Dangerous FBAR’s and FATCA’s are known to slurk around in the wee hours of the morning outside of US jurisdiction. To combat self-responsibility, all US persons and only US persons have now been prohibited from working late-night shifts or consuming local beverages which might encourage them to act independently.
MANAMA, Bahrain — A 1 a.m. curfew is now in force for all U.S. personnel, civilians and dependents in Bahrain, Navy officials announced Thursday.
Previously, curfew times varied depending on a servicemember’s rank. Dependents, civilians and contractors could stay out all night as long as they were with at least one other person.
The new policy retains a prohibition on public consumption of alcohol between midnight and 5 a.m.
Lt. Marissa Myatt, a U.S. Navy 5th Fleet spokeswoman, said the new policy simplifies and clarifies the previous regulations.
“It’s smart to get people off the streets,” she said. “Nothing good happens after 1 a.m.”
This is military folks, right? It’s always good to ask yourself, when stuff like this – that makes no real sense – occurs, “what else is going on?” Because your answer is in the latter and not the theater designed to obscure it.
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@YogaGirl, it says it is for all U.S. personnel, civilians and dependents in Bahrain. In my view, it would be sufficient to warn them that an evil FBAR might snatch their wallet, and to then let them go at their own risk.
In Switzerland, a similar ruling could sound like this:
Bern, Switzerland — A 1 a.m. curfew is now in force for all U.S. persons, civilians and dependents in Switzerland, US health officials announced Thursday.
Marissa Myatt, a U.S. health spokeswoman, said the new policy simplifies and clarifies the previous regulations on Swiss chocolate consumption.
“It’s smart to get people off of chocolate,” she said. “Nothing good happens after 1 a.m.”
Marauding bands of Bahranian bankers seen roving the streets of Manama in the small hours of the morning. It is believed that they are in bloody pursuit of US persons, deciding that it is much more expedient to eradicate them under the cover of darkness than during banking hours when they have to leave a paper trail.
@swisspinoy, Still makes me wonder what is actually going on (or is suspect might happen) Bahrain is one of those places that expats working in Saudi like to escape to periodically when the strain of compound living gets a bit much (especially for the female dependents). But it seems odd. The hot spot right now is Syria (in terms of where the next phase of American nation-building is heading. Is Bahrain the only spot being saddled with a curfew?
The really interesting thing, to me, is that the US feels free to order about USC’s in another country. And it highlights what we talk about here all the time, the fact that the USG doesn’t really recognize the fact that it’s expat and emigrant citizens are not subject to US anything really when living in another sovereign nation. We are the USG’s property no matter where on the planet we are, in the USG’s opinion.
@Mark Twain If anything, FATCA is getting annoying simply due to the number of calls I get inviting me to this crap. I went to one, it was a sham. Free beer made it worth it I guess, but it was still 2 hours wasted. Most of it being a sales pitch to use a firm to be “compliant” and whatever. When you tell them that you have your own strategy and will never declare or care it kinda throws a spanner in their pitch.
@YogaGirl, I’ve no idea what motivated the curfew, but I’d assume that it is limited to Bahrain and probably only applies to those living on a US base there. Most of the news on the mid-east that I’ve seen lately are about limiting or restricting expat employment opportunities in favor of locals. But, like you said, what interests me about this is that the US is ordering people around in other nations, limiting and restricting their ability to live there. I rarely go outside between 1am and 5am, but I don’t need for anyone to prohibit me from doing so other than the local government. In some cases, being out late might make sense, such as going to the hospital, doing late-night photography or enjoying time spent with locals.
I’m sure it only applies to military personnel, their family, and civilian contractors. There is a similar curfew in effect in Japan in response to rapes committed by US military members here. It does not apply all US citizens in Japan (indeed, it couldn’t), only those here in or working for the military.
Bahrain required to be gaining full data upon US persons, no security demands, the banker could even take the list home with him. That ought to make US persons feel quite secure to be living there. Typical USA support for personnel working for USA businesses there. Long term, this will ensure that there will be no US business in Bahrain–it will move over to countries which do not demand data collection upon their citizens.
Sorry, but what this is about is alcohol. Too much of it. It says so. The order obviously applies to people associated with the US Navy somehow. The US Navy can’t issue orders for anyone else.
It sounds similar to the situation in Okinawa, where a curfew was also implemented. There was just too much trouble with drunken US servicemen molesting (sometimes raping) Japanese women and girls. At least that’s what the Japanese news says.
Some “US persons” behave stupidly, especially when they are in groups and far from “home”. This has nothing to do with FBARs and FATCA. It is about out-of-control drunken idiots.
