Trip report Aug 8, 2020

J

JayT

Guest
Trip Report - Phx to RP - Friday morning 9/11/20

Light traffic from Phoenix to Lukeville. Very hazy smoky skies all the way.
No line at border at 9:30am. Red light at Aduana and nice agent. Asked if we had anything to declare and how many days we were staying in Penasco. Looked in the back seat area and had me pop the hood of my truck and looked in the engine area quickly (?) I asked about driving with masks in Sonoyta and agent said not required in Sonoyta, but needed them in Penasco. I wore mine anyway to be safe. Got waved past the military checkpoint just past the border and saw them set up for inspections. Saw an AZ plate SUV pulled over by municipal policia on the hill curve in Sonoyta. Empty police truck at collection stop on the south side of town. Did the 40 kmh crawl and had no problems. Drove the 80 kmh speed limit out of town for a few miles to be safe but didn't see any cops. Road is in good shape with no potholes from Sonoyta to RP. The sanitation tunnel and checkpoint are gone with no checkpoints coming into Penasco. Light breeze and light seas and surf at beach. Very surprised that humidity has dried out and isn't as oppressive as we expected and it doesn't feel uncomfortably hot outside. The ocean temp is very nice, not too warm, and lightly refreshing when you enter. The smoke and haze (I assume from the Western fires?) made the sun disappear well before the real sunset time. The sun dimmed into a faint red ball high above the horizon in the late afternoon. Strange. Pleasantly surprised to have an easy trip down to Rocky Point after a six month hiatus.
 
Mexico Joe

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
JayT said:
Trip Report - Phx to RP - Friday morning 9/11/20

Light traffic from Phoenix to Lukeville. Very hazy smoky skies all the way.
No line at border at 9:30am. Red light at Aduana and nice agent. Asked if we had anything to declare and how many days we were staying in Penasco. Looked in the back seat area and had me pop the hood of my truck and looked in the engine area quickly (?) I asked about driving with masks in Sonoyta and agent said not required in Sonoyta, but needed them in Penasco. I wore mine anyway to be safe. Got waved past the military checkpoint just past the border and saw them set up for inspections. Saw an AZ plate SUV pulled over by municipal policia on the hill curve in Sonoyta. Empty police truck at collection stop on the south side of town. Did the 40 kmh crawl and had no problems. Drove the 80 kmh speed limit out of town for a few miles to be safe but didn't see any cops. Road is in good shape with no potholes from Sonoyta to RP. The sanitation tunnel and checkpoint are gone with no checkpoints coming into Penasco. Light breeze and light seas and surf at beach. Very surprised that humidity has dried out and isn't as oppressive as we expected and it doesn't feel uncomfortably hot outside. The ocean temp is very nice, not too warm, and lightly refreshing when you enter. The smoke and haze (I assume from the Western fires?) made the sun disappear well before the real sunset time. The sun dimmed into a faint red ball high above the horizon in the late afternoon. Strange. Pleasantly surprised to have an easy trip down to Rocky Point after a six month hiatus.
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Great report! Love the detail!
 
brokenwave

brokenwave

Guest
Great report,
I've never been asked to open my hood ever in over 150 trips.
We're going down again Friday the 18th. I'll add more info.
The wind has been flowing mostly from the NW, WNW and that wind is bringing in dry air from the desert along with the smoke
from OR and CA fires. Can't wait to go swim in some non bath water ocean. I tried in Aug and it was just too warm.
 
S

Southbeacher

Guest
brokenwave said:
Great report,
I've never been asked to open my hood ever in over 150 trips.
We're going down again Friday the 18th. I'll add more info.
The wind has been flowing mostly from the NW, WNW and that wind is bringing in dry air from the desert along with the smoke
from OR and CA fires. Can't wait to go swim in some non bath water ocean. I tried in Aug and it was just too warm.
Click to expand...
We went down on the 9th, and got the same request (open hood, present registration). Thing is, protocol changes with the wind, and what ever they need is never difficult to produce. We volunteered to help the lady lift the hood, and after a few seconds were on our way. (And the ocean water was cool if not chilly.)
My greater concern is northbound through those giant x-ray ovens on the US side. I'd like to know what through-the-entire-vehicle dose that delivers (once a month). How about if we and other humans / critters be allowed to depart the vehicle before being zapped?
 
