The WTF? Thread

[WOM]

Are we discussing this incident anywhere else? The two British families that entered the US illegally and got sent to a detention center in PA?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...ion-detention/

It's a weird story. Sounds like US abuse of power on the face of it. But apparently two of the people applied for, and we denied, US Visas last year...so it looks like maybe they were trying to slip in to the country. And 'we drove through a ditch to avoid an animal' seems a bit suspicious as an excuse. What kind of animal needs cross-country travel to avoid?

[ursus arctos]

No, though I was thinking of raising it. Neither side's story strikes me as the unvarnished truth. Amor may have some local knowledge.

We also haven't discussed the diplomatic immunity row arising from the vehicular manslaughter of Harry Dunn (which the President tried to turn into reality television yesterday).

[Nocturnal Submission]

No, though I was thinking of raising it. Neither side's story strikes me as the unvarnished truth. Amor may have some local knowledge.

We also haven't discussed the diplomatic immunity row arising from the vehicular manslaughter of Harry Dunn (which the President tried to turn into reality television yesterday).

The former story I only read about yesterday and it isn't particularly high profile over here. The original story seemed to suggest an overreaction and poor treatment by the US authorities but the new information has given the story a different slant.

The latter is a huge issue in the UK, leading news reports and on the front pages of the newspapers.

[ursus arctos]

They are each very informative as to the true nature of the "Special Relationship" under this Administration, I'm afraid.

And should give pause to Brexiteers banking on a "great deal" from the US (but no doubt will not).

[WOM]

The original story seemed to suggest an overreaction and poor treatment by the US authorities but the new information has given the story a different slant.

Same. On the face of it, 'innocent family makes wrong turn and ends up in US' sounds fair. Then you read that it was at 9PM, on what can only be characterized as a very remote road on the Canada side that happens to run parallel to a very remote road on the US side...separated by a ditch or gully. They had a ton of cash on them, and the 'refused entry just last year' thing gives it a whole new dynamic.

This is what it looks like, btw.

https://www.google.com/maps/search/b.../data=!3m1!1e3

[Nocturnal Submission]

They are each very informative as to the true nature of the "Special Relationship" under this Administration, I'm afraid.

And should give pause to Brexiteers banking on a "great deal" from the US (but no doubt will not).

Yes, perhaps. I think many in the UK assume that, as our countries have such close ties, in cases such as these common decency and compassion should apply and be generously applied. OTOH, I think it's recognised over here that the US is fiercely protective of both its citizens, in relation to the actions of other countries at least, and very obviously of its borders. So I'm not sure that we're hugely surprised.

[ursus arctos]

Each of those alleged principles is applied rather selectively in practice, of course

[Nocturnal Submission]

Same. On the face of it, 'innocent family makes wrong turn and ends up in US' sounds fair. Then you read that it was at 9PM, on what can only be characterized as a very remote road on the Canada side that happens to run parallel to a very remote road on the US side...separated by a ditch or gully. They had a ton of cash on them, and the 'refused entry just last year' thing gives it a whole new dynamic.

This is what it looks like, btw.

https://www.google.com/maps/search/b.../data=!3m1!1e3

Funnily enough there's a new BBC travelogue series set in the Americas. In the very first programme the host, who had started in Alaska and then come down through Canada, finished by walking alongside an innocent-looking fence in BC, pointing out that it was the US-Canada border and yelling over to a guy on the other side who said that he has to forewarn the US border authorities when he wants to mow his lawn, which abuts the fence. The high tech infrastructure was pointed out. I wondered if it was where Amor lived.

(Canada didn't come out looking too good, unfortunately. Social and environmental issues aren't ignored in these programmes and the polluting Alberta tar sands operation, the disappearance of indigenous women in the West and the opioid abuse epidemic, with particular reference to Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, were all featured.)

[Nocturnal Submission]

Each of those alleged principles is applied rather selectively in practice, of course

I'm sure.

[WOM]

(Canada didn't come out looking too good, unfortunately. Social and environmental issues aren't ignored in these programmes and the polluting Alberta tar sands operation, the disappearance of indigenous women in the West and the opioid abuse epidemic, with particular reference to Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, were all featured.)

Yeah, we have more than a few issue. Most of them seem to figure around our maltreatment (or simply neglect) of our native peoples. MMIWG (Missing or Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls) and the residential schools system is a blight on our reputation. And the tar sands are a disgrace and one of our deadly 'third rails', politically speaking.

Should you be interested, my wife had me read Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga, about the deaths of 7 native kids in Thunder Bay where they were attending school. It sort of sums up Canada's 'Indian problem' in one short, gripping read.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Should you be interested, my wife had me read Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga, about the deaths of 7 native kids in Thunder Bay where they were attending school. It sort of sums up Canada's 'Indian problem' in one short, gripping read.

