www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I had meant to share this info during another thread a while back...but thought some of you might find this a reason to renew your passport soon. I know I did...



I'm not worried about this because I running from anything. It's just that being a good "Libertarian" in the the age of globalization...I get a bit concerned about my government's "big brother" complex going to the international arena. It is still my opinion that the US govt has carried the "Patriot Act" and "war on terrorism" to an advantageous extreme that has more to do with it's own agenda as a government, than anything to do with global security and welfare. Also, not sure I want anti American terrorists being able to read my passport from afar electronically wherever I go in the world.

T Man,
Thanks for the heads up to the membership.

Looks like one more nail in the construction of George's Orwellian Police State.

I got my passport renewed a few months ago--good for 10 more years
But when the US Passport Center in New Hampshire sent out my old and new passport in an official US Government envelope via FedEx, it was OPENED for Inspection by Homeland Security
Do not know if this standard procedure now or what

I thought it is illegal to open official mail from a Gov't agency

Has this happened to anyone else???

Cygnus

TMan,
Regarding your comment about things going too far with security:

I read somewhere that almost as many people have died because of extra auto accidents since 9/11 as died in 9/11. This is because publicity about 9/11 and the government's over-security has disuaded so many people from flying that they drive instead and more die because of the extra risk in driving compared with flying. Once again, uintended consequences have negated the intended benefit.

T

RFID = The Mark of the Beast

_________________
"Jizz Long and Prosper!"

Next we will have bar codes embedded in our skulls or tattooed on our wrists so our benevelent omnipotent attorney general can make sure we are safe and behaving as he wishes. Adolph must be having a good laugh on us now. He may be burning in hell but his disciples are alive and well in Washington. I seem to remember someone once said a few generations back 'IS PEACE SO SWEET OR LIFE SO DEAR AS TO BE PURCHASED BY THE BONDS OF SLAVERY?". The true terrorists are the misguided fanatics who would trade liberty for false security.

Goetz out

_________________
In heaven there is no beer, that's why we drink it here!

Tequila remembers correctly about the increased auto related deaths after 9/11. The study was done by Cornell researchers, the full report is at:

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Mar ... riving.pdf

a summary is below:

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Beyond the tragic deaths on Sept. 11, 2001, there were more lives lost as an indirect result of the terrorist attacks. Using airline passenger and highway statistics, nearly 1,200 more people died in the months subsequent to the attacks when they switched their travel plans from flying to driving, according to Cornell University economists.

Between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2001, the economists found 725 driving fatalities linked to travelers changing their plans from air to less-safe car travel, which the economists have dubbed "The Sept. 11 Effect." An additional 400 to 500 people died in the first quarter of 2002 resulting from the Sept. 11 effect. (The researchers excluded September 2001 data.)

The economists -- Garrick Blalock and Daniel H. Simon, Cornell assistant professors of applied economics and management, and Vrinda Kadiyali, associate professor at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management -- gathered National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data from 1994 to 2003 on road fatalities to isolate a pure Sept. 11 effect over other possible road fatality causes. The researchers removed biases for gasoline prices, weather, road conditions and commercial driving fatalities. The researchers found there was no increase in commercial road fatalities following the Sept. 11 tragedy. Over time, for automobile passengers, the Sept. 11 effect diminished as tighter airport security measures decreased the fear of flying.

"The existence of the Sept. 11 Effect is consistent with theoretical models in behavior economics … our results show that the public response to terrorist threats can create unintentional consequences that rival the attacks themselves in their severity," write the authors in their paper, "The Impact of Sept. 11 on Road Fatalities: The Other Lives Lost to Terrorism."

The researchers explained two reasons why the Sept. 11 effect occurs. The first is simply a fear of flying, where travelers place too much weight on the possibility of another terrorist attack.

The second reason is the inconvenience of flying. Air travelers experienced many changes in airport security procedures, such as arriving at airports two hours before takeoff for domestic flights and negotiating through numerous checkpoints. Given the deaths arising from increased automobile travel, the economists called the airport hassle "a regrettable irony given the inconvenience resulted from measures taken to prevent (air travel) deaths from terrorism."