That was a damned weak refusal. The man was frank and honest to the Inspector when a pearson who presents a real threat will give that same Inspector a shit eating grin and bullshit his way right into the U.S..

That’s just a sad state of the paranoia that is the border these days.

FYI-I live in Taiwan and just received e-mail from an old American friend living in Shanghai, China. She informed me she could only access my Wordpress hosted blog, not any of my Blogger hosted blogs. China has blocked Google/Blogger blogs carte blanche. They better hurry up and fork over a massive buy-in to some Chinese concern, so that government officials can siphon off big chunk of that,thereby paving the way for smooth “sailing on the sea” of China business. Make sure you turn over any Chinese dissidents/democracy advocates while you’re at it-ala Jerry Yang and the “Yahooligans”, especially if you want to be invited to the “right” functions while playing footsie in China.

http://committeetoprotectbloggers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2005/11/24/1420509.html

I’ve also written to (OR) Sen. Ron Wyden and (OR) Rep. Peter DeFazio.

And I daresay Jeff’s comment re. Iran was to underscore the fact that WE EXPECT A DAMNED SITE BETTER from our govt. officials, and Hoder was in Iran (you know, axis of evil?) to bear witness during what passes for an election there.

They wouldn’t let him come to Greensboro in October for the ConvergeSouth conference, either — and Hoder, gentleman that he is, seemed more concerned about missing his sessions than about his own problems.

the current or just recent New Yorker has an excellent piece detailing the price young Iranians are paying for blogging — 60 days in solitary confinement in a cell just barely large enough to hold a human body (laying down) and the constant and very real threat of torture and death:

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?051121fa_fact4

I know you hate GWB, and the Patriot Act amd Rumsfield and all the rest, but please — please — spare us the extremely ridiculous and noxious rhetoric. At its very worst, our country is a Shangri-la of freedom and social mobility and progressivism compared to essentially any other place on Earth. Do we need massive and radical change and improvement — hell yes. But let’s get on with that work without resorting to such inflammatory overstatement?

Of course, I didn’t have the mighty voices of the blogosphere on my side. I’ll do my part. Let’s hope we succeed, because Hossein certainly is a beacon of freedom to the world.