Not so long ago, Canada Customs received a great deal of grief on websites such as this one, and quite warranted, for the actions regarding an American journalist who wanted to visit Vancouver and the reception they gave her.
Well, at least Canadians can now proudly say she wasn't punched in the faced, pepper-sprayed, handcuffed, kicked while she was down and then tossed out outside in winter without any coat. No, that sort of behaviour comes courtesy of the US Border Patrol.
Canadian science fiction writer Peter Watts, returning home after visiting a friend in Nebraska last Tuesday, had the following happen to him. Note that this was trying to leave the United States.
In that other timeline I was not punched in the face, pepper-sprayed, shit-kicked, handcuffed, thrown wet and half-naked into a holding cell for three fucking hours, thrown into an even colder jail cell overnight, arraigned, and charged with assaulting a federal officer, all without access to legal representation (although they did try to get me to waive my Miranda rights. Twice.).
http://www.rifters.com/... for the rest of it.
So thank you, America! Just when it looks like we've lost our national sense of moral smugness, once again we can count on Americans doing something so ridiculously outrageous it hands us back the moral high ground.
UPDATED:
BoingBoing link on the story added:
http://www.boingboing.net/...
John Scalzi:
http://whatever.scalzi.com/...