Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 August 5

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August 5

US Response to Taken

I recently watched the film Taken starring Liam Neeson, which depicts a pair of US teens being kidnapped on a trip to France by Albanian terrorists and sold into prostitution. Suppose a situation like that happens in real life, where a pair of attractive US teen girls are kidnapped in a France, a first-world country. How quick and overwhelming would State Department's response be? Suppose further, that like in the movie, the French intelligence agency was corrupt, what actions could the US take in order to ensure the safe return of the two citizens? Acceptable (talk) 17:43, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

• Direct link to Taken (film) (link in title goes to dab page) -- 220.101talk^\Contribs 06:14, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

You mean like the Natalie Holloway situation? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:51, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

I find it unlikely that the US itself would really take much action at all. Maybe a harshly worded letter from the State Department if the kidnapped were related to someone important, but there would be almost no chance of a Hollywood style commando rescue from the US Army or anything like that. Especially if the French government itself were not cooperating. The US does not have any jurisdiction in France. Googlemeister (talk) 18:18, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

If the press got hold of it, the US President might phone the French President and stress the importance of getting them back and offer any assistance the French might need. Of course, the French President knows how important it is and the French are just as capable of getting back kidnapped teens as the US, and the US President knows all that, so he probably wouldn't both calling if the media weren't making a big deal out of the story and therefore it would be bad for his approval ratings to not be seen to be doing something. If someone did half the things "Bryan" is described as doing in the plot summary in our article (I haven't seen the film) they would almost certainly end up in jail. It's possible that, if he did manage to get back the US before the French authorities worked out who had left that trail of bodies (which doesn't sound like it would have been hard), he might be able to pull a few strings (as an apparently high-level CIA officer, he would have a few contacts in high places) and avoid extradition, but he'd never be able to travel to Europe again (under his own passport, anyway). --Tango (talk) 18:45, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

The recent detentions of Americans in Iran and North Korea under questionable circumstances aren't exactly on point, but perhaps give insight into US reaction: 2009 detention of American hikers by Iran, 2009 imprisonment of American journalists by North Korea. --Sean 19:47, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

That's very different. They were detained by the local authorities, rather than by a criminal group. And, those are nations the US has very bad relations with. --Tango (talk) 20:18, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

This question seems somewhat confusing to me. If everyone knew they were kidnapped by Albanian terrorists and sold into prostitution then it likely means there has already been a significant investigation and ongoing efforts to find them. A more likely case would be two missing American teens in France, with the authorities not really knowing why they're missing, maybe not even sure if they are even missing particularly initially. Even if it's known they were kidnapped somehow (perhaps someone saw them being kidnapped), the authorities most likely wouldn't really know who kidnapped them and why. Perhaps if one of the girls escaped, stole a phone or whatever and managed to contact someone, then they would know they were kidnapped by Albanian terrorists for prostitution (although even if the girls knew the people were Albanian, I'm unsure how they would know they are terrorists) but not have done any investigation but in such a case, once they do get such information, they're likely to launch an investigation. Note that I'm not sure how much the French intelligence service will be involved. Particularly before they've worked out they were kidnapped by Albanian terrorists for prostitution when they're just missing or kidnappened people, it sounds more like an ordinary police matter to me. Nil Einne (talk) 02:06, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

If you read the plot summary for the film, you'll see that one of the girls phoned her father, a retired CIA officer, when the kidnappers first broke in and he got enough from that phone call to identify the kidnappers. The French intelligence agency were involved because that CIA guy contacted a contact of his there. --Tango (talk) 16:21, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

I guess what I'm trying to say is, is the OP referring to a scenario precisely like the film? Because such a scenario is probably a fairly unlikely one. The way the US responds will depend on several factors, as some have mentioned whether or not there's a lot of publicity will make a difference but precisely what is known will too and the more common scenarios of missing US teen girls in France even if they were kidnapped by Albanian terrorists and sold in to prostitution are not going to involve anyone knowing that's what happened so the response isn't going to be the same. Nil Einne (talk) 16:58, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Teachers

What do my teachers do (high school) during the summer? A few of them teach summer school, I know, but that can't be the majority (considering how understaffed most summer schools are where I live). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.228.193.232 (talk) 23:25, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

Many things. Just type "teacher summer jobs" into Google. LANTZY^TALK 23:36, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

In theory, there's still stuff for them to do. Plan out all of the work for the next academic year, for a start. Vimescarrot (talk) 00:36, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

I know one who worked as a laborer for a carpenter during the summer. After spending all the school year in a class room, he liked building houses outside during the summer. Dismas|^(talk) 00:43, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

My mum is a primary school teacher and in a typical 6 week summer holiday (this year it's a little shorter for some reason) she'll do about 2 weeks of school work (getting the classroom ready for the next year, planning lessons for the next year, etc.) and then spend the other 4 weeks in much the same way anyone on holiday would. She might go away for a week or two and otherwise just engages in hobbies and relaxes. --Tango (talk) 02:14, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Teachers often do tutoring during the summer to supplement their income. Other than that -- volunteering, vacationing, watching their own kids and preparing for the next year (which takes quite a bit of time). -- Mwalcoff (talk) 20:49, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Various teachers spend their time differently. I'm a teacher, and this year, I took a trip to China, went on a long camping vacation, visited with my family, renovated a room in my house, read a lot of books, and re-learned to ride a bicycle. Various of my colleagues this year have gotten jobs, studied in summer seminars of various kinds, taken on athletic challenges, and laid by the pool drinking wine, depending on their needs and their tastes. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 19:28, 8 August 2010 (UTC)

My parents were both teachers (now retired). Dad either taught summer school or worked at another job. For Mom, it was teaching summer school. What I learned is that the bills don't stop coming just because classes are over. DOR (HK) (talk) 06:32, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

Smith Kline

I would like a phone number for Smith kLINE. My mom has questions about her meds and would like to call them. Thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.2.80.153 (talk) 23:39, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

Assuming you're talking about GlaxoSmithKline, this is their contact section on their website, containing various phone numbers. Vimescarrot (talk) 00:35, 6 August 2010 (UTC)