Going to the US sucks

I believe every country in the world should treat americans the same way they treat innocent turists who go there on holidays only to spend money in that country. It's a shame the way things work in the US. The worst of all is that they believe they're living in a free nation; it's the entire opposite. Unfortunately US people don't have the will to challenge the government
the way they should. It's a pitty.

Let's face it, the US are the real terrorists here, and are too stupid to realise they're gonna' be China's bitch by the end of the century.

I went very often to the US for work. Exactly what you wrote I experienced over the last years as well. But it can be muuuuch worse when you go often.

Once they pulled me out for checking since I came so often and I hat to sit aside with others and wait (after 11 hours flight). So I got up to stretch my frozen legs - that they havent shot me was the only thing. Shouting, their hands at their guns completley out of their mind. And I found out : THAT BEHAVIOUR IS OKAY IN THE US. Nobody to complain to, they can do what they want.

That is only one of the stories of abuse I got there. All of them would fill this chapter too much - and no, I'm a caucasian guy, German actually - so it wasnt some sort of allah-beart or robe that would have provoked that reaction. Its their disrespect for other people.

Well after such a long time I can understand the reasons. Reasons are important to understand the behaviour from other people to avoid conflicts (which wont work here I suppose).

Pretty much all americans I met (talking officials and a good deal of business-people) are totally into their "country" - whatever that means. The US is the best, the country is the best - not questioning what they define as "homeland" or "country" - referring to the land or the political and social system. That goes in hand with a "police-gouverment and other instances" setup and a high respect for their "freedom-protecting" military. All in all that psychology and what happens must be understood. And I think especially we germans have had EXACTLY the same phenomenons during the 1930's.

History repeats itself. And we germans are the last who have a right to judge over the americans. They are now repeating what we went through already and it can not be stopped. (Only this time it isnt the jews).

The right behaviour here is to avoid the US. Do not DEAL WITH AMERICAN COMPANIES if you can avoid it. Stay ethically clean and don't even go into disussions. Let them experience their own history the next 20/30 years. When it all breaks down and the Bush/Gondoleeza nazis get hung and judged by their own people - maybe we have a chance to come to help liberate the US when they need us most. That is what they have done to us in the past and that helped germany to get big and strong. We owe them big time, dont forget that.

after living abroad in australia and new zealand for 6 months i've come to realize just how shitty the U.S. is. Even the culture is pretty shit, people seem quite rude here now comparatively, our government doesn't give a damn about its people, you have to pay for everything here. My 91 year old grandfather who served in WWII and was an educational spychology professor at UNH for 35 years is very sick and has to pay out of hand for living assistance. Its pathetic, the U.S. doesn't seem like such a great place to live anymore. We belittle other countries and act like we're number 1 when in fact we're farrrrr from it. can't wait to finish grad school and start applying for jobs overseas :)

When I visited London 10 years ago, I was frisked. Everyone was frisked.

When I lived in Italy five years ago, officers carried automatic weapons in the airports.

Everything I did in Europe required cutting red tape and arguing.

Do not get me wrong. I love Europe and would love to live there. But come on, your grasping at air here.

And no, we do not trust the Europeans to run the world. WWII comes to mind. Shall we talk about European Foreign Policies from the 19th and 20th centuries? How is Africa these days? Middle East seems pleasant. The US has been mopping up European drool for the last century.

On a side note: "policies" takes the plural form "scare," not "scares."

I am an American, and I agree -- our Dept of Homeland Security, and the TSA, are pretty obnoxious. It's not President Bush's fault they're the way they are, it's the blame of all the friggin' lawyers and the layers and layers and layers of bureaucrats who have made it this way. No doubt, it will continue long after President Bush has left office. (And no Mike, you idiot, our President's power is plenty in check!)

I'm sorry you're inconvenienced. But think about it: for your "massive inconvenience", you will be in a great country where the food is good (better than what you have at home), things are cheap, and the quality of life significantly higher. If you don't want to be fingerprinted and all the rest of it (and I can't blame you), then stay home.

