French scientist denied US entry after critical phone messages found

[Lookinagain]

I've travelled to Europe and back over 100 times over 20 or so years and never once has anyone every asked to see my phone. But I'm a citizen. Does this only happen to non-citizens? I know anything can happen in the future, I'm just wondering if non-citizens had this happening in the past.

 

[Avondale]

What does holding people accountable for their votes look like in your view?

Not for their votes. For their choices. I understand the way I worded it might've made it look like I was talking about voting for elected officials, but that's not what I was thinking.

At the very least, we can never truly know with certainty whether a vote for one or another candidate was the correct or wrong course of action. There is no way to play out all scenarios, to live through all futures where different candidates won, in order to be able to compare. It's all speculation. It's very easy to say "well if people had voted differently, things would be better". And I'm not referring to US politics here, this is true for all democratic societies where voting is the main way to form a government.

But to be accountable for your choices, that means you can't go blaming others for the results of your own actions/inactions. And since we were talking specifically about choosing ignorance, if one chooses to believe something they've been told without at least making an effort to check it themselves, see whether it's true, then one has absolutely no right to complain about being deceived.

How that looks like to me, personally? If someone came to me with such a complaint, I would point out that they bear responsibility in this, too. They don't just get a free pass, a pat on the head, and an "oh poor you, this is not your fault, you were treated badly". They had the opportunity to prevent being deceived by merely taking enough interest and some initiative.

Will it feel bad for the person? Undoubtedly. The point isn't to be unnecessarily cruel or insensitive. In fact, you can be entirely empathetic, but still, the mere realisation of any mistake is very unpleasant by default, for anyone. And the sad reality is that, for all the intelligence human beings boast, we still learn best and most efficiently through negative experiences. You eff up once and feel the full weight of it, you're never effing up in the same way again.

 

[Rfisher]

I think anything we can do to support each other and not rely on government agencies or non-profits dependent on government grants would ultimately set us up to weather the coming storm, and help us build the kind of community we want to be part of after the storm.

Agree this is needed.

Also want to throw out there that some (not all, because that’s painting with a board brush and not conducive to discussion) want exactly this to the extreme, by slashing the funding.

Throw in a little segregation and women out of the workforce doing the unpaid labor roles taking care of the people who can’t take care of themselves -instead of to the extent what the government has been doing
This is some of their’s plan.

I know a few who think this would be ideal and refuse to understand that they themselves benefited from these programs. It doesn’t matter to them. They were /are the exception that makes it ok. They aren’t the ‘other’ they look down upon.

 

[Mreader]

I've travelled to Europe and back over 100 times over 20 or so years and never once has anyone every asked to see my phone. But I'm a citizen. Does this only happen to non-citizens? I know anything can happen in the future, I'm just wondering if non-citizens had this happening in the past.

The same person I quoted is a green hard holder and has been in the United States for 20 years and back-and-forth and She never has had her phone searched. I am curious about others.

 

[Rockdiamond]

One thing I did notice last time I entered the USA at JFK airport.
They have facial recognition. Very spooky.
I walk up - the agent tells me to look in a camera- then tells me my name.
Scary at this point in time.
But never asked for my phone.

 

[Lookinagain]

One thing I did notice last time I entered the USA at JFK airport.
They have facial recognition. Very spooky.
I walk up - the agent tells me to look in a camera- then tells me my name.
Scary at this point in time.
But never asked for my phone.

Oh, definitely spooky. I don't like that at all.

 

[NonieMarie]

In order for a lie to get hold, you need the person hearing it to believe it. And, frankly, there's no excuse for believing some of the lies I heard and read during the past year.

If you willingly shut your eyes and refuse to acknowledge reality, you can't really blame it on being lied to because you were an equally active participant in the deception.

This is so true. My mom is a perfect example. She has repeatedly believed all the crazy lies even though her 4 children show her facts. It is shocking to see this so called Christian woman twist into a pretzel defending a rapist lying creep.

 

[JPie]

Not for their votes. For their choices. I understand the way I worded it might've made it look like I was talking about voting for elected officials, but that's not what I was thinking.

At the very least, we can never truly know with certainty whether a vote for one or another candidate was the correct or wrong course of action. There is no way to play out all scenarios, to live through all futures where different candidates won, in order to be able to compare. It's all speculation. It's very easy to say "well if people had voted differently, things would be better". And I'm not referring to US politics here, this is true for all democratic societies where voting is the main way to form a government.

