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Home Front: WoT
Passport Deadline Nears, Few Americans Prepared
2006-11-27
Fewer than two months remain before arriving international passengers at U.S. airports will be required to show passports as the only acceptable proof of citizenship. The rule applies to American citizens too, even though only about one in four has a valid passport.

With the holiday shopping season, winter weather, and the $97 fee standing in the way, the betting line on people meeting the deadline is not favorable. Making matters more difficult is that the usual six-week waiting period will coincide with the holiday-card crush for those who prefer to acquire passports by mail.

Even arrivals from Canada, Bermuda, and Mexico will be subject to the new regulations.

According to Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff, strengthening the rules reduces the chances of a terrorist entering the country. "We're always better off when we build higher levels of security," he said. "The ability to misuse travel documents to enter this country opens the door for a terrorist. "None of these steps is foolproof and none of them is perfect. But each of them raises the bar to an attack."
Posted by:Free Radical

#11  Why not embed an Ezpass in the forehead ?
Posted by: wxjames   2006-11-27 22:55  

#10  Ah, Gallup, I used to live there. It was the home of Eddy's Club, the watering hole where the bar room fight in "Star Wars" was filmed. What people don't know is that the scene was filmed live using the local patrons as extras, no makeup was needed for 'em.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2006-11-27 21:49  

#9  OP -

"Visitors to the Gallup (NM) area with an interest in boating or lake angling will find excellent opportunity at Bluewater Lake State Park, located about 30 miles to the east of Gallup off I-40 on Rt 412 at the northern terminus of the Zuni Mountains. Sitting at an elevation of 7400 feet, Bluewater Lake is encircled with rolling hills studded with pinon and juniper trees. The lake is well known for its large German Brown Trout fishing during the fall & spring as well as during winter via ice fishing techniques, and is also renowned for its summer lunker catfish populations."

Not far from the Divide.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2006-11-27 21:43  

#8  $97? Sheesh, it was $30 when I got my first six years ago.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to pony up sooner rather than later. I've already had two annexes added.

And I keep it tucked behind a picture frame, Jason Bourne-like.
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia   2006-11-27 18:23  

#7  I've got two or three expired passports around here, and have no plans to renew any of them. The only "passport" I want is to a nice 40-acre lot somewhere near the continental divide, at between 8000-9000 feet above sea level, with Internet access, and within an hour's drive to a lake for fishing. I can handle any other requirements when they come up. My family already considers me a hermit, so a nice dry cave is an option.

Been to Europe, been to Latin America, been to Asia - didn't lose anything in any of those locations I really need to recover. Google Earth is enough excitement for me these days...
Posted by: Old Patriot   2006-11-27 16:36  

#6  Travel to work on our offshore oil platforms may also be covered by this requirement. Depending on how things get interpreted, and how many of our crewmen and contractors are carrying passports, the furnaces in DC might start shutting down around mid-winter. Heh, heh, heh.
Posted by: Glenmore   2006-11-27 11:43  

#5  Fact is you shouldn't be travelling international without a passport anyway. The only time that makes sense is in the case of Canada and Mexico and I think it's not such a bad thing to reaffirm citizenship when drivers licences are so easy to fake these days.

Bet the tourism in tijuana plummets because of this law. Such is life.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2006-11-27 11:14  

#4  This will not work for one reason. They let slip that the sole purpose is *not* security, but to "make things easier" for bureaucrats and border guards to check IDs.

Philosophically, making things "easier" for the government is one of the *worst* reasons for passing a new law, and they seldom work.

What will happen is that there will be a sudden and marked drop in tourism and international travel. This will be followed by screaming and intensive lobbying in Washington, D.C., by all of those companies that are losing MILLIONS of dollars because of this asininity.

Even though this will fail, it will do nothing to dissuade those individuals who just *know* if we had a national ID card, that *everything* would be better.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2006-11-27 10:55  

#3  I quitely let my passport expire. They are charging too much for renewal. Not anywhere I really want to go outside the states anyway.
Posted by: 3dc   2006-11-27 10:32  

#2  Consent of the governed? What a novel concept.

I wonder if this last election was about government competence. I have a growing sense that nothing works the way it should. My wife's green card story was an INS horror show. FEMA and Katrina, Border (Non)Enforcement, bridges to nowhere, 50,000 Soddy student visas, VISA Express, Iraqi occupation, CIA and DoS follies, and my personal favorite: TSA that strip searches 90 year old grandmothers while letting young Arab men pass. Many more examples...

I wonder how much gov't incompetence and annoyance the people will tolerate?
Posted by: SR-71   2006-11-27 09:31  

#1  Passport Deadline Nears, Few Americans Prepared

Why do I have the image of a car with the label 'State Department' speeding towards the edge of a cliff? Of course the idea that the wretched masses simply exist for some pin-striped suited bureaucrat to issue edicts and fiats would sell well at State. Forget the little bit about 'consent of the governed' have we. Going to Canada, Mexico, or the Bahamas is an option not a necessity. Watch tourism drop like a lead balloon. Watch Ottawa and Mexico City scream. Watch perplexed Americans watch a million Mexicans without passports crossing the border. Please pass the popcorn.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2006-11-27 09:18  

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