, not less. We need every opportunity we can get for people of different nations to meet up, and recognize that it's not US vs. THEM -- it's all US. We are humans, zipping through space on the same planet, borders be damned. Meeting people from other countries, whether they've come here to the US, or I've gone overseas, is always an eye-opening experience. We need more of this if we are going to find peace in the world.
It's so sad to see that we are actively discouraging people from visiting our great country.
In 1995 I didn't like the look of the way things were going in the US. I was in a job that put me a little too close to how politics/corporations really work and I learned some things that made it less and less easy to believe that the United States was really the same country I thought it was when I was growing up. I took three years to move from the US to the UK - moving money out slowly and in amounts totalling less than 9000 USD each time (10,000 USD and over is automatically reported to the Fed), selling my car, getting all my belongings down to one suitcase, that sort of thing. I left for good in 1998, though I returned to the US three times to visit friends left behind from 1999-2003. After 2001 it was increasingly difficult to enter and depart the states with anything close to the ease or efficiency of the process before 2001.
I tried to return again in 2003, but was detained upon arrival in a small room for 22 hours by customs and immigration/Homeland Security wanting to know if I had been paying US taxes the entire time I was living in the UK and - if so - where were my tax forms?
I don't travel with my tax returns, nor have I ever heard of anyone who does. They wanted to know what I was doing in America and what was the last election I voted in and who was I visiting and how much money I was carrying and so on and so forth, on and on and on, the same questions over and over again. I finally told them I was tired and jetlagged, put my head down on the table and slept a while before they came back, shook me awake and started all over again.
I was finally instructed to collect all my tax information and report immediately to the American Embassy upon my return to London, and until then I would be put at the 'red level' of the no-fly list. I didn't know what "red level" meant but they reminded me of nothing more than a big bully with a new toy to intimidate others with and maybe they were just making that part up because it sounded scarier. I could then - after a period of review and evaluation and financial audit - perhaps be allowed to enter the US at a future date. Then they deported me back to the UK after relieving me of all 900 GB pounds in travellers cheques to pay what they called an "exit duty." I found a 20 pound note they missed in my coat (it had fallen through a hole in the lining of the pocket) and was able to get a train ticket from Gatwick to Paddington. I was never so happy to come home in my life. Nor shall I step foot into the forecourt of the American Embassy since that will place me right back on American soil.
On the flight home I was thinking. It didn't seem right to me anymore that a person pops out of their mum on one place on earth or another and that the "owner" of that bit of the earth feels they have a hold or claim on that person. In brief, I became more and more convinced that the US govt felt they owned me. If this were a relationship with a person I would consider it abusive and leave. No person owns me, I belong to myself. Where I live now I have a much clearer sense of contributing to my community (Britain) and in turn being cared for by them (free healthcare and in Wales, free prescription medicine as well, just to give one example). As far as I am concerned, Uncle Sam and I are divorced. I understand "security" and "safety" has a price, only it seems it's always the regular average citizen who ends up footing the bill.
I miss many things about America. I dream its landscapes and remember the energy and passion of its people - I celebrate it time and again in my memories, but until America is restored to a constitutional republic I will never return. The price of admission is just too high.
Sometimes you have to pick your battles, though I truly think the battle to save the country you thought you had gown up in has now been left too late. When that happens the only thing you can really do is to get out of the way of the steamroller.
As an Australian married to an American, with us both living in Australia ( thankyou universal and preventative health care among other things that made us chose Australia to live rather than the US ) I still have to travel to the US frequently for work, begrudgingly and reluctantly.
The entire US entry system works from the arrogant standpoint that we should all be "extremely thankful" that we are possibly deemed worthy enough to be granted entry. Most people are proud of their own countries too, but we all fail to see how going through a process of humiliation and violation to enter and leave the US does anything but break the myth that "everyone would live in the US if they could". I'm a prime example of that. The wife and I chose Australia as we think right now, it's a much better place to live. Looks like our penalty for this is exacted upon entry back to the US each time.
