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New York, 5:11 AM
Mon Dec 21
13 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of TANUKIII TANUKIII
    12/08/09

    In reply to How Not to Get Arrested When You're Abroad: A Foxy Knoxy-Inspired Guide
    This article " may throw you into a xenophobic panic" -- BECAUSE it reeks xenophobia and lack of understanding of other (apparently less "developed" & "open-minded) countries, like, say, Thailand and the Netherlands.

    "Do Not Use Drugs" -- Because it's legally okay to use drugs in the US? No, because you don't know how to use drugs and not to get caught in another country and you have less resources to get out of trouble there, even if it's Canada.

    "Know that Pranks Are Always Lost in Translation" -- Yeah, like if you string a line across the road and trip a lady and she gets hurt, you won't be in a load of shit if you're in the US. Don't do stupid pranks regardless of where you're.

    "Never Underestimate How Prude the Rest of the World Is" -- Countries that don't have strong Judeo-Christian/ Islam ethical background are actually a hell lot more open-minded about sex than the US is. Like, say, Japan and Thailand.

    "Learn This Sentence in the Native Dialect" -- Good suggestion, though I don't think it's likely that most have enough language talent to speak it intelligibly in a language they don't know, especially when they're in trouble and in shock. Carry a card with that sentence printed in both the native language and English instead.

    "Don't Start Shit" -- True. Though it has to be said that even if you're Japanese, you'd still get the same treatment in Japan.

    "Don't Go Places You're Not Allowed" -- True again, though I have no idea how that incites xenophobia or takes fun out of traveling abroad. Beside, isn't that part of the last point?
     Reply
    Edited by TANUKIII at 12/08/09 6:17 AM TANUKIII was starred TANUKIII was unstarred
    Image of intime intime
    12/07/09

    In reply to How Not to Get Arrested When You're Abroad: A Foxy Knoxy-Inspired Guide
    Yes, it's best to keep a low profile if you like to drink and smoke pot while abroad. If you do find yourself in a threatening situation, like I did once - while drunk: Hide in your hotel room. Lock the door, go into the bathroom - lock that door - and don't make a sound while the nutcase/possible narco (who you met in a local nightclub and who tried to sell you dope - but you said no) who is also bombed bangs on your door repeatedly and calls out your name (and badly mispronounces it - Thank God).

    Yeah, it was scary.
     Reply
    intime was starred intime was unstarred
    Image of ParahSalin ParahSalin
    12/07/09

    In reply to How Not to Get Arrested When You're Abroad: A Foxy Knoxy-Inspired Guide
    " a "moistened rattan cane" flogging."

    I've heard that's the best kind.
     Reply
    tigolbitties promoted this comment ParahSalin was starred ParahSalin was unstarred
    Image of tongue-tied tongue-tied
    12/07/09

    In reply to How Not to Get Arrested When You're Abroad: A Foxy Knoxy-Inspired Guide
    I remember doing some crazy shit abroad when I was young, not so much acting out in public (I was more into museums and just wandering around with a book) but trying to be your usual stoned hippie. I had a couple of close scrapes, one purely by association with a group of fuck-ups whom I had met while hitchhiking. However, my point is that I think a lot of young kids traveling abroad are simply naive -- they don't think anything can happen to them and often don't realize the danger they're in. I'm not trying to excuse bad behavior though and am often shocked at how badly young Americans act abroad (although we are certainly not unique in that respect).
     Reply
    snugbug promoted this comment tongue-tied was starred tongue-tied was unstarred
    Image of Mama Penguino Mama Penguino
    12/07/09

    In reply to How Not to Get Arrested When You're Abroad: A Foxy Knoxy-Inspired Guide
    I'm going to go one better and just not leave my house.
     Reply
    Mama Penguino was starred Mama Penguino was unstarred
    Image of belltolls belltolls
    12/07/09

    @Mama Penguino: Soulmate.
     Reply
    belltolls was starred belltolls was unstarred
    Image of tigolbitties tigolbitties
    12/07/09

