Bill would encourage foreigners to buy U.S. homes

Agree with ferret, we can afford it but choose not to. In fact we pay extra to fly through Mexico City to Canada so we don't have to land there.

Why not land in the US? Don't you enjoy the body scan, chemical hand scan, pat downs, and free body cavity searches? It can fill up that layover time at the airport.

SusieSunshine wrote:Why not land in the US? Don't you enjoy the body scan, chemical hand scan, pat downs, and free body cavity searches? It can fill up that layover time at the airport.

Why no sweetie, I'd rather smoke on layovers. I know, not for everyone, but it works just fine for me.

The proposal to attract investors is transparent . The pigs are hungry, that's all. If they don't get fed, lobbyists and their pet senators may go without.

[quote="raqueteer"]Agree with ferret, we can afford it but choose not to. In fact we pay extra to fly through Mexico City to Canada so we don't have to land there. [/quote]

Absolutely the same with us. We only leave Mexico these days normally to fly to Paris and now we only fly nonstop from Mexico City to Paris when we go even if we have to pay a premium which is normally not the case. Three years ago we flew to Paris from Guadalajara through Chicago and back through Dallas to save a few hundred bucks. Never again. We´ll pay what it takes to go nonstop from Mexico City to Paris and back anyday. Flying anywhere via the United States is akin to a day in hell. Those TSA goons and the passengers lining up in Dallas and Chicago to be treated like common criminals disgust me. They and their Homeland Security Department can have the dipshit place to themselves.

do you remember 911??? hats off to those "TSA goons and Homeland Security"!!!!

canadiangirl wrote:do you remember 911??? hats off to those "TSA goons and Homeland Security"!!!!

Wow where did you get that stuff???? TSA/FBI/ICE/ your local law enforcement person who utters the magic word
"patriot act" can take you away and not let you call anyone. Your family/lawyer even congress criter can do nothing
for you until they are done with you. You can be searched detained at any time withing 75 miles of the border including
the oceans as borders. The FBI announced unilaterally that they don't have to give you your Miranda rights if they say
the magic word Terroist. You can't take a picture of a post office from your front yard on your property. People travelling
on trains are being asked to show ID and intimidated into doing so when they have no right to ask you for ID unless they
are so many miles from the border. I can deal with Mexican problems I cannot deal with USA anymore. Please trust
many of us who live and travel a great deal that while 911 was a horrible thing what has happened to folks in the USA
is worse. Freedom is going going and soon gone thanks to the solution to 911 which is worse than the problem. As
far as trusting governments I trust the Mexican government more than the one in the USA. Sorry but unless you have
experienced life travelling in the USA you can't understand the frustration like having to cut my beard off so I don't get
picked up by TSA for being Osama Bin Zed for having a beard (true happened to me multiple times).

Thanks for listening to my rant (and it is a rant) but traveling in the US by air is horrible thanks to my government.
Talk to your fellow Canadians who stop in USA on the way north on a plane.

Zed

How can anyone criticize Dept. of Homeland Security when they are so effective in detecting one of those truly dangerous items being smuggled from Mexico into the US - BOLOGNA!

Back in May, 385 lbs: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/18/border-patrol-bologna-bust_n_863552.html
And just the other day, 76 lbs: http://blogs.krqe.com/2011/10/22/photo-bologna-bust-at-border/

I certainly wasn't aware of this threat to national security!

Oh, yeah. Canadians are supposed to be in lock step with their hatred of the USA. Gotta be a fake Canadian then.

Zed, your post is exactly why Canadians do not stop in the U.S. anymore. Everyone I know flies direct to Canada via Mexico City.

I have to wonder just how much people's negative feelings about TSA and Homeland Security is exacerbated by the knowledge that one will probably be treated like "dirt" by their airline of choice? Most of you should be able to remember when flying used to be fun and a semi luxurious form of travel!

I doubt anyone hates the people of the US, but the government...that's another story. In other nations the US is the biggest terrorist. I left for a reason. The laws are there to protect...yeah right. I've been all over the US and I've yet to see a place where the government is not the problem. It is in the heartland and it is in the metro areas.

I think DHS should be public record...how many searched, how many taken for additional, how many detained, how many actually found with illegal bologna, and so on. Whenever you have a government agency who has free reign, you will find abuse.

CheenaGringo wrote:I have to wonder just how much people's negative feelings about TSA and Homeland Security is exacerbated by the knowledge that one will probably be treated like "dirt" by their airline of choice? Most of you should be able to remember when flying used to be fun and a semi luxurious form of travel!

Well, of course that doesn't help matters, however no, I personally do not agree with the draconian tactics used by the TSA. For that reason I will just avoid the issue entirely by not visiting the United States, as much as I used to enjoy doing so. I do remember when flying was fun, however it hasn't been for many years now. That's not due to the TSA. It remains a handy way to get from here to there quickly, but now resembles bus service at best.

