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Commercial quantities of helium come out of the ground in Texas. People think the Strategic Helium Reserve was such a big joke. Except for the fact that without helium, we can't make computer chips, can't do inert gas welding, can't do a lot of science and (most important) can't make squeaky voices at kid's parties. So, the government has decided it's in the best interests of all to privatize the collection, storage, and the distribution network for what is a non-renewable, economically critical element.

Even Wired magazine has mentioned the potential helium shortage. We'll run out eventually. The American Chemical Society puts it at around 2015. That's not good. The spring of 2002, there was enough of a shortage that the distributors of air products had to clamp down on helium- there was rationing for a few months. And the government's concept is to *privatize* it. Wonderful.

Aberdeen is in Texas, you insensitive clod!

Your sig is a paraphrase of one of Ma Ferguson's famous quotes.

"If English was good enough for Jesus it's good enough for us." -- Miriam Amanda Wallace Ferguson (1875-1961), first woman governor of Texas.

the only country that had access to large enough quantities of helium was the US who fractionated it from natural gas

History of helium production

In Dallas the transponders are known as TollTags and allow you to proceed through toll plazas without stopping (you just have to slow down.) There are special TollTag lanes through the toll plazas for TollTag use only although they do work with all lanes.

There are cameras for each lane of the toll plaza that will take a photograph of the rear license plate of your car if you should go through without paying. I am not sure but I presume that if a car without a TollTag goes through a TollTag only lane then it woyuld be photographed just as would a car going through a normal lane without paying.

For those who are interested you can read more at the NTTA web site.

Or, deciding to get cute and put up other tolltag readers in "strategic" locations to find out who goes by there everyday, or even just looking to see who goes the same stretch of road every day.

Then again, I'm biased against toll roads anyway. At least in Texas, they were designed to be toll until paid off. Only IH-30 (Old DFW Turnpike) has actually done this. Dallas North Tollway (s/b paid up to at least LBJ, if not Spring Valley), Sam Houston Beltway, etc are all still toll, and the tolls are used to finance new portions of road that many of the "regular" users may not even use.

- wes

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Precisely the reason I do neither of these things is because the convenience outweighs the loss of privacy. I do not want to have a transponder on my car that can be used to track where and who I am (BTW: Yes, NTTA will let you have a cash-basis TollTag account, with few problems. I'm considering it). I do not want the grocery store irrevocably linking me with my purchases. And, no, I have nothing to hide, except everything because I feel like it.

Sure, there are many good uses for this technology. And, the motive for the patent holder is probably not sinister. However, remember the kind of (US) government we (US citizens) live under, and then ask if you even want this on a "volunteer" basis, where the alternative is worse than "volunteering."

(Let's not forget the blurb on the (US) IRS tax form: "Completion of this form is voluntary, however failure to do so may subject you to criminal penalties for income tax evasion.")