You want to argue WordPress vs Drupal? OK
You want to debate D5 vs D6? Go 4 it.
You want to promote opensource? alright!
You want to discuss the pros and cons of Acquia? I'm in.
You want to take cheap shots at my country? I'm outa here. It's no loss to You that I don't have time for all this "ohhh the big bad US is so hypocritical blablabla"
So... In Canada you DO NOT own mineral rights on your own land. Oil, Gold, Diamonds.. they belong to the government. Last time I was in Canada I was stopped while driving for absolutely no probable cause. Did I throw a fit? NOPE! I was surprised and a little amused but I don't think I need to go blog about it and accuse some Canadian politician of some wrong doing. It was a weekday non-Friday night and they were stopping every single car just to make sure no one was drunk. Whatever. Didn't take too long and I moved on. Did I miss something? Should I have started a hate-canade website and railed against the powers that be? I don't know that I am completely in favor of these sobriety check points, but honestly... I have a LOT of Drupal work to focus on and changing the Canadian Government is not in my todo list.
I live in the states and YES GW has done some damage. We forget who sat at that desk for the previous 8 yrs while the 9-11 plans were incubating. Oh yah...Bill is off limits isn't he? Yah... the guy who made Cisco, MicroSoft, Yahoo, Google, Ebay, etc. all so successful. Yep! none of those businesses on their own did anything for the economy, the tech industry etc. it was ALL BILL!
AND
All the bad things after Bill left? It's all GW's fault right? Every bit of it!? Sunamis, Hurricanes, Temperature change, the mosquito bite on my right leg.... GW GW GW GW the cause of it all !?!?
Get off! and Move on people!
Let's make opensource the best damn thing in the world [i say it already is]
But if my country's desire to be safe means some ink on your fingers and you don't want your hands dirty then stay the hell home!

You are such a baby. Wow I have to get a fingerprint the world will end! Only a wuss would complain about a fingerprint! Complain when you actually have a good reason.My god a fingerprint!

Oh Great, now we got the word "terrorist" and the word "Drupal" co-existing on the same page with a bunch of anti-Bush sentiment. The whole conference is going to Gitmo.

oh no! i'm gonna be fingerprinted and photographed! the US is fucked up beyond belief

ZOMG, that really sucks. No one would like to be treated as a criminal! Insane!!

I live in the UK and when I was young I watched movies and cartoons (especially The Simpsons) made by Americans and thought how awesome the US was. Yet as I've grown older and started hearing about US foreign policy and treatment of "aliens" I grew concerned and when they launched the US-Visit program I truly felt they had abandoned the spirit of their constitution for all who couldn't prove their US family history. As someone who is passionate about human rights in the UK and tries to resist the stupid and intrusive measures our government is putting forward (ID cards for example) I can say it really doesn't help when America bears down on the now disgraced Blair/Brown partnership for tougher security measures (such as RFID passports) - it helps justify their authoritarianism and it spreads across the EU and beyond. As a result US citizens will increasingly find themselves facing the same security procedures when they go overseas that they impose on visitors themselves. *sigh*

Oh isn't the aclu just a great site...not.

Going to the US sucks? ..Solution....Don't come.

Bush has personally sent more troops to die in Iraq, than died in 9/11? Who is the real terrorist here?

What about those of us who are too poor to leave, got a solution for that, smart ass

The U.S. is a contradiction to the definitions of the words we use to describe our nation. Liberty- right to personal transaction without interference from government. You can discuss this with our inmates serving time for "illegal" transactions. Land of opportunity is for those who are born into wealth, or a few lucky ones. Checks and balances would refer to our government before Bush. Equality, the large majority of Hurricaine Katrina victims were the same race as the slaves who were denied rights for more than 100 years. These people were left to die, while our officials sat in their mansions or in their Cadillacs enjoying Life. This country is joke. The joke was made by our own decisions. We represent nothing we claim to represent.

our country sucks more than anything ever. please save us.

When this happens to you, your country will fingerprint too,,

http://www.starbridge.com.au/images/opt/twin-towers-burning.jpg

Take a good look, those are women, children and non combatants dying in there,,

If you love getting fingerprinted, policed, and searched the US is a great place. Not to mention the lack of affordable healthcare, lack of jobs,
poor real estate market. I could go on but the list is very long.

