stux⚡️Random poll:
Would you visit the US in it's current state? Either for vacation or travel. For Americans, imagine you would visit your country from somewhere else
Yes
No
I don't know
Poll ended at .
Tim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPE@stux There are at least three showstopper reasons now, in the order in which they manifested themselves, any one of which would be sufficient to keep me away on its own:
(1) the guns
(2) the plague [on the plane to get there]
(3) the nazis who are now running the place
Vysogota@TimWardCam, hey don't forget the cavity search and electronic device ransacking when you land there. Which were the reasons I've never considered going there even before the current nazi leadership // @stux
@petko @stux On my one and only visit to the Lower 48 (I found Hawaii and Alaska much more friendly) the thing that put me off, immediately on arrival, was the policeman in the arrivals hall with his hand hovering over his gun. Whether he was actually dying for an excuse to shoot someone, or whether he was just shit scared of this totally harmless crowd of tourists and business travellers, I don't know. But it was by far my scariest arrival in any country. (Boston, 1980s.)
@TimWardCam @stux wow... even before 9/11????
Howitzer105mm has moved@TimWardCam @petko @stux The armed law enforcement officers are not unique to the USA.
I traveled to Taipei in 1990, with a stop in Seoul preceding, and the Korean officers had submachine guns in hand.
Last year I was in Munich and it was the same.
I could readily understand Korea given the tensions between north and south.
I was surprised about Munich.
jack@Howitzer105mm @TimWardCam @petko @stux my first time flying commercially since childhood, visiting Australia in 2010, stopover in Singapore and the airport police had actual revolvers in belt holsters - they didn't seem nervous though
but coming from London I was used to seeing police officers wandering round public spaces with assault rifles
@Howitzer105mm @petko @stux Most armed police I've seen elsewhere in the world look as if they've completely forgotten they've got a gun on them - but not that guy.
But yes, police with machine guns in UK airports. And at party conferences. And in the Palace of Westminster. Usually these are in pairs, and they seem to try to arrange that one of the pair is a young girl, presumably deliberately so as to look as unthreatening as possible in the circumstances.
(At party conferences and Westminster I say "thank you for looking after us" as I leave. See picture for why.)
richh@TimWardCam @Howitzer105mm @petko @stux
"But yes, police with machine guns in UK airports."
Just to be entirely pedantic, British police don't have any assault rifles or machine guns. The Home Office take the reasonable view that civilians shouldn't possess such things, not even warranted civilians in Police uniform.
British Police have always been restricted to semi-auto - back when they used MP5s, they were specced with a semi-auto trigger group and called it a "carbine rifle". It lacked the burst/full-auto selector that military MP5s had.
The view is that if you need full-auto, you call for Blue Thunder and get Hereford involved.
That's the case for mainland GB. Not sure if PSNI (routinely armed) have anything bigger in the armoury.
@richh @TimWardCam @petko @stux @LeelaTorres I stayed a very long way away from the Korean personnel, making it hard to determine their demeanor.
The Munich security were patrolling, and at least one had the subgun in hand. I think that group was in a more relaxed posture. Keine Lederhosen.
I think it's easy to agree a semi automatic subgun is superior to a semi automatic handgun in just about every conceivable use case.
In Munich had more pressing concerns than security.
The Munich security were patrolling, and at least one had the subgun in hand. I think that group was in a more relaxed posture. Keine Lederhosen.
I think it's easy to agree a semi automatic subgun is superior to a semi automatic handgun in just about every conceivable use case.
In Munich had more pressing concerns than security.
Skyport Radio@richh @TimWardCam @Howitzer105mm @petko @stux True, but if Hereford did turn up they would likely be in police uniform so Joe public wouldn't know the difference
@skyportradio That definitely wouldn't happen. All sorts of legal & ethical issues dressing military personnel as civvie Police officers. To say nothing of local confusion/chain-of-command issues.
They'd likely be in nondescript black, rather than military green, but would not be bearing any sort of Police insignia. Might blend in from a distance but wouldn't fool the media for long.
There's no real secrecy in such cases - use of military force for domestic/policing/CT purposes requires Ministerial approval, so is necessarily open to later Parliamentary scrutiny. Albeit they won't name units, but they can't refuse to answer questions on domestic military deployment.
Quite different from military deployments where the MOD will just no-comment SF operations.
Also, we know the Home Office don't have any problem acknowledging military deployment in such circumstances - it happened as recently as 2020:
@richh ah ok interesting, I assumed they would just blend in with the police. Only came across them once during an exercise, they looked like the armed police who were also there, black helmets and black uniforms, but I don't remember if they had insignia or not.
@Howitzer105mm Pretty much everywhere has armed Police in airports - even the UK. Whilst we're unusual in British Police (your regular bobbies) not being routinely armed (at least away from key London locations), pretty much every BTP (British Transport Police) officer is authorised on firearms, and they routinely carry in airports - from sidearms up to carbines. Also major rail stations (again, mostly London), but not so much on the rest of the network.
They're also (mostly) extremely chill and not giving off itchy-trigger-finger vibes. Although they're probably a bit jumpy this week.
Leela Torres
Signor Q. 🦩@Howitzer105mm It´s b/c of 9/11 and the following attempts of other people. The changed the aviation security act a few years afterwards.
Cali Gem
Mike Spooner@TimWardCam @petko @stux Around the same time, UK visitors to the US were asked on the plane whether they "were or ever had been a boy scout". Even just for 6 months at age 13, was enough to be denied disembarcation.
@shelldozer what??? really? why?
@petko at the time in the US, the Boy Scouts were viewed as a communist organisation. Yes, the 80's.
Biggles 20X6!@petko @TimWardCam @stux fingerprinting was before 9/11, I'll never travel to the US while they consider me a crook just for visiting.