I received a letter from the TSA today!

[Insurgent]

As one of the draconian measuers put in to place as part of the post-9/11 hysteria, commercial drivers now have to be fingerprinted like a common criminal and have a background check done on them. This happens before we can even apply for the HazMat portion of the license. My job requires possession of a hazMat license, so I was forced to undergo this process. This process prevents the terrorists from getting a job driving a tanker truck and driving it in to a building.

A private company, Integrated Biometrics Technology, performs the back ground check, to the tune of $94. They, along with Lockheed Martin who makes the fingerprinting machines, are one of the companies profitting off of this legislation.

I finally got the letter today letting me know if I am determined to be a security threat. Apparently, I am not! 

Picture of the letter here http://public.fotki.com/LibertyCrew/jeremy/life_in_new_hampshire/tsa/tsa.html

[error]

Did you have to get a TWIC card, too?

[Insurgent]

Wow, I hadn't even heard of a TWIC card, so I found this article http://www.gsnmagazine.com/dec_04/DHS_program.html

To answer your question, no but I imagine it's not long before we'll have to have that as well 

[error]

Yeah, and you will probably have to pay for it out of pocket, too. I've been covering it for some time. It's really not so much an ID card as a giant mess.

[B]

My step-dad owns a trucking company here in Indiana and he's up all hours of the night battling against government regulations.  Sadly, I can't seem to get through to him how moving to new hampshire and starting fresh could help save his sanity...

[error]

My step-dad owns a trucking company here in Indiana and he's up all hours of the night battling against government regulations.  Sadly, I can't seem to get through to him how moving to new hampshire and starting fresh could help save his sanity...

Sometimes parents don't like to listen to their children, even when they're right. It helps in this case to point to a disinterested third party.

Like me. Consider this:

The Transportation Security Administration is requiring port and maritime workers and truckers to purchase a $159 identity document and undergo a "threat assessment" to provide secured access to seaports, airports and other such facilities, but doesn't yet have the technology to read the cards. . . .

Truckers who drive for large trucking companies will absorb the expense fairly easily, but this is going to squeeze a lot of small firms and owner-operators, who already operate on tight budgets, scrounge for their next load at truckstops, live out of their trucks and don't get home enough.

Just send him over here and I'm sure he'll think New Hampshire looks better and better every day.

[B]

He barely has time to eat, I don't think he'll take the time to come here.

[error]

He barely has time to eat, I don't think he'll take the time to come here.

Maybe he enjoys it?

[Insurgent]

My parents don't listen to what I have to say, either. They think I'm kind of crazy for moving to NH, because they just won't concern themselves with how sinister the people who own this country are.

They would think I'm nuts for complaining about having to be fingerprinted and checked out by the feds to drive a truck--it's for our safety!

[error]

Your parents really think you're dangerous? Perhaps you should ask them the question directly.

Then again, I am not on speaking terms with my parents, precisely because they refused to show me any respect -- before AND after reaching the age of 18.

[Insurgent]

I don't know if they think I am dangerous or not; we just have very different worldviews. I used to be just as ignorant as the next guy but I've been learning on my own for a number of years and like to think that I'm better informed.

Without a solid foundation of how the world really operates, the government lies sound a lot more believable!

[Lloyd Danforth]

. This process prevents the terrorists from getting a job driving a tanker truck and driving it in to a building.

You state it as if you believed it.

[Lloyd Danforth]

My step-dad owns a trucking company here in Indiana and he's up all hours of the night battling against government regulations.  Sadly, I can't seem to get through to him how moving to new hampshire and starting fresh could help save his sanity...

Aren't most trucking regulations national?

[Otosan]

 My sons don't listen to what I have to say, either. They think I'm kind of crazy for going to move to NH, because they just won't concern themselves with how sinister the people who own this country are.

They would think I'm nuts for complaining about having to be fingerprinted and checked out by the feds to drive a truck--it's for our safety!   

[error]

Aren't most trucking regulations national?

Most trucks are involved in "interstate commerce," the crossing of imaginary lines drawn on goddamned pieces of paper.