    @Mama Penguino: but what if trouble comes to your house?!?!?
     Reply
    tigolbitties was starred tigolbitties was unstarred
    Image of seattlesue seattlesue
    12/07/09

    @tigolbitties: In America, its OK to shoot it.
     Reply
    tigolbitties promoted this comment seattlesue was starred seattlesue was unstarred
    Image of Mama Penguino Mama Penguino
    12/07/09

    @tigolbitties: I forgot that you and your bosom bring trouble wherever you go!
     Reply
    Mama Penguino was starred Mama Penguino was unstarred
    Image of tigolbitties tigolbitties
    12/07/09

    @Mama Penguino: 'tis true!!! but also what seattlesue said! i hear you're pretty good with a sawed off shotgun!
     Reply
    tigolbitties was starred tigolbitties was unstarred
    Image of Mama Penguino Mama Penguino
    12/07/09

    @tigolbitties: Wanna run away, Thelma?
     Reply
    Mama Penguino was starred Mama Penguino was unstarred
    Image of La Mareada La Mareada
    12/07/09

    In reply to How Not to Get Arrested When You're Abroad: A Foxy Knoxy-Inspired Guide
    6. Every city in Europe(and many in Asian cities) have CCTV cameras all over the place.
    Knox and Sollecito were caught on video around town and near the crime scene that night, contradicting their claim that they were at his apartment all night. In the morning they were on video shopping for cleaning supplies.

    7. Either always keep your cell phone on or turn it off every night. For some reason, the only time Knox and Sollecito ever turned off their phones happened to be during the time Kercher was murdered.
     Reply
    snugbug promoted this comment La Mareada was starred La Mareada was unstarred
    Image of i'm a bottle i'm a bottle
    12/07/09

    @La Mareada: They weren't caught on camera. There was indeed a figure that looked like Amandish, but someone inspected the camera later and found that the camera pointed away from where the prosecution said this Amanda-like figure was.
     Reply
    i'm a bottle was starred i'm a bottle was unstarred
    Image of snugbug snugbug
    12/07/09

    @i'm a bottle: Your source for this is..?! I've followed the trial coverage in Corriere della Sera--which canNOT be accused of being a Berlusconi-friendly paper and thus somehow upholding the justice system in place. They quoted "indisputable" CCTV evidence that places both Knox and Sollecito in the vicinity of the crime scene, via cameras that recorded their presence in a parking lot adjacent to the Knox/Kercher residence.
     Reply
    Edited by snugbug at 12/07/09 5:31 PM snugbug was starred snugbug was unstarred
    Image of Trai_Dep Trai_Dep
    12/07/09

    In reply to How Not to Get Arrested When You're Abroad: A Foxy Knoxy-Inspired Guide
    Hey, kiddies, remember: The Talented Mr. Ripley is NOT a how-to guide (it's harder than it looks).
    Or, for safety's sake, always travel in groups of three. That way you can frame your unknowing third wheel for your own mischievous, homicidal highjinks.
     Reply
    Trai_Dep was starred Trai_Dep was unstarred
    Image of TimmyTim TimmyTim
    12/07/09

    In reply to How Not to Get Arrested When You're Abroad: A Foxy Knoxy-Inspired Guide
    1. Don't assume it's worse for Americans abroad than it is for foreigners here. If she had been an Italian exchange student and been involved in a homicide in, say, Texas, she'd probably be on death row right now.

    2. The most important thing to remember *anywhere* if you're accused of a crime or even think that the cops consider you a suspect is DON'T TALK TO THE COPS. Wait for a lawyer who speaks your language even if it means pissing everyone around you off for weeks. The cops are not your friends in this situation. They will tell you "we just want to help you" but what they really want is a confession so the prosecutor can get a quick conviction and they can move on to the next case. It's amazing how many people end up confessing to crimes they did not commit (or fingering someone else) after just a few hours of interrogation. Most of us wold consider the mere possibility of doing something like that absurd, but it happens all the time. And it's VERY difficult to get a false confession thrown out in a court unless there is video evidence of physical abuse--which there almost never is. A great book to read as a primer on this is Lush Life by Richard Price, which is also a fabulous novel in and of itself.

