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Diagrams
Posted Oct 6, 2001
Come on, people, I need to add diagrams like:
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Latest reply: Oct 6, 2001
Introduction 28-Sep-01
Posted Sep 28, 2001
My name is Reginald Coombe. I am 62, a retired engineer and now a part time beef farmer in middle Tennessee. I am interested in how ancient men moved large stones and, one of these days, I am going to finish a monograph for publication in which I discuss the mathematics showing how it was possible.
I have an interesting extended family with kin with backgrounds from Vietnam, Lebanon,Iraq, American Indian and England, of course. My wife and I are British. We sometimes get an e-mail discussion going between us. A recent one on female genitalia mutilation got quite heated. I am trying to get one going on the national identification card now being debated in England. The following is written with respect to the USA, like the tax man is the IRS. Americans have a social security number which many want to keep secret because of the possibility of identity theft.
I like the social security number concept. I think it was a brilliant move to require one for a child to qualify as a financial dependent. The concept is abused. I gather it is too easy for an adult to get a new one. An example: if you qualify for a tax re-imbursement, the IRS will give it to you irrespective of whether your name and social security number jibe.
I carry a drivers' license with my photograph, address, social security number, birth date, height, eye color and signature. I carry a resident alien card with my photograph, birth date, thumb print and signature. I think that a national identification card should contain all that information.
I would have no problem if the card had encoded criminal and driving record, whether I had filed my taxes and any medical information that would be necessary to get emergency treatment. However, that information could also be made available in a national data base, huge enough to be 'anonymous'.
I think that lax compliance with the law and irresponsible behavior by certain authorities probably account for the capability of criminals to steal identities. Changes to a person's status should sometimes require personal attendance, sometimes references, notary public, etc.
I also think that all financial transactions above $200, say, should be done with a check or credit card that is associated with one's national identification number. Personally, I would have no problem if the IRS sent me a bill in April! (or a check!!)
I read somewhere how much crime costs the average person. Don't you think that the average honest person would want to give up a little privacy to live a safer and better life guarded by the 'anonymous' national computer?
It would be like the good old days when you lived in a village and everybody knew everybody's business and nobody locked their doors.
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Latest reply: Sep 28, 2001
archibaldjuniper
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