Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Flying the Fascist Skies

Do me a favor, foreign visitors and DON'T COME HERE!!!!!

Make the airline industry go bankrupt and scream in pain so we can (maybe) get rid of this fascism based on damnable lies!!!!!

"US government to require online travel registration" by Desmond Butler, Associated Press | June 4, 2008

Sig Heil!!!


WASHINGTON - The United States said yesterday that visitors from closely allied countries like Britain and Japan will soon have to register personal details online at least three days before arrival.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who announced the changes yesterday, said they will help the United States boost security of its visa-free travel program by allowing the government to screen visitors before they travel. Currently, visitors fill out paper forms en route and are screened by US customs agents upon entry. The United States will begin implementing the changes in August, Chertoff said. Online registration will be mandatory for all visa-free travel by Jan. 12.

There are 27 countries whose citizens are not required to obtain visas for US entry, including those in most of Western Europe, as well as Andorra, Australia, Brunei, Japan, New Zealand, and Singapore. Eight other countries - the Czech Republic, Hungary, and South Korea among them - are expected to be admitted to the visa waiver program. When the Homeland Security Department began discussing the online registration rule last year, European businesses worried that business travel could be impeded.

But Chertoff argued that the system will simplify visa-free travel, because visitors will be required to register online only once every two years instead of filling out forms each time they travel.

The United Kingdom, whose citizens have long enjoyed visa-free travel to the United States, indicated it would accept the changes.

Of course they would (Sig Heil)!!

"Obviously we understand the need to improve travel security, and we welcome this additional information from the US on when and where they are going to implement" the new measures, a British Home Office spokeswoman said on the government's customary condition of anonymity.

The Confederation of British Industry, a business coalition, said it was reassured that the measure contained provisions for last-minute travel by business travelers.

Ahead of the announcement, European Union officials said they have been discussing the changes with Chertoff. Earlier this year, the European Union unveiled plans for a similar travel-authorization system for citizens from countries that have a visa-free regime with the European Union, but details have yet to be worked out.

"We have a clear visa-reciprocity dialogue. This is something that needs to be kept in mind when this [US] measure will be introduced," said Michele Cercone, an European Union spokesman."

Fascist friends to the end, 'eh?