    3. Don't expect much help from the American embassy or consulate. The truth is, they don't want a diplomatic mess either and more likely than not will view you as a headache that they want to get rid of as quickly as possible. If you're lucky they'll give you the phone number of a lawyer who may speak English, but don't expect them to take a personal interest in your case. They probably think of you as a fuckup who just made their job more difficult.
     Reply
    Kaila Hale-Stern approved this comment TimmyTim was starred TimmyTim was unstarred
    Image of MyNameIsChris MyNameIsChris
    12/07/09

    @TimmyTim: But you're dealing in pure hypotheticals... I don't think there's any hard proof of an Italian ever going to Texas.
     Reply
    MyNameIsChris was starred MyNameIsChris was unstarred
    Image of Tremonius Tremonius
    12/07/09

    In reply to How Not to Get Arrested When You're Abroad: A Foxy Knoxy-Inspired Guide
    I always try and follow this one: "Do your best not to be near the scenes of any vicious felony murders." But then I always run smack into the gentle misdemeanor sort.
     Reply
    Tremonius was starred Tremonius was unstarred
    Image of She_of_the_Socks She_of_the_Socks
    12/07/09

    In reply to How Not to Get Arrested When You're Abroad: A Foxy Knoxy-Inspired Guide
    I thought the Fay case went down in Singapore, not Japan. Or maybe I'm just confused and you didn't mean to insinuate that all these events happened in the same country.

    "Do not be a terrible person whilst traveling or working abroad" might be excellent advice as well in either case, I suppose.
     Reply
    Edited by She_of_the_Socks at 12/07/09 11:47 AM She_of_the_Socks was starred She_of_the_Socks was unstarred
    Image of QADude QADude
    12/07/09

    @She_of_the_Socks: I think that simply "Don't be an asshole" would be the best advice.

    Fay was dealt with in Singapore, where they don't screw around with people. I remember the Singapore embassy in SF being overrun with phone calls from people offering to cane Fay.
     Reply
    She_of_the_Socks promoted this comment QADude was starred QADude was unstarred
    Image of She_of_the_Socks She_of_the_Socks
    12/07/09

    @QADude: Sometimes being an asshole is helpful, though! For example, in dealing with employees at JFK, re: a friend's lost luggage. No one would listen to me until I began getting terribly impolite and causing a scene, screaming, "Suitcases don't dissolve into thin air. That luggage is somewhere in this fucking airport and I am not leaving without it. So stop talking on the phone with your boyfriend, summon the strength to keep your eyes from rolling each time I address you, do your fucking job, and I'll be out of your face forever." And then the luggage was found within five minutes.
     Reply
    Edited by She_of_the_Socks at 12/07/09 1:55 PM She_of_the_Socks was starred She_of_the_Socks was unstarred
    Image of snugbug snugbug
    12/07/09

    @She_of_the_Socks: Ohhh yeah. I'm guilty of pulling the unhinged b*tch card once while in transit through the Frankfurt airport, when Lufthansa misplaced one of my luggage pieces and routed it erroneously to JFK instead of LAX. I made such as spectacle of myself at the Lufthansa counter--banshee-like wailing, tears, guilt-tripping ("Your incompetence is going to make me miss my flight!"--strategically hitting the Germs where it hurts them most)--that the horrified Lufthansa staff retrieved my luggage stat and put it on the correct flight just to be rid of me. I remember feeling quite ashamed afterward, and thinking, "Thank God I'll never see these people again."
     Reply
    snugbug was starred snugbug was unstarred
    Image of Mymoustache Mymoustache
    12/07/09

    In reply to How Not to Get Arrested When You're Abroad: A Foxy Knoxy-Inspired Guide
    7. Don't base any potential defense on allegations that the local police and prosecutor are fuckups and liars...
     Reply
    pssshwhatever promoted this comment Edited by Mymoustache at 12/07/09 11:13 AM Mymoustache was starred Mymoustache was unstarred
    Image of lobstr lobstr
    12/07/09

    In reply to How Not to Get Arrested When You're Abroad: A Foxy Knoxy-Inspired Guide
    I visited Italy shortly after those douche shits from the US Military flew their plane too low fucking around trying to "see if they could fly it underneath a cable car wire" and ended up shearing the wire, sending a gondola full of Italian skiiers (20!) to their deaths. As this was fresh in their minds, needless to say, I felt compelled to be on my best behavior...

