Dear Log,
«"How dare you treat an American officer with disrespect?" he shouted back, indignantly. "Believe me, we have treated you with much more respect than other people. You should go to places like Iran, you'd see a big difference." The irony is that it is only "countries like Iran" (for example, Cuba, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe) that have a visa requirement for journalists. It is unheard of in open societies, and, in spite of now being enforced in the US, is still so obscure that most journalists are not familiar with it. Thirteen foreign journalists were detained and deported from the US last year, 12 of them from LAX.»People in uniforms are crazy. L.A. reduces everyone to yowling psychosis. So, logic and experience agree, people in uniforms in L.A. ...--"Welcome to America": When writer Elena Lappin flew to LA, she dreamed of a sunkissed, laid-back city. But that was before airport officials decided to detain her as a threat to security...
Also, nationalism and officiousness to turn people into bastards. Formalism makes me sad.
To me, the most fascinating quote (of a quote) in the article was "Much of the obsession with homeland security seems to turn on the idea of the world infecting the US." What an ugly truth that is.
