Make 'em suffer, send them to Myrtle Beach.

/didn't rtfa

What a retarded bill.

"The passport requirement is the wrong answer to the wrong question. It creates major hassles for law-abiding citizens and communities all across the longest peaceful border in the world," Leahy said in a statement. "It adds nothing to our security while costing Vermont and our national economy billions in lost commerce."


Leahy makes sense here (with the possible exception of "billions"). No wonder Cheney got upset with him.

Nova Scotia is quite nice, too, at least in the summer time. (I've no plans to go there in the winter.)

Scenic Nova Scotia...
...in December

I would complain about this less if passports were not so expensive and take forever to get. Last time I checked they were $60 or $70. If the government wants to demand we have a passport to go anywhere else they need to not make it so expensive.

The whole passport to get into Canada thing is just stupid anyways.

NOT TRUE, subby.

The original bill requires passports for travel to the Caribbean and that part of it is unaffected here. The delay on enforcement is for Americans entering the country BY LAND.

So, fellow Farkers: get your damn passport!

Scenic Nova-Scotian beach:

Whenever you blue states get serious about seceding from the union, wake us up. We'll be at the cottage.

-Canadians.

Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it? Did you know his trial is over? Did you know he was sentenced? Did you see/hear any of the judge's comments on TV or radio? Didn't think so.

Everyone should hear what the judge had to say;

Ruling by Judge William Young, US District Court.

Prior to sentencing, the Judge asked the defendant, Richard Reid, if he hadanything to say.

His response: After admitting his guilt to the court for the record, Reid also admitted his "allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah,"defiantly stating, "I think I will not apologize for my actions," and told the court "I am at war with your country."

Judge Young then delivered the statement quoted below:

January 30, 2003,

United States vs. Reid.

Judge Young:

"Mr. Richard C. Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you.

On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the custody of the United States Attorney General. On counts 2, 3, 4 and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison on each count, the sentence on each count to run consecutively. (That's 80 years.)

On count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years again, to be served consecutively to the 80 years just imposed. The Court imposes upon you for each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000 that's an aggregate fine of $2 million. The Court accepts the government's recommendation with respect to restitution and orders restitution in the amount of $298.17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines.

The Court imposes upon you an $800 special assessment.

The Court imposes upon you five years supervised release simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I need go no further.

This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and just sentence. It is a righteous sentence.

Now, let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of you or any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. There is too much war talk here and I say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court, we deal with individuals as individuals and care for individuals as individuals. As human beings, we reach out for justice.

You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier, gives you far too much stature. Whether the officers of government do it or your attorney does it, or if you think you are a soldier.

You are not----- you are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with
terrorists. We do not meet with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.

So war talk is way out of line in this court. You are a big fellow. But you are not that big. You're no warrior. I've known warriors. You are a terrorist---a species of criminal that is guilty of multiple attempted murders.

In a very real sense, State Trooper Santiago had it right when you first were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and the TV crews were, and he said: 'You're no big deal.'

You are no big deal. What your able counsel and what the equally able United States attorneys have grappled with and what I have, as honestly as I know how, tried to grapple with is why you did something so horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today?

I have listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hate led you to do what you are guilty and admit you are guilty of doing? And, I have an answer for you . It may not satisfy you, but as I search this entire record, it comes as close to understanding as I know.

It seems to me you hate the one thing that to us is most precious.
You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose. Here, in this society, the very wind carries freedom. It carries it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom. So that everyone can see, truly see, that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discreetly. It is for freedom's sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf, have filed
appeals, will go on in their representation of you before other judges.

We Americans are all about freedom. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties.

Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bear any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms. Look around this courtroom. Mark it well.

The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here. The day after tomorrow, it will be forgotten, but this, however, will long endure.

Here in this courtroom and courtrooms all across America, the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice is in fact being done. The very President of the United States through his officers will have to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape
and refine our sense of justice.

See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America.

That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten.

That flag stands for freedom. And it always will.

Mr. Custody Officer. "Stand him down."

MIU: Scenic Nova-Scotian beach:

Oh yes, Nova Scotian beaches are very scenic. What they don't tell you, however, is that the water off Nova Scotian beaches tends to be cold enough, even in summer, for your American temperate-zone nads to vanish forever.

/ The shrinkage you'll experience will make what happens to a budget surplus in a Republican administration seem like major studdage.
// Which explains the GOP apologists. Small wee-wees and cold water apparently make wonderful political beer-goggles.

Bohemian:
The whole passport to get into Canada thing is just stupid anyways.

You wouldn't need a passport to get into Canada, you'd just need one to get back into the States. Right now a Government issued ID like a Drivers license along with a birth certificate is fine..

/on second thought you DO need a passport to get into Canada..
//as well as a live penguin, oh, and you need to pay an entry fee of several thousand dollars. (A $7000 tariff, actually.)
///so stay home.

(The US ... Canada's Florida. :-)

strutin: You wouldn't need a passport to get into Canada, you'd just need one to get back into the States. Right now a Government issued ID like a Drivers license along with a birth certificate is fine..

And even then. If you're driving, odds are they won't even bother checking your papers anyway. Just so you're not smuggling booze, smokes, or food.

A passport is good for what? Ten years? The expense is trivial.

Just visited Mexico, showing a passport is no more difficult than showing a driver's license. This is just nothing but posturing by Leahy.

FTFA:
Even though the passport requirement is likely to be postponed, Vermonters and others will still need birth certificates or similar identification to enter the United States by land beginning Jan. 31.

I know what they're really saying, but it just sounds funny to me.

worlds tallest midget: So war talk is way out of line in this court. You are a big fellow. But you are not that big. You're no warrior. I've known warriors. You are a terrorist---a species of criminal that is guilty of multiple attempted murders.

