Flying in the US may become even less pleasant

[Vatoreus]

What I'm saying is the fucking police state this country is becoming scare me quite a bit. 10 years ago, this shit would have been near non-issue, but because the news wants to cover the stories and make them seem like they are happening everyday, we are willing to go to the extremes for the illusion of security. Just cuz GW says there are terrorists everywhere wanting to kill us doesn't make it true. All in all, shit is coming apart at the seams imo.

[Grooverider]

I'm not saying that we should have a police state, or that there are terrorists everywhere.

I'm saying that when someone is in an airport, holding plastique explosive type substance, with electrical wiring around their body and LEDs flashing - serious action should be taken.

Whilst we aren't under some RED LIGHT level of threat or nonsense like that, it's clear that there is tension in the Middle east and this may have a knock on effect for security.

There are inconvieniences that I am prepared to accept whilst at high risk places such as airports. i.e. Longer queues etc

[Rune]

Originally Posted by Grooverider

There are inconveniences that I am prepared to accept whilst at high risk places such as airports. i.e. Longer queues etc

All I'm saying is that the RoI for police state transformation sucks balls.

Can anyone really make the case that we're safer today than we were on 9/10? Whatever marginal benefits we've gained I feel are outweighed by the stifling system coupled with the hornet's nest we've been thrashing for the past 5 years. "Terrorism" is a function of our policy in the middle east over the past 50 years, not vice versa.

[rinthea]

Originally Posted by Grooverider

I'm not saying that we should have a police state, or that there are terrorists everywhere.

I'm saying that when someone is in an airport, holding plastique explosive type substance, with electrical wiring around their body and LEDs flashing - serious action should be taken.

Whilst we aren't under some RED LIGHT level of threat or nonsense like that, it's clear that there is tension in the Middle east and this may have a knock on effect for security.

There are inconvieniences that I am prepared to accept whilst at high risk places such as airports. i.e. Longer queues etc

what kind of retard would have a bomb that looks like something from a commedy skit of die hard... if it was a real bomb, even someone whos seriously fucked in the head would have the 3 braincells required to think of, and implement hiding it.
do you shoot the guy with hot dogs strapped to his chest too? This is just common sense.

[Eomer]

Originally Posted by Burkex

The US dollar is now equal to the Canadien Dollar. When I was a kid the Canadien Dollar was less than .5 to 1. Now it is 1 to 1.

No. The Canadian dollar has never gone below about $.62USD or so, and that was quite recently. For the most part the Loonie has traded in the $.70 to $.85 range. It went into a free fall in the late 90's, and then has rocketed back in the past 4 years because it's largely viewed as a petro/resource currency.

Everything else aside, if you're talking only about the effects of parity with the Canadian dollar, it's actually a big benefit to the US. It takes away competitiveness of Canadian manufacturing (can you say 300,000 job losses in Ontario?), brings more Canadian tourists, and a whole slew of other things. And the strong dollar doesn't do many favors for Canadian businesses, because we're largely an exporting country. Yay, oil is at an all-time (or near) high in US dollars. That does Alberta very little good, because most of the costs associated with production are in Canadian dollars. And consumers are getting bent over a barrel and fucked in the ass, because prices are not coming down as fast as they should be for pretty much everything. Nothing quite as pleasant as seeing the $6.99USD price on your $10.99CDN book.

But at the end of the day, Canada has consistently been the most fiscally responsible developed country for the past 10 years, and while we largely missed the tech boom we also largely missed the bust. It's surprising the Loonie took so long to take flight; it's been a largely undervalued currency for awhile.

Back on topic: any time I'm flying internationally, I avoid going through the US like the fucking plague. It's a gigantic pain in the ass, and I've missed flights because of it. I'd rather fly 5 hours to Toronto or a couple to Vancouver even if I'm going the opposite way, just to avoid going through LAX or Denver.

[Cascow]

Originally Posted by Eomer

Nothing quite as pleasant as seeing the $6.99USD price on your $10.99CDN book.

Agreed.

Everything, at the company I work, for is based off a 70 cent dollar. Everytime (and I mean everytime) we sell something to a US customer, we lose money.

[Grooverider]

Originally Posted by rinthea

what kind of retard would have a bomb that looks like something from a commedy skit of die hard... if it was a real bomb, even someone whos seriously fucked in the head would have the 3 braincells required to think of, and implement hiding it.

Are you prepared to take that risk? What kind of retard wears that shit to an airport anyway?

Originally Posted by rinthea

do you shoot the guy with hot dogs strapped to his chest too? This is just common sense.

What kind of fucking idiot straps hot dogs to his chest?

All in all your post made.. zero sense.

[rinthea]

What I was trying to say, was that if it looks like its a bomb, it probably isnt. Because, you know, maybe a person who is trying to bomb something would not want to advertise that fact...

[Drauk]

Originally Posted by Tolanin

i mean the euro hasnt been around long at all, its not surprising that the euro and dollar and competing in that arena since both are backed by large stable nations/groups. The EU as an organization is still far less time tested than the US.

Dollar only became universal currency in 1970s, after collapse of Bretton Woods system. EU traces it's origin to 1957.

[Havelock]

Originally Posted by rinthea

What I was trying to say, was that if it looks like its a bomb, it probably isnt. Because, you know, maybe a person who is trying to bomb something would not want to advertise that fact...

"Probably isn't" isn't good enough when you're talking about something like a bomb. It's like the occasional crazy guy who goes somewhere with a sword and stabs the hell out of somebody. Who the hell carries a sword around to attack people? But on occasion, it happens, and ignoring everybody with swords because they're probably not going to do anything is a poor survival strategy.