Rated-R Movies and the Law

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Check out noonsite or other places to see what is defined as contraband where you plan to go, and just don't carry it.
IIRC it is Barbados(?) that totally bans wearing camoflauge clothing--even for kids. But in the States, kids wear it all the time. What's it worth to be caught wearing the wrong t-shirt? [g]

In many countries, it is illegal to wear (or to buy or sell) military style , and/or camouflage clothing.

I believe it's illegal to wear camouflage clothing in Barbados, St. Kitts, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Malaysia, Botswana, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Madagascar and others.

Much of the world is at some state of war or political instability. Unless you are actually serving in the military, and traveling on official business, there is no benefit to your being identified as military personnel. Military personnel are prime targets for terrorism and rebel activity as well as for some thug trying to prove how tough he is. Camouflage is the obvious no-no, but other styles such as black combat-type hiking boots, matching olive-drab tops and bottoms, military style watches, sunglasses and bags all make you suspect.

BTW: Imitation of United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps or Air Force uniforms is prohibited, in accordance with the provisions of Act of Congress, approved June 3, 1916."
The law clearly states that only military people (active, reserve, guard, retirees) wear military clothing.

Originally Posted by David M

Wow...many of the sport fishermen wear camo around here. Do you suppose the fish can't see you if you are wearing camo?

No - the purpose of cammo’ in the USA, is to prevent Dick Cheney (& the like) from seeing (and shooting) you.

[Wotname]

The fish can still see you, they just can't believe you could possibily be a fisherman dressed like that - works everytime (i'm told).

[David_Old_Jersey]

I also believe that "Dual Use Technology" can cause problems, both from being in possession of abroad and / or from Uncle Sam for taking it to certain countries in the first place!

Stuff like Night Vision Glasses or Radio transmission equipment.....rather than a Bazooka than doubles as a Hat Stand

Maybe folk wanna also check the Sanctions lists before heading off / arriving somewhere?

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

We went through LA in the middle of the night after a 20 hour flight, when the hall was full and everyone was tired, but instead of tiredly shuffling our feet, and boredly slapping our passports down, we looked alive; looked like we had a reason to be there; wanted to be there; respectful of them and their country. Ahead of us was a young person who was not. and he was graced with an extra interview - wether he got in or not I don't know.

Of course he got in.
We let everyone in.
The checking thing is just for show.
The Israelis are the ones that do it for real.

[GMac]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

I also believe that "Dual Use Technology" can cause problems, both from being in possession of abroad and / or from Uncle Sam for taking it to certain countries in the first place!

Stuff like Night Vision Glasses or Radio transmission equipment.....rather than a Bazooka than doubles as a Hat Stand

Just had a case here in NZ where 2 of the rescue Helicopter Services (not military, rescue dumb climbers, boaties, car crashes and so on) had their night vision goggles taken off them by the US Military. Apparently they were very current US Military versions. One other rescue service spent 2 years getting US State Department approval for a nearly as good set, which they got.

The 2 services who lost theirs brought them from some bloke selling gear on Ebay.

I'd hate to be a US taxpayer with the amount of military gear that seems to get 'misplaced'. It's bizarre what happens sometimes.

All just part of the rich tapestry we call life I suppose.

[Hud3]

Trivia Quiz: On average, how many people enter the United States each day?

A. 110,000
B. 1,100,000
C. 2,100,000
D. 4,100,000

















Answer: 1,100,000

So, even with Six Sigma quality control, 3-4 "bad guys" will slip through every day. ("Six Sigma" is the process quality standard used by "best practice" companies around the world.)

[GordMay]

I thought that nearly 1 million enter the United States, just from Canada and Mexico each day, by car, truck, bus, train or on foot.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Hud3

Trivia Quiz: On average, how many people enter the United States each day?
Answer: 1,100,000

Reference please. I searched the net and couldnt find it.

Where did that figure come from? Its huge. Thats 400 million per year... more than the total population of the usa.

