bahaha! No further comment.

[mac miller]

Simona will be appearing today at the Tipton County Pork Festival !!!!!

[beachgirl]

Hope she's taking Pork Chop with her!

[vintage]

She looked a little porky at Baltimore.

[nigelred5]

And some folks wonder why the series needs to expand beyond the mid west... ;)

Hey, don't get me wrong, I can tear up a plate of pork chops and cook a pork tenderloin like no one's business and you can bet, I'd be there fork in hand......but.. ;) just sayin'....

[Mark in Oshawa]

hey, she is learning about America....the country that occasionally boots her out!!! lol. What a crazy world we live in...

[nigelred5]

I assume the promoters got wind of PorkChop and just had to have them there for the porkchop festival...


So has anyone gotten any of the details on what her immigration problem actually was? I would have assumed she had a proper work Visa at the beginning of the season, but she's been here quite a while now. I was wondering if she wasn't here on the proper type of Visa. If you're on the wrong long term Visa and you leave, it's done and there's no guarantee you're getting that same visa back. IIRC some of the Canadian guys had a problem with that years ago. Guys like Bourdais are essentially commuting from Europe and can probably get by on very short term Visas.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I assume the promoters got wind of PorkChop and just had to have them there for the porkchop festival...


So has anyone gotten any of the details on what her immigration problem actually was? I would have assumed she had a proper work Visa at the beginning of the season, but she's been here quite a while now. I was wondering if she wasn't here on the proper type of Visa. If you're on the wrong long term Visa and you leave, it's done and there's no guarantee you're getting that same visa back. IIRC some of the Canadian guys had a problem with that years ago. Guys like Bourdais are essentially commuting from Europe and can probably get by on very short term Visas.

It all may be her doing, but after dealing with US Customs and Border Patrol over the years, I cant hold it all against her. They will let you in with something that isn't quite right, and then when you think you are ok, they nail you the next time. They never are very user friendly to deal with and their idea their role is in protecting the nation works against any logic. In short, you ask people around the world, they will tell you some of the biggest and most misinformed dinks can be found in US Customs. I know of people who have travelled to many countries around the world, and they are never shocked by how rude or inconsistent US Customs can be...

[nigelred5]

Oh, believe me I now. Coming in through customs in Philadelphia is always a joy. One I was questioned for quite a while when a Customs officer asked me where I was born before asking for my credentials. I answered Heldelberg Germany and that was it. Three Hours and a valid passport, voters registration card, a copy of my naturalization papers and my Federal government employee ID and I was finally allowed through customs.. Another time my wife and I were detained at the border in Portal, ND for over an hour for having a freaking dozen Kinder Eggs we bought for our kids at Walmart in Estevan! Apparently they are illegal in the US, even though I have bought them for my kids at a german deli every friday on my way home from work for about ten years and still do. The real kicker was, we had been at a party after a class reunion at the customs officer's house about 40 miles way until 4:00 am that morning!

[beachbum]

Oh, believe me I now. Coming in through customs in Philadelphia is always a joy. One I was questioned for quite a while when a Customs officer asked me where I was born before asking for my credentials. I answered Heldelberg Germany and that was it. Three Hours and a valid passport, voters registration card, a copy of my naturalization papers and my Federal government employee ID and I was finally allowed through customs.. Another time my wife and I were detained at the border in Portal, ND for over an hour for having a freaking dozen Kinder Eggs we bought for our kids at Walmart in Estevan! Apparently they are illegal in the US, even though I have bought them for my kids at a german deli every friday on my way home from work for about ten years and still do. The real kicker was, we had been at a party after a class reunion at the customs officer's house about 40 miles way until 4:00 am that morning!
As you point out, having the right documentation doesn't prevent hassles. My brother in law is a commercial cargo pilot flying all over the world and was born, raised, and lives in the US. He was once detained by TSA at Ramstein in Germany because he landed at the military terminal (he was hauling military cargo). He had to use his Geneva Convention Identification card and intervention from the military command to get through "security". His "normal" identification wasn't good enough.

His stories of how US security "works" is sobering - and a bit frightening.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Well you guys have tolerated your tax dollars being given to these thugs with the TSA and Customs. I think if everyone wrote their congressman for bad treatment by either, something would have been done about it. I have seen US Customs be professional and competant, but the number of times I have been insulted, snapped at and treated like dirt by US Customs is far beyond my ability to keep track. Canada Customs, for all their faults are consistent from border post to border post in the questions they ask, and tend to be pretty professional and often friendly. Crossing that border twice a day for almost a decade with the one job, and numerous times when I was running over the road showed me that Customs is almost the biggest headache I faced and most of the time, it was the treatment I could get at US Customs with their bureaucratic way of stripping you down figuratively crossing the border that wore me out....

[nigelred5]

oh, I haven't tolerated it at all, but I can only cast my votes so many times and TSA isn't run by elected officials. There's plenty of folks that have tested TSA and customs over the past few years, especially the airport screeners. TSA and Customs arent exactly loaded with PhD's. They essentially hired common security guards from existing airport security when Homeland security and TSA was created. Some don't even have GED's, and it shows... I've found smarter chicken catchers. It doesn't help that they constantly change the rules and procedures. It's especially evident at BWI where they tend to test every last new gadget or procedure that someone at hte TSA comes up with.

[nigelred5]

Lol, too funny, this was the banner ad when I opened this thread

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[nigelred5]

Lol, too damn funny, This is the banner ad when I opened this thread this evening.

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[Mark in Oshawa]

TSA was Congress's idea to make airports safer after 9-11. Hire the same useless tools the airlines were paying minimum wage to to do security and give them a government pension and salary, and hire all their buddies as well. Then give them nice toys, no training and depend on their lack of common sense to figure who has bad intentions getting on a plane. I am shocked we haven't had more people slip through...TSA are morons.....now with a government pension and pay....

[nigelred5]

TSA was Congress's idea to make airports safer after 9-11. Hire the same useless tools the airlines were paying minimum wage to to do security and give them a government pension and salary, and hire all their buddies as well. Then give them nice toys, no training and depend on their lack of common sense to figure who has bad intentions getting on a plane. I am shocked we haven't had more people slip through...TSA are morons.....now with a government pension and pay....

I couldn't agree with you more. An increasing number of Airports are rejecting the TSA and re-hiring theinr own private security. They still have to follow the same TSA procedures, but we're not paying inflated wages and federal benefits for minimum wage service. There's not a shot in hell that will happen around here though.