Sci-fi writer Peter Watts kinda reveals himself ... -Bloggingheads.tv (video)
Io9's Analee Newitz interviews sci-fi writer Peter Watts about his U.S Border Patrol agent assault arrest and trial last year as well as his novels and other topics.
While I hold no brief for overly aggressive Border Patrol agents (or authority figures in general) Watts strikes me as an asshole who just won't play the game and then bitches when things go bad. Why? Border crossings are a tricky environment and you really need to be cool when crossing them. Because if you aren't you end up like Watts; a convicted felon, (who will likely) be barred from entering the US for a while, (Watts is Canadian), possibly jailed, fined and with legal bills. They truly are and always have been Fourth Amendment free zones as far as what the BP agents can search. Just like airports only nastier.
Lest you think I'm blowing smoke here I went through roughly the same treatment Watts got at the hands of the Washtenaw County Sheriff's department when I objected to the whole x-ray scan, pat-down, frisk routine when I tried to enter the county courthouse building in Ann Arbor back in '08. You just have to grit your teeth and put up with it or don't go. The feds don't care about your Hugo nominations or your Ph.D. They don't have to.
