The REAL ID seems to me to be a REAL WASTE of money. There is no question in my mind that this is just another way to implement a National ID card. It is the same issue regarding the anti-gun lobby. Take all of the guns away and the only ones with them will be the government and the criminals. Don’t get me wrong, I am in favor of waiting periods.
One would have to be terribly naïve to think that well financed terrorists could not get forged or stolen information to get a REAL ID driver’s license. There seems to be no problem with acquiring fake or altered passports and birth certificates so why would having the ID prevent that from occurring? All this program will do is waste more than 11Billion dollars that could be better spent in reducing pollution and slowing global warming or supporting alternative energy development. What is the government really up to and why are they so hot for these new Id’s?
Kudos for Europeans! It looks like they are going to switch over to energy saving lights and reduce electric demands. This should be mandatory in the U.S. also. If energy efficient lighting was all that was produced then everyone would have to use them. The U.S. just can’t seem to take a leadership role in anything these days except touting how tough we are. We are losing respect in the world community and the day will come when just having the biggest bombs will not be enough to promote the ideals of freedom and democracy.
It is great to see that even the Bush Administration now believes in global warming-what’s not to believe? Ask the Inuit or those where diseases like malaria have hit places once too cold for the disease. Despite this now universal acceptance of the problem I am still amazed that decision makers are still making it seem that the impacts of climate change are still off in the distant future. Effects are happening now and will happen over the next few years and not just by the end of the century. Are governments just trying to prevent a world panic? If so, what will they do if major climate catastrophes where to happen suddenly. Are not more lives lost when people are not ready to deal with a crisis? Is there not more chaos when disaster strikes unannounced? Governments have notoriously been lax of frightened to reveal the real status of things. This type of “protect the public” policy simply cannot continue. The issues we face are global. Is it not possible that the concern over climate change could actually bring peoples together for a common cause? What do we gain in Iraq or with Iran if the rest of the world crumbles around us? How far could the over 150 billion dollars we will spend in Iraq go to reduce co2 emissions? The U.S. has not even been able to effectively recover from Katrina-what will we do if more such disasters come this way? It is time to set new priorities and put people first and profits last. It’s beginning to sound a lot like Rome as each day passes.
