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And you obviously know too little about English to not be American.

The rules of association football were codified in England by the Football Association in 1863, and the name association football was coined to distinguish the game from the other versions of football played at the time. The word soccer is a colloquial abbreviation of association (from assoc.) and first appeared in the 1880s. An early usage found in an English 1892 periodical. The word is sometimes credited to Charles Wreford Brown, an Oxford student said to have been fond of shortened forms such as brekkers for breakfast and rugger for rugby football. (See Oxford -er) Clive Toye noted that even English people called the game "soccer" interchangably with "football" until the second half of the 20th century. "A quirk of British culture is the permanent need to familiarize names by shortening them. ... Toye [said] 'They took the third, fourth and fifth letters of Association and called it SOCcer.'"
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_for_association_football

Soccer's etymology is not American but British. It comes from an abbreviation for Association Football, the official name of the sport (for those of you who have never heard the team "Association Football" before, it was named after the Football Association, which still governs English soccer, to differentiate itself from the other major type of football, Rugby Football, which was named after the Rugby School. FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, is French for the International Federation of Association Football... F-I-F-A). For obvious reasons, in the 1880s and 1890s, English newspapers couldn't use the first three letters of Association as an abbreviation in their pages, so they took the next syllable, S-O-C. With the British penchant for adding "-er" at the end of words: punter, footballer, copper, and, of course, nicknaming rugby, "rugger," the word "soccer" was soon born, over a hundred years ago, here in England, the home of soccer.
-- http://www.usembassy.org.uk/rss/transcripts/worldcup2006a.html

However, the US hasn't, and won't sign their half !!!

The United Kingdom and United States have today ratified a bilateral extradition treaty

You'll need a biometric passport to get a visa free trip to the US

As I said in my reply, a passport containing a digitised facial image is perfectly acceptable - see the US Embassy's own guidelines. In particular, there is no need to have your fingerprints stored there.

Having an ID which everyone has is common in most countries

As far as I know, no other country has a centralised ID database on the scale of the planned UK National Identity Register. In particular, the database will store an audit trail of every time it's been accessed. If it becomes common (as you suggest) for ID to be checked whenever a credit card is used, this means that the government can track every purchase you make using one.

Regarding your comments on Andrew Gilligan - he appears to provide named and reputable sources in that article. What part of it aren't you convinced about?

I believe the extradition treaty has now been ratified by the US, although it's possible that it's still awaiting presidential approval.

I believe it is in the interest of the world that a truly free state develop. I know it is in the interest of the Palestinian people that they can live in a society where they can express their opinion freely, a society where they can educate their children without hate, a society in which they can realize their dreams if they happen to be an entrepreneur. I know it's in Israel's interest that a free state evolve on her border. There's no other way to have a lasting peace, in my judgment, unless we all work to help develop the institutions necessary for a state to emerge: civil society, based upon justice, free speech, free elections, the right for people to express themselves freely.

Yes, freedom is a great idea for other people, isn't it?

"As of April 1, 2004, 3,494 convicted murderers were awaiting execution on Death Row in United States, including 31 on Federal Death Row and 07 on U.S. Military Death Row.

CURRENT DEATH ROW BY RACE

White 1,597 (46%)
Black 1,462 (42%)
Hispanic 354 (10%)
Asian 040 (01%)
Native Am 040 (01%)
Unknown 017 (0.5%)"

"White 75.1 percent
Black or African American 12.3 percent
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9 percent
Asian 3.6 percent
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.1 percent
Some other race 5.5 percent"

I'm a British Citizen, I'm always appalled at the immigration procedures whenever I enter the US - Last time I entered the US at Philadelphia - I was pulled asideby an immigration officer and interogated (briefly) - his question 'Why are you back so soon' (I'd made 2 trips to US in a month). Tourists to the US are ill-prepared for the sort of treatment they get when entering the US (Which is extremely poor).Poor treatment by rude immigration staff is universal whether you enter by Air/Sea or road (and I've done all of the above) and where-ever you go in the US.

BUT... on every occasion you enter the US under visa-waiver program - you are asked to give the address of where you are staying - this has been asked since way,way before the New York Terrorist attacks in Sept 2001. I don't think it is unreasonable.

A recent post on the US Embassy Website in the UK (http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_web/acs/passport s/dualpass1204.htm) shows that US citizens who travel the US MUST travel on their US passports, even if they hold dual-citizenship with another country. This guy was lucky they even let him board the plane - I'm pretty sure it was a favour extended to him because he held 'platinum' status. So... there is no story except... 'man breaks rules - nearly gets away with it - is indignant when he is caught.'

The rules may be arbitrary and stupid (and hey... US citizens at least had a say in electing the people who forced them through) but you can't blame the airlines or immigration staff for enforcing them.

If you're an American overseas and still want to vote, I think the easiest way is just to drop an email to the US Embassy in your country telling them what state your from.

For Americans in the UK, there's a form you can fill out on the embassy webpage here


-Colin

Actually it affects anyone who has to get a visa. This means anyone staying for a reasonable legth of time, priests, media and many others.

"Important reminder: Visa-free travel does not include those who plan to study, work or remain more than 90 days. Such travelers need visas. If an officer of the USCIS believes that a visa-free traveler is going to study, work or stay longer than 90 days, the officer will refuse to admit the traveler." Link to quote is below.

27 Countries currently can travel to the US without a visa (look here)

So - it will fix stuff as terrorists have to be:
1. Citizens of one of the visa free countries
2. Staying less than 90 days
3. Not studying and not working while in the US
4. Not have a criminal record
5. And I assume criminal record means not currently under watch as a suspected terrorist.

Also see Here
for the same info in a nice table.