TurquoiseB wrote: > Sent to me by a friend, whose identity is concealed > below, something that may not be possible for much > longer, if the fears of the ACLU are correct. I'm > reminded of Roger Zealazny's seminal stories on > this theme in My Name Is Legion: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_is_Legion_%28Zelazny_stories%29 > > > > I've been reading the horror stories on the ACLU site > that opposes the Real ID law, which was literally > snuck into passage in 2005 and is due to take effect > in May 2008. > > http://www.realnightmare.org/ > > Today, Maine became the first state to pass a state > law declaring non-cooperation with the federal Real > ID law. Supposedly, there is a bill in Massachusetts > about to come up to do the same thing. > > My driver's license expires in Nov 2007. It currently > lists the following facts on its cover and in a little > 2-D bar code in the back. And remember that I used to > work for a company that makes barcode reading software, > so yes I do know what the barcode says. :-) > > Middlename Lastname (the way all his records read) > Mail Boxes Etc. address > Town where the MBE address is located > > When it renews, with or without the Real ID features, > I will almost certainly be forced to change this to > match federal records and to use my physical address: > > Firstname Middlename Lastname (which do not match > his existing bank records or credit cards) > Physical address where he lives > Physical town where he lives > > That will then put my DL at odds with my bank and credit > card records, all of which match the existing DL. Which > means my credit report with all three bureaus will get > flagged as having a name and address discrepancy it > never had. So all my credit card issuers will write to > me, asking for clarification. > > To order anything on the web, your ship-to address must > match what the credit card company has on file. And the > whole point of having the MBE address for my ship-to > address is so that I don't have to be there to sign for > packages. So I don't dare change any credit card billing > addresses. There will just have to be a discrepancy is > all. > > Fortunately, I have a long, problem-free history of > having things sent to the MBE address from Amazon and > eBay and other major vendors. So I don't think this will > really disrupt my web purchases from existing vendors. > But I bet I will be unable to set up new accounts with > ease. > > New Zealand is looking like such a lovely land ... We need to get something going like Maine did here in California. This ID thing is going to be very expensive and unpopular here where the DMV is a place you want to avoid as much as possible as it is a sterling example of a bureaucracy gone bad. The national ID is stupid and will not stop terrorism. Plain and simple we don't need it.
