UPDATE: digitaljournal.com covered this in May 2010–so the story isn’t recent. Also, it is apparently unverified, and therein lies the rub. Are these stories the tip of the iceberg? Why don’t we hear about the three terrorist the USA arrest at Niagra border crossing each day (cf. audio)?
Please, somebody tell me that this audio, which has had 181 thousand views, is not real. It all starts with the couple’s cheeky response to the question which “stores” they were going to visit at a mall.
Innocente made the following comment:
Swiss newspapers are reporting that two children of a Swiss asset manager were interrogated by US customs as to the whereabouts of their father, what their father did, whether their father made trips to the US, etc. They were entering the US to visit their grandparents. Sorry, interrogation of children looks like something from the Gestapo playbook. Here’s an article on it in French:
Les deux ados d’un gestionnaire de fortune genevois interpellés aux Etats-Unis
Here is a translation for the first couple paragraphs by Innocente:
“What a holiday! On a beautiful Sunday in May, two teenagers from Geneva and children of an asset manager took off from Geneva Airport. They left for the U.S. to visit their grandparents, who live in that country, while their parents remained in Switzerland. Upon arriving at the airport of a large city *, these two minors were given special attention of police. “Where is your dad? What does your dad do for a living? Has your dad ever worked in the United States? “Both young men were subject to these questions and others for six hours at the offices of the police. They weree not allowed to contact people outside. Throughout the questioning their parents and grandparents received no information. These facts, reported by a Swiss lawyer, suggest what a large part of the Swiss financial center have been fearing: the U.S. authorities have already begun to exploit the (employment) data delivered in April by five banks….”
Snowbirds may become an extinct species, at least within the borders of the United States. Few outsiders know this but Canadians live in igloos year round. Snowbirds are Canadians who seek warmer climate, especially during their retirement years. They have been a significant boon to the real estate markets in Southern states, especially Florida, but one should not forget places like my Dad’s trailer park in San Benito where numerous Winter Texans can play year-round golf and outdoor tennis. Mostly, they spend their enormous retirement wealth that it took many years working in Canada to earn. Expect the snowbirds to start flying further south, to places like Cayman Islands, Mexico, or Costa Rica, anywhere outside the reach of the IRS taxman.
I have to watch what I say on this blog and elsewhere on the internet. I am no longer an American citizen, and so Homeland Security could refuse me entry into the United States. Case in point: A couple of tourists found themselves in handcuffs after arriving at LAX, then interrogated for hours, placed overnight in a holding cell, and sent home to Europe the next day.
Welcome to the United States!
