(12-12-2025, 06:26 AM)ancientlight Wrote: So here's another nail in the freedom coffin.
Not shocking off course. I have non-US family visiting , twice a year, this is just outragious!
I'm seriously thinking about moving back to Europe myself and getting rid of my US citizenship(father was American).
So sick of this country!
And this from president Trump .
How to reduce tourism
It`s Orwellian 1984 behavior. But also hypocrite as U.S state depertment has accused the European Commission of being “Orwellian” in its handling of freedom of speech.
Vice president Vance speech at Munich :
Quote
Quote:Embrace what your people tell you, even when it’s surprising, even when you don’t agree
I believe that dismissing people, dismissing their concerns or worse yet, shutting down media,
shutting down elections or shutting people out of the political process protects nothing. In fact, it
is the most surefire way to destroy democracy. Speaking up and expressing opinions isn’t
election interference. Even when people express views outside your own country, and even when
those people are very influential – and trust me, I say this with all humour – if American
democracy can survive ten years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding you guys can survive a few
months of Elon Musk.
But what no democracy, American, German or European will survive, is telling millions of
voters that their thoughts and concerns, their aspirations, their pleas for relief, are invalid or
unworthy of even being considered.
Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There is no room
for firewalls. You either uphold the principle or you don’t. Europeans, the people have a voice.
European leaders have a choice. And my strong belief is that we do not need to be afraid of the
future.
Embrace what your people tell you, even when it’s surprising, even when you don’t agree. And
if you do so, you can face the future with certainty and with confidence, knowing that the nation
stands behind each of you. And that, to me, is the great magic of democracy. It’s not in these
stone buildings or beautiful hotels. It’s not even in the great institutions that we built together as
a shared society.
To believe in democracy is to understand that each of our citizens has wisdom and has a voice.
And if we refuse to listen to that voice, even our most successful fights will secure very little. As
Pope John Paul II, in my view, one of the most extraordinary champions of democracy on this
continent or any other, once said, ‘do not be afraid’. We shouldn’t be afraid of our people even
when they express views that disagree with their leadership. Thank you all. Good luck to all of
you. God bless you
JD Vance’s full speech on the fall of Europe
US, Europe clash over free speech as trade talk finale looms
Quote:Insanely, submitting your past 5 years' social media to enter the U.S. as a tourist is only a small part of the proposed upcoming requirements. You'll also need to give your DNA (!) among many other new requirements. All the additional info you'll need to give as a tourist eligible for ESTA (meaning those tourists who don't need a visa, for instance from EU, UK, Australia, Japan, and other Visa Waiver countries):
- All social media accounts from the last 5 years
- All your biometrics: face, fingerprint, DNA, and iris
- All your phone numbers from the last 5 years - All your email addresses from the last 10 years
- IP addresses and metadata from your submitted photos
- Names of your family members (parents, spouse, siblings, children)
- All your family members' phone numbers from the last 5 years
- Your family members' dates of birth - Your family members' places of birth
- Your family members' residencies - All your business phone numbers from the last 5 years
- All your business email addresses from the last 10 years If you do need a visa (i.e. non ESTA), I imagine the requirements are going to be far more drastic.
Arnaud Bertrand X