LAX surely wins the award for worst airport in the western world. The baggage handlers are completely incompetent and the process for checking in on departure is insane. At times, one almost thinks they're doing it just to test the limits of how far they can push you before you get frustrated enough to hit someone.
And yes, on arrival, we are treated like criminals, with poorly manned immigration booths ( maybe 3 will be open for 400 people when there are 10 booths ) finger printed, photographed and kept for decades. And I have to repeat the process each time, all the while strange middle aged women airport officials stand in various places, shouting at us where to go, although obviously, in a corridor you come from one way you can only go out the other way....your tax dollars at work.
Don't get me wrong, I love many aspects of the US. Certainly once actually in the country, it's quite lovely. But most of the rest of the world would like to be treated like human beings, and are happy to put up with useful competent security measures rather than the usual inept incompetence the US has to offer. It's like they're coping with these problems for the first time, as if the rest of the world, and all it's accumulated experience never existed to tap. As a result, it looks like it'll be a good 20-30 years before anyone in charge of anything will realize the best most efficient ways to do anything...and that's being optimistic.
Sorry guys, but I will never be visiting for tourism thanks to my treatment. I only begrudgingly come for work.
As a brief side note, I've been in transit in New Zealand, on the way to the US before, and that was also a horrific experience, though not quite as much as the US. We too were made to wait in a small cubicle area designed for maybe 50 people and not 300, with little if any access to anything and forced to go through secondary security searches before getting back on the plane, despite never leaving the cattle hearing area. I hope New Zealand has rectified this now, and probably has as it was a few years ago.
( And never mention you're connected with the movie industry at entry to NZ, as they'll take you asside and virtually strip search you for drugs. It's an immediate red flag apparently! )
the 4threich is rising
she and another employee were wearing the muslin headdress for women. what bothered me most was the attitude show to the passagers.
This is goddamned ridiculous!
Did they speak with over blown german accents as well? "Vee need ur paperz."
That is not terribly surprising. I remember a few years back working on a contract in San Antonio, I had to get through US Customs in Toronto. I presented my passport, my visa, a copy of diploma, my resume and a letter from the employer. The individual in question perused the documents, then through the sheaf of papers down with disgust and said 'Why can't we get an American to do this!' Then he thrust the papers back at me and grudgingly let me through. On another flight I was with a medical researcher who was going to San Fransisco to be a keynote speaker at a medical conference. Even though she had the agenda for the meeting, with her name on it, she couldn't persuade them that she intended to come back when she was through. Finally after about three hours, and with five minutes to spare, they let her on her flight. I had to come back the next day.
On a recent flight (domestic US), we all were shuffling in the security queue. Looked down and saw somebody had lost their ID. The guy in front of me picked it up, and we exchanged worried glances, and I said, "We need to find this guy before he goes through."
So, we looked at the ID, looked around, didn't see him right away.
The guy holding the ID, spoke clearly and firmly, "[name] I have your ID. [Name] I have your ID." Some others picked up on this and began repeating his name. This, over about 10 seconds or so.
It became obvious he was about to walk through, somebody tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to look and saw us, with his ID in the air. At the same time, the DHS people went nuts! "No yelling, gimme that ID, I'll lock it up for when he calls, etc..."
"but he's right there! Just hand it to him!"
"We've gotta check this out, could be a fake, etc...."
What a load of crap! Before the annoying DHS people could squelch the exchange, the guy holding the ID, handed it to another, extending their hand in line, and it was passed to the person who dropped it.
The DHS people came back to us, asked us a lot of questions, harassed the guy who spoke up, and gave us all stern warnings about talking in line, etc...
Fuck! This just isn't the place I grew up in. In that place, people helped one another out. Now, it's as if at any minute the world is gonna end, if you don't just keep your head down and shit cash when you are told.