    [en.wikipedia.org]
     Reply
    lobstr was starred lobstr was unstarred
    Image of Tremonius Tremonius
    12/07/09

    @lobstr: There is definitely a sense of entitlement for gringos abroad. Probably we are the most hated visitor to any land. (In Julio's that year, that was generally agreed, but one said the Canadians are pretty bad too.) I know my pals and I always avoided them in Mexico, and we wuz them! Obnoxious, demanding asses.

    On another note, just why was it the Iraquis didn't greet Our Boys with roses and sunshine?
     Reply
    Tremonius was starred Tremonius was unstarred
    Image of StabbyRipStabStab StabbyRipStabStab
    12/07/09

    @Tremonius: 'Iraqis' is what I think you mean, and as I recall, the ones who weren't trying to kill us were indifferent or trying to see what we would give them. I think nationalism is a moot point when you're getting fucked on both ends.

    In most of my travels, nobody seems to give a shit that I'm an American. However, I also do my best to speak the native language and not start talking jingoistic shit every twenty minutes. You're right about the sense of entitlement, though. It's the assholes who think that they are superior to other people simply by virtue of where they were born that make us look like ass.
     Reply
    Tremonius promoted this comment StabbyRipStabStab was starred StabbyRipStabStab was unstarred
    Image of Dickens_Ghost Dickens_Ghost
    12/07/09

    @Tremonius: Actually most people in the tourist industry rate Germans and Israelis as the worst tourists abroad.
     Reply
    Dickens_Ghost was starred Dickens_Ghost was unstarred
    Image of Tremonius Tremonius
    12/07/09

    @StabbyRipStabStab: "'Iraqis' is what I think you mean, - "

    No, the Iroquois, actually, as Elton John invites us to sing with him about that great ravaged race to the north ...

    Oh, great father of the Iroquois
    Come put on your breeches, bois ...
     Reply
    Tremonius was starred Tremonius was unstarred
    Image of StabbyRipStabStab StabbyRipStabStab
    12/07/09

    @Tremonius: Haha, well done.
     Reply
    StabbyRipStabStab was starred StabbyRipStabStab was unstarred
    Image of i'm a bottle i'm a bottle
    12/08/09

    @Dickens_Ghost: What about the British? They just have to be worse than the Germans and Israelis abroad.
     Reply
    i'm a bottle was starred i'm a bottle was unstarred
    Image of spikenard spikenard
    12/07/09

    In reply to How Not to Get Arrested When You're Abroad: A Foxy Knoxy-Inspired Guide
    Generally, other countries are not some foreign hellholes devoid of justice or logic, and I think Americans viewing them that way, or, through a related strain of ignorance - being unwilling to truly take the time to learn about another culture and immerse yourself in it and to try and see the value in its social or moral norms and be respectful of those - is what causes problems. You either end up afraid to step foot outside the USA or, once you're out of it, expect people to immediately respect you or to be exempt from rules simply because you're American. Amanda Knox's problems seem partly to stem from the fact that she is simply an idiot - accusing someone else of the murder, the various inconsistencies and strange behaviours just before the police discovered Meredith's body, changing her story numerous times, behaviour that if not inappropriate is at least incredibly dumb when the world's media is focused on you (e.g. doing cartwheels, wearing Beatles t-shirts to court), etcetc. You don't need see the entire world as prudish or live in fear of the day you have to call the embassy, you just have to not be a dick.
     Reply
    Wrapitup promoted this comment Edited by spikenard at 12/07/09 11:05 AM spikenard was starred spikenard was unstarred
    Image of Zira Zira
    12/07/09

    In reply to How Not to Get Arrested When You're Abroad: A Foxy Knoxy-Inspired Guide
    I'm calling bull on Euna Lee and Laura Ling's claim that they didn't know they had crossed into North Korea. From what I read in the Economist and elsewhere it should've been very clear to them and their guides from the topography that they were in North Korea. They just wanted a segment where they reported they were in North Korea. The real travesty is that both women are profiting off their indiscretion while it has made life much harder for the thousands of North Korean refugees who were the subject of their report.

