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Old 06-09-2007, 21:20   #16
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The US Coast Guard , US Customs and INS are all part of Homeland security. Another great idea from those who have brought us supersized government. What happened to this man is reprehensible, however the sad part is that it's probably legal. It has to be or this guy could sue.

No.. I'm not a Democrat, but seems like I'm heading in that direction these days.
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Old 06-09-2007, 22:29   #17
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The US Coast Guard , US Customs and INS are all part of Homeland security. Another great idea from those who have brought us supersized government.
In fact, Customs and INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) were rolled into a single entity within the Department of Homeland Security. It is now called US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Chilling, isn't it?

Before this consolidation, INS was the laughing stock of all the federal bureaucracies. Within government, it was said that INS was where government careers went to die. Because being assigned to INS was the American equivalent of being exiled to Siberia, most people assigned there just went through the motions.

Is it better now? I don't know. But the attitude is certainly different.

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Old 06-09-2007, 23:03   #18
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No sense of humour...

Maybe his real crime was to reveal a great big hole in border security.

This is not a place to joke...

11 charged over Chaser APEC stunt


Police say that while it appears the stunt was a prank, the current security environment was not the place to do it in. (ABC TV)

Eleven people from the ABC TV program The Chaser's War on Everything have been charged with offences under the new APEC legislation.
Eight ABC cast and crew members and three hired drivers have been charged with entering a restricted area without justification.
The group was arrested after staging a fake motorcade through Sydney's CBD and were stopped near the InterContinental Hotel where US President George W Bush is staying.
One of the Chaser crew was dressed as Osama bin Laden.
All 11 have been charged under the new APEC legislation with entering a restricted area without justification.
They were all granted bail, but on the condition that none of the group can enter any of the declared security zones during APEC.
Police say that while it appears the stunt was a prank, the current security environment was not the place to do it in.
The group did not offer any comment as they were released.
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Old 07-09-2007, 08:09   #19
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Customs doesn't care about drinking and driving, local pd don't care about fishing permit violations, and the fish and game don't care whether you have enough safety gear on your boat.

That's pretty pathetic though. We've got some real idiots at the helm of this fine country of ours.
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Old 07-09-2007, 11:18   #20
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I find it odd that "while" getting immigrations/ customs authorization.. anyone would take the opportunity to get drunk. I also have a tendency to consider any time I see posts that seem to drive a questionable point, to realize that only one point of view is being provided and that "view" may or may not have any resemblance to fact.

The point about drinking or immigration/ customs status may well not be the significant issue here. Someone getting obnoxious or being a wise-*ss may be the driving force here. Get out of line while attempting to get "permission" to enter a country is not the best way to assure entrance. Most ICE agents have wide latitude to deny or hold up entrance.

I strongly suspect the facts presented are not in facts the full facts or show the real situation as it occured.... people with points of view just don't paint a true picture but one slanted to their view point.

Taking the point of view that any country is Always Wrong for political points are just cheap shots and when based on partial "reports" are just with out any Reality involvement. Few people probably know what actually occured... and among those, some can truly believe they are correct when in fact they are only rationalizing a situation to fit their own purposes. Try not to fall into such traps.
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Old 07-09-2007, 11:36   #21
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I believe you are questioning a poster, when the only thing the poster did was post an article.

If you took the time to google, you'd find the article here:

Canadian boater refuses to drink and drive, lands in U.S. jail

If you were to question that the newspaper was somehow distorting the truth. Or that the Canadian was hiding some facts, that of course is a legitimate point of view.

I felt that your post came across as an acusation that the original poster slanted something or other, when in fact, the article isn't his.
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Old 07-09-2007, 19:02   #22
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I find it odd that "while" getting immigrations/ customs authorization.. anyone would take the opportunity to get drunk.
I interpreted it as, "Canadian boaters often drop into Put-In Bay without clearing customs and immigration (as has been done for years). However this time after landing and a couple of hours at the bar and with heightened rule-following, this boater got asked for papers and in a slightly intoxicated state, probably thought it was a joke, joked with or blew off the Coastie and things snowballed, as things do."

The media picked it up because, while not news, it is fun to see other people in trouble.

Put-In bay is not the US mainland. It's a little party island in the lake off the coast of Cleveland/Sandusky - This thing is way out of proportion.

