Air America breaking news: "USA to fingerprint ALL visitors !!!"

"AJC" wrote in message
...
Having finger-prints taken for a driving licence? Maybe in Cuba, the
former DDR, or some other 'big brother' regime, but certainly not in
any free country. Finger-printing is for criminals.


So how can we identify a person other than fingerprints? Passports, DLs, and
every other form of ID have been no problem to duplicate for terrorists.

In article ,
"Brian" writes:

"AJC" wrote in message
...
Having finger-prints taken for a driving licence? Maybe in Cuba, the
former DDR, or some other 'big brother' regime, but certainly not in
any free country. Finger-printing is for criminals.


So how can we identify a person other than fingerprints? Passports, DLs, and
every other form of ID have been no problem to duplicate for terrorists.

Fingerprints aren't reliable, either. It seems that a number of agents
of the former Iraqi regime, and Al-Queda agents as well, have been
found travelling under Kuwaiti papers, with the appropriate
fingerprints on file. It seems that when Iraq took Kuwait in 1990,
Saddam's intel folks took the opportunity to plant some sleeper IDs,
and they've been renting them out.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster

On Sat, 3 Apr 2004 10:04:43 -0500, "Brian"
wrote:


"AJC" wrote in message
.. .
Having finger-prints taken for a driving licence? Maybe in Cuba, the
former DDR, or some other 'big brother' regime, but certainly not in
any free country. Finger-printing is for criminals.


So how can we identify a person other than fingerprints? Passports, DLs, and
every other form of ID have been no problem to duplicate for terrorists.

You could always wait for the biometric passports to arrive. The
reason the fingerprinting is being extended is that thebiometric
passports mandated by the US congress are running a little late (for
example the UK expects to have them available frommid-2005).

Oh, and just curious, but what's stopping the terrorists using
Canadian or US passports?

I'm just glad I get an exemption from the process thanks to a nice
shiny government visa, because otherwise I would *ot* come to the US
again as I object to being fingerprinted without even being accused of
a crime...or indeed of a crime even haivng been committed I could be
accused of.

---
Peter Kemp

Life is short - drink faster

Peter Kemp wrote:
I'm just glad I get an exemption from the process thanks to a nice
shiny government visa, because otherwise I would *ot* come to the US

I thought it was currently the opposite: all those entering on a visa are fingerprinted.
In october, it will be all travellers whether on a real visa, or a 90 day visa waiver.

On Sat, 03 Apr 2004 15:32:04 -0400, nobody wrote:

Peter Kemp wrote:
I'm just glad I get an exemption from the process thanks to a nice
shiny government visa, because otherwise I would *ot* come to the US

I thought it was currently the opposite: all those entering on a visa are fingerprinted.
In october, it will be all travellers whether on a real visa, or a 90 day visa waiver.

For standard tourist visas you are correct, anyone holding one goes
through the process. I've got a different type of visa as I'm in the
US on UK government business. Which is exempt from the procedures (and
also means that I tend to spend less time at immigration even than US
citizens).
Still takes too bloody long though - of the 30+ countries I've been
to, entering over half I've never had to spend more than 20 seconds at
immigration (and quite often just walk past showing the *outside* of
my UK passport), and I'll be buggered if they're getting my
fingerprints without a fight.

---
Peter Kemp

Life is short - drink faster

In article ,
Peter Kemp wrote:

Still takes too bloody long though - of the 30+ countries I've been
to, entering over half I've never had to spend more than 20 seconds at
immigration (and quite often just walk past showing the *outside* of
my UK passport), and I'll be buggered if they're getting my
fingerprints without a fight.

Really funny.

The folks from countries with government-sponsored health care, with the
government knowing the results of their last rectal exams, are worried
about fingerprints...

--
cirby at cfl.rr.com

Remember: Objects in rearview mirror may be hallucinations.
Slam on brakes accordingly.

On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 02:13:03 GMT, Chad Irby wrote:

In article ,
Peter Kemp wrote:

Still takes too bloody long though - of the 30+ countries I've been
to, entering over half I've never had to spend more than 20 seconds at
immigration (and quite often just walk past showing the *outside* of
my UK passport), and I'll be buggered if they're getting my
fingerprints without a fight.

Really funny.

The folks from countries with government-sponsored health care, with the
government knowing the results of their last rectal exams, are worried
about fingerprints...


Oh dear, you really really should save up and try to get out of your
village up in the hills there, and see a bit of the real world at
least once.
--==++AJC++==--

In article ,
AJC wrote:

Oh dear, you really really should save up and try to get out of your
village up in the hills there, and see a bit of the real world at
least once.

Hey, nice insult. I'm not only right, but *you* knew I was right..

By the way, my "little village in the hills" is a city of over a
million...

--
cirby at cfl.rr.com

Remember: Objects in rearview mirror may be hallucinations.
Slam on brakes accordingly.

"Chad Irby" wrote in message
om...
In article ,
Peter Kemp wrote:

Still takes too bloody long though - of the 30+ countries I've been
to, entering over half I've never had to spend more than 20 seconds at
immigration (and quite often just walk past showing the *outside* of
my UK passport), and I'll be buggered if they're getting my
fingerprints without a fight.

Really funny.

The folks from countries with government-sponsored health care, with the
government knowing the results of their last rectal exams, are worried
about fingerprints...

You really think the UK governemnt is interested in such things? Reductio
ad absurdum is a weak form of argument.

In any case, what you obviously do not know is that hospital records are not
held on computer he they are paper records. This causes some problems
(mine have been lost in the past for a while, and when I use different
hospitals, they have to be sent by courier) but it does ensure that not
everyone can look at them.

Each GP (the primary care doctor) has its own computer system, not linked to
others.
Privacy is important here.

Try to find anyone British, who has ever needed to use the NHS, who would
like to get rid of it.

"Chad Irby" schreef in bericht
om...
In article ,
Peter Kemp wrote:

Still takes too bloody long though - of the 30+ countries I've been
to, entering over half I've never had to spend more than 20 seconds at
immigration (and quite often just walk past showing the *outside* of
my UK passport), and I'll be buggered if they're getting my
fingerprints without a fight.

Really funny.

The folks from countries with government-sponsored health care, with the
government knowing the results of their last rectal exams, are worried
about fingerprints...

Universal health care has nothing to do with government officials have
access to medical records. You need to study these things a bit more before
making absurd claims.

Sjoerd