    I'm wondeirng the same thing about the three Americans that crossed into Iran...they probably wanted the thrill of reporting they'd been in Iran. Now they need Betty Mahmoodi to get them out!!
     Reply
    fuckingoldman promoted this comment Edited by Zira at 12/07/09 10:58 AM Zira was starred Zira was unstarred
    Image of fuckingoldman fuckingoldman
    12/07/09

    @Zira: I agree, especially about the "backpackers" in Iran. Who the fuck goes backpacking in Iran? There's a whole big world out there dumbasses, pick another country. If they actually did pick Iran as a vacation destination, they should be charged with being stupid in the first degree.
     Reply
    Edited by fuckingoldman at 12/07/09 3:02 PM fuckingoldman was starred fuckingoldman was unstarred
    Image of Zira Zira
    12/07/09

    I think the U.S. State Department agrees with you that those American kids in Iran are dumbasses because the State Department isn't willing to trade anything with Iran to get them out. I say let them fry in Iranian jail for the rest of their lives to set an example to Americans everywhere.

    Unfortunately there are a few Iranian Americans with duo citizenship who were in Iran legally who have been arrested and charged with spying. Some of them were just there to pick up wives to bring back to the States. Which would totally suck. Kind of like visiting your inlaws in West Virginia and never coming home.
     Reply
    Edited by Zira at 12/07/09 4:04 PM Zira was starred Zira was unstarred
    Image of DevilsAvocadoRedux DevilsAvocadoRedux
    12/07/09

    @fuckingoldman: I was working in eastern Turkey in the early 1990s when the Kurdish troubles were going on - bombs going off, low-flying jets, roadblocks and police everywhere. All you had to do was pull out a camera and a cluster of secret police would appear and start checking papers. So at this time, two of my colleagues decided in their infinite wisdom to go hiking in the mountains in one of the most dangerous areas. Without telling anyone. Hiking. With a picnic. They got about 500 metres before they were jumped by the military, and then spent a week in police headquarters. Even after the event they were genuinely shocked that they had encountered problems. Never underestimate a traveller's potential for stupidity.
     Reply
    fuckingoldman promoted this comment DevilsAvocadoRedux was starred DevilsAvocadoRedux was unstarred
    Image of Tremonius Tremonius
    12/07/09

    @Zira: Before we leave (oh, has everyone left?) I want to mention the honorable entitleds who mass massive legions to cover their simpleton blunders - like, the lady who was going hiking in the Pyrenees, and a half hour away from the bus, became disoriented, called her mommy to report her GPS and ask where she was, whereupon mums contacted the embassy, which mounted the 454th Grenardiers in a NATO emergency response which found Toodles to the great relief of mums and at considerable cost to everybody else.
     Reply
    Tremonius was starred Tremonius was unstarred
    Image of Zira Zira
    12/07/09

    @Tremonius: the biggest GPS misfire in world history happened just last year when a Swedish couple thought they had reached a picturesque vacation town on an ISLAND off the coast of Italy but they were really in a dirty old industrial town in the center of Italy (with almost the same name). You would have figured they noticed they hadn't traveled over water.
     Reply
    Zira was starred Zira was unstarred
    Image of Tremonius Tremonius
    12/08/09

    @Zira: Heh! Love it. It's like me trussing my smellchecker over column scents.
     Reply
    Tremonius was starred Tremonius was unstarred
    Image of notsofresh notsofresh
    12/07/09

    In reply to How Not to Get Arrested When You're Abroad: A Foxy Knoxy-Inspired Guide
    I only know what I see on Locked Up Abroad, but American embassies don't seem to be as helpful as I was always told. *Maybe* they'll help get you an english-speaking lawyer, but that's about it.
     Reply
    notsofresh was starred notsofresh was unstarred
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