tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post9177383515471046722..comments2024-03-27T23:55:17.673-07:00Comments on Flogging Babel: Defending Our Borders from the Canadian MenaceMichael Swanwickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-68960415029046708182009-12-17T07:20:02.219-08:002009-12-17T07:20:02.219-08:00@Hannah's Dad: It's all over the blogosphe...@Hannah's Dad: It's all over the blogosphere. Twitter was seeing almost a post a minute the day this became public. I've seen lots of blogs and several mundane news outlets report on this. Google gets almost 100,000 hits.<br /><br />I've crossed the border more than a hundred times since 9/11/01. Never had an issue, FWIW.<br /><br />@Michael: I grew up in the '60s and 70s in the US, when core values of democratic and technological progress werew cultural norms. It depresses me every time I come back to see how far it has turned away from the freedoms my ancestors fought for, especially as the rest of the world has moved closer or even surpassed the democratic norms of those days.Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17812690301793802818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-39605860382578990022009-12-16T19:33:52.910-08:002009-12-16T19:33:52.910-08:00In my effort to be even-handed, I probably gave th...In my effort to be even-handed, I probably gave the border people too much credit. It's quite possible that Peter's "mouthing off" consisted of his demanding an explanation for why they were searching his car.<br /><br />I'm trying my damnedest to be fair here. But the land I was born in used to brag that we were the free-est country on Earth.<br /><br />When was the last time you heard an American say that?Michael Swanwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-18053916542450193142009-12-16T09:52:05.168-08:002009-12-16T09:52:05.168-08:00I am also so upset about it that I couldn't wr...I am also so upset about it that I couldn't write about it immediately.Kathryn Cramerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15531290922967396395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-5726597157095970762009-12-16T07:24:49.035-08:002009-12-16T07:24:49.035-08:00Apparently Peter's friends raised enough money...Apparently Peter's friends raised enough money for a lawyer almost instantaneously. The hope is that charges will be dropped at his hearing Monday. If not ... well, I'll be kicking in a few bucks when they pass the hat around.<br /><br />The maddening thing is that none of this is making anybody one iota safer.<br /><br />But I promised to stay calm and rational.Michael Swanwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-8718612018136055362009-12-16T04:13:52.025-08:002009-12-16T04:13:52.025-08:00I've really enjoyed visiting America in the pa...I've really enjoyed visiting America in the past, and I'd love to go again. But my last visit was in 2000, before the craziness started, and I find I just don't particularly want to go through an American crossing these days.<br /><br />Which is silly - for the <b>vast</b> majority of people they're a minor inconvenience. But these stories keep happening...<br /><br />I'm surprised how little I've heard about Peter Watts - there was a piece on BoingBoing, but I would have expected to have seen it everywhere.HANNAH'S DADhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05877455489975811860noreply@blogger.com