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

On Tue, 6 Apr 2004 00:08:16 +0100, "Eryk" wrote:

I was in London when Canary Wharf was blown up,
in Manchester when they bombed the Arndale and 3 miles from Warrington when
they bombed there. I've been a great deal closer to terrorist bombs in my
time than the vast majority of Americans. (BTW: Add Moscow to that list
...the Chechens bombed that while I was there).

Do let us know if you plan to go to San Francisco.

"Gary L. Dare" wrote in message
...
nobody wrote:

Like tourist taxes on hotels and rental cars, it's politically
easier to beat up on non-voters.

yep. then you have the Ohio bombing, and the post S-11 anthrax thing. Done
by...americans!

I can understand the anger and fear of US citizens over S11. I still
remember the night it happened (I watched the whole thing LIVE in australia
with mounting horror) in total clarity like few other things.

My annoyance is at the ineffectual nature of much of what is being done; it
seems almost like "revenge" (against whom?) to make citizens feel better,
rather than facing the things which led to it and can lead to similar
horrors in the future.

ant

On Sun, 4 Apr 2004 02:01:21 +0000 (UTC), Jim Yanik
wrote:

Peter Kemp wrote in
:

On Sat, 03 Apr 2004 21:47:07 GMT, Chad Irby wrote:

Nice of you folks to protect violent burglars like that (look at the
wonderful followups of what the "victimized" burglar has done since).

Which one - the one without *any* violent convictions who is
mouldering in his grave after being murdered? Or the other one (and I
can't recall any violent convicitons for him either) whose is
admittedly a miserable git?

Why are you so concerned about criminals shot while committing a crime,and
not for the poor guy who suffered repeated burglaries?

Two reasons, because in the UK burglarly doesn't carry a death penalty
without trial, especially when there was no risk to life or limb, and
I have not a huge amount of sympathy for someone who shot a teenager
in the back using an illegal weapon he obtained for that express
purpose. I have sympathy for his previous burglaries, but consider
that human life is somewhat more valuable than property. I suspect we
disagree.

What does "violent convictions" have to do with it?

Chad was referring to "violent criminals"

Shooting the crims was a public service.

Nice to see you approve of the death sentance for petty criminals.
What next, drive-by shootings for speeding?

---
Peter Kemp

Life is short - drink faster

On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 02:17:41 GMT, Chad Irby wrote:

In article ,
Peter Kemp wrote:

On Sat, 03 Apr 2004 21:47:07 GMT, Chad Irby wrote:

In article ,
Peter Kemp wrote:

...in the dark, in the wee hours of the morning, in a remote area, when
the police wouldn't do much of anything...

Which is a policing problem, not a legal one.

So your claim is that people can't police their own homes, but the
police don't have to, either? No wonder the crime rate's going up so
fast over there.

No, I never claimed the police are not responsible for policing.

For the last time - in the UK you are entitled to use *reasonable
force* to defend *your life*, not your property, and if you have the
chance to run, then you should.

Nice of you folks to protect violent burglars like that (look at the
wonderful followups of what the "victimized" burglar has done since).

Which one - the one without *any* violent convictions who is
mouldering in his grave after being murdered?

"Murdered" suggests some sort of innocence.

Not really. If I walk up to a drug dealer and shoot him, it;s still
murder if it's premeditated and not self defence. The fact he's a git
has nothing to do with it.

In this case it was * very* premeditated (obtaining an illegal shotgun
for the purpose), and it's hard to claim self defence when you shoot
someone who didn't threaten you and whom is running away.

If he didn't want to risk
his life, he shouldn't have committed the crime. Ranks right up there
with idiots who get killed doing other stupid things, like walking on
railroad tracks. I can't believe you're defending a criminal who died
while committing a potentially-violent crime.

I'm not, I'm criticising the bugger who shot him. There is a
difference.

Or the other one (and I can't recall any violent convicitons for him
either) whose is admittedly a miserable git?

Well, aside from being a drug dealer who *did* have a bad history,
there's no particular reason to want that sort of asshole running
around. Or do you really think these two saints would have left the old
guy alone if he *hadn't* been armed?

No, they would have burgled the house and no one would have been hurt.
I tend to believe that human life is more valuabel than mere
possesions. Certainly nothing I own is worth more than my life. That's
what is insurance is for.

---
Peter Kemp

Life is short - drink faster

On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 15:00:29 -0500, Alan Minyard
wrote:

Exactly. If you enter my home without my permission or other legal authorization
(Police, Fire Dept) you WILL be shot. And I am not stupid enough to "shoot to
wound". You will get a "double tap" at your center of mass, and I will "repeat as
necessary".

Remind me not to visit you at home Al :-)

Personally, I own 3 pistols, and yet my home defence plan is a
baseball bat, with which I shall smash the bedroom window and leg it.
I don;t know if a burglar is armed, so why the hell should I take the
risk that he's a better shot than me? Call me a coward, but I don't
like guns pointed in my direction.

---
Peter Kemp

Life is short - drink faster

On Mon, 5 Apr 2004 15:48:30 +0000 (UTC), Jim Yanik
wrote:

Peter Kemp wrote in
:

On Sun, 4 Apr 2004 21:49:08 +0000 (UTC), Jim Yanik
wrote:

.Sometimes,their
cells reside in your countries,in order to take advantage of Western
resources not available in their original countries.

Too true. Like the cell that was found in Buffalo, NY, or the one that
wasn't found that did so much damage in 2001 (several of whom lived
near me in Maryland).

Hey,they were not BORN there,they came *from some other country*,and may
have used YOUR country as a waypoint,maybe to get a better fake ID.

Posibyl, but you were discussing cells *residing* in countries.

Any western nation can unknowingly harbour such cells. If you believe
the US is immune you really need to get out more.

Show me where I have said that.

I never claimed you said that - if you don't believe that then I
withdraw the statement and apologise.

---
Peter Kemp

Life is short - drink faster

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...

The US identifies terrorists by the results of their latest rectal
exams? Damn, you folks really have got a lot of data these days!

And in case you hadn't noticed, there's a difference in MY doctor
knowing my medical records and not being able to hand them to the
authorities without a court order (just like the US in fact), and a
government not my own wanting my prints in case I someday do something
naughty.

Too subtle for you?

---
Peter Kemp

Life is short - drink faster

Perhaps those critical to Americans should just 'go away' too...

Tim K

"The Reids" wrote in message
...
Following up to The Reids

I am coming around to absolutely despising Europeans, or
at least a fairly large subset of them!

f*** off out of travel europe then
--

sorry, that's excessively impolite, please go away.
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
Walk-Photo-Wasdale-Thames- Walk-eat-drink-London
"http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a
spamtrap

On Sat, 03 Apr 2004 23:27:54 +0200, AJC wrote:

Patriotism can be a great force for good and bad. Throughout history
extremists on the left and the right have used it to their advantage.

Excitation of nationalist feelings is always bad. "Patriotism" is just a
convenient word to make it sound otherwise.

No matter what, it's an "us vs. them" thing.

On Sat, 03 Apr 2004 17:55:36 +0000, Chad Irby wrote:

In article ,
AJC wrote:

On Sat, 03 Apr 2004 13:57:38 GMT, Chad Irby wrote:

...and even with that, it's still going to be faster than most customs
checks in 99% of the countries in the world.

You don't get out very much do you?

I'm sure *you* don't, if you think US Customs and Immigration is bad,
compared to most places. Try any of the African nations, for example.
Or Russia.

If that's the sort of company you feel the US should be compared with,
well OK then.