US Ordered 'Mandatory Social Media Check' For Visa Applicants Who Visited ISIS Territory (theverge.com) 197
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has ordered a "mandatory social media check" on all visa applicants who have ever visited ISIS-controlled territory, according to diplomatic cables obtained by Reuters. The four memos were sent to American diplomatic missions over the past two weeks, with the most recent issued on March 17th. According to Reuters, they provide details into a revised screening process that President Donald Trump has described as "extreme vetting." A memo sent on March 16th rescinds some of the instructions that Tillerson outlined in the previous cables, including an order that would have required visa applicants to hand over all phone numbers, email addresses, and social media accounts that they have used in the past. The secretary of state issued the memo after a Hawaii judge blocked the Trump administration's revised travel ban on citizens from six predominantly Muslim countries. In addition to the social media check, the most recent memo calls for consular officials to identify "populations warranting increased scrutiny." Two former government officials tell Reuters that the social media order could lead to delays in processing visa applications, with one saying that such checks were previously carried out on rare occasions.
I don't have any you insensitive clod! (Score:5, Insightful)
Does it include ANY website that you communicate, like our very own Slashdot, and any random forum you belong too for hobbies, and GitHub and other sites that facilitate communicating with others over certain topics?
The reason for this is to find "terrorists", but how many terrorists are dumb enough to give over their accounts that they use to actively proclaim jihad on the world with? I understand you have to vet people for certain things, but I'm not sure how this will really help, being that it sounds like it's on the "honor" system that you are being truthful and turning all of your accounts over. It also has the flaw in that it assumes that you have Social Media accounts to begin with which many people do not.
Re:I don't have any you insensitive clod! (Score:5, Interesting)
A lot of them, actually. ISIS is very active about it, in fact. I think both the French and Monaco truck-ramming idiots had posts on some social media about jihad. Same with the idiots who shot up the theater.
These guys are not criminal masterminds, nor are they particularly crafty or intelligent. Something this simple wouldn't stop all of them, but it would at least flag some of them.
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So your assumption is that Facebook et al demand birth certificates, picture id, fingerprints and DNA prior to opening an account in any particular name. There is real insanity in using something like social media at borders where the validity of any social media account ie what is you name, John Smith, provide social media account details and passwords, I have none, liar John Smith is all over the place, prepare to be strip searched and anal probed and be held in custody until you provide details for all s
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So your assumption is that Facebook et al demand birth certificates, picture id, fingerprints and DNA prior to opening an account in any particular name. There is real insanity in using something like social media at borders where the validity of any social media account ie what is you name, John Smith, provide social media account details and passwords, I have none, liar John Smith is all over the place, prepare to be strip searched and anal probed and be held in custody until you provide details for all social media accounts tied to John Smith or variants of John Smith. So basically guilty for the entirety of social media until you can prove which accounts are not your account.
Well they could look at all the pictures of John Smith and see if any are obviously you, or if any of them posted about just visiting the country you're coming from. Of course this assumes you're dumb enough to have privacy settings that allow unknowns to peruse your profile.
Re:I don't have any you insensitive clod! (Score:5, Insightful)
I doubt it. This is just another example of "something must be done" - spinning wheels to show that there is action but not actually going anywhere.
It's just going to piss off a lot of people and make Bin Laden's ghost laugh at how even the people who like the USA enough to actually want to visit are being encouraged to hate it by little Hitlers on border duty.
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...although it arguably puts up the "cost of doing business" for ISIS. That is, they now (may) have to make up fake social media accounts over a period of many months/years to make one their dodgy people look 'clean'.
I'd imagine though, if you want to get anyone 'dodgy' into the US, a fake passport is probably a lot easier than fake social media accounts.
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Most of these terrorists are natives anyway. Like the guy who just tried it in London - born as Adrian Russell in Dartford before he changed his name, UK citizen from birth.
The terrorists are actually one step ahead here. They know it is dumb to try to sneak jihadists over borders, at least via legitimate means that pass through border security. Instead they prefer to radicalize vulnerable people already in the target countries, via social media.
