Another story of detainment at the airport because of a book.
On the way there the arresting officer gave me a triumphant smile. “After 11 September, you can’t travel with books like this,” he said. “In that case,” I replied, “perhaps you should stop publishing them in Germany, or, better still, burn them in public view.”
On the bright side, (a) this took place in Germany, which is so driven to deny its less politically correct past that it tends to be a police state about it, and (b) this is the first occurance I’ve heard of this sort of thing since the infamous United case … and if that’s the case, that’s not too bad, considering the number of people internationally who have flown since then.
Not that it’s a Good Thing, mind you. But given the potential extremes of behavior, especially these days, that’s not too bad of a record.
(And, for what it’s worth, it sounds to me like the author, in describing his own experiences, has more than a few axes to grind ….)
(Via Boing Boing)