Re: Foreign Travelers Face Fingerprints and Jet Lag

2004-10-04 Thread Major Variola (ret)
At 08:30 PM 10/3/04 +, Justin wrote:
On 2004-10-03T13:32:36-0500, J.A. Terranson wrote:

 The US *is* the Fourth Reich.

Personally, I will take what comes.

You will make fine soap.





Re: Foreign Travelers Face Fingerprints and Jet Lag

2004-10-03 Thread Peter Gutmann
R. A. Hettinga [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

NEWARK, Sept. 30 - Laetitia Bohn walked into Newark Liberty International
Airport on Thursday, dazed and sleepy after an eight-hour flight from Paris,
and was jolted from her reverie when an immigration officer asked for her
photograph and fingerprints along with her passport.

The US now has the dubious distinction of being more obnoxious to get through
the borders than the former East Germany (actually even without this measure,
the checks had become at least as obnoxious as the East German ones).  I
wonder whether the next step will be building a wall...

Peter (who'll be thinking really hard about any future conference trips to the
   US).



Re: Foreign Travelers Face Fingerprints and Jet Lag

2004-10-03 Thread Steve Furlong
On Sun, 2004-10-03 at 05:18, Peter Gutmann wrote:

 The US now has the dubious distinction of being more obnoxious to get through
 the borders than the former East Germany (actually even without this measure,
 the checks had become at least as obnoxious as the East German ones).  I
 wonder whether the next step will be building a wall...

Reign in the overheated rhetoric. The East German state built their wall
to keep the East Germans from leaving, while the US policies are meant
to keep out a demonstrated threat.

Now, we can productively discuss the effectiveness of the US
government's actions (ie, not very damn effective), but that's a
different topic.




Re: Foreign Travelers Face Fingerprints and Jet Lag

2004-10-03 Thread Eugen Leitl
On Fri, Oct 01, 2004 at 09:43:04PM -0400, R. A. Hettinga wrote:

  It was more easy to visit before, she said. But I will still come back.

Well, no, I won't. (And quite a number of others).

No biometrics ID for me either.

-- 
Eugen* Leitl a href=http://leitl.org;leitl/a
__
ICBM: 48.07078, 11.61144http://www.leitl.org
8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A  7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE
http://moleculardevices.org http://nanomachines.net


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Re: Foreign Travelers Face Fingerprints and Jet Lag

2004-10-03 Thread Peter Gutmann
Steve Furlong [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
On Sun, 2004-10-03 at 05:18, Peter Gutmann wrote:
The US now has the dubious distinction of being more obnoxious to get through
the borders than the former East Germany (actually even without this measure,
the checks had become at least as obnoxious as the East German ones).  I
wonder whether the next step will be building a wall...

Reign in the overheated rhetoric. The East German state built their wall to
keep the East Germans from leaving, while the US policies are meant to keep
out a demonstrated threat.

I never made any comment about who's keeping what in or out (the wall was
officially an anti-fascist protection barrier, also meant to keep out a
demonstrated threat).  What I was pointing out was that having been through
both East German and US border controls, the US ones were more obnoxious.

Peter.



Re: Foreign Travelers Face Fingerprints and Jet Lag

2004-10-03 Thread J.A. Terranson

On Sun, 3 Oct 2004, Steve Furlong wrote:

 On Sun, 2004-10-03 at 05:18, Peter Gutmann wrote:

  The US now has the dubious distinction of being more obnoxious to get through
  the borders than the former East Germany (actually even without this measure,
  the checks had become at least as obnoxious as the East German ones).  I
  wonder whether the next step will be building a wall...

 Reign in the overheated rhetoric. The East German state built their wall
 to keep the East Germans from leaving, while the US policies are meant
 to keep out a demonstrated threat.

(1) There are also a number of non-rebar+concrete walls in place to keep
US citizens from leaving;

(2) The demonstrated threat folks are not generally the ones being
targetted.

The US *is* the Fourth Reich.

-- 
Yours,

J.A. Terranson
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
0xBD4A95BF

  ...justice is a duty towards those whom you love and those whom you do
  not.  And people's rights will not be harmed if the opponent speaks out
  about them.  Osama Bin Laden
- - -

  There aught to be limits to freedom!George Bush
- - -

Which one scares you more?



Re: Foreign Travelers Face Fingerprints and Jet Lag

2004-10-03 Thread Justin
On 2004-10-03T13:32:36-0500, J.A. Terranson wrote:
 
 The US *is* the Fourth Reich.

Personally, I will take what comes.

-- 
The old must give way to the new, falsehood must become exposed by truth,
and truth, though fought, always in the end prevails.  -- L. Ron Hubbard 



Re: Foreign Travelers Face Fingerprints and Jet Lag

2004-10-03 Thread Bill Stewart
At 07:22 AM 10/3/2004, Steve Furlong wrote:
On Sun, 2004-10-03 at 05:18, Peter Gutmann wrote:
 The US now has the dubious distinction of being more obnoxious to get 
through
 the borders than the former East Germany (actually even without this 
measure,
 the checks had become at least as obnoxious as the East German ones).  I
 wonder whether the next step will be building a wall...
There's already a wall / fence built to keep Mexicans out.
Reign in the overheated rhetoric. The East German state built their wall
to keep the East Germans from leaving, while the US policies are meant
to keep out a demonstrated threat.
They're primarily intended to create a climate of fear and dependence
and reassure the American public that the government's in charge.