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Bank account shows buying any network product over the years?
So that email account might be asked for.
Re 'give over their accounts that they use to actively proclaim
The question is like the old political party question on entry to the USA. All the USA has to find any trace of a lie and access to the USA is revoked.
The more questions asked, the more people might try to hide from the USA.
Its very hard to hide f
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Then you're either very suspicious or lying, and both warrant extra special treatment. Step over here for a minute ...
And what constitutes a "Social Media Account"?
If your definition is narrower than the authorities' definition, you're potentially in trouble. So: No, yes and yes.
Does it include ANY website that you communicate, like our very own Slashdot, and any random forum you belong too for hobbies, and GitHub and other sites that facilitate com
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There is a list.
If you apply for a visa waiver, you will be asked for your social media accounts right now but it is listed as OPTIONAL. There is a list on the visa waiver sites they want you to give details on accounts on, the list has about 30 sites on it as well as an "Other" where you can disclose information about anything else.
It is currently optional, but the question is already there even for visa-waiver countries.
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The same type of terrorists who are dumb enough to think that Allah will reward them with 72 virgins for wearing an explosive vest.
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What if I don't have any social media accounts.
"Just don't lie. It's 10 years in Gitmo if you lie. Remember Martha Stewart. She went to prison because she lied to Federal agents. You're not a Martha Stewart? Are you?"
"Is that your iPhone? Please unlock it for us. Yes, my colleague will return your iPhone shortly to you. It just takes a few minutes."
"Has anyone else used that iPhone other than yourself? Please write down their names, contact info, dates, and circumstances in which they did."
"What's your email address? [haveibeenpwned.com]"
"Any other email address? Keep in mi
Marketing tool for Facebook! (Score:1)
Re:I don't have any you insensitive clod! (Score:5, Insightful)
Easy, if you don't have a social media account, your visa is denied. No skin off our asses.
Ah, yet another 'easy solution'. Yes, I suppose you can be an idiot about if you like, but the thing is, if you consistently behave like an idiot, you will end up being considered an idiot. I can sort of follow the thinking behind this sort of rule, but it is just so heart-breakingly naive. What will happen is that good, honest, well-intentioned people will, as always, be the ones that lose out; the ones that genuinely don't use social media will be under suspicion, whereas if you are an extremist with a busy life on social media, you will just extend the double-life you are probably already living, and have a social media persona that is all about "America is the greatest, Amen, I love democracy, ain't Trump just great?" which they and their pals can laugh themselves silly about, while they continue their real activities under an assumed name. No sweat. And on top of this, the good, patriotic people that make up the majority of the security establishments in the US will loathe being made to act like stupid bullies, so after some time they will probably want to leave - and then all you'll have is the leftovers, the ones that enjoy bullying. How is that good for America?
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What will happen is that good, honest, well-intentioned people will, as always, be the ones that lose out
I'm pretty sure that well-intentioned, good, honest people won't vacation in ISIS land and then blog about how Americans should all be killed.
So you're wrong. Good, honest, well-intentioned people won't have anything to worry about from this.
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Seriously. When I was in high school/college, I had something like thirty FreeNet accounts on different servers around the U.S., just for the heck of it. Do those count? Because if so, I don't have any idea what any of them were.... :-D
good (Score:1)
Some checking on people who have been in war zones with our stated enemies. Seems specific enough in target and restrained enough in scope.
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But ISIS countries are MUSLIM! Which means this is a MUSLIM BAN! Trump is a BIGOT, a FASCIST, and LITERALLY HITLER!
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They should only be allowed a visa to visit Hawaii, since Hawaii likes terrorists so much.
Uh.... what? (Score:5, Insightful)
*ever*???
Personally, I know I wouldn't even be able to begin to comply with this kind of demand. I don't remember all of the old phone numbers I've had. All social media accounts? Does that include aliases on bulletin board systems from the 1980's? Again, I couldn't comply because I don't remember them all. I probably have about a half dozen expired email accounts at old internet service providers, some of which don't even exist anymore, where I can maybe remember half of them.
