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Active: 706 users

British Couple Kicked out of the US for joking

Forum Index > General Forum
Post a Reply
1 2 3 4 5 33 34 35 Next All
bOneSeven
Profile Blog Joined January 2012
Romania685 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-01-31 18:11:09
January 31 2012 10:15 GMT
#1
Well, I'm not a really good title writer, so hope people won't see as "sensationalist" or whatever...

The basic idea is that two british tourists were barred from entering America after joking on Twitter that they were going to 'destroy America' and 'dig up Marilyn Monroe'.

+ Show Spoiler +
After making their way through passport control at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) last Monday afternoon the pair were detained by armed guards.

Despite telling officials the term 'destroy' was British slang for 'party', they were held on suspicion of planning to 'commit crimes' and had their passports confiscated.


+ Show Spoiler +
'It got even more ridiculous because the officials searched our suitcases and said they were looking for spades and shovels. They did a full body search on me too.

'We just wanted to have a good time on holiday. That was all Leigh meant in his tweet. He would not hurt anyone.'

Leigh posted the tweet on January 16 before the pair flew to LA last Monday.

Leigh said: 'It's just so ridiculous it's almost funny but at the time it was really scary. The Homeland Security agents were treating me like some kind of terrorist.


I saw this on twitter, was retweeted by Joe Rogan a few hours ago.

The original source : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2093796/British-tourists-arrested-America-terror-charges-Twitter-jokes.html

Now.. seriously guys, paranoia much ?

For example in comic slang you use words like "bomb" "killed" "destroyed" .... are they gonna put them under terrorist suspicion for using such words ?

It seems to me that this false sense of security won't help anyone, and since it escalated, if we won't move off the track....more abuse will come

I for one believe that is better to, well firstly change foreign policy on US, because most of it are causes to hate towards America ( as detailed by the CIA , and 3 more US Generals as well ), then after a while when water cools, loose all the ridiculuos laws of paranoia and let the people live free and without fear of not saying the "wrong" words or whatever. What would happen ? Without this hate for America, terrorist acts would only be commited by seriously sick people ( clinicly proven ), and most of them are spotted before they might do any damage...

I believe Benjamin Franklin had it right .... "he who chooses security over liberty deserves neither"

Some people suggested I should add some links to this starting post so :

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/30/travelers-say-they-were-denied-entry-to-u-s-for-twitter-jokes/?smid=tw-thelede&seid=auto

Planet earth is blue and there's nothing I can do
FinestHour
Profile Joined August 2010
United States18466 Posts
January 31 2012 10:19 GMT
#2
Bunch of agents sitting around with nothing better to do then to handle a silly threat like this...Honestly airports can't surprise me any more.
thug life.                                                       MVP/ex-
Psychobabas
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
2531 Posts
January 31 2012 10:20 GMT
#3
lol oh wow
Keitzer
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States2509 Posts
January 31 2012 10:21 GMT
#4
Lol, if I was this brit couple, i'd be just laughing the ENTIRE time... fucking jokes these airport security are man...
I'm like badass squared | KeitZer.489
SolHeiM
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Sweden1264 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-01-31 10:23:30
January 31 2012 10:22 GMT
#5
But what if these had been actual terrorists? How are they supposed to deduce if a tweet is real or not? Now you might not think that many "solo" terrorists would openly announce to the world that they're going to destroy America, but when large terrorist organizations openly announce that they will, how can they not take things like this seriously?

There is no way that they can know if this is a real threat or not, therefore they have to treat it as a real threat.

On January 31 2012 19:21 Keitzer wrote:
Lol, if I was this brit couple, i'd be just laughing the ENTIRE time... fucking jokes these airport security are man...


I wouldn't be laughing. I'd be scared shit-less I'd be thrown into some prison like Guantanamo Bay.
Chaosvuistje
Profile Joined April 2010
Netherlands2581 Posts
January 31 2012 10:23 GMT
#6
You can't trust the British guys, they might take your liberty and put you back under the command of the Queen like before the independance.

