Re: [CON] GZG East Coast Convention

From: <warbeads@juno.com>

> Beth, et.al., do I need to translate "Charlie Foxtrot"?  It's phonetic
> alphabet - the "C" - "Charlie" - stands for Cluster... the "F" is
typical
> military shall we say?
> 
> Jon, I want you to come (even if I can't get there) but I feel obliged
to
> tell you the problems our agency people have encountered flying in the
> USA recently.  Hopefully you won't have any problems to deal with. I
> advise fly 'light' and tell them up front (and show them even, if
that's
> practical) about any 'sales samples' you are bringing.  Yeah, I'm
> paranoid but it's an occupational advantage.

Please make sure that you either have the right visa, or don't need a
visa.
Note that although Australians don't need a visa (generally), if they're
doing anything remotely work-like (and showing off sales samples MAY
qualify) then they do. And if they're interviewing someone, then they
need
a different visa again. *CHECK WITH THE US EMBASSY*

2 Australian TV personalities (not journalists as such) including
Australia's
answer to Jimmy Saville, ended up handcuffed, body searched etc and
deported,
simply because they had an XYZ-123 visa (for business) or no visa at all
(for tourism) rather than an XYW-321 one (for journalism).

Brits are in the same category as Australians for this. And being
straightforward
and totally honest won't prevent you from being put in chains.
Literally.
Most of the people who will make the decision are there because they
couldn't
get a job making change at a supermarket. The rest have had their senses
of
humour surgically removed after 9/11, and I can't blame them for that.

The system is set up with little latitude for discretion or common sense
-
and where latitude is given, they always play it safe and by the book,
and
reject the passenger unless the book covers the *exact* situation.