Mark

[hellosailor]

Gord-
I suspect you are reading in Canadian English rather than US-English. When our government says IMITATION of the miltary uniform is not allowed, that in no way prevents people from wearing individual items of military clothing, which are in fact legally and commonly sold as surplus for the civilian population to wear.
If I wear a uniform blouse (aka "Shirt") or BDUs, I'm not imitating a uniform. If I add unit insignia and the other trim to it--now I'm imitating a uniform and breaking the law. As as you will find, the clothing sold on the surplus market never carries that trim. (No unit patches, no "US ARMY", etc.)

In fact the DoD here would rather see people emulating the military by wearing their clothing, than protesting against it and shutting down recruiting offices.

And since the majority of our population serves, by law, in the national militia (better known as the "National Guard") even if that is "inactive" service consisting of doing nothing, one can make a very good case that most of us are "inactive" or "retirees" entitled to wear the US Army uniform (worn by most active National Guard troops) expressly under that provision.

Yes, the US has nearly total mandatory national and state service, even if it isn't very widely known to those who are required to serve. Mainly described in 10-USC, as I recall, with exemptions for postal and dock workers among other "critical" non-military categories. That's actually the legal basis for our draft, as well.

[Hud3]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Reference please. I searched the net and couldnt find it.

Where did that figure come from? Its huge. Thats 400 million per year... more than the total population of the usa.

Mark

Hi, Mark.

I had read something about that in the news the other day, but didn't keep the reference. I Googled before posting the "Trivia Quiz", and found the same number (1,100,000) on another site. Again, did not archive the reference, sorry.

If the figure is correct, it really gives perspective to the monumental task that folks guarding the borders are charged with.

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Hud3

<snip>
So, even with Six Sigma quality control, 3-4 "bad guys" will slip through every day. ("Six Sigma" is the process quality standard used by "best practice" companies around the world.)

Six standard deviations (three above the mean, three below) account for virtually the entire bell curve, but do not cover the "fat tails" at either end of the curve. Therefore, the 3-4 number is, or can be, even higher.

Relax, MarkJ. All 400,000,000 don't stay here, although it often seems that way.

TaoJones

[GordMay]

Apparently, I was wrong about a million Canadian + Mexican visitors to USA per day.

International travel to the United States will break records in 2007, marking a complete post-9/11 tourism recovery, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez predicts.
Travel to the United States following September 11, 2001, dropped 17 percent from a record high of 51.2 million visitors in 2000. But the country hosted 51.1 million international visitors in 2006, which constituted a 4 percent increase over the number of visitors in 2005. Gutierrez said he expects the trend to continue, and anticipates a 21 percent increase in the number of travelers to the United States over the next five years …
… Canadian travelers currently make up the largest percentage of international visitors to the United States, and the number of people visiting from Canada increased by 8 percent between 2005 and 2006 to reach 16 million. Mexicans make up the second-largest group of international visitors, and a 6 percent increase translated into 13.4 million Mexican visitors in 2006 …

Goto:
http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2007/March/20070303174902lnkais0.2752497.html

And:
Press Release

And:
http://www.commerce.gov/opa/press/Secretary_Gutierrez/2007_Releases/March/03_Travel_and_Tourism_Factsheet.pdf

[hellosailor]

Tourism Highlights

Page3 of the document that opens on that page has global tourism numbers through 2004.

By comparison, DisneyWorld alone is supposed to admit over 16 million visitors per year, so being a Customs agent must be a slow job in comparison with admitting people to see The Mouse.[g]

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by GordMay

high of 51.2 million visitors in 2000.

Plus all the locals flitting in and out taking vacation in Australia (looking for a better place to live?) the whole numbers must be very high.

I certainly take Huds point about the momumental task! They do well.

[Trekka]

Customs is more up to date and knowledgable than the TSA we deal with on boarding flights. They don't know about that new ultra thin Apple computer. The one in the tv ad that comes out of an envelope. There were news articles recently about people being pulled aside and the units xrayed and TSA people wondering what it was because there's no, or few typical ports, and I think it is solid state storage rather than a hard drive? Anyway people were missing flights while they pondered what it was and how to handle it.