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xxdr_zombiexx

Fortress America raises its walls
by Pete Brady (03 Apr, 2004)| Cannabis Culture

Increased border security affects millions

The United States has reportedly decided to expand and extend its controversial US-VISIT border surveillance program.

When originally implemented in January, the program targeted citizens of all but 27 countries, forcing them to be fingerprinted and photographed when entering the United States. Brazil protested the program by retaliating: it started fingerprinting and photographing US citizens.

Some people affected by the US program were forced to undergo more than just fingerprinting and being photographed, however. Before they could obtain visitor's visas, they had to be interviewed by US officials and undergo background checks.

Now, anonymous leaks from within the Bush administration indicate the US has expanded its list of countries whose citizens will be photographed and fingerprinted to include all countries except Canada and Mexico. The move has angered several key US allies, including England, Japan and Australia.

The US-VISIT expansion plans, and the exclusion of Canada and Mexico, have puzzled observers who note that the US-Mexico and US-Canada borders are proven vectors for "criminal activity." Two of the 9-11 hijackers trans-shipped into the US via Canada, and the US-Mexico border resembles a war zone, with the US military and border patrol unable to control narcotics smuggling, human smuggling, illegal immigration, and other activities which the US says compromises its security.

US-VISIT does not operate in isolation. The US government has been trying to force the European Union and other world governing bodies to institute biometric passports and tracking systems; these are signficant first steps toward creating a worldwide surveillance web.

The US is also trying to force dozens of countries to provide the FBI and CIA with detailed information on all air passengers seeking to fly to the United States. The US is seeking information including credit card numbers, home phone numbers and addresses, and other personal information. So far, the European Union has refused to comply with the US request.

Canadian officials are increasingly seeking to get in bed with the US in regards to information-sharing and border security. Prime Minister Paul Martin, mired in a corruption scandal, and other Canadian federal officials are urging closer ties to the US, and warning that even though Canada is spending $8 billion over the next five years on border security, the spending and implementation is not being handled in a timely or professional manner.

The US has stepped up its militarization of the US-Canadian border, with electronic surveillance, aerial surveillance, more border personnel, spy programs, strip searches, background checks and other tactics. These border strategies have increased seizures of Canadian marijuana destined for the United States.

As travel into and out of the United States becomes more difficult, world citizens are looking for information that will protect them from intrusive US programs. In issue 49 of Cannabis Culture, which will be available in three weeks, readers will find a comprehensive article about how the US is turning itself into a fortress, both domestically and internationally.

[zombienote: "America" is a setting sun. Darkness is falling as the freedoms we grew up with are eliminated in a methodical fashion. Marijuana prohibition has been working towards that end for decades.]

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Alien Space Signal

There's no money for your issue so long as we're squandering $50 billion a year on the DrugWar. Ben Masel

Fear became the ultimate tool of this government - V.

 

BigFatBOWLing

Besides maybe having to check in early for your country hoping and raising taxes a bit to pay for this program where is the downside?

If we can:
Catch criminals from reentering the united states when they have already been deported
Protecting against frodulant(sp?) documents, pass ports, id's etc,
Catch CRIMINALS, not just terrorists, from entering the country wheres the down side?

Im sure that there is somthing that im mising, on both sides, so please tell me why i am wrong... If there is anything logically bad about this, i wouldnt care about changing my mind. Im here to learn...

This is my view on boarders...

1) Boarders are meant to regulate who goes in, who goes out.
2) When someone tries to make use of the boarders(departments of the gov for example), and realizes that they are undermaned, and underequiped and try to get funding for the purpose stated above they are seen as some neo white arian governtment project. They arnt seen as people trying to do their jobs, (keeping dangerous people out, letting "safe" people in) but as a faceless object trying to keep everyone out.
3) I want a patroled boarder, I want illegal immigrants(whether they come from canada, mexico, or england) to have to go through the legal process all other immigrants do, they shouldnt get a "free ride" into our country because they can pay someone to smuggle them over.

