November 12, 2004

US still hates foreigners. News at 11. *sigh* I just received an email from a friend of mine, who flew back into the US yesterday.

There is a new rule in effect from the Dept. of Homeland Security by which all internationals with a background/research expertise in bio, bioengineering, biomedical sciences, nanoscience and related fields, will have their bags checked at Customs as well as face an informal interview regarding their research here. This is on return to the u.s. and is technically supposed to happen only the first time you enter the u.s. from now on.
Allow an extra hour at customs for this. As it happens, this doesn't make me mad, just sad.
posted by polychrome 20 years ago
  • I bet the Anthrax bomber is glad he was already in the US before this happened. Anybody remember the Anthrax bomber? Anyone?
  • awww, c'mon - we don't hate foreigners, we're trying to spend more time with the more educated ones - we must enjoy the pleasure of their company.
  • The criteria cited, assuming they are correct, are so broad as to include practically any physical scientist.
  • Anybody remember the Anthrax bomber? Anyone? Not to derail, but didn't the Anthrax bomber target liberal news media and liberal politicians (Daschle)? Maybe they do know who he is, but just like his style too much to prosecute.
  • This is kind of preemptive shaudenfreud, but if another terrorist attack occurs, I'm hoping that it will be a homegrown Timothy McVeigh type. It would be fun to watch the right wing chase its own tail.
  • I am all for tinfoil-hattery, but included in the list of 'liberal news media' targetted by Santa Anthrax was the New York Post. Daily fishwrap, lowest of the low. Part of NewsCorp, owned by Rupert Murdoch. NOT liberal.
  • Not that it *means* anything, you know, just an interesting (to me) comment in regards to an interesting comment in response to an interesting comment that was tangential to the original post. What was I saying?
  • I got an e-mail from a friend that said Bush is a lizard who molests children in his secret volcano liar with all his nazi friends only it was spelled BU$H!! lOL1!
  • WOAH now I got an email that says that nostrildamus predicted farenheit 9-11 holy fuck i shit my pants
  • GYOFBFW.
  • Yes sir :(
  • The anthrax case disappeared too quickly. Too much hysteria afoot not to use to repressive advantage. Something very embarrassing was uncovered, I suspect.
  • The tinfoil hat bit of the anthrax case was that strains of anthrax are apparently possible to trace - there are only so many known in the world, and they can be tracked back to particular labs and institutions. The anthrax mailer case dropped out of the press shortly after it came out that the strain being used was one bred in US millitary labs. WashPo article here. So yeah, orococo, probably something very embarrassing. Even Operation Northwoods embarrassing?
  • What's embarrassing about Operation Northwoods? Dumb idea gets drafted 40 years ago, gets shot down.
  • a) Dumb idea includes plans to have US agencies murder US citizens on own soild to raise cries of "terra" against Cuba. b) Dumb idea gets signatures of millitary-intelligence community to general staff level and only gets shot down by Defence Secretary. Can you honestly, seriously not understand what's wrong with the idea it might be acceptable to go around murdering your own civilians to provide an excuse to invade another country? And what's wrong with the fact no-one in the chain of command until it hit McNamara and Kennedy said, "No, we are here to protect these United States, not kill it's people?"
  • Come on, Rodger, work with me here. Of course the plan is disgusting. I can only imagine the level of Cold War paranoia that could inspire it. However, I can decry it as evil without finding it embarrassing. Per your last point: that's why the armed forces report to civilian authority, and why one of the titles of the American President is Commander-In-Chief. Ultimately, the plan was never executed, indeed never came close to fulfillment. So I can't summon your level of outrage. Try me on Tuskegee instead.
  • Frankly, I kinda pity the poor Custom's agent that has to sit through my spiel about my work on the chromosomal coordination of asynchronous replication of random monoallelicly expressed genes in EBV-transformed primary lymphoblasts.