Re:Uh.... what? (Score:5, Interesting)
I was once asked to list every address I had ever lived at. That's just about impossible unless you stayed in the house into which you were born for your whole life.
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I was once asked to list every address I had ever lived at. That's just about impossible unless you stayed in the house into which you were born for your whole life.
That's highly individual but I think a lot of people can do that. I tried to do a count for myself and arrived at eleven, I can name all the cities and most the roads, but if I dug through all my papers I could probably find all the addresses. I don't think I know any that's literally lived all their lives at the same address, but I know one that's only had two. Now this might be statistically biased since the only people I can follow through most their lives are the people who stayed in my home town, but I
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2. Collective or other shared accommodation, often combined with studies.
It's pretty common to move accommodation for each year of a degree, so this can easily be 3-4, more if you do a PhD or similar (though people often find a place for the whole of their PhD). I can remember the second and third places I lived as a student (I stayed in the same place for two years of undergrad and then for the whole of my PhD), but the first was university-owned accommodation and I don't recall the exact address - I certainly don't remember post codes for all of them.
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I was once asked to list every address I had ever lived at. That's just about impossible unless you stayed in the house into which you were born for your whole life.
Um, no. I've lived at 11 addresses and I can recall all except two that were temporary relocations (and I can partially recall them). Granted, it is a ridiculous request. Perhaps all the addresses you've lived at for the last seven years?
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I've had 3 but I would need to use the Google Maps trick for one of them.
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I was once asked to list every address I had ever lived at. That's just about impossible unless you stayed in the house into which you were born for your whole life.
I can list every single one of my permanent residences. I've had 12 thus far in my life.
However the only time I've been asked to list all of them was to attain Top Secret clearance whilst working at the Australian Tax Office (and that was a requirement because I might accidentally see something classified Top Secret, not that I handled classified info.. the joys of tech support).
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That's sort of a corollary to this.
"List every place you've ever lived from birth to the present. Give complete address details including apartment numbers, postal codes, and exact starting and ending dates specifying month, day, and year. In each case, state your reason for moving. There may be no gaps in the dates. Write legibly and clearly."
And of course, the space for listing this is about a half inch tall.
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Not all of us, but those who are racist are sorry about it.
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No kidding. Hell, my browser has 6 different Slashdot logins stored *right now*, not counting all the other ones I've used going back 15 years. Email addresses would be practically impossible, even going on a "best effort" basis. I give out a new email address every time I sign up for a different website or get tied into some store's rewards program.
Phone numbers are likely to provide some real intel, but the whole idea of collecting social media accounts is laughable on its face. It's preposterous to think
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Oh you can't comply? Well sorry, visa denied. It's a practically impossible task, especially if you go back to the 80s for those BBS accounts, even earlier for phone numbers, or include one-time/throwaway accounts we've all created.
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Yes, of course! (Score:2)
Yes, of course. The point of these questions is not just to acquire information, it's also to get you to provide false information, i.e. lie. Then you can be easily charged with lying to immigration authorities.
Personally, I know I wouldn't even be able to begin to comply with this kind of demand.
Well that's too bad.
Does that include aliases on bulletin board systems from the 1980's?
If someone else can still prove that you had this account, yes.
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If I'm ever asked about my social media... (Score:1)
I think I'm just going create a bunch of porn profiles with just dick pics to hand over and see what their biometrics think of that. Just being a Good Samaritan. Have a few with cartoony smiley faces and AK-47s. If they turn it down, it's not my problem. It tried. If everyone did that, they'd stop just like they did when people pulled their pants down at airports a decade ago. You'd hope anyway. One of the male agents just smiles at you. Cavity search. :( Says he needs more "biometric data."
Here's the actual problem, (Score:1)
Any information you hand over is you consenting to a search. They will make feel like you can't get into the country without a social media account. That's not true. It's just a scare tactic. Worst case, by a shitty $40 Android, get a Twitter account, then throw the fucking thing away. Any one asks, you lost it and forgot the password. If you gotta do it again, who cares. You already spent hundreds of dollars flying. I wanna know where are all the NAACP related groups and protestors on this? Anyone noticed
Re:Here's the actual problem, (Score:4, Informative)
Hint: this is for Visa applications. That is, for foreigners who aren't allowed to visit America without one, and are supplying this information in their own country.
