I hear new hampshire is set to vote on their equivalent bill on monday or tuesday. I wonder how many states will follow suit. I can't see big atates like pennsylvania or virginia doing it.

Nice to see a state's legislators take real bipartisan action in resisting Washington on an issue as important to our individual freedom as this is.

Ehyup...

BTW, I'm dedicating this article to D'Oh for all the obvious reasons.

Dave

Good for the down-Mainers. At this point, anything that Bush/Cheney propose is suspect, considering their cavalier attitude towards civil & constitutional rights.

As usual, good article, Dave. Very enjoyable to read & very informative.

Real ID came from Congress and the Department of Homeland Security more than from Bush/Cheney, and it was supported by a majority of both parties at the time. We'll see if that attitude will change as the states begin to be heard in opposition to it.

Dave

I think this is the only piece I have seen from Dave that is not openly manipulative and verging on psychosis. Apparently his meds are working.

The only thing is, Dave has shown his real self on this site by extensively searching out info on posters and invading their privacy. I was a target for that behavior and for his subsequent paranoid speculations.

What's going on here?

How - where - & when did Dave search for your information & then post it? Unless he's put it in very deep code, I haven't seen any reference to you in this article...?

Nancy, It was several months ago. On one of the threads about Chavez, I think. He and his malignant tumor, clavos, were into searching and invading privacy--and they posted my complete name, other info not germane to thread and went into a paranoid dance of how I worked for, take your pick: Venezuela, China, Bolivia, quien sabe quien mas....

Oh. Well, personally I don't remember it, altho I take your word for it, but - not to offend - it didn't seem germaine to the argument so I blipped over it & I'll bet everyone else did too, so you probably shouldn't worry. What I remember most about you personally is that you've been to Saudi Arabia, from which you have fascinating stories, & are currently in Mexico where you also know a man who plows with a mule :) At least YOUR life is colorful & interesting; if they posted mine, you'd all be catatonic, probably.

Yes, my life IS colorful and interesting.

It didn't happen that way by accident. I decided at 49 that I was not going to turn 50 in the US, that from then on I was going to do what I wanted and where I wanted to do it. I bought a 1965 VW Beetle and headed south.

I gotta admire that; it takes 'gumption' & 'moxie' - two of my grandparent's favorite old-timey words I still use. I've gotten to the point that while I love hearing/reading about adventures like yours & people like you, I find myself considering "may you live in interesting times" to be a curse instead of a blessing. Also I never seem to have time & funds simultaneously to allow me to travel seriously. But good for you: rock on!

Unless my memory is playing tricks on me, moonraven, you were originally commenting using your own full name and then switched to your current identity without saying anything to anybody. It seems a little excessive to be harshing on people for figuring that out.

Pedanticboy

I plan to do just that. Thanks.

My god you're delusional, Moonraver. YOU posted your personal info. We just remembered it.

In fact, you posted over 100 comments under your real name, starting with comment #30 on this thread.

And you wonder why we call you crazy.

Dave

I NEVER posted my complete name. I posted one first name and one last name. And I certainly did not talk about antiwar poems which had nothing to do with the thread.

You assholes posted my complete name and other personal info such as my age--which was taken from the Poets against the War site.

You are, as usual, a fucking liar.

Dave, please indulge me and try for a little more charm. Just because you think moonraven is delusional, you don't actually have to say it and thus open the door to another endless round of retaliatory strikes. There's enough of that going on in the world already!

I'm not saying you're wrong by the way; see my reply to her at #12, publication of which was temporarily delayed by Akismet, which has belatedly decided that I might be a spammer, just that there's enough drivel to debate as it is!

Chris,

What you wrote was definitely spam. See my double post above.

Really? I fail to see how that was spam. For clarity's sake I removed your dupe, just in case you're wondering.

I NEVER posted my complete name. I posted one first name and one last name. And I certainly did not talk about antiwar poems which had nothing to do with the thread.

I don't know of anyone referring to you by any more than your first and last names. I certainly have no idea what other names you have.

And anyone with access to google can find your antiwar poems with your first and last names. If you didn't want people to do that you should not have posted them on the internet.

You assholes posted my complete name and other personal info such as my age--which was taken from the Poets against the War site.

I have no idea what your age is, or at least I didn't until you posted information about when you graduated from college, which gave me a rough idea. If someone posted it then it wasn't me. And again, if you didn't want your age known, why did you post it on a public internet site?

