Greg In The Desert

I have a feeling there will be some last minute changes that will still allow all states driver license. If not the situation could get ugly.

The Bush administration passed the law, designed to stop terrorists from entering the country, after Sept. 11, 2001. All 50 states have to comply with its regulations by Jan. 1, 2010.
Sec. Rick Homans said the clock is ticking and New Mexico is nowhere near close.
“The way it is right now, come Jan. 1st, residents of New Mexico and residents of about 25 other states wouldn’t be allowed to board airplanes unless they had a valid passport.”

This is not looking good.

Sen. Udall: Yeah. Well, as you are probably aware, the situation that we’re in now — we have health care on the floor — where if tried to move to anything else I think it would make it much more difficult procedurally. So I think if — I don’t see us getting to Pass ID on the Senate floor between now and the end of the year. So I think it would be very helpful for you to issue a statement — you might use this as an opportunity to do it — to assure people that after December 31st they will be able to travel with something other than a passport. I don’t know if you want to do that at this point but if you decline that’s fine.

Sec. Napolitano: I think I will not accept that invitation at this point in time.

Yet another reason not to fly.

Without their knowledge, millions of Americans and foreigners crossing U.S. borders in the past four years have been assigned scores generated by U.S. government computers rating the risk that the travelers are terrorists or criminals. The travelers are not allowed to see or directly challenge these risk assessments, which the government intends to keep on file for 40 years.

A suspected terrorist who spent years in a secret CIA prison should not be allowed to speak to a civilian attorney, the Bush administration argues, because he could reveal the agency’s closely guarded interrogation techniques.

In recently filed court documents, the Justice Department said those methods, along with the locations of the CIA’s network of prisons, are among the nation’s most sensitive secrets. Prisoners who spent time in those prisons should not be allowed to disclose that information, even to a lawyer, the government said.

They should copyright their torture procedures and make the “suspected terrorists” sign a NDA, then they have a legal means to prevent them from revealing their secrets.

Oh, those jokesters over at Fox News. John Loftus gave out some slightly incorrect information about the location of some terrorists in Orange County. When he gave out the address of these terrorists on TV, the information was 3 years old and put some poor family that now owns the house in danger.

What’s worse is their pathetic attempt at a apology.

The Voricks said they had made several unsuccessful attempts to contact Fox News and Loftus by telephone and e-mail. They want a public apology and correction. Both have issued apologies — Fox in a one-line statement to the Los Angeles Times and Loftus in an e-mail to the family — after being contacted by the newspaper. The Voricks say they have yet to see or hear a correction. “John Loftus has been reprimanded for his careless error, and we sincerely apologize to the family,” said Fox spokeswoman Irena Brigante.

If they were really sorry they would show up at the house with their TV crew and apologize live on air. A email? Give me a break!

“An aspiring politician and video game designer who faked his own beheading by Iraqi militants set off a short-lived media frenzy Saturday after media around the world began showing his homemade video of the gruesome hoax.” A hoax of him being beheaded by terrorists. So what do you think, is this a big deal or not?

[Update:] Just wanted to say, hey man, put your shirt on if your going to be interviewed by a newspaper.

8/14/04: Polls have closed. The results: