The Russian fallout from terrorism:
Moscow schoolchildren will soon have to wear military-style dog tags and carry special “passports” as part of a security drive in the wake of Beslan.
. . .
Mr Popov, head of the Moscow city assembly’s security and legislation committee, said children would wear the dog tags round their necks and carry the passports in their pockets, which would bear their fingerprints and other personal data.
The passport will give the child’s name, address, telephone number, blood group and details of any allergies to medicines, he said.
Actually, these measures don’t seem to have much to do with security; I think they are intended to help officials clean up the mess if security fails. I wouldn’t exactly view this as reassuring move if I was a Moscow parent.
But they’re used to weird government stuff in Russia. We would adopt any faux security measures here, right?
The Senate version of the intelligence bill includes an amendment, passed by unanimous consent on Oct. 1, that would let the secretary of homeland security decide what documents a state would have to require before issuing a driver’s license, and would also specify the data that the license would have to include for it to meet federal standards. The secretary could require the license to include fingerprints or eye prints. The provision would allow the Homeland Security Department to require use of the license, or an equivalent card issued by motor vehicle bureaus to nondrivers for identification purposes, for access to planes, trains and other modes of transportation.
There you have it. The government wants to take care of this terrorism problem. Be prepared to take carry your papers with you as you travel about.
Greetings,
I have to wonder if there is even a single Republican American who recalls how like in the former Soviet Union was portrayed during the cold war?
If you have forgotten, watch that spy thriller, ‘Firefox’ featuring Clint Eastwood steal a Soviet super-plane (can Republicans say breaking the 8th Commandment??)
The point being that the former Soviet Union would not allow free travel within its own borders, and now the ‘free’ United States wants to adopt Soviet-style restrictions? Is that really progress? Couldn’t any thinking American say that if this continues along this line then the terrorists win, by destroying the very American freedom we’re trying to spread around the world? Which leads to another question, “How can freedom be spread at the business end of a bullet?” The Republican answer seems to be, “be free or I will kill you.”
Remember the Soviet Union!
Sorry,
Add “Freedom” to the first sentence, just after “Soviet Union.”
Not only that, but it’s not clear how some of these stuff dressed as “security” would actually prevent terrorism.