And it's for Visa applications from people who like to hang out with ISIS, which should be an automatic denial in any sane world.
Telephone Game: Racist Edition (Score:4, Interesting)
Reuters version -- "applicants who have ever been present in territory controlled by the Islamic State" * (link [reuters.com])
Verge version -- "applicants who have ever visited ISIS-controlled territory" (link [theverge.com])
Parent version -- "applications from people who like to hang out with ISIS" (above)
* Comprised in the majority of citizens who were victims, prisoners, kidnapped, abused, forced slaves and wives, i.e., any brown-skinned refugees.
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Because they have relatives in both the US and Syria.
And how you distinguish someone who just visited their parents in Damascus with someone who says they visited their parents in Damascus but spent most of their "vacation" in Raqqa?
Re: Telephone Game: Racist Edition (Score:5, Informative)
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Why would communists prevent you from visiting your West German grandfather? West Germany was never run by communists.
As for the "stinking Communists", their problem was that they violated the fundamental right of people to leave their country. That's why most of my family couldn't visit me after I emigrated, being stuck behind the iron curtain and all that. Of course, it was easy for Westerners to visi
Re: Telephone Game: Racist Edition (Score:4, Insightful)
Why would communists prevent you from visiting your West German grandfather? West Germany was never run by communists.
I know nothing about K. S. Kyosuke, but I interpreted that to mean he (she?) had grown up in East Germany or at least the Eastern bloc, but had been able to travel to West Germany.
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That wouldn't support his argument. We're talking about a (putative, non-existent) right to enter another country as a non-citizen.
The transgression of the "stinking Communists" was an entirely different one: they violated the (established) right of citizens to leave their country of citizenship.
And speaking as someone whose famil
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Jesus christ dude, they're both freedom of movement issues.
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Freedom of movement is a well-defined and widely recognized right that encompasses (UN definition [wikipedia.org]):
For your personal amusement, you can extend that list by whatever movement-related criteria you want, but your personal amusement does not create new human righ
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Possibly the same reason you are in America, whatever that may be. People gotta be somewhere, and America (in spite of our embarrassing fuckwittery) has a lot of great things going for it. I realize it's subjective and we all have different opinions, but it's not unreasonable for people to prefer America. (And yes, it's not unreasonable for someone to prefer somewhere else instead.) We really do have our attractions. If you don't think those attractions m
Re:Here's the actual problem, (Score:5, Informative)
And it's for Visa applications from people who like to hang out with ISIS, which should be an automatic denial in any sane world.
Or all the folks who worked as contractors supporting US efforts in the region. I'm not in a Visa country, but I've been to several areas that have been controlled by Daesh, working as a civilian contractor.
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ISIL/Daash may want it pretend they do but ISIL is not actually running a country. They are one of the smaller rebel groups in Syria and Iraq. Being in the same area as a thinly spread bunch of criminals does not also make you are criminal, especially if you are one of the people actively fighting these criminals, such as the Kurdish groups that we provide military aid to. Those are the sort of people who will be visiting the USA and they are the sort of people who h
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First off, whatever label used will eventually be a slur or co-opted. Welcome to the treadmill. Language sucks. If you're trying to steer it though, you should at least offer your preferred alternative. The alt-right / right / conservatives / republicans have it just as bad.
Second, I'm not sure you should jump to the conclusion that any idiotic statement on our side of the fence must be some false-flag trolling operation. Both camps are HUGE and we both have our fair share of idiots. Unless we call them
Re:Here's the actual problem, (Score:5, Insightful)
Admission of non-citizens into the US is not a right and is not subject to due process. Non-citizens can be denied entry for arbitrary reasons, not just in the US but also in all other countries on the planet. How do I know? I have lived in half a dozen countries and immigrated to the US.
Even as a citizen, you can be searched at the border.
The "ignorance and group think" is people like you who confuse legal protections of citizens with immigration procedures.