Aha, just like the subject line says. That includes you too, Salman. You're all a bunch of whiners. Go and enjoy the hospitality of Russia, or some other wonderful places. If you don't like to come to the US due to your jobs, quit and find something else. Bunch of idiots.

"Bush/Gondoleeza nazis" - now THAT is good, you german fubar! You preach about nazis? Oh my, this is sooo precious! You're right, history repeats itself, but not YOUR history, I think the world has had enough of that. Now go back to your cave and eat sauerkraut.

This post has really brought out the trolls, huh?

Sorry my country has the longest and most massive history of immigration, and we have different laws from other countries. Obviously, it's the nature of our country because we conduct much more immigration than any other country on earth. After 9-11, I was pulled aside multiple times while waiting in line to check in for an airplane flight. I got searched multiple times. I did not feel violated. I felt like people were doing their jobs. I admit we don't have complete freedom in the US. "Freedom" doesn't truly exist anywhere. It's illusory. This country, though it's last President may not, takes its laws seriously. I didn't have a wonderful time going into France when I visited, but I understand that the country needs to be protected. I just don't understand: It hasn't even been decade, and people are already forgetting what happened on 9-11, in Madrid in 2004, and London in 2005. I would never want any of these events to reoccur in any of our countries.

Re: Airports
I am an American expat working in SE Asia. Having worked outside the U.S. for the last 7 years, every time I have gone back for a visit (a brief one these days) I have witnessed the country going from bad to worse. Nowadays, going through an American airport is like entering a prison, being pushed and shoved around and yelled at by underpaid shmocks from the Transportation Security Administration, taking off shoes at a metal detector, answering silly questions by the immigration people etc etc. For those of us who have grown accustomed to the dignity, elegance and politeness of these same procedures at, say, Changi Airport in Singapore, entering America and traveling around the country is appalling and laughable at the same time. Therefore, I try going back as little as possible now.

Re: Airlines:
Since about 2004, I have made it a point NOT to fly with an American carrier. Old planes, bad food (even in business class), old-fashion recliner seats, ancient entertainment systems, rude and overweight flight staff. Last January I had to fly from San Fran to Tokyo on United, because no decent airline had a free seat that close to the holidays. After years of being spoiled by Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa, this was simply awful: a business class seat so uncomfortable and so broken in that it was impossible to sleep, flight staff with an attitude, bad food. I was so happy when we landed in Tokyo and could get on the connecting flight with Singapore Airlines. I was home!

Re: News
I am amazed at the degree of misinformation of most Americans. Living in SE Asia, I am used to seeing a diverse blend of TV news from the U.K., U.S., Hong Kong, Germany, Italy, France, Dubai, Australia, and newspapers from Asia and Europe. On the other hand, what do you get when you turn on a typical cable or satellite TV in the States? Fox News and CNN. True, there is Bloomberg and CNBC but most average folks there don't care about business news. The quality of news one gets from Fox or CNN is simply abysmal: shallow gossip of no consequence. I hear rant from Republicans that CNN is "Communist" (as if these folks knew what Communism really was) and complaints from Democrats that Fox is archconservative. What I see is that both of these stations are for nitwits. The average American today seems to be about as informed about what is happening in the world, as was the average Russian or East German under Communism. Then, what scares me is that all these brainwashed folks have the right to vote....

Re: Lifestyle and Services
I get around Bangkok and Singapore using public transportation, sometimes a company car with a driver. I only drive myself for fun. On the other hand, most American cities still do not have any public transportation that is actually useful, and I do not see any mass plans to change that. I already wrote about the undignified experience of flying around America. What remains? Long distance trains are useless: old, slow, and few and far between. Rental cars: mostly a bland selection of cheap Detroit junk. Only Avis rents Audi A4s and A6s in a few large airports, a few companies offer Infiniti (= high-end Nissan) or Hyundai. No Honda, no VW, no BMW, no Mercedes. Hotels: cheap feel (even in a 4-star establishment), atrocious food, poor selection of drinks, cookie-cutter atmosphere and treatment by staff. Compare that to, say, the Mandarin Oriental in KL, where the receptionist comes to YOUR car to do the check-in there, or to the Fullerton in Singapore. Services in America are simply appalling, and the saddest part is that most Americans don't even realize it because they never leave the country.