You can't blame people for finding out stuff about you which you yourself made public.

Truthfully, we're not THAT interested in your personal details.

Dave

It was spam because it was not true.

I posted under the name Marthe Raymond. That's ONE first name and ONE last name.

Clavos and Dave then did an internet search and posted my first name, my middle name and both of the last names--plus additional personal info such as age that they took from the site I mentioned in my post above.

I suggest you take your clarity and shove it.

Right, Dave: That's why you made up the paranoid pap about my working for the Chinese, Venezuelan and Bolivian governments.

MR, could you post a link to where I exposed all this vital personal information, because I sure don't remember doing it. I don't even know what those other names are and I only have a guess at your age. Maybe Clavos dug up that info, I'm sure it's all from things you posted on other sites. Again, it's not private information if you posted it yourself on a public website.

I will admit to identifying your Chines IP address while you were in Bahrain. And why would you object to being accused of working for Bolivia or Venezuela. Their leaders are your heroes. Working for them would be an honor, right?

Dave

I think it was actually Franco; but he was finding info by Googling, so it WAS publicly posted on the web.

And nobody would ever have found anything if she hadn't (as you and I both pointed out, Dave) posted dozens of comments with her real name.

Articles on Google news suggest that New Mexico and New Hampshire will both join Maine in challenging Real ID this week.

No matter how you try to paint it, Dave, it's clearly hypocritical to write an article like this when you are obviously VERY big on violating other folks' privacy.

Dave said:
"it was supported by a majority of both parties at the time."

Technically true, but here's the real scoop. Real ID was tacked on to a funding bill for tsunami victims and troops overseas. Had it been considered on its own merits, Real ID never would have made it through. Liberals and (true) conservatives would have howled.

NLM

I dunno raver - I kinda liked your revolutionary poetry

So what is its status (the bill, not MR's ID) now?

I have to admit being divided on this. On the one hand, we sorely need some sort of national ID to separate the sheep from the goats, as it were, & help stop illegals & those with criminal records; on the other, history plainly warns of the danger such a system would present, especially in the hands of corrupt government or power-hungry/delusional miscreants like BushCo. At some point one danger will outweigh the other, but I am not omniscient enough to know when, and I don't trust BushCo to take out the trash, so I certainly wouldn't trust them to know, either, especially considering Dubya & Dick's cavalier handling of the constitution et al.

Troll,

That's beside the point. If I had wanted the poetry on the Poets against the War site to be accessed from THIS site I would have put a link to it.

I organized a Poets against the War event at UMar here in Mexico when I was a department head there. The crowd was standing room only in the auditorium and we had original posters, music, and presentors of poems in both Spanish and English. It was a great event, BUT it had nothing to do with what I was posting on THIS site.

when I recognize an original voice I get interested...so I checked you out and found a link to your poetry through common dreams...please explain in what way this is inappropriate

I'm sure that your friends in the Bush administration have gone much farther

(when you re-read you last #29 don't you sound like a control freak to yourself - ?)

I guess you're just regretting using your actual name from the get go - but then I would have missed the poems

That you bothered to check out my poems is not a concern for me.

You did not POST all my personal info on this site like the Gang of Three did. That was an invasion of my privacy.

Yes, the CIA has gone much further (trying to "interview" me in Caracas, disabling my email in Caracas, photographing me in the street in Caracas, bugging my hotel room in Quito, etc.)

I expect that kind of invasive behavior from them.

actually I think that I did post a link to the poems early on which might have inspired the quest...sorry 'bout that

The CIA...? Whatever for? Did you say something negative to that fool Dubya in Spanish or something?

I would not deign to say anything to the Cross-eyed Cretin.

The CIA started following me around when I was invited to an event in Caracas in 2003 (one of the panel topics was Agrarian Reform, and I am a specialist in that area).

...?! Why the hell would they object to anybody attending an event about agriculture?! Now that's bizarre, even for the CIA - & I used to work with a few of them; they are some straaaaaaange folks.

They must have heard she was sowing seeds and had ears and got confused....

It was not an event about agriculture.

It was a solidarity event to commemorate the first anniversary of Chavez' return to power after Venezuela's being made a dictatorship for 47 hours. Agrarian reform is one of the projects of the Venezuelan government--and was one of maybe a dozen topics in panels.

I'd say that pretty much covers why the CIA was interested in the event.

Dave

Oh. Ok.