But to be accountable for your choices, that means you can't go blaming others for the results of your own actions/inactions. And since we were talking specifically about choosing ignorance, if one chooses to believe something they've been told without at least making an effort to check it themselves, see whether it's true, then one has absolutely no right to complain about being deceived.

How that looks like to me, personally? If someone came to me with such a complaint, I would point out that they bear responsibility in this, too. They don't just get a free pass, a pat on the head, and an "oh poor you, this is not your fault, you were treated badly". They had the opportunity to prevent being deceived by merely taking enough interest and some initiative.

Will it feel bad for the person? Undoubtedly. The point isn't to be unnecessarily cruel or insensitive. In fact, you can be entirely empathetic, but still, the mere realisation of any mistake is very unpleasant by default, for anyone. And the sad reality is that, for all the intelligence human beings boast, we still learn best and most efficiently through negative experiences. You eff up once and feel the full weight of it, you're never effing up in the same way again.

You make some good points. It’s true that once you feel the weight of a mistake, you’re not likely to make the same mistake again.

Under normal circumstances I would say the same. For some folks, the consequences include cuts to funding that put life-saving drugs and services out of their reach. This also impacts people who absolutely did not not choose the current leadership.

I hope no rational person would watch this happen and refuse to help stop it in the name of holding people accountable.

 

[Avondale]

For some folks, the consequences include cuts to funding that put life-saving drugs and services out of their reach. This also impacts people who absolutely did not not choose the current leadership.

I hope no rational person would watch this happen and refuse to help stop it in the name of holding people accountable.

Oh hell no.

To start, the consequences you mention aren't consequences of the choices we've been discussing. There is a very long chain of events between believing the lie and the funding cuts in your example that actually breaks the causality.

If we look at it in more detail (and even then it remains greatly simplified), it follows like this:

- a person hears a lie by a candidate in an election that implementing action X will lead to result Y when in reality the result would be Z. Say the person likes result Y and chooses to believe the lie instead of do the research to discover the result would actually be the undesirable Z instead;​

​

- based on the above, the person decides to vote for said candidate (a side note: I think maybe this is where the confusion came from above... people sometimes will say that if they weren't lied to and knew the truth, they would've voted otherwise, but that's irrelevant for the chain of causality. At the very least, people may know the truth and still decide to vote the same way for other reasons);​

​

- the candidate gets elected, however! This is where the chain breaks. The candidate isn't elected by a single person, they're elected by a sufficiently large part of the population. And while it's true that, yeah, if enough people vote this way instead of that way..., it's still closer to collective action rather than an individual one;​

​

- the candidate then chooses to implement action X, which leads to result Y, which is unfavourable for everyone. The chain also breaks here a second time. This is a standalone decision of an elected official, it's not the result of someone else's previous actions, it's not a direct and singular result of getting elected, but rather the start of an entirely new chain of events.​

It is not reasonable to place the blame for the last step on the first one on that list. It's one thing to say "well what did you think happens as a result of X, why didn't you put in some effort to read about it, there's so much information available". It's completely different to go "what's happening now is your fault, you voted this way, now suffer the consequences and have your life ruined". I'm in no way suggesting the second.

But I do understand what you mean and where you're coming from, because I'm on social media just as much as the next person and I see it happening. People are angry, justifiably so, but in their anger they also become vindictive. Even though the first and last step on the list are far from each other logically, the mental jump between the two is easily made. That's precisely why at the beginning I said there is a range of emotions and reactions between entirely absolving people of responsibility and being angry and vindictive towards them. It's not necessarily a jump from one straight to the other.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I divested of all stocks about 2 weeks back. Much less stressful. Especially Fridays.
It seems so clear where we’re heading. Definitely made some nice profits for years. But now it’s all heading one way.
Maybe a stock market collapse might make our rulers change direction. Weird to be “rooting” for the market to fall.
Sorry to be a Debbie downer.

how would that effect the rest of us ?
we are only just getting inflation under control and morgage rates are starting to fall
its been a rough ride so far since covid

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Agree this is needed.

