tuluum's Diaryland Diary
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My Thoughts On This Fingerprinting Crap
Security clearance in a job where potentially sensitive information is at your fingertips is one thing, all applicants have to be screened.
Likewise, if you're gonna scan travellers I say scan them all. I could care less about being scanned (if it was across the board). The idea
that there are 27 countries in the world (that co-incidentally are overwhelmingly European or Ethnic European dominant in population) that are exempt from this requirement is just ridiculous and shows that this has little to do with terrorism and national security (as if any of the administration policies in the name of terrorism have really been anyway). Many of these 'exempt' countries have extremist organizations and nationals in their population, under this rule attempted shoe
bomber Richard Reid would be able to enter the US carte blanche and others of his leanings who are yet to be 'activated'.. so WTF? And as
for the fingerprint scanning that is also a joke, as if terrorists are so stupid that they will send operatives who have been in prior custody
for their prints to be on file when they have tons of recruits who are yet to go through the legal system, now all they will need are the
right passport to not even have to be fingerprinted and bypass that all together (while more BWEE and AeroPostal pilots are being detained no doubt :P).. Sheesh. How people fall for these placebos is beyond
me...
Oh and in other news if you didn't know the cost of a US visitors visa just went up to $1000TT here, and that fee is non-refundable. So if you don't get approved you can kiss that cash goodbye. There were many problems last year when people's visas were denied on really flimsy bases, as well as for being told they needed additional documentation that wasn't originally requested. Thus requiring the applicant to pay the processing fee a second time (with again no refund of any percentage of any kind if denied). Now I dunno about you all but most people here don't really have $1000TT floating around or $2000 or
$3000. Again people from these exempt countries (the ones where no terrorists will ever live of course) don't even need visas. So they don't need visas and won't be fingerprinted or photographed...
niceness. Where's the safety in that? Logic someone?
I agree with Brazil which has implemented a reverse policy. The fingerprinting and photographing of Americans upon arrival.
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1:28 a.m. - Thursday, Jan. 08, 2004
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