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Comment by adventured | Hacker News Reader

Stories like this seem to get worse as the years go by post 9/11.

If I could give one piece of advice to foreigners for the next 20 or 30 years as it relates to America: stay out, we are not free here, the walls - both digital and physical - are going up to control us. The police state is becoming more aggressive, violent, and omnipresent. Save yourselves, pursue freedom and happiness, you won't find such here any longer. There are better countries for that future.

I think this should be etched into the Statue of Liberty as a warning. Since it doesn't represent a beacon of liberty any longer, it might as well serve a purpose.

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What I remember from my visit to NYC in 2008 is that all tourist attractions had one police check point (metallic / bomb detectors) and the statue of liberty had it two times.

I found it quite ironic.

Edit: Another funny experience was me being stopped by security guards when I tried to take a picture of the Federal Reserve building when standing in front of it, only to be handed a brochure with on the cover a picture of pretty much the same angle.

Wonder what they'll do once (if) Google Glass get widespread adoption. "Sorry m'am, you just can't walk down this road. And that road. And that road. In fact, please follow the Tourist Path from A to B without straying, or we'll put you in jail and then deport you. Enjoy your stay!"

I remember walking past the US Embassy in Geneva, there is one location, clearly marked in front of the building from where you are allowed to take a picture. I didn't bother...

The US Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, looks like a fortress downtown. Adjacent to the building, one lane of a busy street has been closed by concrete barriers for years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embassy_of_the_United_States,_...

I agree with your analysis. If one is so keen to visit America - welcome to Canada! :) Optionally, wait until Stephen Harper is ousted :)

Also, a little reminder. It is the American citizenry that made the US "a beacon of liberty" in the first place. And I believe it can do it again. Do you say it will take 20-30 years to happen?

Canadian immigration controls can be just as bad, though you may get water. Like someone said above, it's all about people having power over others with zero accountability.

canadian CBP are a bag of cunts, as i can confirm myself.

sorry, but fuck canada. if you don't let me through your border, your country is unbelievably fucked.

maybe dismissing parliament one more time will help mr harper.

The difference now, perhaps, is that there is no longer a frontier left. 300 years ago, the people who wanted change and freedom from oppressive governments could sail away over the horizon and set up their own county in a new land. (That's not to deny there were limits to that: You needed to afford a ship, and to gather a large enough mass of people to actually build a successful settlement in the new world, and not to mention the ethical implications of the effects on the natives. All these were real issues, but despite them many people made their way to a new life in the new world, with perhaps a bit more "liberty and justice for all" than there was before.)

Thanks, I guess. Would have loved visiting other places there but it looks like it might be safer to avoid them for now.

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