Can't say I'm surprised though, those people would take the gameboy away from a child for suspected terrorism.
Paulio
Profile Joined April 2011
Netherlands60 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-01-31 10:24:34
January 31 2012 10:23 GMT
#7
I'm wondering who made the decision to deny them entry. I'm pretty sure a simple aiport security guy isn't checking twitter for such posts. This means the order had to come up from someone higher in the chain of command. This brings me to the real question: who surveys twitter for such posts, and maybe more importantly, how high on the chain of command is the dumbf*ck that makes these decisions...
Nallen
Profile Joined September 2011
United Kingdom134 Posts
January 31 2012 10:23 GMT
#8
American political system uses fear!

It's super effective!
Kojak21
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Canada1104 Posts
January 31 2012 10:25 GMT
#9
well i can see this thread turning out well...lol
¯\_(☺)_/¯
fLyiNgDroNe
Profile Joined September 2005
Belgium4008 Posts
January 31 2012 10:25 GMT
#10
reminds me of:
- when there was a lot of controversy about certain "pro" gamers using the word "rape"
- the movie "Yes man" with Jim Carrey when he got arrested in the airport for being a terrorist
Drone is a way of living
bOneSeven
Profile Blog Joined January 2012
Romania685 Posts
January 31 2012 10:27 GMT
#11
On January 31 2012 19:22 SolHeiM wrote:
But what if these had been actual terrorists? How are they supposed to deduce if a tweet is real or not? Now you might not think that many "solo" terrorists would openly announce to the world that they're going to destroy America, but when large terrorist organizations openly announce that they will, how can they not take things like this seriously?

There is no way that they can know if this is a real threat or not, therefore they have to treat it as a real threat.

Show nested quote +
On January 31 2012 19:21 Keitzer wrote:
Lol, if I was this brit couple, i'd be just laughing the ENTIRE time... fucking jokes these airport security are man...


I wouldn't be laughing. I'd be scared shit-less I'd be thrown into some prison like Guantanamo Bay.


Terrorist won't anounce on a public social media device that they gonna attack. How are they gonna succed? .......

And yes, the bigger question is how much they monitor twitter....Or all social medias, for "hot" words or whatever...
Planet earth is blue and there's nothing I can do
zdfgucker
Profile Joined August 2011
China594 Posts
January 31 2012 10:27 GMT
#12
I enjoyed the article, especially this part:

The words deemed as being sensitive by the DHS include:
Illegal immigrant
Outbreak
Drill
Strain
Virus
Recovery
Deaths
Collapse
Human to animal
Trojan


Human to animal? Really?
fLDm
Capped
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom7236 Posts
January 31 2012 10:27 GMT
#13
Lol Solhelm haha :D you make me laugh man.

Terrorist organisation with moles, links, firepower all the rest and ways into the US.

British tourists.

Now forgive me if im wrong, but theres a SLIGHT difference in what they could accomplish and a SLIGHT difference in the way they "declare" their terrorism? -_-

Only a retarded terrorist would fuckin' post on twitter he's off to do his terrorist work in america, then use the same name on the passport, are you serious?

BTW, retards dont have the mental capacity to be a terrorist, only to play video games on the internetz (apparently )
Useless wet fish.
SolHeiM
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Sweden1264 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-01-31 10:30:34
January 31 2012 10:28 GMT
#14
On January 31 2012 19:23 Paulio wrote:
I'm wondering who made the decision to deny them entry. I'm pretty sure a simple aiport security guy isn't checking twitter for such posts. This means the order had to come up from someone higher in the chain of command. This brings me to the real question: who surveys twitter for such posts, and maybe more importantly, how high on the chain of command is the dumbf*ck that makes these decisions...


No one is checking twitter for posts. They have a computer algorithm (or something like that anyway) that searches and flags certain tweets. There is no one who is getting paid to search on twitter for "terrorist activity."

The only reason this looks ridiculous is because they weren't terrorists, they were just idiots. If they had been terrorists (albeit two very stupid ones, but terrorists) you'd have been praising the U.S. for their excellent counter-terrorism.

On January 31 2012 19:27 Capped wrote:
Lol Solhelm haha :D you make me laugh man.

Terrorist organisation with moles, links, firepower all the rest and ways into the US.

British tourists.

Now forgive me if im wrong, but theres a SLIGHT difference in what they could accomplish and a SLIGHT difference in the way they "declare" their terrorism? -_-

Only a retarded terrorist would fuckin' post on twitter he's off to do his terrorist work in america, then use the same name on the passport, are you serious?