One of the CIA clowns that approached me tried to pass himself off as a reporter for The Nation, until he looked completely blank when I mentioned some US funding that had been exposed by The Nation.

I had to tell him that he needed to get a whole lot better at presenting his cover--and I sent him away.

Moonraver,

Let me know if you and Dave fall in love when you finally meet under the bed, him looking for socialists, you looking for CIA......

Now that would make for some interesting dialog finally!

I don't have to LOOK for them under the bed.

I found one of their electronic gismos under my bed in Quito, and quickly changed hotels.

"I had to tell him that he needed to get a whole lot better at presenting his cover"

I bet he looked even blanker, then ...

No. He turned red, though.

"electronic gismos under my bed"

What size batteries?

Idiot.

No. He turned red, though.

Trying not to laugh, I imagine. Poor reporter.

Dave

If he really wanted to bust a gut he'd visit your website, Dave.

Yeah, right.

Like the CIA is going to waste their time on an aging hippie gringa who lives in a jacal with a campesino family...

Not when they could be visiting a worn-out redneck on his tub.

They sure do like to waste their time with ageing hippie gringas when they are in Caracas by invitation of the Venezuelan government. You bet your ass they do, Dave.

Sorry that you are of interest to no one.

But moonraven, folks ARE interested.

Recently, some Amish saw Dave's picture on the bottom of his columns and asked if he could get Yul Brenner, Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, and Harry Dexter to come and defend their village from bandits.

True story....

heh

Well, I guess that puts Dave in the company of other dead people.

Pretty sharp, those Amish.

magnificent - !

Seven stars, even....

Of the characters in The Magnificent Seven the picture unquestionably looks most like the Robert Vaughn character.

As always, troll gets it.

Have a cookie!

--------------------------> @

and some coffee!

----------------------------> c|_|

Ahhh...you didn't say you were there per personal invitation of the Authorities. No wonder the NSA was tagging you. Most likely them, not the CIA. Are you flattered or offended? In a sense, it's flattering, I guess ....

BTW, a non-sequitur, but the CIA covert ops branch is actually ADVERTISING on RADIO for recruits-! That's the first time I've ever heard that! They really must be hard up for personnel!

Ahhh...you didn't say you were there per personal invitation of the Authorities.

Oh, come on, Nancy, you're not usually so gullible...

No, Nancy, Caracas is ALWAYS crawling with CIA. Like lice, they are.

Someone forgot about Eli Wallach--but Dave doesn't APPEAR to be Jewish....Who knows. Dead is dead.

Eli was the bandit, not one of the "seven samurai".

Important to keep your sub-references straight in my line of endeavor.

Since Dave dedicated this one to me, I have a bit of food for thought to give him.

For Dave, the Tao of D'oh.

D'oh: I didn't mean to suggest that Eli was one of the magnificent.

(I don't know what your line of endeavor is, but I worked for a number of years as a film critic in the States.)

I definitely see Dave as a bandit. Just not Jewish.

"Eli was the bandit, not one of the "seven samurai"."

And he didn't need no stinkin' badgers....

My mistake, that was from The Wildlife of the Sierra Madre.

Never did see the movie; was there just one bandit? They needed seven guys to protect them from one bandit? Must'a been some bandit.

My line of endeavor?

heh...esotericist, perhaps?

But I digress...

As for "real IDs", I stick with Heinlein.

When a society decays to the point where internal passports are required, and identification is mandatory...it's time to invest in canned goods and shotguns if you can't get the hell out of there.

I know, I paraphrased.

In terms of physical appearance--although Dave's pic leaves a lot to be desired--in all truth he probably most resembles Horst Buchholz....

I take a break from digging my bomb shelter to find this - good grief - !

At least you had a cookie and coffee waiting for you when you returned.

yer welcome

ROTFLOL, Troll - that wuz the best laugh I've had all week!

Unfortunately, digging your bomb shelter probably put you cheek to cheek with Dave....

I can't believe that we're so close to Bush being known openly as "Little Hitler"

He's doing this whole terrorism thing to us to to scare us into control. And once he has it, watch out! Oil, baby!

He's already known as "Little Hitler" to a lot of us. Where've YOU been hiding all these past 6 years?

Nothing like playing down the evil of Hitler through such an invidious comparison. If you want to look for the people who are taking away your rights, read this article and then look at Capitol Hill.

Dave

BushCo takes away the rights, & the spineless maggots on the Hill kowtow & tug their forelocks & pass it. Just like Hitler & the German government in '37-9.