S

Southbeacher

Guest
I mean, the dentist dares to give a minute dosage of x-ray to a small part of jaw only once a year. And for that I’m given a lead apron to shield that small dosage from thyroid and elsewhere.

Homeland Security apparently thinks that (in my case) once a month is fine to deliver a massive full-body dosage strong enough to penetrate trucks and all living beings within. This is way, way wrong.
 
Mexico Joe

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
Southbeacher said:
I mean, the dentist dares to give a minute dosage of x-ray to a small part of jaw only once a year. And for that I’m given a lead apron to shield that small dosage from thyroid and elsewhere.

Homeland Security apparently thinks that (in my case) once a month is fine to deliver a massive full-body dosage strong enough to penetrate trucks and all living beings within. This is way, way wrong.
Click to expand...
Not to mention pointless because drugs are here, cheaper and better than ever!!!! The war on drugs is a failure. What happened to good ol fashion PROFILING????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now they're going to indiscriminately x-ray every vehicle regardless of the assumed probability of said vehicle transporting narcotics... So basically every time I've been allowed through without x-rays ICE has been negligent? When did x-raying every single vehicle become a thing? And why?
 
S

Southbeacher

Guest
Mexico Joe said:
Not to mention pointless because drugs are here, cheaper and better than ever!!!! The war on drugs is a failure. What happened to good ol fashion PROFILING????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now they're going to indiscriminately x-ray every vehicle regardless of the assumed probability of said vehicle transporting narcotics... So basically every time I've been allowed through without x-rays ICE has been negligent? When did x-raying every single vehicle become a thing? And why?
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Well, without going all political, suffice it to say that It has become a “thing” as people continue to demonstrate to government that they quietly submit to infringement upon their freedoms.
 
Mexico Joe

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
Southbeacher said:
Well, without going all political, suffice it to say that It has become a “thing” as people continue to demonstrate to government that they quietly submit to infringement upon their freedoms.
Click to expand...
Semantics argument. ICE used to use and still widely uses profiling techniques to access risk of each vehicle or person entering USA. This determines who gets more questions, secondary inspection. If that hasn't been a sufficient way of assessing risk then they have essentially been negligent for the last decade or two in their effort to stop the flow of drugs. If that has been a successful way of assessing the risk a person or vehicle poses then why now start with x-raying every single vehicle regardless of perceived risk of being a bad actor? I mean if a BP or ICE agent looks at a vehicle and it's occupants and determines there is little to no probability of this vehicle being a bad actor why are we shooting it with radiation? If the human element can't be trusted to do the job either out of incompetence or being compromised then why do we give so much weight and responsibility to the human element? Why not make the border automated? I really don't understand the use of this new x-ray machine to scan every single vehicle and have the vehicle held up for up to 4 minutes when the human element was doing or was supposed to have been doing a very good job of assessing risk. I'd like to see if they can quantify the benefit of using this new x-ray machine vs. what they've been doing for years and that is profiling and assessing risk per vehicle/person.
 
S

Southbeacher

Guest
Totally agree. And automation replacing the human element would make total sense, since it is much more thoroughly and consistently accurate. It's just that little issue about imperiling the victims in the automated process. . . . . .
 
brokenwave

brokenwave

Guest
I read about the X-ray machines and was surprised that the Obama administration was who approved the funding in 2009 as part of
the 2009 financial stimulus program. With the printing presses rolling Homeland security got their piece of the pie and the
machines being rolled out now started being installed in 2019.

According to the article that Ernesto posted, it contained some interesting points about the safety/non safety of these machines.
According to the manufacturer the X-ray dose a person receives is equivalent to being in a plane at 35K feet for a short flight.