BTW, retards dont have the mental capacity to be a terrorist, only to play video games on the internetz (apparently )


Do you seriously think that you can tell the difference between a terrorist and any average human being? Most terrorists aren't a bearded Muslim in a dynamite vest.

And did you just call me a retard?
SgtCoDFish
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United Kingdom1520 Posts
January 31 2012 10:29 GMT
#15
Oh shit, my friends and I must be intending to commit atrocities upon ourselves when we go out clubbing and get "destroyed"! OH THE HUMANITY, EVERYTHING IS LITERAL

This kinda stupidity by authorities happens in lots of countries, and is as stupid in all of them.
29 fps
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States5724 Posts
January 31 2012 10:31 GMT
#16
those british tourists will return to the UK unhappy, and then all their friends will know about how terrible the experience was. as a result, there will be fewer tourists from the UK,meaning there'll be less revenue... besides money, america's reputation will be negatively affected as well.
4v4 is a battle of who has the better computer.
Wrongspeedy
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States1655 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-01-31 10:32:35
January 31 2012 10:32 GMT
#17
On January 31 2012 19:27 bOneSeven wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 31 2012 19:22 SolHeiM wrote:
But what if these had been actual terrorists? How are they supposed to deduce if a tweet is real or not? Now you might not think that many "solo" terrorists would openly announce to the world that they're going to destroy America, but when large terrorist organizations openly announce that they will, how can they not take things like this seriously?

There is no way that they can know if this is a real threat or not, therefore they have to treat it as a real threat.

On January 31 2012 19:21 Keitzer wrote:
Lol, if I was this brit couple, i'd be just laughing the ENTIRE time... fucking jokes these airport security are man...


I wouldn't be laughing. I'd be scared shit-less I'd be thrown into some prison like Guantanamo Bay.


Terrorist won't anounce on a public social media device that they gonna attack. How are they gonna succed? .......

And yes, the bigger question is how much they monitor twitter....Or all social medias, for "hot" words or whatever...


Osama Bin Laden? Attacked the World Trade Center more than once and announced he would before hand. Them getting detained is only as silly as his tweet...
It is better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.- John Stuart Mill
SolHeiM
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Sweden1264 Posts
January 31 2012 10:33 GMT
#18
On January 31 2012 19:27 bOneSeven wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 31 2012 19:22 SolHeiM wrote:
But what if these had been actual terrorists? How are they supposed to deduce if a tweet is real or not? Now you might not think that many "solo" terrorists would openly announce to the world that they're going to destroy America, but when large terrorist organizations openly announce that they will, how can they not take things like this seriously?

There is no way that they can know if this is a real threat or not, therefore they have to treat it as a real threat.

On January 31 2012 19:21 Keitzer wrote:
Lol, if I was this brit couple, i'd be just laughing the ENTIRE time... fucking jokes these airport security are man...


I wouldn't be laughing. I'd be scared shit-less I'd be thrown into some prison like Guantanamo Bay.


Terrorist won't anounce on a public social media device that they gonna attack. How are they gonna succed? .......

And yes, the bigger question is how much they monitor twitter....Or all social medias, for "hot" words or whatever...


But they can't do that though. They can't say "oh, they're probably not terrorists. Terrorists wouldn't be that stupid..." and then ten hours later a plane gets blown up or crashes into the Statue of Liberty. What are they going to say to the American people? "Oh, but they announced it on twitter. We didn't think terrorists would be that stupid, so we didn't bother. Very sorry."
Deleuze
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United Kingdom2102 Posts
January 31 2012 10:33 GMT
#19
On January 31 2012 19:23 Chaosvuistje wrote:
You can't trust the British guys, they might take your liberty and put you back under the command of the Queen like before the independance.

Can't say I'm surprised though, those people would take the gameboy away from a child for suspected terrorism.


Exactly, they better watch out for us.

You foiled us this time Americans, but your liberty will not protect your Marilyn Monroe forever - our Queen must FEED!
“An image of thought called philosophy has been formed historically and it effectively stops people from thinking.” ― Gilles Deleuze, Dialogues II
Terrix
Profile Joined August 2010
Germany305 Posts
January 31 2012 10:33 GMT
#20
On January 31 2012 19:21 Keitzer wrote:
Lol, if I was this brit couple, i'd be just laughing the ENTIRE time... fucking jokes these airport security are man...


I'm not sure how funny you'd find it if you had to just take the 1000 something dollar tickets =\
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