Quite apart from the legal issues, the NAACP stands up for the rights and advancement of a population that suffers from, on average, lower education, lower skills, and lower incomes. What possible reason would the NAACP have to advocate the admission into the US of even more people who compete for already scarce low skill jobs?
Re:Here's the actual problem, (Score:5, Interesting)
Admission of non-citizens into the US is not a right and is not subject to due process. Non-citizens can be denied entry for arbitrary reasons, not just in the US but also in all other countries on the planet.
On the other hand, the US signed a treaty (actually a couple) that says my wife and son, both not citizens of the USA, can wander into the USA any time they want. According to the American Constitution, treaties are the second highest law of the land, just below the Constitution. Of course America being America, all it takes is a Supreme Court Justice to say, "no, the Constitution actually means something else" and America has a long history of breaking their own laws and especially treaties. Probably the reason they dropped the u out of honour.
Through other treaties and such, my son also has the right to go to a few other countries as well.
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Admission of non-citizens into the US is not a right and is not subject to due process. Non-citizens can be denied entry for arbitrary reasons, not just in the US but also in all other countries on the planet.
On the other hand, the US signed a treaty (actually a couple) that says my wife and son, both not citizens of the USA, can wander into the USA any time they want. According to the American Constitution, treaties are the second highest law of the land, just below the Constitution. Of course America being America, all it takes is a Supreme Court Justice to say, "no, the Constitution actually means something else" and America has a long history of breaking their own laws and especially treaties. Probably the reason they dropped the u out of honour. Through other treaties and such, my son also has the right to go to a few other countries as well.
As someone (also) married to a foreign national, what he said.
The OP's arbitrary posture on non-nationals is in the same category as people demanding immigration vetting of Puerto Rican and people from Guam and American Samoa (who are US citizens) moving to the mainland (yes, I've heard this, multiple times.)
Posturing about the law, and ignorance of the law, them two make a saucy shit sandwich. Every. Time.
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I've lived as an immigrant and guest worker for much of my life, and I've always understood that immigration is a privilege, that as an immigrant I do not have most of the rights of citizens, and that until I become a citizen, I can be asked to leave at any time. Even now that I am a citizen, my family abroad has no right to visit me here or live with me (although they occasionally enjoy that privilege after g
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I've lived as an immigrant and guest worker for much of my life, and I've always understood that immigration is a privilege, that as an immigrant I do not have most of the rights of citizens, and that until I become a citizen, I can be asked to leave at any time.
You're selling yourself short. Your rights are not defined by the government's whims. You have just as much right to be here as anyone born within the geopolitical boundaries of the United States. Anyone who tries to claim otherwise (including the U.S. government) is infringing on your natural rights as a sentient being.
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Now that I am a naturalized citizen I do. Before naturalization, I did not.
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Really? A treaty that grants non-citizens unconditional legal rights to enter the US? Being an immigrant myself, most of whose family lives outside the US, I'd love to hear about that! Can you provide pointers?
Not from "predominantly Muslim countries" (Score:1, Insightful)
The secretary of state issued the memo after a Hawaii judge blocked the Trump administration's revised travel ban on citizens from six predominantly Muslim countries.
The ban is for six predominately islamic extremist countries. Are you bigoted against Muslims or something?
I keep hearing this.... (Score:5, Insightful)
But shouldn't Saudi Arabia top that list, followed by Turkey and only then Iran and any other 'extremist' countries?
America's bedfellows are the biggest terrorist supporters in the Middle East, bar none.
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The list was made in 2012 by the Obama administration and has not been amended.
If you had a problem with the list, you should have spoken up when the democrats made it.
Stop pushing that lie. It was created by a Republican Congress and put into a bill that Obama signed
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The secretary of state issued the memo after a Hawaii judge blocked the Trump administration's revised travel ban on citizens from six predominantly Muslim countries.
The ban is for six predominately islamic extremist countries. Are you bigoted against Muslims or something?
WTF? The countries are not "predominantly islamic extremist." That would require more than 50% of the population to be extremists.
