At the end of the year I renewed my annual Customs decal to expedite crossing back into the States on our frequent trips to Montreal, Canada. But this year the pleasurable anticipation of trips to Montreal was stifled by the announcement by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that, despite literally thousands of negative comments, it was going ahead and implementing its final rule about the Advanced Information on Private Aircraft Arriving and Departing the United States. The rule, issued on November 17, 2008, had an effective date of December 18, 2008, and a compliance date of May 18, 2009.
Now, I do understand the need to protect our country against groups intent on doing it harm. But if someone’s determined to die for his cause — no matter how misguided — he’s not inclined to obey rules, which thus only inconvenience those who comply with them.