Bill Stewart  [EMAIL PROTECTED] 



Foreign Travelers Face Fingerprints and Jet Lag

2004-10-03 Thread R. A. Hettinga
http://nytimes.com/2004/10/01/politics/01airports.html?pagewanted=printposition=

The New York Times

October 1, 2004

Foreign Travelers Face Fingerprints and Jet Lag
By RACHEL L. SWARNS

EWARK, Sept. 30 - Laetitia Bohn walked into Newark Liberty International
Airport on Thursday, dazed and sleepy after an eight-hour flight from
Paris, and was jolted from her reverie when an immigration officer asked
for her photograph and fingerprints along with her passport.

 The officer took a digital scan of her left index finger, then her right,
and then snapped her picture with a tiny camera. The entire process took
only a few seconds, but for Ms. Bohn, a 29-year-old tourist from France, it
was an unnerving symbol of how much the United States had changed since the
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

It made me feel kind of guilty, like a prisoner, Ms. Bohn said. You can
feel the difference since 9/11. I was in New York seven years ago and
people were happy to have visitors. I don't think it's the case anymore.

 And so the day went - with a click of a camera and sharply conflicting
emotions as foreign visitors across the country arrived at American
airports, where officials for the first time began photographing and
electronically fingerprinting travelers from 27 industrialized nations,
including longtime allies like England, France, Germany, Spain, Japan and
Australia.

The policy shift, which was announced in April and took effect on Thursday,
will affect about 13 million visitors each year from 22 European countries
as well as Brunei, Singapore, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, who can
currently travel to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa.

 The change was made after intelligence reports indicated that terrorists
might take advantage of that provision, which allows travelers from Europe
and other industrialized countries to travel to the United States with
little scrutiny.

Until now, only travelers who needed visas to visit the United States were
fingerprinted and photographed at American airports in a program started in
January to ensure that suspected terrorists, criminals and violators of
immigration law do not enter the country. The program, which is now
expected to screen about 20 million foreign visitors at 115 airports and 14
seaports annually, is the latest security measure to affect foreign
visitors since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Last year, American embassies and consulates around the world began
collecting digital fingerprints from foreigners applying for visas.

 And beginning this fall, officials will require overseas visitors at some
airports and seaports to be fingerprinted and photographed before they
leave the United States to monitor whether visitors are in fact returning
to their home countries.

 America has been a welcoming country and it continues to be one, but in
the post-9/11 era it has been necessary to make sure we know who is
traveling to our country, said Commissioner Robert C. Bonner, who directs
the customs and border protection unit at the Department of Homeland
Security.

Reaction from foreign governments was mostly muted. But some officials said
the policy raised privacy concerns. Japanese officials said they had asked
that the fingerprints and photographs be deleted when their citizens leave
this country.

We understand the necessity of the U.S.'s new measures, Motohisa Suzuki,
who coordinates antiterrorism programs for Japan's Cabinet Office, said on
Thursday. But Mr. Suzuki added, We need to be fully discreet about the
handling of the private information.

Airline and airport officials were bracing for longer lines on Thursday.
But customs officials, who surveyed about 20 airports on Thursday
afternoon, said that only 40 of the 1,500 flights reported slower than
normal waiting times attributed to the new procedures.

Officials noted, however, that September was typically a slow month for
overseas arrivals and that Thursday was typically a quiet travel day.

So far, so good, said Joseph A. Cardinale, acting port director for
passport control at the Newark airport. We've had the experience of doing
the fingerprints and the photographs for several months now, so it's not
new to the officers. That's a tremendous help.''

Tourists greeted the system with a mixture of nonchalance and irritation.

 Bruce Reid, a 59-year-old doctor from Australia, said he did not object.
I haven't got a criminal record, so it doesn't worry me much, said Dr.
Reid, who flew into Los Angeles.

 Marleen Maas, 43, a homemaker from Frankfurt, disagreed.

What's next? Are they going to take pieces of my hair, too? asked Ms.
Maas, who flew into Miami to visit her daughter. It didn't take long, but
it made me feel like a criminal.

In Newark, Marc Eisenchteter of Paris said the process moved efficiently.
Ms. Bohn agreed and said that despite her misgivings she would still return
to the United States.

 It was more easy to visit before, she said. But I will still come back

Re: Foreign Travelers Face Fingerprints and Jet Lag

2004-10-03 Thread Thomas Shaddack
On Sun, 3 Oct 2004, J.A. Terranson wrote:

 (1) There are also a number of non-rebar+concrete walls in place to keep
 US citizens from leaving;

Please elaborate?