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That would require more than 50% of the population to be extremists.
Read it and weep. [pewforum.org]
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That would require more than 50% of the population to be extremists.
Read it and weep. [pewforum.org]
If you are claiming that the majority of Muslims are extremists, then the word extreme loses it's meaning.
I sure feel safer (Score:2)
Knowing that we won't have to worry about people who say upsetting things on Twitter.
fixed that for you (Score:2)
Just as true...
FTFY
So how do you enforce that? (Score:2)
To me it doesn't seem like it serves any purpose at all exce
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The USA does know. ...
Most of those areas where ISIS rules are still part of an official country that requires a VISA to enter. Hence you have a stamp of that country in your passport and to get a VISA for the USA you have to show your passport
Here's a business idea (Score:3)
Are you worried that law enforcement, border control or even the prospective in-laws could want to take a look at your Facebook, your Twitter, your Instagram? We have the solution for you!
We whitewash your official social media pages, keep them updated with goodie-two-shoes stories (your choice how much saccharine is to be added) to make it look active and not a fake profile, while you open up your very own, private social media account where you can be yourself all you want. Your future mother-in-law wants to get access to your private Facebook pages, locked from public viewing? Your future employer wants to violate your privacy and demands you hand over your Facebook details? Now you can show them what they want to see. And decide what they should see.
We can even make it appear that you're friends with key people in your business, our SEO-professionals are standing by!
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What's that you say? You do not have a Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account yet? But you don't want to look like you're trying to hide something in your next job interview or your next trip abroad? No worries, we will provide you with a complete profile, either with a persona you choose or one that we create for you. Choose from a wide range of hobbies and volunteer activities that should impress any boss dishonest enough to snoop in your private area. We offer a variety of community services you can clai
Brilliant (Score:2)
The whole internet... (Score:2)
Examing the nature of searches that take place at our boarders gives a hint of the strategy the US is using to weed out terrorists. It is apparent that the US government hasn't figured out:
1. It is possible to have multiple social media identities
2. The entire Internet is ISIS territory
3. Harassing people who want to enter the US is bad for business
Given the near total spectrum surveillance that we know the US has over the Internet thanks to Snowden, I'm surprised things are so ham-fisted. There are much be
absolutely. BUT ADD AQ/Taliban to that as well (Score:2)
I literally couldn't satisfy this requirement (Score:2)
If DHS ever expanded this to include American citizens who travel abroad and need to re-enter the US, I'd never be able to leave the country without risking prison for omitting hundreds of email addresses and website logins from the disclosure form. Why? I've used SO MANY email addresses and website logins over the years, I couldn't accurately disclose 90% of them EVEN IF I TRIED. And frankly, it would be a cold day in hell before I ever did it voluntarily, because even IF I trusted the government to act wi
Re:So now Trump controls where we vacation (Score:5, Informative)
You need a visa to return to the US after vacation? Or did you miss that part of the full title.
Non-citizens who want to take a vacation with our enemies have volunteered for a little extra scrutiny when they then want to visit us.
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Quiet, don't interrupt the two minutes hate.
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So, that includes Red Rross, MSF, and other NGO staff and volunteers who "took a vacation with our enemies" too?
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And there's something wrong with that? (The part about extra scrutiny for non-citizens who want to visit us.)
This doesn't address the American citizens who want to go visit the warm friendly beaches and cities of ISIS-occupied territory, of course. Not that they'd make it clear where they were going when they left anyway. (How _does_ one get a visa for Syria or western Iraq anyway?)
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You need a visa to return to the US after vacation? Or did you miss that part of the full title.
Non-citizens who want to take a vacation with our enemies have volunteered for a little extra scrutiny when they then want to visit us.
I think you've missed the bit where they don't need an additional law to check a citizens social media... They've been doing that for years now.
Due to the fact that visas are an intricate system of international agreements, they have to follow procedures to do this kind of thing to non-citizens.
Also, how dumb are the people who come up with this kind of security theatre. So a terrorist goes through years of training and indoctrination just to blab about bombing the US on Facebook. Its dumber than the
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Good. They've been our enemy a heck of a lot longer than we've recognized that they were an enemy- in many cases with hatred for the west going back over 1400 years.