Also want to throw out there that some (not all, because that’s painting with a board brush and not conducive to discussion) want exactly this to the extreme, by slashing the funding.

Throw in a little segregation and women out of the workforce doing the unpaid labor roles taking care of the people who can’t take care of themselves -instead of to the extent what the government has been doing
This is some of their’s plan.

I know a few who think this would be ideal and refuse to understand that they themselves benefited from these programs. It doesn’t matter to them. They were /are the exception that makes it ok. They aren’t the ‘other’ they look down upon.

i read that and i just find it so unbeleavable
im not saying its not happening
it just apauls me its so bad

excuse spelling and bad grammer

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

For over a century, a U.S.-Canada cross-border library used a single entrance. Now, the U.S. says Canadians must build their own.

By Oct. 1, all Canadians will be required to use the entrance to the Haskell Free Library and Opera House on Canada's side of the border, the U.S. government said.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Sunrises Sunsets]

For over a century, a U.S.-Canada cross-border library used a single entrance. Now, the U.S. says Canadians must build their own.

By Oct. 1, all Canadians will be required to use the entrance to the Haskell Free Library and Opera House on Canada's side of the border, the U.S. government said.

www.cbsnews.com

The USA has implemented this decision to deter drug smuggling as the article indicates, that is the only reason and it has no other connotation. Traffickers had found a loophole.

 

[Lookinagain]

The USA has implemented this decision to deter drug smuggling as the article indicates, that is the only reason and it has no other connotation. Traffickers had found a loophole.

Except the article says:
There haven't been any custom or trafficking incidents involving library visitors of which the trustees have been aware, De Paoli said.

Wouldn't they have been told if smugglers were using the library? So where is the loophole that they found? I don't understand.

 

[Sunrises Sunsets]

Except the article says:
There haven't been any custom or trafficking incidents involving library visitors of which the trustees have been aware, De Paoli said.

Wouldn't they have been told if smugglers were using the library? So where is the loophole that they found? I don't understand.

"trafficking incidents involving library visitors of which the trustees have been aware"...

Therein lies of the rub," of which trustees have been aware". Access to drug dealers has been severely hampered in the past few months. They are hungry for sales and any avenue is being considered. How easy would it be to plant a hollowed out book on a shelf in the library loaded with heroin or cocaine or fentanyl? The dealers have no conscience or concern for human welfare.

If this change keeps anyone's child or family member from being killed by drugs, it's a very small adjustment to make for their safety.

 

[JPie]

 

[JPie]

 

[JPie]

 

[telephone89]

"trafficking incidents involving library visitors of which the trustees have been aware"...

Therein lies of the rub," of which trustees have been aware". Access to drug dealers has been severely hampered in the past few months. They are hungry for sales and any avenue is being considered. How easy would it be to plant a hollowed out book on a shelf in the library loaded with heroin or cocaine or fentanyl? The dealers have no conscience or concern for human welfare.

If this change keeps anyone's child or family member from being killed by drugs, it's a very small adjustment to make for their safety.

So none of that actually happened, as written or reported anywhere, you just felt like making up a little story? Why are you purposely spreading misinformation?

 

[Sunrises Sunsets]

So none of that actually happened, as written or reported anywhere, you just felt like making up a little story? Why are you purposely spreading misinformation?

The link for the story was provided by Daisy and the information is in there. But thank you for not taking the time to read ALL the posts and the personal attack. Geez, we're having a discussion here.. no reason for insults.

 

[Sunrises Sunsets]

There is an article from the New York Times on February 6, 2025 with a frank discussion on fentanyl production in Canada:

Fentanyl flooded North America drug supply in the last decade, killing tens of thousands in both Canada and USA creating huge profits for criminals using low level chemistry skills, homemade equipment and home labs to produce millions of doses.

**edited by moderator, no politics** Last year, less than 1 percent of the fentanyl arriving in the United States came from Canada.

The number of crime groups making fentanyl in Canada keeps growing, and officials have found a connection between Mexican drug cartels and domestic groups involved in the drug’s production.

In the last six years, Canadian police dismantled 47 fentanyl labs, which also included the largest ever last year in British Columbia. The British Columbia lab had enough material to produce 96 million opioid doses.

This is a brief synopsis and perhaps indicates the concern about growing fentanyl distribution in the USA. It is a problem for both countries.

