A very expensive finger!

[Guest lighthouse]

February 7, 2004

American in Brazil Is Fined for Gesture

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

Filed at 10:30 a.m. ET

 

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- A second American agreed to pay a hefty fine for making an obscene gesture during fingerprinting procedures for U.S. citizens in Brazil, police said Saturday.

 

Douglas A. Skolnick won't be allowed to leave the southeastern resort town of Foz de Iguacu until he pays the equivalent of $17,200 for raising his middle finger when he was fingerprinted and photographed, said federal police spokesman Marcos Koren.

 

The customs requirements were imposed in response to similar U.S. rules for citizens of Brazil and many other countries. The United States says its rules will help prevent terrorists from entering the country.

 

Skolnick, who arrived in Brazil on Friday with a tour group, was taken before a judge early Saturday after being arrested and jailed for hours on the charge of showing contempt to authorities.

 

Skolnick, 55, of New Jersey, said he made the gesture as a joke, agreed to pay the fine and told the judge he was sorry, Koren said.

 

On Jan. 14, American Airlines pilot Dale Robin Hersh was arrested on the same charge after making a similar gesture when he was fingerprinted in Sao Paulo, the capital. Hersh returned home after paying a $12,750 fine.

 

Skolnick ``said he knew what happened with the pilot but said he had no intention of insulting the Brazilian authorities or the Brazilian people, but we don't think that's true,'' Koren said. Skolnick's hometown was not immediately known.

 

After the court hearing, Skolnick was taken to the hotel where the tour group is staying. He was being kept inside his room with police standing guard outside while the group toured the area, famed for its waterfalls, Koren said.

 

Foz de Iguacu sits at the border with Argentina and Paraguay, about 500 miles southeast of Sao Paulo. Skolnick's tour group arrived from Santiago, Chile, on a chartered flight.

[CT Dick]

>Skolnick made the gesture as a joke

 

>Skolnick ``said he knew what happened with the pilot but said

>he had no intention of insulting the Brazilian authorities or

>the Brazilian people,

 

No intention of insulting the Brazilians? A joke?

 

Think of it as a $17,000 stupidity tax, Doug. :+

 

Dick

[OneFinger]

I must point out that although Doug and I have at least one thing in common, we are NOT the same person. :+

[trilingual]

And heeeere's Doug, in his $17,000 pose:

 

http://oglobo.globo.com/fotos/040207_americano1_b.jpg

 

In addition to the finger, he was later caught saying from his perfectly clean, standard cell (I saw and heard it on TV) that he was an American citizen and not a monkey! Folks, them's fightin' words for Brazilians, because for EONS the Argentines have derisively referred to the Brazilians as "macacos" (a Spanish word for monkey) and the Brazilians deeply resent it. (The fact that the Brazilians call the Argentines "cucarachas," which is Spanish for cockroach doesn't seem to strike them as a bad thing to do, though! Isn't hypocrisy wonderful?)

 

Anyway, the last thing you want to do is mess with authority in a Latin American country, or make derisive remarks in the presence of government officials. I know of people who've been deported from Mexico, for example, for the same kind of behavior. So, even though I'm sure none of our M4Mers would do anything remotely so stupid, please remember this when you're in Latin America, unless you've got a spare $17,000 lying around you feel like donating to the local government!

[trilingual]

P.S. This would be unlikely to happen in Rio or SP where they now have digi-cams that just do a headshot. Small border posts, like Iguaçu, where few Americans arrive directly on international flights, are still using standard cameras and inky fingerprints.

[HooBoy]

I agree this was stupid and totally wrong and unnecessary. But this could be one of those pilots that's stinking drunk before he boards the plane, too.

 

Too much has been made of all this in this forum and all around the world.

 

Every country, not only Brazil, will be making traveling in and out of their country tighter. It is not going to keep out the terrorists, but it is going to make the paying customers feel more comfortable.

 

We do not have long to live and the airlines, governments, the tourist companies are doing all they can to make the paying customer feel safe.

 

Folks,I travel over 100,000 miles a year and the security is so ridiculous in every country at every airport and so inconsistent. I can tell you horror stories that would make you never want to fly again. Already, I have friends who will not get on an airplane.

 

This is all all joke. And it has nothing to do with Brazil's retaliation for the $100 visa charge or the fact that some may be of a different color. It only has to do with commerce.

 

The airlines and cooperating governments will paint this rosy picture that all is safe but I am sorry, these creeps who have no respect for life as we do and think they are going on to greater glory cannot be beaten.

 

The war has been won by the desert rats.

 

So just enjoy it while you can, cause we ain't' gonna be around much longer...thanks to religion and politics.

 

I don't care. I just hope the plane goes down fast. But I'm gonna fly. I enjoy it. And maybe I'm wrong, but getting upset about finger printing, having pictures taken? Much ado about Nada.

 

At EWR (New York/Newark) they make you take off your shoes and you have to load your computers separately. I travel with several, but I don't care. I know that is the way they do it.

 

At Gatwick or Heathrow, they laugh at me if I ask should I take off my shoes and they do not make me unpack my computers.