Reluctantly, I must agree with the critical posts above. I will sum it up in two words: America sucks. It did not use to. Some 10-15 years ago, it was still a decent and fun place to live. But today is different. Whether Bush brought it to its knees, whether the post 9/11 bunker mentality did it, whether globalization did it, I do not know (and do not really care), but unfortunately it is so. And it is unlikely to get better. This sucking trend will most likely continue to get worse.

I must say that the best thing I have done in the last decade was to move my job out of the country and move overseas. Enjoy vacations on Phuket Island, Bali, Switzerland, Oktoberfest, wine in Bordeaux and castles on the Loire - and laugh at the whole thing...

911 was an Inside Job!

First, I'd like to say that your website is cool.
Second, the US is a completely feminized, wuss nation now. We are a nanny state on crack.
Third, Why in the hell would anyone want to come to this prison state without being forced to?

My girlfriend is Norwegian. She has traveled here a couple of times to see me and, every time, been photographed and fingerprinted, as if she were some type of criminal. I have been to Norway 5 times (flying into Copenhagen about 3 of them) and this has never happened to me. People were always friendly and kind and welcomed me into their country, and I proceeded to enjoy my stay, and wished I did not have to return.
It is true that the US has to be concerned with security, but does the fingerprinting and photos really help with anything or is it just another action performed with the appearance of helping? Taking off shoes while passing security comes to mind.
Someone in an earlier post mentioned that Americans speak about freedom often. This is done without really thinking about what the word means. Are we free? Of what? Sure, it is nice to be able to have freedom of speech, but what are the other freedoms that might separate us from other countries?
I still appreciate many things about the US, but I am sick of being afraid of police and other forms of government.

If you dont like it, stay home. Obviously some of you find it worth the time, effort and expense to enter the US.

I don't think you should visit America if you do not want to deal with surly immigration officials. I can tell you that they are equally snotty to American citizens as they are to foreign visitors but since you are European and probably white, they might treat you better than me, and I am half Native American. I have been to Europe and I wonder why Europeans want to visit America, especially since the average person in those countries is better off than your typical American. In fact, I saw Europeans shopping at the local mall than Americans, because they are flush with cash and Americans right now are suffering through a fairly serious economic crisis. If you don't like it stay home and save your money, go to Greece or Spain instead, I been to both and enjoyed seeing and flirting with bare breasted European girls. You are so lucky to be where you are, I would donate one of my kidneys to live in the EU.

Post 9/11 has changed the views of many Americans and they are constantly bombarded with bad news and being instigated with fear. Americans are giving more and more of their privacy just to feel safe and the government has taken advantage of this. All these checks at the airport is far too intrusive and they believe everyone who is coming into the country are criminals. If the US had stopped being the world police and pissing everyone off, they wouldn't be in such a mess today. Face it, the war on terrorism is never ending, just like the war on drugs.

Japan has also adopted finger printing and photograph....

I am an American, and I have to agree, America sucks. Just think I have to live out my life here, no place for us to go who would let us out?

Funny thing is that they are more concerned about tooth paste getting on the plane than they are about things like knives and switchblades. Twice now I have talked to people who had their cosmetics confiscated from their carry on luggage, but nobody bothered to call them on their pocket knives or switch blades which they had fogotten they had in their bags.

HMM

When I grew up, America was the land of my dreams. Later in my life I spent a long time in the USA and it was really a dream come true at the beginning. But in the last 10 years or so everthing has changed. The America I fell in love with as a boy is long gone. Nowadays, when I spend some time there I feel more and more like I am in communist Russia of the old days. Freedom? Doesn't exist anymore. The last remainder is maybe in the word freedom fries. How ironic.

So I permanently moved back to Europe a few years ago. And wow, has it changed too. Actually Europe has become the USA as it used to be. I can do everything I like and I feel really free. I don't have to worry about my job. I don't have to get a loan for a house which would be considered a shack over here. I don't even need to lock my front door. I can be sure everything is still in place when I come home. In America everybody worries about everything. And after a while it gets to you. So I got out just in time. Luckily. Best decision of my life.