Cheers, noted.

[Flynnie]

I have a geeky fascination with borders and I smelt a rat in the Connors family story right away. It's just impossible to swerve onto a country road in BC and end up in...another country. There's literally no road in western BC that does that. Everything has a customs post attached to it.

Even taking it to a logical extreme, a mountain of dead deer or moose blocking both sides of a road, at worst you would be crawling slowly over a ditch onto the US side and then reentering Canada in the space of a few seconds. CBP and the Washington state police aren't going to be able to do anything about that.

The 16K in cash, the visa denials, and the arrest just a few hundred yards from a customs post (so they had to know they were crossing the border) just highlight that. Oh, and Canada refused to readmit them. Shady.

[ursus arctos]

[URL="https://twitter.com/ebruenig/status/1184565560379662337?s=21"]https://twitter.com/ebruenig/status/1184565560379662337[/URL]

[Hot Pepsi]

Before I got to "Hobby Lobby," I thought there'd be a good Indiana Jones joke there, but alas. It's just awful. Apparently a lot of their collection of Bible stuff was acquired through less-than-admirable methods, which would be expected from somebody with their understanding of the Bible.

[Hot Pepsi]

I have a geeky fascination with borders and I smelt a rat in the Connors family story right away. It's just impossible to swerve onto a country road in BC and end up in...another country. There's literally no road in western BC that does that. Everything has a customs post attached to it.

Even taking it to a logical extreme, a mountain of dead deer or moose blocking both sides of a road, at worst you would be crawling slowly over a ditch onto the US side and then reentering Canada in the space of a few seconds. CBP and the Washington state police aren't going to be able to do anything about that.

The 16K in cash, the visa denials, and the arrest just a few hundred yards from a customs post (so they had to know they were crossing the border) just highlight that. Oh, and Canada refused to readmit them. Shady.

Yeah, though the Google earth images WOM linked show no fence between the two sides of the road.

I've been to the bit of the Boundary Waters where the border runs through a few lakes and along a portage. They don't mind anyone canoeing or walking across the border as long as you don't camp on the side you didn't start on. If you do want to do that, there's a process to get a remote border crossing permit. Still, I think it could be a fun way to smuggle relatively cheap prescription drugs across. The chances of seeing a ranger or any kind of law enforcement out there is very small.

[Nefertiti2]

https://twitter.com/askforcawmbyok/status/1184526514576150535?s=20

[Amor de Cosmos]

Funnily enough there's a new BBC travelogue series set in the Americas. In the very first programme the host, who had started in Alaska and then come down through Canada, finished by walking alongside an innocent-looking fence in BC, pointing out that it was the US-Canada border and yelling over to a guy on the other side who said that he has to forewarn the US border authorities when he wants to mow his lawn, which abuts the fence. The high tech infrastructure was pointed out. I wondered if it was where Amor lived.

It's not impossible. Though I've never heard of anyone having to get permission to mow his lawn. People walk across the border all the time, usually unknowingly (note the story linked in that article about the young French woman.) But it's pretty impossible to drive across it by mistake, unless you're in a dune buggy on a beach. Moving the family to PA is extreme. The furthest I've heard of is Seattle (that's what US border guards scare kids with if they're caught crossing illegally.) There is a fair amount of tech in the ground and the bushes, on the Canadian side too. There's a "hidden" camera in our off-leash dog park (to catch people trying to escape from Point Roberts, WA). We always wave as we walk by.

[Levin]

[URL="https://twitter.com/eilidhmax/status/1184610499478077440?s=03"]https://twitter.com/eilidhmax/status/1184610499478077440[/URL]

[Nocturnal Submission]

This is WTF meets the stuff of nightmares: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-eng...huge-plug-hole

[Guy Profumo]

How outsourcing and sub-contracting works...


Hitman hires hitman who...

You get the picture

Bloke on the end of the chain refuses the job.

https://www.metro.co.uk/2019/10/23/h...-10971438/amp/

[Nocturnal Submission]

Eagles run up huge mobile 'phone bills: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50180781

(And the stop any waggery in it's tracks, no, not by continually calling their accountants in the Cayman Islands.)

[Guy Profumo]

Eagles run up huge mobile 'phone bills: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50180781

(And the stop any waggery in it's tracks, no, not by continually calling their accountants in the Cayman Islands.)

I disagree

We should go ahead...

[Guy Profumo]

Ok.

Where's the fabled delete button to axe this duplicate post?

[Nocturnal Submission]

Ok.

Where's the fabled delete button to axe this duplicate post?

Edit - > Delete.

[Satchmo Distel]

Eagles run up huge mobile 'phone bills: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50180781

(And the stop any waggery in it's tracks, no, not by continually calling their accountants in the Cayman Islands.)

This was on BBC World Service yesterday. They are having to crowdfund to pay the text bill.