 

[telephone89]

The link for the story was provided by Daisy and the information is in there. But thank you for not taking the time to read ALL the posts and the personal attack. Geez, we're having a discussion here.. no reason for insults.

I did read the story. It mentioned 0 of the things you said, you literally just made them up off the top of your head . Quite the imagination you have!

What personal attack? I did no such thing.

It's quite obvious the whole fentanyl angle is just a red herring. Canada wasn't even mentioned on the threat assessment report. Someone is pulling the wool over your eyes, and you happily welcome them. Good luck with that.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

The link for the story was provided by Daisy and the information is in there. But thank you for not taking the time to read ALL the posts and the personal attack. Geez, we're having a discussion here.. no reason for insults.

I did. I always do. I am not here to insult, but I will make it an imperative that assertions are factually supported. If they aren't, I'll give at least a direction for others to educate themselves as to why. I respect differing opinion, I abhor directive disinformation and malinformation.

Misinformation is false, but not created or shared with the intention of causing harm. Disinformation is deliberately created to mislead, harm, or manipulate. Malinformation is based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.

Amid U.S.-Canada trade war, Trump makes some false or misleading claims to justify tariffs

President Trump has imposed steep tariffs on Canadian goods, citing trade imbalances and drug trafficking. But many of his claims exaggerate or misrepresent the facts.

www.cbsnews.com

These are always a good starting point in understanding our current climate.

Progress and Poverty, Volumes I and II by Henry George

Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by volunteers.

www.gutenberg.org

https://ia801505.us.archive.org/11/items/on-tyranny-twenty-lessons-from-the-twentieth-century-by-timothy-snyder-z-lib.org/On%20Tyranny%20Twenty%20Lessons%20from%20the%20Twentieth%20Century%20by%20Timothy%20Snyder%20%28z-lib.org%29.pdf

Totalitarianism, the Inversion of Politics | Articles and Essays | Hannah Arendt Papers | Digital Collections | Library of Congress

An essay on Hannah Arendt and her theories on the origins and practice of totalitarianism by Arendt scholar and trustee Jerome Kohn.

www.loc.gov

 

[MJ_Mac]

I did read the story. It mentioned 0 of the things you said, you literally just made them up off the top of your head . Quite the imagination you have!

What personal attack? I did no such thing.

It's quite obvious the whole fentanyl angle is just a red herring. Canada wasn't even mentioned on the threat assessment report. Someone is pulling the wool over your eyes, and you happily welcome them. Good luck with that.

Maybe it’s one of those famous “alternate facts” we used to hear so much about. This is the same library/opera house that was used in someone’s publicity stunt where she offended many Canadians with her taunts. I can’t mention her name or link the story as it goes against PS policy.

 

[Sunrises Sunsets]

I did read the story. It mentioned 0 of the things you said, you literally just made them up off the top of your head . Quite the imagination you have!

What personal attack? I did no such thing.

It's quite obvious the whole fentanyl angle is just a red herring. Canada wasn't even mentioned on the threat assessment report. Someone is pulling the wool over your eyes, and you happily welcome them. Good luck with that.

From the article submitted by Daisy...

"Drug traffickers and smugglers were exploiting the fact that Canadians could use the U.S. entrance without going through customs. We are ending such exploitation by criminals and protecting Americans," the statement said.

You are welcome for the clarification and why all the snippiness? Post #51 also explains the ongoing fentanyl problem even for Canada. The USA provided drones and 2 helicopters to Canada to aid in the capture of these fentanyl manufacturers and dealers. No, I didn't make up that information either.

 

[telephone89]

From the article submitted by Daisy...

"Drug traffickers and smugglers were exploiting the fact that Canadians could use the U.S. entrance without going through customs. We are ending such exploitation by criminals and protecting Americans," the statement said.

You are welcome for the clarification and why all the snippiness? Post #51 also explains the ongoing fentanyl problem even for Canada. The USA provided drones and 2 helicopters to Canada to aid in the capture of these fentanyl manufacturers and dealers. No, I didn't make up that information either.

Did you miss the lines immediately after?
It literally says there have been no trafficking incidents. You just made up a story about some nefarious drug dealer hollowing out books and placing drugs inside of a library

Fentanyl is a problem for both countries, sure. It's just not Canada where the USA is getting it from. In fact more is caught trying to come north - maybe you should instruct your drug dealers to keep your fentanyl to yourselves .