According to the 63-page set of specifications (PDF), which was heavily redacted a person can pass thru this scan
2500 times in a year safely. Also states the driving speed thru it is supposed to be 4-7 mph, less than 4mph and it shuts down
over 7mph means do it again.

If people are refusing to and protesting about wearing a mask, I figured there would be mass protests about the safety and rights of
people being X-rayed without their consent and zero long term studies about the actual safety of being mass X-rayed every time
we cross the border. Zero warning signs at Lukeville or the agents saying anything about being X-rayed.

Amazingly, Homeland Security has grown from a small force to Police our borders in 1948 to what it is now.
They have the authority to break down your front door to search your home/car etc 100 miles in from any US border
and US coastal boundary.

This is supposedly, what the agent looking at the scan will actually see. Not 4K that's for sure.
 

Attachments

E

ernesto

Guest
I came through Monday AM and asked politely if I could get out with my dog to avoid the radiation when x ray was taken. It wasn't operating at that time.The agent said he didn't know. But he did say the dose was so low that it was safe. I asked where the people performing the x ray were when the x ray is taken. He pointed to a little white shed near the machine. He also admitted the shed was radiation proofed. I don't trust these clowns with this. My f-ing life matters.
 
S

Southbeacher

Guest
brokenwave said:
I read about the X-ray machines and was surprised that the Obama administration was who approved the funding in 2009 as part of
the 2009 financial stimulus program. With the printing presses rolling Homeland security got their piece of the pie and the
machines being rolled out now started being installed in 2019.

According to the article that Ernesto posted, it contained some interesting points about the safety/non safety of these machines.
According to the manufacturer the X-ray dose a person receives is equivalent to being in a plane at 35K feet for a short flight.

According to the 63-page set of specifications (PDF), which was heavily redacted a person can pass thru this scan
2500 times in a year safely. Also states the driving speed thru it is supposed to be 4-7 mph, less than 4mph and it shuts down
over 7mph means do it again.

If people are refusing to and protesting about wearing a mask, I figured there would be mass protests about the safety and rights of
people being X-rayed without their consent and zero long term studies about the actual safety of being mass X-rayed every time
we cross the border. Zero warning signs at Lukeville or the agents saying anything about being X-rayed.

Amazingly, Homeland Security has grown from a small force to Police our borders in 1948 to what it is now.
They have the authority to break down your front door to search your home/car etc 100 miles in from any US border
and US coastal boundary.

This is supposedly, what the agent looking at the scan will actually see. Not 4K that's for sure.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. I didn't find that in my earlier search. And when I asked at the border, I was given a smart-a answer ("Oh, about the same dosage as in a banana") and waved on.
 
E

ernesto

Guest
Yeah, the guy I talked to Monday said the banana thing. What the hell does that mean? More fucking gibberish. Threw out my bananas this morning just to be safe. What a fucking joke. I am worried for my grandchildren. We are absolutely getting dumber.
 
R

RP Life

Guest
This is what they are referring to with the banana comment:

The radiation exposure from consuming a banana is approximately 1% of the average daily exposure to radiation, which is 100 banana equivalent doses (BED). The maximum permitted radiation leakage for a nuclear power plant is equivalent to 2,500 BED (250 μSv) per year, while a chest CT scan delivers 70,000 BED (7 mSv).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_equivalent_dose
 
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Mexico Joe

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
RP Life said:
This is what they are referring to with the banana comment:

The radiation exposure from consuming a banana is approximately 1% of the average daily exposure to radiation, which is 100 banana equivalent doses (BED). The maximum permitted radiation leakage for a nuclear power plant is equivalent to 2,500 BED (250 μSv) per year, while a chest CT scan delivers 70,000 BED (7 mSv).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_equivalent_dose
Click to expand...
Well I'll be damned... you learn something new everyday! Or at least you do when you talk to a sensical non cult following rational individual like RP Life. Amazing the conversation that can be had when only adults provide feedback.
 
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