"The US has stepped up its militarization of the US-Canadian border, with electronic surveillance, aerial surveillance, more border personnel, spy programs, strip searches, background checks and other tactics. These border strategies have increased seizures of Canadian marijuana destined for the United States"

How bout we restate that in an unbiased way please:
The united states has increased security in order to prevent drug smuggling, as well as clearing up security risks to the united states.(For all that dont know, you lose alot of your rights when you are crossing the boarder, and it is somthing that should be mentioned, i just think it was very untastefull how zombie's comment was written)

I smoke weed, and I am all for tightening up both boarders if it will help stop drug smuggeling. In my opinion zombie would like everyone to associate closing the boarder with a personal attack to all marijuana users.

Fact: drugs are smuggled across the boarder, tighter boarder = harder to get drugs
zombie fiction: marijuana is the only drug smuggled across the canadian boarder

Fact: The supply of drugs(any drug, pot, pcp, coke) creates money, which creates crime
zombie fiction: ALL weed smokers are kind hearted people, who can commit no wrong, a weed dealers bullet is nowhere as fast and as "pointy" as a white frosty bullet of a cocane dealer.

Bowling opinion: When the illegality of marijuana becomes nonexistant is when we will see a downfall in crime. When "people" no longer need to worry about where they are going to get their money for their next sack, how they are going to pay back the drug dealer that fronted them a sack, but realize that by growing their own that they can be self sufficient is when we will see less crime. No ammount of regulation will cure crime related to MJ, only complete deregulation.

Tearing down the canadian boarder will not cure any problems, but only create more. why not have cocain producers move to canada, it would be alot easier if zombie had his way...
I use the term drug because it is still illegal in america. Pot might be a plethora of things, but being illegal is one thing it still is.

TurbulentHigh

Don't bash on Zombies comment. You smoke weed, and you are pro-tightening boarders? Hello weed will cost more now dip****. It doesn't get rid of the drug problem, and closing boarders is not only an bash to marijuana users its an insult to immigration as a whole. I know several people that grow marijuana right here in the good ol' US-OF-A how is this supposed to stop them? Any drug can be manufactured anywhere, it doesn't have to come from columbia to be real cocaine. Why are you putting words in Docs mouth anyways? I failed to take note where exactly he mentioned that the only drug that came across canadian boarder was marijuana. Are you suggesting that this could not be a plot against marijuana users? Because if you'll take note, they combined the War on Terrorism with the War on Drugs. Thus we can conclude that the two are now interrelated.


Your fact is COMPLETELY false. First of all, drug supply is not what causes crime, prohibition does. Prohibition forces marijuana and other illicit drugs in to an illegal market which is controlled by criminals. Second of all tighter boarders is not going to eliminate drugs coming over. Allow me to show you how drug lords do math. Lets keep the math simple so you can understand. Lets say they ship out 2 pounds of marijuana for 1,000 dollars. But along the way one pound gets confiscated, does the Drug lord just say "Oh well Mucho gusto too bad!" NO he jacks the first pound up to 1,000 dollars. Thus he still gets the same amount of money. Hell he may even charge 1,200 since he could probably get that amount. As you can see, reducing the amount can only lead to increased demand making the product MORE valuable. Somehow you think since you smoke pot you have suddenly become an expert on the topic, when really you just employ logical fallacies under a false authority.

- TH421



"Fact": The supply of drugs(any drug, pot, pcp, coke) creates money, which creates crime

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Ron Paul will end the "War on Drugs"

psthbng

Boarder=Renter, Leasee. Border=Intersecting area of two or more seperate country's. Sorry about the nit-picking. Prohibition=Crime, Exorbitant Prices no matter what the drug (or plant) of choice.

Suetaz

BigFatBOWLing, you have complained about 'Zombie's comments' and they are not 'Zombie comments'. This article was written by Pete Brady at Cannabis Culture magazine as you'll see at the top of the article. The only Zombie notes are at the very bottom of the article and you didn't even mention them. If you think someone needs to take responsibility for the article, that would be me. I submitted it, Doc posted it. There will be a follow up article coming out soon that may answer more of your questions regarding this.

This quote from the article is not biased, it is factual.

The US relies heavily on tourism and trade. With this kind of treatment at the borders, what do you think will happen to the economy of the US if no one wants to travel there?
As for the rest, I agree with what TurbulentHigh said.

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Kyliana

This whole argument is disgusting.. The lack of trust and compassion is running ever so thin in Amerika. Its sickning to think that a free country like ours has fallen to such ignorance as photographing and fingerprinting everyone that comes into the great prison of the world.. whats next tracking chips implanted in the head so that all can be followed no matter where you may want to go. Well F'm I say! F the whole lot of them..