Most in Canada are just waking up to the NAU deal. It really smells bad though. They are doing it under the guise of the NAFTA agreements. I see it as a direct challenge to all involved sovereignty and national identity. That aside.. Canada seems to be the country with the less to gain and most to lose. Both Canada and USA are on hook to finance upgrades to Mexicos infrastructure. I can see a cheap slow bleed on Canadas oil and natural resources. No provision in it to maintain Canadas health care either. Canadas military could come under control of US command under real or imagined conditions.I prefer to keep things as they are. Good fences make for better neighbors. I cant see any benefit to the average Canadians way of life at all. The fact that this is being rammed down our throats or up our butts if you prefer in secret without Parlimentary or Congressional debate and consent and zero public input is an insult to all North Americans in general. Toss freedom of self determination out the window too with the other lost rights. There is a registered and legal Federal Political Party in Canada called the Canadian Action Party. Two of their main platforms include re opening the 911 investigation ( some have serious doubts) and the disclosure and exposure of the backroom NAU deal. Their website has some interesting NAU info.www.canadianactionparty.ca Will be up to average person to educate others on this nation busting bad deal. Wont be seeing it in the media. Only Lou Dobbs has had the gonads to question it so far. If it is such a good idea ? lets talk again after the corrupt bastards in all countries are but a bad memory. Canadians immediately suspect anything with Bush and Harper too involved. With good reason too.
"Your papers please!"
...man, trembling, reaches into breast-pocket and pulls out some folded papers. Hands them to the uniformed man, flanked by two expressionless and fully armed guards.
"Your papers have expired!"
...man, eyes darting left and right, nervously reaches into pocket, searching for additional papers and documents. Then he bolts for his freedom.
"SHOOT HIM! SHOOT HIM!" the uniformed man orders the guards.
...rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat... the man crumbles on the floor.
His papers had expired.
CafeenMan @ 6:
Not to quibble to much on this, but the financial impact is only one of the angles to conisder with this. The greater idea, that international travellers are less likely to visit -or even stop-over - in the US has a far wider impact on international business as well.
And it isn't such a big leap to think this sort of thing could be implemented on every type of flght domestically.
But it could be worse:
Why deport first, ask questions later? (Canadian)
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/196958
"9-Year-Old Canadian Citizen and Iranian Parents Arrive in Toronto After Six Weeks in Texas Immigration Jail"
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/22/1414201
A family, deported from Canada back to Iran when their asylum was denied. They were tortued in Iran, and fled when finally released. Enroute back to Cnada (where they now had Asylum), they were detained in Texas on a stop-over, and held in an immigration Prison.
So, you see, the actual economic impact is much greater than the tourism indiustry.
I was refused entry to the US last week.
Was headed down to Seattle to watch a Mariners game, had seats right behind the dugout, whole family going down from Vancouver, and I was refused. No explanation why, but rather than ruin my familiy's day, I told them to go ahead to the game and I'd find my own way home.
That's before I knew I was in for 45 minutes of 'processing' so they could do the paperwork for my refusal before they'd give my ID back, then fingerprints and mugshot taken, bag searched, frogmarched through the building in front of hundreds of other travelers, and then shoved out the door to find my own way home.
The comical bit? When they told me to leave, I stopped at a restroom to have a pee, then when I came out realized I was in a Washington State park. I was IN THE US.
So I wandered around for a few hours, marveling at how someone could be denied entry and then sent out into the country they'd just been denied entry to, then walked back into Canada, then 45 minutes down a highway before I found a bus stop to get home.
Great day.
Still don't know why I was singled out and denied. No criminal record. Married with a kid. Canadian resident from a 'friendly white country'. I guess someone was short on their quota.
FEAR is the only thing the reich wing fascists of the Republithug party has for an issue. With the dollar worth almost nothing, it sure gets very expensive for us to travel overseas. In Norway, Sweden and Iceland, they will not even take a dollar. It's worth about 15 cents in their money. We can thank the talabangelous who always vote Republithug so they can over turn abortion rights. Just how many years will it take for them to take all our freedoms away? With Boosh, we are on the fast track to martial law that will finish off the freedoms we had.
"It's the law"
Is it? Really?
What right do they have to fingerprint and photograph anyone who is not under arrest (Other than the fact America is pretty much now a nazi police state)?
Login or Register to post comments.