The European Commission quietly approved an agreement this Monday which gives the US Department of Homeland Security unprecedented access to the personal information of anyone on a transatlantic flight, including details of their sexual orientation.
The DHS insists on the right to use the information for disease control, and there are fears that gay passengers may be singled out as possible HIV risks.
This is seriously bad. And why is the US not asked to do the same in return? gay = terrorist? Do they know that there are heterosexual people that are HIV+ too?
also, when i got my suitcase back when i got to the states the other week i discovered that the luggage searchers had gone thru it. i had about 10kg of assorted food & drink goodies to give as presents. the only jar they had opened to investigate (despite it having one of those popper things to show that it had not - yet - been opened) was a jar of curry paste!!! what did they think it was 'jihad in a jar'??!! so thanks to homeland security inspectors i then had curry paste leak out of the (now improperly sealed) jar onto my clothes - lovely.
Racist cruel bastards.
That's absoultely disgusting.
I myself will never go to the States. I will never sneak around hiding my meds or posting them in advance and hoping they don't get caught. It's too bad because there are trips I wanted to take and people I wanted to meet, also workwise I am supposed to go to the US once in a while, but it is, along with Australia and China and Russia (and Iran and Saudi Arabia) off the map for me. I don't have much money and I will only spend it in countries that do not breed hate and discrimination against me, such as Thailand, Canada, Morocco, Japan, Mexico and the EU. The evil EU who signed this, wonder if it will mean something for the EU as well.
It might sound full of self importance, like who the F am I, but it's the only thing I can do to maintain a bit of dignity. Just not go. They know that we are sneaking in there and they enjoy tormenting us, we shouldn't give them the satisfaction.
as an American I have to say, PLEASE, do not judge us based on the current administration.
1) BUSH was never elected...his little brother stole the election for him in Florida in 2000
2) 75% of Americans disapprove of the son of a bitch...and yes his mother is a real fucking bitch.
3) Don't let them get away with this shit...rather, come here if anything just to piss him off.
Rich
(who hates BUSH, his family, friends and anyone associated with that fuckwad)
I'm not sure why this has become such a hot issue when we really don't know what the actual guidelines will be. When words like "possible" as in "possible new categories..." is included in an article
well Iggy, we can all choose how and when we will react to this recent action. I have chosen to "wait and see"
Sharing opinions not needles,
bry
(who once shared a needle when he was naughty and used drugs)
Arguments about 2000 aside - we certainly did elect him in 2004 and who the fuck gives a damn that we all hate him now when we are the ones who unleashed him to begin with.
Nope - I think the world has every bit a right to be pissed at us Americans.
I am pissed off at all the idiots that voted for stupid and now are crying wolf.
And thus we have the perfect example of why the Republicans won in 2000, 2004....2008.
Which is what I stated, my dear.
I think everyone is getting upset over nothing. I believe if you knew the real story it's not HIV that they are concerned about as much as other diseases that can cause havoc. So before everyone gets in a tail spin lets wait and see what it is all about. We freaked on bird flu and nothing came of that. I don't believe anything will come of this.
Since the HIV ban has been removed, why would the US government need to try and single out gays for HIV exclusion?
but says sensitive information such as sexual orientation wouldn't be used.
I think everyone is getting upset over nothing. I believe if you knew the real story it's not HIV that they are concerned about as much as other diseases that can cause havoc. So before everyone gets in a tail spin lets wait and see what it is all about. We freaked on bird flu and nothing came of that. I don't believe anything will come of this.
what are pink papers?
ROFL! :D :D :D(http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:GokNhqHN6Bhd2M:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Pink_Toilet_Paper.jpg/600px-Pink_Toilet_Paper.jpg)
Did you actually read the article Iggy? Gay passengers may be singled out as possible HIV risks. This article has no facts, just presumptions. No more than that. It's an article to entice fear and apprehensions and by reading this thread it's working.
I think it's unfounded hysteria myself. If one really reads the article it only mentions "sex life and details of the passengers' health" without really saying what that means. I would assume the sex part is more geared towards child molesters, etc. There's already now a waiver for HIV so the health part is a non-issue.
