Land of the stupid and home of the daft strike again.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/world-of-sport/olympic-hero-farah-held-us-terror-officials-090017314.html

More guns… that’ll sort it.

What else would you expect, they haven’t forgiven him for shooting down their Blackhawk, it was obvious he was one of those that did it, either that or he’s a Pirate, he’s from Somalia after all.

Obvious from a country that expects you to fill out a form on entry and actually asks you if you’re a terrorist which of course you are going to answer positively if you have terror intentions on your stay there, Mo probably ticked the wrong box.

Almost as bad as our own immigration staff.

Do you not understand why they ask those apparently stupid questions?
They’re not as thick as you are.

Just because he is a world famous, Olympic winning athlete and is pretty much constantly in the public eye, that doesn’t prove he ISN’T a terrorist…

Seems like he was treated the same as anyone in the same situation who didn’t have any Olympic medals would have been treated.

Their system may well be flawed, but why should his status as a UK National Treasure give him any special privelidges in the USA where most people probably haven’t a clue who he is ?

I still think you are more likely to be killed in America by an American than by an Olympic medalist.

As likely to be a terrorist as anyone else – that is not very likely at all

Thing is no one can be above suspicion if you are paranoid enough- about 30%* of the population probably still think there president is a Muslim terrorist form Kenya 🙄

* I made that up but it will be worryingly high

He was born in Somalia. Treated like everyone else. A friend I travelled and met in the states was half Pakistani. He had been over a few times visiting family etc. now that was an inconvenience.

I don’t get it. If Abu Hanza (or however you spell it) can go to Miami for a holiday, why can’t Mo?

He can, so I guess you’re right you don’t get it.

I missed something then – that article states he’s excluded from the US for 90 days?

He can, so I guess you’re right you don’t get it.

He he 🙂

Great response.

Land of the stupid and home of the daft

Stereotyping Americans as being ignorant bigots for supposedly stereotyping muslims as terrorists.

This is the same right wing reactionary country where state legislatures have legalised gay marriage and possession of cannabis.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/06/legalizing-marijuana-washington-state_n_2249238.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20294569

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/29/gay-marriage-law-maine/1797669/

Kryton57 – he’ll be applying for a working visa and now a residency too. A bit different from going on holiday.

Perhaps you could use the Tea Party movement,NRA and the creationist movement to expand on your argument

Its a huge country you can find examples of anything – enlightenment to WTF are the loons doing now

For 90 days whilst under investigation.

Let’s forget who he is, it’s irrelevant, a country with strict laws and many based on anti-terriosism identify a guy from a country classed by them as high risk of terrorists has been frequenting the country a lot. So they decide to investigate, during that time they simply suspend him form entering for 90 days. That’s as simple as it gets really, it’s only a story as the press is telling you it is because he’s an olympic hero. If he’d been jsut a norma Brit with of Somalia origin you’d not heard about it or cared.

According to that article, he was attempting to go for Xmas, but never made it. That’s a holiday, not a residency.

I have Viking origins, them lot as infamous for raping and pillaging.

Should I be detained? It’s ridiculous, he’s a Brit with global exposure and record as a top athlete, detained by a Yank from Hicksville overdoing his job.

That is all.

According to the article, if you can call it that it’s only a few lines with very weak quotes, he applied for vacancy which means he had to leave for a few days to finalise it. When reentering with as a resident they suspended him from entering then. At a guess it’ll be because his temporary visa wasn’t long enough for his ‘holiday’ and training schedule.

That article misses some quite important bits of what actually happened.

Regarding the “90 Day issue” which wasnt the same as the recent issue anyway and halpened at a different time, Alberto Salazar pulled in a favour from an FBI Friend and be “sorted it out” for them.

Makes the article appear more like “news” though to miss out the bit where his Mate in the FBI sorted it all out after one phone call though eh ?

I have Viking origins, them lot as infamous for raping and pillaging.

Should I be detained? It’s ridiculous,

A ridiculous comment? Yes.

According to that article, he was attempting to go for Xmas, but never made it. That’s a holiday, not a residency.

“When we tried to get a residency visa, Nike obviously signed it all off and we thought it was going to be straightforward,” he said of a previous incident.
“We were in Portland on a tourist visa so had to leave and re-enter the country as a resident. So we flew to Toronto to stay for a few days, then come back in

I have Viking origins, them lot as infamous for raping and pillaging.

Where as he is born in Somalia – what is your point re your centuries old link to Vikings?

Should I be detained?

Sectioning you seems harsh but someone might want to remove your access to the internet 😉

Just how “British” is someone who is born on Somalia and is now resident in the US? Not a dig at Mo Farah particularly but it does call in to question the whole “performing for your country” thing that underpins the Olympics.

You have to respect the laws of whatever country you are in but the way I read it is he applied for a residency visa at one time and had to leave and re enter the country which is weird in itself? Then told he was under investigation for 90 days and could not enter at that time. This time he was simply detained and questioned. I imagine it does get tiresome if its every time you enter the country.

Possibly over zealous, maybe our customs officials could learn a thing or two as we let every Tom, Dick and Harry in.

