Mr. Peck, the moment you've been waiting for: Photos from one of my trips have made it online. I present:
I'm planning a detailed write-up, as there are photographs with wonderful stories behind them that I'd love to share, plus additional stories sans photos. However, I've burned a lot of time already, and I need to prepare for my trip to Philly and New York. Stories must wait.
The supplemental appropriations bill, and its unrelated RealID attachment, passed the Senate with a 100-0 vote. 12 Senators supposedly opposed having the attachment, preferring that the important act get separate debate, yet when it came time to vote they stood down. Senator Edward Kennedy was quoted as saying "the so-called Real ID immigration provisions" are "highly controversial, harmful and unnecessary." Then he backed down with "While this bill is imperfect, it has many important provisions that our soldiers cannot be denied."
Our Senators settle for legislation, unanimously, that's "good enough" when it's inconvenient or politically harmful to themselves to raise a stink. Color me impressed. Grow some backbones, pansies. All 100 of you. You could have voted no. The original military appropriations bill could have been reintroduced sans RealID parasite, and you could have then voted "yes" on that.
In another abuse of our political system, a national ID card act has been attached to what is called a "must-pass" piece of legislation which has absolutely nothing to do with ID cards or anything remotely related. It's on there because the ID concept has been repeatedly rejected by our government for decades on it's own; now it's being snuck through. So, we're getting papers, and it won't even be debated. The Senate hasn't passed it yet, and Ol' W has to make his mark on it, but it's "must-pass" legislation due to the original content of the bill, so it'll go through. Our only real hope is the judicial branch breaking out the Constitutionality trump card. Pray that they do.
Required reading:
Security expert Bruce Schneier's analysis
Wil Wheaton writes a nice piece. Lots of good links as well.
unREAL ID (dot com)
Wired magazine knows what's up
The ACLU is of course not very happy
The EFF is on board the anti-ID wagon
All of John Gilmore's work to restore the ability to fly without an ID may have just been flushed.
I am disturbed. Deeply. On many levels. The last four years have made me seriously consider relocating to a more sane country. I'm talking "serious" in the manner of "toying with the idea of suicide" vs. "seriously considering suicide;" I've thought about specifics. I'm over the line, and it won't take much more than a few more nudges to send me off the cliff and into foreign residency. Privacy is fundamental to so many of the other rights we're supposedly guaranteed in this country, and we're shedding privacy left and right. To combat terrorism. Yeah, that's what we're doing. Right.
The click-clack of Big Brother's boots are approaching