Geek woman news story of possible interest...

[JoeHill]

Robert Brockway wrote: 

> On Sat, 22 Sep 2007, Jamon Camisso wrote:
> 
> > That, and I'll pose the question: what is wrong with what she did? Were 
> > it the street, why would the cops have been more or less justified in 
> > their reaction since the law is the law regardless of location?  
> 
> Hi Jamon.  I'm not commenting but the legimacy of her arrest (as I haven't 
> look at the story properly yet) but as a former police office I just 
> wanted to make one point: Many laws are indeed specific to physical 
> location.  I've seen special laws that exist for airports, borders, 
> shopping malls, parks, government buildings, and lots of other 
> places.  Some laws are even specific to certain locations at certain 
> times.
> 
> I once travelled from Australia to Canada (via the US) with the insides of 
> a computer in my brief case.  The motherboard appearing in the x-ray 
> caused a few funny looks and I was really helpful and open with all of the 
> security guards about what I was transporting and why.  As a result I had 
> absolutely no problems.

Not to take away from your point, indeed whether one agrees with security
policy or not, being deliberately confrontational with the personel charged
with enforcing that policy is not going to get anyone anywhere.

Do keep in mind, though, the fact that your lack of 'problems' was the result
of _at least_ two other things:

1. You were fortunate enough not to be on any of the completely arbitrary and
by all accounts silly 'no fly' lists in effect in the US.

2. You do not fit any of the 'racial profiles' that are used so prevalently at
borders and airports and such. Huge assumption on my part, but I'll take the
risk ;)

Remember, trying to apply one's own experiences as evidence of some broader
trend can be really problematic. Anecdotes can be informative, but they can
also be misleading. The thousands of polite and helpful people with names or
features that Americans have come to find suspicious have experienced something
much different from you.

-- 
JoeHill
++++++++++++++++++++
"Wait a second, aren't you a member of the yacht club?" -Bender 
"My God, you're right. I'm a class 3 yacht." -Countess de la Roca 
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