I read it is he applied for a residency visa at one time and had to leave and re enter the country which is weird in itself?

not weird at all; if they refuse the visa they get to stop you re-entering the country, rather than have you staying there and disappear. I worked there for 2 years on J1 (visiting scholar) visas for a postdoc; 2 year project, visa only valid for 12 months so did similar to MF and went on holiday to Montreal for a new days whilst I applied for my second year’s visa.

Tsk at Drac – shouldn’t you be setting a behavioural example on here?

Drac & junkyard, my point is that my relationship to my bad behaving relatives is no worse than Mo’s (although less current).

So do we outlaw everyone who has any kind of link to country that has ties to “bad things”? Oh wait, we are British, so surely there’s many countries who should be detaining Brits on the basis of their past conduct during colonialism no?

Not sure I can explain it any clearer, so I’m giving up.

Off for some kip back at work soon.

Profiling is ****- ’twas ever thus, no news here.

Drac & junkyard, my point is that my relationship to my bad behaving relatives is no worse than Mo’s (although less current).

No its a really crap point as Vikings are [ essentially ] non existent and are no risk to anyone currently so your centuries old claim is irrelevant in assessing you risk to anyone or anything.
The fact that MO is from somalia , a devout Muslim and has a UK passport will ring some alarms bells – its just statistics and it is a risk factor,being an ancient descendant of a viking is not a risk factor.

So do we outlaw everyone who has any kind of link to country that has ties to “bad things”?

By kind of link do you mean born there ? Why weaken the link as “any kind”? They have not outlawed him they have just investigated him more closely than some others [who also get investigated/checked].

I dont really know what your point is as you are making it badly

i dont think anyone thinks Mo is a terrorist but I can see why his background triggers some security protocols that mean he will be looked at.
I am not sure why you are struggling to see that this makes more sense than targeting you because you are the descendent of a viking.

Druidh,
mo farrahs dad is british, and he’s lived in the uk since he was 8 years old iirc.

Was he competing in the USA

Maybe they were just trying to stop him winning a few more medals

aP – Member
Do you not understand why they ask those apparently stupid questions?
They’re not as thick as you are.

Yes I understand why they ask those questions, it doesn’t make them any less ridiculous, like me asking you if you are a complete and total idiot, you will of course answer in the negative, neither gives any of it any point, even to one as ‘thick’ as you might regard me to be.

Just how “British” is someone who is born on Somalia and is now resident in the US? Not a dig at Mo Farah particularly but it does call in to question the whole “performing for your country” thing that underpins the Olympics.

No it doesn’t.

He trains in the USA as that is where the best distance running coach in the World (a Cuban) set up his training camp.
If he wants to be trained by the best in the world, that is where he needs to be.

Makes sense if you want to compete at World Level in distance running wouldn’t you say ?

Mo who…. man?
(In a silly American accent…)

TBH our own customs/border control can be just as obtuse.
This Christmas an American friend of my mother came to stay and she was detained for 2 hours and asked lots of questions she didn’t have the answer for!

They asked her where she would be visiting while in the UK, she said she wasn’t sure where as here friends had planned to visit, apparently this wasn’t good enough!

She’s 71 years old, perhaps the fact she’s black swung it out of her favor?

druidh – Member
Just how “British” is someone who is born on Somalia and is now resident in the US? Not a dig at Mo Farah particularly but it does call in to question the whole “performing for your country” thing that underpins the Olympics

Mo Farah came to this country as an 8 yr old boy, escaping one of the most violent, wartorn and wantonly cruel parts of the world. Despite facing enormous challenges – the likes of which we can never fully appreciate – he integrated into society, worked hard and developed his talent. He is a credit to himself and in turn a credit to our British society, a society that over hundreds of years has successfully integrated and assimilated untold waves of immigrants, a few being: Huguenots, Jews, West Indians, East/West Africans, Poles, Germans, Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis. Even Angles and Saxons – ever wondered where the term Anglo Saxon came from? – if you want to go back far enough. Our country has been built upon our ability to both assimilate and learn/grow from those who travel to our shores. He is most definitely a Brit. Long may it continue.
With regard to Mo’s decision to train in the States. Bear n mind that “Residency” is merely a visa requirement. Same for anyone from UK who wants to live and work in the US. That being the case, is Beckham any less of an Englishman because he played footie in LA? Or Wiggins for that matter? He spends most of his time competing or training abroad, does that make him any less of a Brit?

EDIT – I’ll push the Wiggins analogy even further. Lets not forget he was born in Belgium and his dad was an Aussie. Does that make him less of a Brit?

Maybe they think he keeps miming a mushroom cloud explosion whenever he finishes a race.

This reminds me of my return from the US into Irish airspace. A lovely older americal woman was asked to fill in one of the customs cards that non-EU nationals have to fill in. She went into a steaming fury over the fact that a US citizen was being asked to provide such information and it was a disgrace 🙂 She clearly didn’t realise that coming from the UK I’d had to fill in a whole bunch of info, including a pointless online form that actually costs to complete, asking questions like “are you a terrorist”. I chuckled, especially as I had been outright openly insulted by the US border forces for filling in their form in the “wrong colour pen” FFS.