Re: Olympics & Customs

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Brock N. Meeks" <bnmeeks () verizon net>
Date: October 4, 2009 6:03:12 PM EDT
To: <dave () farber net>, <carl () ciconiaco com>
Subject: Re: [IP] Olympics & Customs

Oh yeah, I totally forgot about Germany!

I ALWAYS get a warm and welcoming feeling when I fly into German  
airports, I guess it’s all the military troops strolling the byways  
with Uzis or some other type of sub-machinegun slung over their  
shoulder just waiting for trouble to break out. It’s just like  
Nicaragua, only there they are toting M-16s and sawed-off 12-gauge  
shotguns.  I tell ya, all that warm and cheerful security makes me  
almost which I were an expatriate.


On 10/4/09 4:10 PM, "Dave Farber" <dave () farber net> wrote:

> Begin forwarded message:
>
> > From: Carl Stork <carl () ciconiaco com>
> > Date: October 4, 2009 15:54:06 EDT
> > To: dave () farber net <mailto:dave () farber net>
> > Subject: Olympics & Customs
> >
> > While Brock is right that there is politics and corruptions at the  
> > IOC, and
> > that our border procedures may not have been the primary cause of  
> > losing the
> > Olympics, he is wrong to conclude that because dictatorships and  
> > corrupt
> > nations have unpleasant entry procedures, we should be happy with  
> > what the
> > U.S. has. Compare us to France, Switzerland, and Germany, not to  
> > Pakistan
> > and El Salvador.
> >
> >
> >
> > From: "Brock N. Meeks" <bnmeeks () verizon net>
> > Date: October 4, 2009 14:35:34 EDT
> > To:  <mailto:dave () farber net> dave () farber net  
> > <mailto:dave () farber net>
> > Subject: Re: [IP] Airport Security Cost The US the 2016 Olympics
> >
> > Oh man, this “blame U.S. Airport security” or â 
> > €œblame CSIS” or blame
> > DHS for the loss of the Olympics is complete bullshit.  (And as no  
> > less an
> > aside, I hear no one even talking about what a rat f**k hosting the  
> > Olympics
> > actually is in economic terms...)
> >
> > In 1989 I was stripped and cavity searched by the Pakistani’s  
> > as I was
> > EXITING the sh*thole called Karachi International Airport and for  
> > no other
> > reason than because I (stupidly) admitted that I was a foreign  
> > correspondent
> > reporting on the Afghan war.
> >
> > I have traveled to my share of dangerous and godforsaken places and  
> > believe
> > me, I will take whatever “attitude” and “standing  
> > in line” I have to
> > get back into the U.S. or depart from it compared to a dozen other  
> > places
> > I’ve been. All this whining and moaning about the nefarious  
> > U.S. Entry
> > standards is a friggen joke.
> >
> > Try driving a car down the Pan American highway; try cross into El  
> > Salvador
> > from Guatemala by car if you really want to be made to feel like a
> > criminal... Of course, all the hassle and delay can be sidestepped  
> > for a
> > mere $500 U.S. --amazing what bribery will get you in Latin American
> > countries... Or East European countries, or Caribbean countries  
> > or... You
> > get my drift.
> >
> > Our security measures had nothing to do with this; Stewart Baker is  
> > right...
> > (I think Stew just had a heart attack upon hearing me say that...)  
> > this was
> > entirely political, a rigged friggen game.  Frankly, the Olympics,  
> > has long
> > been a mere shadow of itself.  Cheating is rampant; bribery  
> > influencing
> > judging is all too common, performance enhancing drugs should be an  
> > Olympic
> > sport unto itself.
> >
> > The IOC did us a favor in handing this debacle of a “sportingâ 
> > € even to
> > another country.  Let it be their headache.
> >
> >
> >
> > <winmail.dat>
>
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