More States Challenging National Driver's Licenses 389
berberine writes "A revolt against a national driver's license, begun in Maine last month, is quickly spreading to other states.
The Maine Legislature on Jan. 26 overwhelmingly passed a resolution objecting to the Real ID Act of 2005. The federal law sets a national standard for driver's licenses and requires states to link their record-keeping systems to national databases.
Within a week of Maine's action, lawmakers in Georgia, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington state also balked at Real ID. They are expected soon to pass laws or adopt resolutions declining to participate in the federal identification network.
Maine's rejection was recently discussed on slashdot."
DB Linkage Is Inevitable (Score:4, Interesting)
Those of us who work everyday with databases should know the futility of opposing any linkages of all DBs in the world. It is only through government stupidity and lethargy that this hasn't happened already. Anybody who has a DB is going to link them up if at all possible. The only thing we have on our side is the delay caused by government sloth.
Your best bet if you don't like this is to go off the grid. But we know what an exercise in futility that is unless you're willing to live in Montana ala Ted Kazinsky.
Re:What's it really for? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Giving up privacy (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:DB Linkage Is Inevitable (Score:3, Interesting)
states challenging (Score:4, Interesting)
Check closely (Score:3, Interesting)
If half the money taken in taxes was actually spent wisely, most people would quit complaining.
Re:But doesn't it also makes them harder to get? (Score:2, Interesting)
Have Lived In Russia (Score:2, Interesting)
About living in Russia, you are correct, or at least you were correct. I lived there in 1997 [See Russian Plumbers [slashdot.org]. For a time, I lived in the apartment of friends while I rented out my own St. Petersburg apartment. The electric bill arrived and so--not wanting to mess up my Russian friends--I set out to pay it. That was not easy. When I finally found the place to pay it, the woman behind the counter was really surprised that I did. She dutifully took my money and I paid the bill.
When my Russian friends returned from the dacha, they were amused that I had bothered to pay the bill.
"Nobody pays the electric bill in Russia," they said.
Because there were no separate electric meters in the apartment building, there was no way for the government in Russia to know their individual electricity usage, let alone shut it off for anybody.Likewise, when I got paid from the Russian newspaper where I worked, I was told I would be making 146,000 rubles (about $42.00). When payday arrived, I was paid in cash exactly the amount I had been promised. No taxes whatsoever.
I don't know if it is still that way but in 1997 Russia was the wild west. So if you're looking to avoid government, Russia used to be the place to be. Just the mafia to worry about.
Re:cheers! local vs national identity maybe? (Score:2, Interesting)
I would say the opposite... (Score:3, Interesting)
As for drinking, don't reduce it to 14. Get rid of the drinking age all together. Remove the mystique of drinking all together. Don't tell your 13 year old that on their next birthday, they will be grown up enough to drink. Make it something that is not a prize at all. Of course getting rid of the drinking age would remove that right of passage. Maybe I could be convinced that there should be a drinking age. It would take some doing, but maybe.