I have personal boundaries. Nobody touches any part of my body without express permission. I do not wish to be exposed to excessive radiation without just cause. I also do want my personal privacy, whether it be financial or any other private matter being delved into without my express permission.

That's it in a nutshell. Those who do not take offense at these things are free to do what they wish. Our Australian kids have absolutely no problem with it whatsoever and consider our ideas antiquated at best. To each his own as they say.

CheenaGringo wrote:I have to wonder just how much people's negative feelings about TSA and Homeland Security is exacerbated by the knowledge that one will probably be treated like "dirt" by their airline of choice? Most of you should be able to remember when flying used to be fun and a semi luxurious form of travel!

Very good point. I am old enough to remember when flying was a dress up affair and fun but my direct experiences
with TSA in LA were so bad it was beyond understanding at any level. I still like flying just don't like it in the US. I have
one flight a year I have to make and I will but the rest of my travel budget won't be going to USA even for a stopover.
Who knows maybe I am wrong and they are saving us from a horrible menace but it looks to me like it would be alot
easier to change the foreign policy that caused all this than to try to buy or blow up our way around the world......
Weather sure is nice here isn't it :-) :-)

Congratulations on picking out one of the worst examples - LA! And having just made a connection there this past August, I would have to agree. About three hours before my experience in LA, I went through the TSA check here and it was almost self service. So easy that it was zero hassle. Then again, So Cal has way too many dysfunctional nut cases and the TSA jerks are right in there with them. Now that I have thought about it a bit more, Canadians or foreigners flying through the US are funneled into the worst airports since they generally happen to be the larger hubs. Based upon my most recent experience in LA, I will never connect there again. Maybe some of the other options will have fares that are slightly higher but I will generally know that I will be treated like a human and realize some form of respect. Personally, I view the checks as a necessary evil but as long as I can maintain a sense of humor, I am ahead of the game.

Interestingly, I flew to Guadalajara on connections between Southwest and Volaris, two low cost carriers. No baggage fees and humane treatment. In fact, on Volaris I almost felt like I had taken a step back in time with free cocktails and pleasant well uniformed flight attendants. You actually had the feeling that they wanted to serve your needs.

Zed:
With respect to your comments about being harassed within a certain number of miles from the border, there has apparently been a policy change:
"The U.S. Border Patrol has quietly stopped its controversial practice of routinely searching buses, trains and airports for illegal immigrants at transportation hubs along the northern border and in the U.S. interior, preventing agents from using what had long been an effective tool for tracking down people here illegally, The Associated Press has learned. ...............................................................
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45084559/ns/us_news-security/#.TqwKmFsfCqE

When travelling from Vancouver to Guadalajara we have always stopped in LA and have never had any issues, delays or concerns. Now we do go through US customs in the Vancouver airport so maybe that is the reason.....

However, even travelling the other way no problems.

Bob:

Not sure what your procedure is? In my case, I landed at one terminal and only had to walk to the next terminal to catch the Voloris connection. After checking in at the Volaris counter, one has to take their bags to the gestapo TSA screening agents to have the bags x rayed. Naturally one has to stand in a horrendous long line before you can even give the bags to them. Once you accomplish that task, you have to go upstairs for personal screening setup in an area right at the top of the stairs that doesn't have nearly enough room to properly process people. Even at midnight, it took approximately 45 minutes to go through personal screening with TSA agents yelling at everyone. There is no call for the rude manner in which they treated people! People who are flying are paying their wages. In private industry, they would all be terminated for treating customers that way. At no other airport that I have traveled through recently did I observe the tension and chaos created by these goons!

I will admit that going through Immigration and Customs on the return trip was painless and certainly not a negative experience.

Ferret:

You make a valid point when using certain airlines. When Southwest and Volaris hooked up, the Southwest website touted that as an advantage. So when I got to the Southwest counter here in Albuquerque, I asked to have my bags checked through. They had heard about it but never done it. So the really nice counter person got on their help line to see how it was done. After about 10 minutes, she found out that they couldn't do it because I had booked the SW ticket using rewards and Volaris separately. So I figured that made sense and was fine with letting it go. But then came the real surprise: she handed me a $50 voucher that I could use on a future flight for the trouble! How is that for customer service from a low cost carrier!

Probably far more problems when switching airlines halfway through. My flights are always with the same airline all the way through.

ferret wrote:

Carry Bean wrote:Oh, yeah. Canadians are supposed to be in lock step with their hatred of the USA. Gotta be a fake Canadian then.

Not at all Carry. But I've never met a Canadian who is in favour of the draconian ways of Homeland Security nor have I met one who is rude enough to enquire about your finances.

I doubt very much if Canadians hate the U.S. or it's people...we have many American friends and even they are appalled at some of the policies of the U.S....so, I guess it`s the intrusive policies that we hate...nothing more.

AWWW Ferret, sweetheat, I would never be so bold as to inquire of your finances, I only answered you verywide resonse to "they"