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Examining the Search and Seizure of Electronics at Airports
Angus McKraken brings us a Washington Post story about how travelers are seeking more well-defined policies and rules about the search and seizure of electronic devices by U.S. Customs officials. The EFF has already taken legal action over similar concerns. We recently discussed the related issue of requiring people to disclose their passwords in order to search their private data. From the Post:
"Maria Udy, a marketing executive with a global travel management firm in Bethesda, said her company laptop was seized by a federal agent as she was flying from Dulles International Airport to London in December 2006. Udy, a British citizen, said the agent told her he had 'a security concern' with her. 'I was basically given the option of handing over my laptop or not getting on that flight,' she said. 'I was assured that my laptop would be given back to me in 10 or 15 days,' said Udy, who continues to fly into and out of the United States. She said the federal agent copied her log-on and password, and asked her to show him a recent document and how she gains access to Microsoft Word. She was asked to pull up her e-mail but could not because of lack of Internet access. With ACTE's help, she pressed for relief. More than a year later, Udy has received neither her laptop nor an explanation."
On the other hand, Muslim politicians working in non-Muslim countries haven't exactly proven to be the most reliable bunch of people.
I'm sorry, but you don't seem to understand how US democracy works. In the US, the president and the executive have broad powers to act autonomously. It's helped the US hold together for more than two centuries, while other democracies have fallen apart. Some presidents use this power unwisely, others use it wisely. For eight years, Bush held that power. Over the next couple of decades, Congress and American voters will decide on whether Bush used that power wisely or not, what to repeal, and which parts of it to write into law permanently. Furthermore, make no mistake, the US exports democracy for the purpose of helping its own political and financial interests, not as an end in itself. Maybe you should get away from your Eurovision and learn a little more about the world at large.
This is why nobody takes Europeans seriously these days.
I fail to see how the mythical Zionist Conspiracy is somehow comparable to the very real phenomena of Islamic terrorism. Islamic terrorism occurs virtually everywhere, and there have been more than 10,000 attacks since 9/11 (moderate estimate), not to mention countless failed and disrupted attacks. Urban violence and instability are also problems. Islamic enclaves are already a reality in Europe, and in France the violence has turned to urban warfare, with police officers and emergency personnel subjected to attacks and ambushes while buildings are destroyed at random. Honor killings and gangrapes are becoming routine, and crime rates keep rising. Threats, infiltration and political pressure don't make things any easier. Of course, many of the problems are enabled by politicians who not only let these things happen, but actively assist in the process.
I'm sorry, was this meant to be taken seriously? You're saying the IRA is comparable to Islamic terrorism?
I don't even know what this means.
The fact is that Jewish, Irish, German and Japanese people do not have the kind of reputations you're fantasizing about. They don't exist, and there's no reason for them to exist, just like there's no reason why Buddhists would have a reputation of being violent terrorists. Muslims practise, support and defend terrorism and other manifestations of Islamofascism so much that they have developed a reputation for it. Therefore people are suspicious of them. You seem to be saying that it isn't their fault. Well whose fault is it? Are Muslims not free agents capable of making their own decisions?
Exactly! You know, we suffer the same threats and danger from diabled WWII veterans as we do from Middle Easterners.
Those damn Veterans, Norwegians, Swedes, Canadians, and Finnish are the most evil of the evil though. They could bomb the US at any minute, and preach violence, death, and destruction against the US and it's allies. Better search them double.
Oh!..... And don't forget those conniving Dutch bastards too!
Who's threatening us? Muslims / Middle Easterners.
Who poses the greatest threat? Muslims / Middle Easterners
Who's preaching for the death and destruction of the USA? Muslims / Middle Easterners
So who does it make the most sense to search at the airport? Muslims / Middle Easterners
"Profiling" is the most efficient, and logical, way to find what you are looking for. Call it evil or whatever you want, but it is simply the most efficient, and logical, way to find what you want. People don't understand, we are not being threatened by Mexicans, Irish, or the Dutch. We are being threatened by Muslim Middle Easterners. It's not rocket science.
Ten bucks says some Left-Wing "Group Hug" Nutjob mods this down.
Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....