This article is bullshit -- I don't see how they plan on ascertaining someone's sexual orientation. Subscriptions to Honcho or something? Come on.
wow, your mad huh?
Edited to add: Dragonette. I'm surious why Australia is on your list - we have no restriction on HIV+ people holidaying here, and applications for permanent residency are decided on a case by case basis. Granted, there has been some talk about a blanket banning of HIV+ immigrating here but it was shouted down pretty loudly and I've not heard it mentioned again.
Also, you have Thailand on your list as a place you will travel to. However, Thailand bans the entry of any person with a communicable disease (eg HIV). Granted, for short stays from Aus, we need no visa and no medical check, so it is unlikely they will find out if you don't say anything, but I bet immigrating there is just not an option.
I do not doubt for a second that this diatribe of mine here is recorded by the NSA.
so long as you are on this track, why wouldn't they simply be checking the IP address of the AIDSmeds forum users?
philly:
Do you honestly believe our disgusting, immoral U.S. government doesn't know that you and I are fags? Do you really believe they don't know we are HIV-infected? After all the recent invasion-of-privacy scandals that have recently been reported by our cowardly and intimidated journalists (phone records, e-mails, subscription lists)--which means there's a hell of a lot more we don't know about--isn't it more than a little naive at this depressing, sorry time to doubt for one second that they've got a little list and are checking it twice? Accuse me of paranoia, but, remember, when the truth finally all comes out--if it ever does--I warned anyone who would listen.
It is perhaps a sign of how satanically bewitched the American populace is that the loudest objectors in this link are the non-Americans and that the Americans are the ones here who are defensive and protesting that all of this is a tempest in a teacup. How horrific that so many of our fellow U.S. citizens are failing to fight against the loss of the basic principles embedded in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights and fail to see or believe what is happening. I worry greatly that we are really are doomed...and I do not doubt for a second that this diatribe of mine here is recorded by the NSA.
This is gross, disgusting, stupid and if it goes into effect promises to be yet another enduring residually problematic result of this accursed administration. Once this kind of policy goes into effect it becomes extremely difficult to reverse it.
Initially the ban of HIV+ travelers to the U.S. was simply by presidential order. But then it was attached on to some Federal legislation and became law, signed by Bill Clinton, to his eternal shame.
And not one political person seems to have the integrity or the courage these days to be talking or advocating having that law reversed.
What we're talking about here is the further insidious erosion of EVERYONE's rights in the land of the free...
I had no idea Bill signed this law into effect. Why didn't I know this? No matter. He loses his elevated status with me. I always held him in esteem because he tried hard to get gays in the military to be accepted openly. Now why did he turn and do some shit like this? Again, no matter. It's history now. And law.
Damn.
xxx,
Mike
I thought the Freemasons controlled everything!
I'm still waiting for an explanation of how any government knows everyone's sexual orientation.
For instance, where i live in australia (south australia), hiv is a notifiable disease, my name is on a government register of people who have hiv... maybe there is something similar to this in the US? (or portions of?)
(albeit, this list is meant to be stored on a non-networked computer in a locked room.. but yer, I don't believe that :-(
J
how satanically bewitched the American populace is
Irrelevant in regards to sexual orientation, unless you believe HIV = gay, or worse that gay = HIV.
His only real power lies with war in Iraq or anywhere else he chooses to declare war.
And Basquo's determination to remain "calm and relaxed" while our democracy becomes a dictatorship is tragic and shows only too clearly how we've come to this miserable state of affairs.
He signed a bill
http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/2011/81/
I urge RapidRod, Grinch, and any others who remain blissfully unaware of how the current administration has become an Imperial Presidency to catch up on the news and read this link, which is an excellent summary. Such citizens obviously do not know of Bush's claims to a "unitary executive" and his "signing statements" attached to every single law passed by Congress, where he alone determines whether he will obey the law. And Basquo's determination to remain "calm and relaxed" while our democracy becomes a dictatorship is tragic and shows only too clearly how we've come to this miserable state of affairs.