(On occasion, one can observe non-US persons behaving stupidly too.)
If you think you are at “home”, as I expect most Brockers do, you are more likely to behave yourself because you care what the neighbors think.
@Yoga Girl
RE whistleblowers
According to Tom Devine over at the Guardian and a few other places you are correct:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/16/obama-contradictory-stance-whistleblowing
There are still way too many under the influence of his Kool-aid. Must be mass hypnosis as it seems to effect people across borders too.
@Sally, you are right that this has nothing to do with FBARs and FATCA. Please pardon my silly humor. 🙂
A common problem, though, is that societies tend to overreact to the negative actions of the individual, causing them to limit the free choice of the innocent masses, restricting everyone since one person did something bad. The military is extreme in this area, since it attempts to strengthen group responsibility so that individuals don’t flee when the unit gets ordered to commit suicide for the benefit of some greater military strategy.
With FBAR and FATCA, the US government is using the military approach. It is limiting and restricting the freedom of 6+ million Americans abroad in order to catch 100 stateside tax cheats. It expects for Americans living abroad to suck it up and drive on, or to give thanks and praise for the abuse of being a US person. This is all done under the banner of “nationalism”.
Yet, any relationship is a two-way deal. American abroad can likewise demand for stateside Americans to stand up for their own and to defend and protect Americans regardless of where they reside, meaning that the focus should be on protecting the innocent rather than taking any measure possible to silence the suspected criminal.
Nothing good happens after 1am? Wow! What a paternalistic attitude to have towards other adults.
What the hell is the US military doing in Bahrain, anyway? Other than making sure that their ridiculously bloated defence budget is being well spent, of course?
mhj, US military is all over the Middle East but Bahrain is right across from Iran and the wealthier countries in the area allow bases b/c it saves them money on defense. It’s good to be an ally of the US.
Bubblebustin, homelanders simply can’t deal with acknowledging that nothing changed when they elected Obama, which is why nothing changes. But it’s best remembered that the country is truly more split than the media likes to say. The last election was close in terms of the popular vote and reveals a pretty big problem. If it weren’t for the urban areas and the massively higher turnout of minority voters, we’d be grousing about Romney right now (because like I said, nothing has changed).
@YogaGirl
Sure, it may be good to be an ally, but if the US wasn’t out plundering around and making enemies in the first place….
mhj, the US doesn’t see what it does as making enemies b/c it basically regards all outside the country as suspicious “not us” anyway, imo. For wealthy countries like Bahrain, the US military is like hiring a mercenary force. Some parasitic relationships benefit the host.
But again, this just illustrates the comfort level of the USG with setting up shop outside its borders, imposing its values and agendas and its view that USP’s are property in one way or another.
We have a dangerous Iranian here who sells nuts and dried fruits in the farmers market. That should be reason enough for the US to build a huge military base so that my city can charge it fees high enough to liberate me from the local tax burden! I mean, otherwise the dangerous Iranian could sell more dried fruit or even extract its sugar for energy purposes. God forbid!
I know! I have dangerous muslims here in my own neighbourhood, just following their own faith and living their lives in peace, contrary to what American propaganda has tried to feed me for most of my life on how they are basically all terrorists and shit.
I say, choose to not live in fear, and just shut off the damn TV.
@mjh49783
The problem is that people grow up in a culture of fear and continue to believe in the bogey man, which creates the need for more protection. Where does the real threat end and self-fullfilling prophecy begin?
@bubblebustin
That’s a very good question. Perhaps if one cannot tell the difference between an actual threat, and simply a fear of the unknown, that there’s something seriously wrong with how that person is perceiving the world?
About all I really know is that I grew up in the same culture, but since I grew up in a small town, I wasn’t really exposed to it until adulthood. Maybe it’s knowing, or perhaps just believing, that life doesn’t have to be that way that allowed me to see through the fear culture bullshit?
Or, maybe I could’ve just stayed in that small town, and all of that crazy shit could’ve just stayed out of my view as background noise, and I could’ve remained blissfully ignorant to my surroundings and not even be here at Issac Brock?
…and all this talk of arming schoolteachers scares the bejesus out of me. I couldn’t imagine all the nuns in my Catholic school packing heat!
@bubblebustin,
Yes, just imagine that scenario. It’s also such a good plan to have your personal weapons stored in the bedrooms of your children so you can get to the weapons and your screaming children at the same time, rather than be delayed by diverting to a differing location. Thank all that’s holy that I moved to Canada and may we as a country never really believe these are solutions.