From: Black Unicorn <unicorn@polaris.mindport.net>
To: Duncan Frissell <frissell@panix.com>
Message Hash: d3b09cb9eaba374d129fc8e818fcdf5d28f0f25fc5603bab2ac7ae38808209fb
Message ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.951106061220.8722D-100000@polaris.mindport.net>
Reply To: <199511060208.VAA14123@panix.com>
UTC Datetime: 1995-11-06 11:35:01 UTC
Raw Date: Mon, 6 Nov 1995 19:35:01 +0800
From: Black Unicorn <unicorn@polaris.mindport.net>
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 1995 19:35:01 +0800
To: Duncan Frissell <frissell@panix.com>
Subject: Re: using PGP only for digital signatures
In-Reply-To: <199511060208.VAA14123@panix.com>
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.951106061220.8722D-100000@polaris.mindport.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
On Sun, 5 Nov 1995, Duncan Frissell wrote:
> >> Consider this: most people in the U.S. do not have a "credential" that
> >> shows them to be U.S. citizens. (Hint: most people in the U.S. do not have
> >> passports.)
>
> My passport is always close at hand. I love an unchallengeable credential
> that has neither my address nor my SS# on it. I also carry my birth
> certificate which I use for most non-driving interactions. It doesn't have
> much useful info on it. Secured credit cards which can be obtained in any
> name are also handy.
I have often found and come across considerable problems using a
passport, local or foreign, as identification. Many estlablishments
simply refuse to accept them, as if they are inferior somehow to the
non-standardized frequently forged allmighty driver's license. This is
mostly ignorance and a lack of common reference, as few americans
actually HAVE these documents, or have even SEEN them. (No, I'm not
kidding). I found this particularly distressing in D.C. To some degree
it's institutional, where recording a "drivers license number" on some
form becomes problematic for the $5.50 and hour clerk who can't find the
field "driver's license number" anywhere on the passport.
While I just take my business elsewhere when that is possible, I think
it's interesting to note how desperatly people cling to the social
security number and completely inept identifications like state issued
licenses as if to let go would mean a decent into the bleeding hell of
anarchy. (In its popularly assumed and feared form)
---
"In fact, had Bancroft not existed, potestas scientiae in usu est
Franklin might have had to invent him." in nihilum nil posse reverti
00B9289C28DC0E55 E16D5378B81E1C96 - Finger for Current Key Information
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