 

Has nothing to do with America -- it only has to do with making the passenger feel comfortable and maybe American's feel safer undressing in public because it is the only time they can justify it.

 

<smile>

 

Anyway, I am living in a hotel where a major airline overnights their crew. There is nothing different according to them and to the passengers who insist on talking to me in the elevator.

 

Only a few more days and I am out of here, but then I am coming back to live for the remainder of my days. I love this country. I love the people.

 

The only people I find are ugly, horrible, rude, nasty, crude and arrogant are Americans. Of course, not all Americans, but if someone is an asshole in a restaurant, I will make a bet with you (did I mention I am a gambler?) I will make a bet with you that the asshole is an American.

 

IMHO

[VaHawk]

Sounds like just a "tiny" bit of overkill to me! I love all the anti-American bs perpetuated on this forum! How many of you would protest if it was a Brazilian at a USA port who "flipped the bird" and was immediately arrested, fined and put under house arrest at his/her hotel?

 

My guess would be that ALL of you would protest that!!!! Jesus Christ, all the man did was FLIP THE BIRD in protest! But then again, the only country in the ENTIRE world that guarantees a person's right of protest, whether that person is a citizen or not, is GASP!!! the United States of America!

 

I'm so sick and tired of all the anti-Americanism, most prevalent on, but certainly, by no means, limited to this forum! If you want to support foreign governments' hatred of Americans, then, imo, just give up your citizenship and truck your butt over there and become citizens of those repressive, anti-American regimes. We aren't going to miss you!

[Guest Rough2FF]

you see VaHawk, that is the substential problem: your typical american view colliding with them of the rest of the world...civil rights in the USA today? What a joke! :+

[Nvr2Thick]

I don't often leave the country, so "the Deli" is the most practically useful forum for me. Many of the other forums can be great sources of fantasy material or vicarious thrill. I'm always surprised at the "Escorts South of the USA" yawnfest. You'd think there'd be lots of details about those amazing South American men. I can't remember the last time I've seen a post about an Escort on this forum.

 

Can we all resist the urge to chatter and flame over such non-news spoon fed from the media?

[HooBoy]

I will have some reviews about some escorts here but I have to leave the country first.

 

:-(

[Guest rampo]

>Sounds like just a "tiny" bit of overkill to me! I love all

>the anti-American bs perpetuated on this forum! How many of

>you would protest if it was a Brazilian at a USA port who

>"flipped the bird" and was immediately arrested, fined and put

>under house arrest at his/her hotel?

 

 

Anyone who travels to other countries with any frequency knows that you DON'T FUCK WITH IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS. These are the guys who can give you a miserable time or deny you entry simply because they had a bad lunch. Was it overkill? Possibly - I get the impression that the guy did it as a joke rather than a protest. But I have met very few immigration officials, US or other, who display much of a sense of humor. Giving the finger to a US immigration official will definitely get you more than a chuckle, and I suspect that you would be biding your time in a place a lot less pleasant than your hotel.

[+ Axiom2001]

The rules are also inconsistent within our own borders: at some airports we're required to remove our shoes; while at others, our shoes remain on. I know all of these new rules were implemented to curtail terrorism in the air, but I wonder when will it end? But in spite of all of this ****-- I, too, am continuing to fly until I am unable to do so!

[trilingual]

The local prosecutor in Iguaçu has described this fool's behavior as an insult not just to the immigration official but to all Brazilians. And he's right. The perpetrator KNEW what happened to the pilot a few weeks ago and went ahead and repeated the gesture.

 

In a culture where dignity and honor are exalted values, the kind of disrespect shown by this idiot was bound to get a reaction. Well, he wanted one, and he got it. He also found out that being American doesn't give him ANY special rights abroad. Hopefully being parted from $17,000 will make him think twice about how he behaves on his next trip (although it won't be to Brazil because I suspect his visa has been cancelled).

 

As we've said before, NOBODY has ANY right to visit another country. It's the sovereign right of every nation to decide who it lets in and what the rules and conditions are for entry. Sometimes they're stupid or onerous, but those are the rules and if someone wants to visit that country, they've got to go along with the rules of the game.

 

Put another way, you're not in any country but your own as of right. You're a GUEST. If you don't behave in a way that will make you a welcome guest, you can expect to be asked to leave. It's no different than inviting someone to your home and having them flip you off and call you offensive names (as this particular dope did after he was arrested). You'd ask them to leave and not come back.

 

Behave abroad the way you'd expect foreign visitors to behave in the U.S. and you'll be treated well anywhere. Be an asshole and you won't be welcome anywhere.

[Guest lighthouse]

>The only people I find are ugly, horrible, rude, nasty, crude

>and arrogant are Americans. Of course, not all Americans, but

>if someone is an asshole in a restaurant, I will make a bet

>with you (did I mention I am a gambler?) I will make a bet

>with you that the asshole is an American.

 

Perhaps, but I think German and French tourists can give American tourists a good run for their money on a good day!

[Guest rampo]

>Perhaps, but I think German and French tourists can give

>American tourists a good run for their money on a good day!

 

If you think German, French OR American tourists are bad, you should see the mainland Chinese on budget tours in Thailand!