Now that I know I am a hour or so away from the best ribs I have ever had, I am ever so much more sensitive to issues relating to crossing the border. Sad the news, then, comes that Canada and the US have arrived at an impasse as it relates to the rights of humans at the gates. There is the opinion of The Buffalo News:
The United States wanted to take fingerprints from some travelers who acted a little suspicious, specifically those who approached the border but, for whatever reason, decided not to cross. But Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms — which apparently does not treat changing one’s mind as evidence of terrorist intent — is held to forbid taking fingerprints from any person not charged with a crime.Nice to see that we are thought the Trus North Strong and Free to someone else but it begs the question - what if I want to give up some identification to get more security. I cross on average once every six weeks. Last week the NEXUS program expanded to all border waterways. NEXUS is a handy-dandy little card that both governments recognize and costs a little less than a full passport. But it is not fully rolled out and does not apply yet to land crossings in my part of the St. Lawrence Valley. Those Weslakians are keeping it all to themselves. Dastards.Such presumption of innocence is apparently another thing that the U.S. administration considers "quaint." And that’s really too bad, not only for those who respect the rule of law but also for those who make a living going back and forth across what used to be called the world’s longest unmilitarized border.
Comments
gr - May 3, 2007 10:02 AM
"QUAINT"!!!!!
Gorthos - May 3, 2007 10:49 AM
Personally, if I pulled up to the toll and decided I had to turn around, I would feel nervous about it and probably tell the toll person the reason before I pulled u turn and looked like I had a dirty bomb to deliver.
Gorthos - May 3, 2007 11:50 AM
Granted, if I had a dirty bomb to deliver I'd whiten my teeth and dress like a smiley door to door bible salesman.. Isn't it a good thing Al Quaeda mostly have disgruntled angry boneheads as members?
Gordo - May 3, 2007 3:08 PM
I'll stop mocking security theatre such as this the moment they actually catch someone with it. So far, the score is a big fat zero.
Gordo - May 3, 2007 3:12 PM
We can all thank our lucky stars that we don't live in that neo-conservative wet-dream, the UK. The Physics Department at Oxford has a visit from the military a couple of weeks ago and were given a choice: upgrade your lab security to the tune of £50-60,000 or spend £20,000 to dispose of a radiation source sample that they've had since 1802. Somebody was leafing through their radiation source license and found something that set off alarm bells.