Boston T party anyone?
kyli

xxdr_zombiexx

yo - BigFat

I didn't write this article. If you were not so cross-eyed, ya might have noticed that.... but that's ok.

Congrats and many thanx for reinforcing the FACT that wingnuts (no names mentioned, of course) hate me so much they ascribe OTHER people's ideas to me. (Somewingnut hacked my main computer - they hate my freedoms so much)

This used to happen to me at a hospital I worked at once. Anytime something creative happened - funny graffitti, practical jokes - happened, I was automatically blamed - even when on vacation! (And I thought I had no power!) Never mind I was excellent at my job.

I have been hoping that border tightening would spur a revolution in indoor growing in the country formerly known as "Murika" and that schwag would become only a historical thing. I want to buy only good weed.

So far, we get plenty of schwag and the good herb gets busted. I demand better border control too :P


Furthermore, the border and TSA issues work to f*ck many innocent americans, causing them to miss flightsd, get detained uselessly for hours :FACT. This improves nothing and nobody is any safer at all. Those who think this makes them safer are pretty damn dense.

Google Search = TSA + Detained

It would be utterly hysterical - and fitting - if wingnuts got detained and wasted all that money on a ticket and had their dreams of a vacation smashed by this fascist ideology... then we would see how great they think it all is, and I totally hope it happens to them - in droves.

Stalin would have LOVED the TSA. (I hope you know who that was) The TSA has nothing to do with "security" and everything to do with political bullying. Not that I expect wingnuts to understand, accept or believe it.

Stay in school, dude. Education really is good for you.....


Fashionable Fascists or not
THESE are the people to fear....

BigFatBOWLing

"You smoke weed, and you are pro-tightening boarders? Hello weed will cost more now dip****. It doesn't get rid of the drug problem"
"worst attempt at an insult ever"
I am pro tightening boarders if it has the possibility of reducing terrorists or "hard" drugs from comming in, sorry if this is new to you, but i would prefer my safety over weed, not everything revolves around that, not saying you do, just really sounds like it.

"First of all, drug supply is not what causes crime," I did not say that, i said money creates crime. Prohibition only reduces crime in the jails smarty Thats what I was trying to imply with the growing your own situation. If everyone did that they would not need to worry about MONEY read what i said please read (heh should have taken my own advice=P)
Lets look at some math, since you like it so much:
Weed demmand > weed supply = raise in prices
If we close the boarder, yep it will probably increase prices
money demmand > money supply = crime
As long as weed costs money, there will be crime relating to it
weed supply = weed demmand =...(why rob a liquor store for money if you can grow your own, why beat up a kid for his wallet if you have as much pot as you need.) Of course growing your own wont solve all crime, cause we have people to lazy to grow, but I think that it will help to reduce it much.

With the "drugs can be made anywhere" comment... does america have any coca plants? Im not sure, I dont think so though, if we had tighter boarders, wouldnt it reduce drugs comming in from other countries like columbia for instance? And im glad that your friends grow pot in the good u-s of A, good for them. They are helping to reduce crime imo.

Its dissapointing that noone realizes that the United states has changed Ameica is no longer what it was, it has to change, it has to adapt, thats what a successfull governtment will do. Answer these questions, do you want 9/11 to happen again, do you want train bombings in the united states? Im guessing you said no... now if i take away someones box cutter on the plain im the crazy american governtment trying to control everyone. If I do nothing... I dont really wanna know what could happen if they werent looking after me... Are there any legitimate excuses to why they shouldnt tighten the boarder besides... "The lack of trust and compassion is running ever so thin in Amerika"

I dont get to read about this in school, thats why Im here...
btw nice insult on me being cross eyed... sick ass burn "bro"

xxdr_zombiexx

Hi Big Fat

Doc wanted me to do a little 'splainin' to ya about the Iron Law of Prohibition, but I told him that most people who still support me half as much as you probably do wouldn't likely listen anyway, so I'll just ask a question:

Why in the hell would a weed, 'specially one that any doofus can grow in a bucket, cost money?

Hmmmm...?

Ponder that my friend, I have some golfin' to do.




TTFN!

Niteshift

That contributed a lot to the discussion.

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A burning desire for social justice is never a substitute for knowing what you're talking about. -Thomas Sowell

Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is muzzle flash.