Although if I were writing the headline it would be something like, "US Coast Guard repels Canadian invasion of US soil!"
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Old 07-09-2007, 20:18   #23
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It's really not hard to be over the limit in regards to alcohol. If you're dehydrated, even a single beer can put you over .08. If the guy was waiting around for a while, and even had two beers, which really is quite easy to do (from experience), you're certainly able to talk to people and conduct business, but not operate a vessel safely.

I've had a couple of beers at lunch and gone into meetings; no harm no foul. But I sure as hell make sure I'm not driving back.
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Old 08-09-2007, 09:44   #24
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Anybody stupid enough to not enter any country the proper way anf then (get drunk) waiting for clearance to enter a country should be in jail, at least for being stupid. And he was drunk after only a couple of beers, that sounds more like being a smart a@@ than anything else. I don't condone drinking and operating a vehicle of any sort. but unless you way about 100 lbx. which according to his photo, he's way pass that...
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Old 08-09-2007, 12:23   #25
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a few beers? i think i would have had a cup of coffee and headed back home.
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Old 08-09-2007, 13:31   #26
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"I said, 'I can't leave, I've had a few beers,' DaCosta recalled."
Yeah, I noticed that little item myself. There probably isn't a cop anywhere on earth who doesn't interpret that to mean "I've downed a couple of six-packs in the last half hour, and I'm sh*tfaced," because that's the case more often than not.

And the fool probably did mouth off in his altered state - was probably just begging to be treated less than cordially. But authorities deal with obnoxious drunks all the time without rendering them to the local version of Gitmo.

What happened to the concept of "Let the punishment fit the crime?"

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Old 08-09-2007, 18:49   #27
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Put In Bay is a great little party location on South Bass Island just off the coast from Sandusky Ohio. It is a favourite weekend location for boaters on both sides of the border. Leamington Ontario is probably about 25 miles from Put In Bay, and Detroit and Windsor are just over 50 miles away.

Back in the 60's to 80's nobody paid much attention about going across the Detroit River for an evening or a beer and boaters traveled both ways. Similary, going to Put In Bay or Americans going to Peele Island on the Canadian side.

On the Victoria Day long weekend (one week before Memorial Day) a local yacht club hosted a Put in Bay Weekend with a race over the highlight. Up to 150 Canadian yachts participated and the locals had banners welcomming the up to 300 to 400 Canadians who all went out to dinner and usually hit the bars. At this time I don't ever re member seeing any border patrol. Immigration was in Sandusky. There was plenty of Law Enforcement for the size of the village, but it only seemed that you could get arrested was for peeing in the park.

I think it was in the 80's that the I68 visa first appeared. This allowed Canadians to land in the U.S. as long as they stayed in the vicinity. It was very easy to get and after the first year I was able to renew it at the Toronto Boat Show for free. After a while they started to charge for it and you had to go to the nearest border crossing to get it. Better have the right change as well.

Finally one year, probably in the early 90's enforcement started. When we reached the dock there were 15 border guards, some with machine guns waiting for us. After 5 to 10 minutes of grilling even with proper visas we were free to go. What a waste of tax payers dollars. If they wanted to check visas, 1 or 2 would have been more than enough.

Unfortunately it has become such a hassle that this regatta is now less then half the size that it used to be. I realize that we cannot go back to the days of the open border, but lets please use some common sense, there are a lot more areas in both of our countries that need shoring up, especially in the cargo areas , both sea and air.
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Old 19-09-2007, 09:04   #28
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Although US Customs overreacted, it was very irresponsible of him to get drunk while waiting for clearance from Customs.

Would anyone try this in Mexico while waiting for clearance?
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Old 19-09-2007, 11:06   #29
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How did customs overreact? By detaining an illegal border hopper? Have you lost your mind.
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Old 19-09-2007, 11:47   #30
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How did customs overreact? By detaining an illegal border hopper? Have you lost your mind.
No one who sails into another country's waters and seeks clearance is "an illegal border hopper." When the individual was denied entry, it was his obligation to leave. At that point, he had still done nothing "illegal."

That he chose to get drunk while awaiting clearance was his own stupid decision, but still he had done nothing illegal. When he was ordered to leave, and threatened with arrest if he did not, he again made a stupid decision. His provocative "Fine, arrest me, I'm not drinking and driving," was his first illegal act, and he was arrested as promised.

When he wasn't simply confined to the drunk tank for the number of hours necessary to sober up, then put back on his boat and sent home to Canada, ICE was over-reacting. Did he ask for it? Absolutely.

He now finds himself entangled in the intricacies of the American legal system. Is it possible that his asinine behavior invited the full "treatment?"

Without a doubt.

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