Edit: these two towns have a total population of 3,500. If you don't think think they'd notice a drug trafficking bust in towns that small, well, you've never been in a small town lol.

 

[Lookinagain]

Therein lies of the rub," of which trustees have been aware".

I still think that if the library had been used for trafficking, the Trustees would have been made aware. That only makes sense.

How easy would it be to plant a hollowed out book on a shelf in the library loaded with heroin or cocaine or fentanyl? The dealers have no conscience or concern for human welfare.

Can't this still happen? They are talking about two different entrances, not two separate libraries. And it clearly says:

although once inside the library Canadians and Americans can still freely intermingle.

So you wouldn't even need to hide anything in a book, would you? You could meet in person. So it still doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Sunrises Sunsets]

I still think that if the library had been used for trafficking, the Trustees would have been made aware. That only makes sense.



Can't this still happen? They are talking about two different entrances, not two separate libraries. And it clearly says:

although once inside the library Canadians and Americans can still freely intermingle.

So you wouldn't even need to hide anything in a book, would you? You could meet in person. So it still doesn't make sense to me.

I am guessing that drug deals are very covert and not out in the open for trustees to observe and that an undocumented person with a back pack can't walk in one door and out the other anymore. The details elude my research to this point.

At the very least, it is an attempt to stem any flow of drugs from the crime syndicates. Neither country wants this problem to continue.

 

[Sunrises Sunsets]

Did you miss the lines immediately after?
It literally says there have been no trafficking incidents. You just made up a story about some nefarious drug dealer hollowing out books and placing drugs inside of a library

Fentanyl is a problem for both countries, sure. It's just not Canada where the USA is getting it from. In fact more is caught trying to come north - maybe you should instruct your drug dealers to keep your fentanyl to yourselves .

Edit: these two towns have a total population of 3,500. If you don't think think they'd notice a drug trafficking bust in towns that small, well, you've never been in a small town lol.

Drug dealers don't determine they're opportunities by population, they work any where they can make a deal. I live in a very small town and the next town down the road had people dealing right from their home. Don't we all want control over this drug situation? This next piece is part of the earlier post I made:

"The number of crime groups making fentanyl in Canada keeps growing, and officials have found a connection between Mexican drug cartels and domestic groups involved in the drug’s production.

In the last six years, Canadian police dismantled 47 fentanyl labs, which also included the largest ever last year in British Columbia. The British Columbia lab had enough material to produce 96 million opioid doses."

We want success for Canada too in the drug war. Even one person dying from drugs is a tragedy.

Reading comprehension is so important, portraying possibilities is not the same as stating that is the definite situation. I didn't say this was the case, I posed a possibility and nothing more. Quote from my earlier post: How easy would it be to plant a hollowed out book on a shelf in the library loaded with heroin or cocaine or fentanyl? The dealers have no conscience or concern for human welfare.

Peace out

 

[telephone89]

Drug dealers don't determine they're opportunities by population, they work any where they can make a deal. I live in a very small town and the next town down the road had people dealing right from their home. Don't we all want control over this drug situation? Canada This next piece is part of the earlier post I made:

"The number of crime groups making fentanyl in Canada keeps growing, and officials have found a connection between Mexican drug cartels and domestic groups involved in the drug’s production.

In the last six years, Canadian police dismantled 47 fentanyl labs, which also included the largest ever last year in British Columbia. The British Columbia lab had enough material to produce 96 million opioid doses."

We want success for Canada too in the drug war. Even one person dying from drugs is a tragedy.

Reading comprehension is so important, portraying possibilities is not the same as stating that is the definite situation. I didn't say this was the case, I posed a possibility and nothing more. Quote from my earlier post: How easy would it be to plant a hollowed out book on a shelf in the library loaded with heroin or cocaine or fentanyl? The dealers have no conscience or concern for human welfare.

Peace out

Are you a russian bot or something? Do you not understand the difference between drug dealing and drug trafficking? Do you not understand where British Columbia and Quebec are? You are just throwing out random points about drugs but they are not connected.

Seriously, stop with the fake stories. Idk why you're pushing this made up narrative, but it's getting weird. You are actively spreading misinformation and it's not cool.