On Sat, 14 May 2005 16:01:05 -0400, Roger
wrote:
snip
Well that's a new twist. So ALL the residents of any state that
don't sign on to the new program will be barred from flying on
the airlines? And you thing that's really going to happen? I'd like
to have you site a federal govt source for that statement so that
we can go read it for ourselves.

It was in the local newspaper and I don't remember who the official
quoted was. The story was out last week via AP with a title of "States
May Refuse to go along with Licensing Standard" or something similar.
The States are complaining that the federal mandate to the
standardized licensing system (with no funding) is more than they can
afford. I believe nearly half the states are saying, "no funding, no
complying", or if you want it, you pay for it.

A bit more information:

It was part of a story on the "uniform licensing" across the states.
IOW the National ID card system, but they don't want to callit that.
To top it off they want to put machine readable chips in the licenses
which wouldn't be quite so bad, but they are going to use RFID tags.
The claim is the RFID tags only work at a distance of a few
centimeters, but tests show they work well up to about 20 meters with
the proper equipment.

Just think...you are in Malasia, or Iran, (pick a country), a
demonstration starts, and your passport which can be read up to 20
meters (60 feet) is saying...Hey, you with the reader, I'm the
American over here!.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com


The article made headlines on many papers and was one of the top
stories listed on the Excite news. The quote was some where around
the middle of the article.

I think the guy was using a bit of coercion, or outright
threatening/posturing with the hope that they will comply. He also
stated that such states would have to go through much more extensive
security checks before boarding (contradicting his previous statement
- if they can't board then why the additional security checks)

As it was a recent AP article it should still be available on-line if
you hit the right search string..

Do I think it'll happen? No, I don't. I think the guy was blowing
smoke as the economy could not stand even time for the extra security
checks let alone an outright ban.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com