In a very real sense, State Trooper Santiago had it right when you first were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and the TV crews were, and he said: 'You're no big deal.'

Thanks for posting that. I can't say that I'd have been nearly as eloquent or patient in addressing Reid. And, the judge does a fantastic job of demonstrating that, contrary to the squawkings of our president, we really should never fear these lunatics whether their numbers are one or one thousand. After all, they can kill everyone in America, but they can never kill America. They may hate our freedoms, but they can never take them away. And, that's why we'll always be better than them, and I smile a lot knowing that they hate that.

MooseUpNorth: MIU: Scenic Nova-Scotian beach:

Oh yes, Nova Scotian beaches are very scenic. What they don't tell you, however, is that the water off Nova Scotian beaches tends to be cold enough, even in summer, for your American temperate-zone nads to vanish forever.

/ The shrinkage you'll experience will make what happens to a budget surplus in a Republican administration seem like major studdage.
// Which explains the GOP apologists. Small wee-wees and cold water apparently make wonderful political beer-goggles.

Not all of us south of the border are ill equipped to handle the cold. We share shoreline of a very large and very cold lake. Like you, we do not want the southerners coming up here and ruining our view of it. Bringing the pestilence of crime and over population into our remote location. We would rather they simply drop off a bag of cash at the bridge.

/In the U.P.
//Nothing to see here, move along.

Needing a passport to cross to Canada is stupid, it does put the burden on the law abiding citizen rather than doing anything to quash the threats. That is the way of it, make it tougher to stay within the law rather than outside the law.

Cozumel is not in Nova Scotia.

Serial comma, use it!

MooseUpNorth: MIU: Scenic Nova-Scotian beach:

Oh yes, Nova Scotian beaches are very scenic. What they don't tell you, however, is that the water off Nova Scotian beaches tends to be cold enough, even in summer, for your American temperate-zone nads to vanish forever.

Heh well my nads do just fine, I've been to those beaches numerous times. NS beaches are among the nicest I've seen anywhere, though you're right that the water can be a biatchilly.

/Newfie
//No harpoon stuck up teh *ss.

Does anyone think its stupid that we require US Citizens to have passports to enter the USA from Mexico, but a 100,000 illegals a month cross over without them and we all agree that there is no way to stop them??

HempHead: Does anyone think its stupid that we require US Citizens to have passports to enter the USA from Mexico, but a 100,000 illegals a month cross over without them and we all agree that there is no way to stop them??

If you feel like the best way in and out of Mexico is to walk through the desert or be smuggled in someone's trunk, nobody is stopping you.

Me, I prefer to travel comfortably.

I wouldn't travel to the US on a bet.

House of Tards: HempHead: Does anyone think its stupid that we require US Citizens to have passports to enter the USA from Mexico, but a 100,000 illegals a month cross over without them and we all agree that there is no way to stop them??

If you feel like the best way in and out of Mexico is to walk through the desert or be smuggled in someone's trunk, nobody is stopping you.

Me, I prefer to travel comfortably.

Well, I'm no supporter of The Wall, but I believe his point was not that, but that it is not fair that legal travelers are being treated so badly when it is doing nothing to stop the so-called aliens.

MooseUpNorth: MIU: Scenic Nova-Scotian beach:

Oh yes, Nova Scotian beaches are very scenic. What they don't tell you, however, is that the water off Nova Scotian beaches tends to be cold enough, even in summer, for your American temperate-zone nads to vanish forever.

heh. That's only the Atlantic Ocean-side beaches, though. The ones on the Northumberland Strait in August are gloriously warm.

/wouldn't swim in the Atlantic in June for anything

Crown_of_Shoes: Cozumel is not in Nova Scotia.

Serial comma, use it!

English teachers go home!

mynewm5: Crown_of_Shoes: Cozumel is not in Nova Scotia.

Serial comma, use it!

English teacher,s go home!

FTFY. I'm only one person. Next!

I'm Nova Scotian and I'm getting a kick .........

MIU: /Newfie

Newfies excluded, of course. Mainland Maritimers think your winters are absolutely nuts.

/ Once saw a Newfie burst into flames in Arizona.
// But it was a dry heat, so it was okay.

I miss nova scotian beaches....

/recently moved to saskatoon...

Phil Moskowitz: I wouldn't travel to the US on a bet.

Call us in about ten years...after your ex-Colonials impose their Sharia.

The imperial chickens are coming home to roost. Literally.

So many things wrong with this bill and this mentality... and this is the completely wrong site to address them.

"Terrorists!" Huh. When I was wee, it was always "Ohmygodthinkofthechildren!" anytime anyone wanted to further their agenda. Eventually, that got played so badly we just wanted to throw "The children!" into woodchippers so that people would shut the holy fark up about 'em. Evidence of how inurred we are to that one can be seen in the lukewarm public response to two of Bush the Younger's seven vetoes. So nowadays it's become "Ohmygodtheremightbeaterroristunderyourbed!"

Did it occur to the wise and worldy FARKers that there might be a reason the Powers-That-Be would be interested in suddenly making it beyond inconvenient not to have one of these things that has nothing to god damned do with "Terrorists!" (although it might still fall under Homeland Insecurity)...? You do know that they don't make 'em like they used to, dont'cha...?

Meh. Any idiot can shove a hook down a fish's gullet. An artist is going to make the fish come up with the idea to do it himself.

This should be good for me - I sell beach houses in NS! Want one?

worlds tallest midget:

That was very interesting. You're right, I never heard the outcome of the trial, except that he was found guilty.

Thank you for posting the judge's remarks. The stuff you learn on Fark.