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Trans-Atlantic ID Card System
Th3P0stalDud3 writes "The Independent is reporting that the U.S. has asked the U.K. to use the same chips in their proposed identity cards as the ones in our proposed identity card. In effect, creating a trans-atlantic ID card system." From the article: "The aim of getting the same microchip is to ensure compatability in screening terrorist suspects. But it will also mean that information contained in the British cards can be accessed across the Atlantic."
it will be harder for other countries to resist if they want unencumbered travel for their citizens.
this raises interesting questions about those counties that are members of the british commonwealth. Would this mean that in order for those countries to maintain the ease of movement they have now with other members of the commonwealth they would have to submit to U.S. rules on the IDs?
"goodbye and hello, as always" ~Prince Corwin, from Zelazny's Amber series
Nonsense, that would suggest that Oceania's Ministry Of Truth was capable of adjusting history and presenting barefaced lies as fact, simply to fit their military ambitions.
Inconceivable!
(The only similarity is, when Shrub writes 2+2=5, he doesn't realise that's wrong, either).
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
This is yet another scary development in the long-running UK ID card saga. If any non-UK residents are interested, the current state of play is that legislation will probably soon be passed to force all UK residents to get biometric ID cards by 2008(ish).
These cards will cost us all up to £93 ($150+) each, with profits from the scheme going to private companies. Everyone's personal details will be stored in one huge database, which can be accessed by a variety of government agencies. A recent trial of the biometric technology used in the cards showed that it was quite ineffective. The Government is nevertheless convincing the electorate that this is a good idea by playing on the fear of identity theft (which the cards won't help prevent) and fear of illegal immigrants.
There's a good (as ever) article about ID cards at The Register.
I love how you're pointing troll fingers to cover up your own troll against a post with a perfectly valid point. I hope you're just joking.
The United States has historically been involved in a number of atrocities that it doesn't much like to bee remembered for; like any large state it has its share of skeletons that it doesn't like to see make the history texts.
Personally I think they make for interesting reading. When studied instead of buried they further emphasise the fact that freedom is maintained only through ongoing vigilance AGAINST OURSELVES AS WELL and not just external forces. Accusing one's own country of wrongdoing is never a good way to become popular, but it is absolutely necessary that this occur as often as the slightest suspicion arises and that we never rely on unquestioning acceptance of any leadership.
It's fun to titter and giggle about conspiracy theories and the number of the beast and so forth. But the fact is that a more invasive identification system is highly useful to a police state and tends by its very existance to invite violations of basic human rights, and that it is usually of very little use in protecting anyone.
It really shouldn't be that astonishing. We have more than once in our history gone from strong feelings of isolationism to OMG there is a world out there and it affects us, let's kick its ass.
Your observation would be much more interesting, if there wasn't a corresponding benefit to go along with cost. As is pointed out in the article, the UK is one of several countries which's citizens are able to enter the US with no visa, or pre-entry screening. In order for this arrangement to be sustainable, the US and the UK must be able to verify that people who say they are citizens of one country really are who they say they are. It's like when the bouncer at the bar won't accept your out of state DL, because it doesn't look like the one is his book. Tennessee is under no obligation to make their DL's difficult to forge and easy to verify by Texas bouncers, but it is in their best interest to do so.
Si vis pacem, para bellum
The only thing more annoying than a Libertarian is an (un|mis)informed Libertarian
Yet it hinders and inconveniences everyone including citizens of the United States who are having their privacy violated.
My dad, Canadian, was crossing the border this winter to go camping, they stopped him and searched his camper, putting it through the fancy gamma scanner and everything.
Seems reasonable, right?
Except that while doing so they tried to arrest him, fingerprint him, and put him in a cell for the duration of the scan!
Now, my dad isn't an idiot, he knows he's done nothing wrong, he knows the border-crossing drill, having done it many many times before, and he just said "stop reading me my rights!", refused to be arrested for crossing the Canada/US border completely legally, with all the paerwork properly done.
They stopped their shenanigans, since they had NO REASON to arrest him, but I'm sure more gullible travelers are suckered into believing that this is right, else they'll be suspected of t3h 3v1l terrorism.
Now, I'm sorry, but you guys are obviously devolving into a fucking police state! Thomas Jefferson must be spinning in his grave .
You can't take the sky from me...
More than you think, perhaps.
We can't carry large amounts of cash overseas. It's illegal: if you don't declare it, then when they find it during the strip searches, you're a terrorist or drug dealer and they confiscate it. If you do declare it, you're a terrorist or drug dealer and they confiscate it before the strip search.
Yes, I'm exaggerating, but not by as much as you think. It is illegal to take large amounts of cash out of the country without declaring it, and the government (usually local cops) will confiscate any large stashes of cash they find. They claim it's drug money, and charge the money with a crime. You have to prove that the money is innocent to get it back (scroll down to the bottom of that link).
No, I am not making any of that up.
So, you can carry travelers checks, you can carry your Visa, but you're taking a big risk if you carry cash. The really dangerous criminals are the ones in the uniforms.
See what I've been reading.