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Completely agreed. But from THEIR point of view, even when we were arming them, we were the enemy.
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I really don't want that job.
Learning to see things from other people's point of view is how I have learned to cope with my High Functioning Autism. It is a useful people skill that has led to promotions at work. I suggest you try it.
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For the first 700 of those years, there were no crusades. But there were the invasions of North Africa, Gaul (Spain), Byzantium and Sicily, not to mention Israel. All Islamic
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For the first 700 of those years, there were no crusades. But there were the invasions of North Africa, Gaul (Spain), Byzantium and Sicily, not to mention Israel. All Islamic
622 - start of Islamic calendar
715 - conquest of Spain
1096 - First crusade arrives in the Levant
So if with 700 years, you mean about 400... sure :-)
(a 300 year difference might not feel like much in this context, but note that the US declaration of independence was well less than 300 years ago...)
(Please also note that Israel was founded in 1948 so is well outside this timeline, and if you mean the biblical Jewish kingdoms, they were conquered by the Romans well before the Muslims. AFAIK there were no jewis
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Thank you for both correcting my point with more accurate data while making my point.
I meant really the Christian Israel under the Byzantine Church, but the point is well made- Christendom was slow to anger by 4 centuries of insult, and it was the Islamics who attacked first.
"vacation" (Score:2)
Just why would you "vacation" in areas controlled by ISIS?
Are you also ne of those idiots that go hiking along the border of Iran [wikipedia.org]?
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This is part of a sustained attack on journalism by the Trump administration.
What journalists are going to need a visa to come to the US?
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>What journalists are going to need a visa to come to the US?
Every non-US national who wants to do journalism work in the US, no matter the duration of the stay. So this would include non-US journalists from many respected publications and agencies including AFP, the BBC, Al Jazeera (the English-language branch of which is stuffed with former BBC World Service talent), Der Spiegel, Le Monde, Financial Times, etc, etc, etc, not to mention non-US nationals who work for US-based services like the AP, Reuter
Re:"vacation" (Score:5, Insightful)
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All foreign journalists need a visa to go to the US.
Journalists do not qualify for visa free travel, even if they are from a visa waiver country, if they are going to the US for the purpose of journalism. (All other professions can go on business trips to the US visa-free - but journalists have always been excluded from this since the visa waiver program began).
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British ones? Canadian ones?
I mean how fucking stupid IS this question.
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No, it was the Obama administration which decided people who have visited Middle Eastern Warzones warranted extra screening. And social media checks have been a standard practice for border guards for years now.
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About bloody time. Anybody who "Vacations" in ISIS territory falls into one of three categories:
1. Liberal Christians about to become martyrs.
2. People who have become radicalized Islamic Jihadi going there to train for suicide missions.
3. Aid workers.
Examining their social media accounts will quickly sort them into one of these three groups, and allow us to stop #2 from traveling.
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Don't forget journalists, who will also have to hand over their social media logins...
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And it should be obvious by their social media activity who they are. Same thing applies for this fourth category.
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Are the pitchforks sharp? They need to be sharp enough to disembowel all the billionaires. It's hunting season!
No, but all the better, right?
Re: So now Trump controls where we vacation (Score:5, Insightful)
I admire billionaires. I seek to be rich like they are. Why wouldn't you? Do you like being a poor chump?
Personally, it's because I believe that behind every great fortune is a great crime. You can't accumulate money at that scale without fucking people over in some way.
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This belief of yours...is it motivating you to seek out legitimate means of making a fortune, and to act on them?
Or is it motivating you to not even bother trying, and hence to remain poor for your entire life?
Our values drive our decisions, which in turn determine our results. Sometimes a little optimism, even if naive, can drive the decisions that get good results.
It's driving me to work a well-paying professional IT job and not think much about raising a fortune. I save for retirement, but that's different. Where I live we still have a decent sized middle class. My choices are not between making a fortune and being poor.
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That's pretty fucking sad.
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