Proof of what a national ID service is good for.

[Ronin]

George Wright, Fugitive Behind 1972 Airplane Hijacking, Caught In Portugal

NEWARK, N.J. — A 1970s militant who escaped from a murder sentence in New Jersey and carried out one of the most brazen hijackings in U.S. history was captured in Portugal after more than 40 years as a fugitive, authorities said Tuesday. After decades of stagnancy, there was a sudden break in the case when police matched his fingerprint to a resident ID card.

They looked at reports from the 1970s, interviewed Wright's victims and the pilots of the plane he hijacked. They had age-enhanced sketches made and tried to track down any communications he may have made with family in the U.S.

The address in Portugal was one of several on a list of places they wanted to check out. But Schroeder said there was nothing about it that made it seem especially promising. "It was another box to get checked, so to speak," he said.

That changed last week, when details started falling into place with the help of authorities there.

"They have a national ID registry," Schroeder said. "They pulled that. That confirmed his print matched the prints with the DOC. The sketch matched the picture on his ID card."

By the weekend, U.S. authorities were on a plane to Portugal. And Monday, Portuguese police staking out his home found him.

the eeeeeevil (by mainstream US posture) national ID registry in Portugal catches an American criminal for deportation.......the irony is tasty.

[Furunculus]

evil by british standards too, glad a murderer was caught but the price is not worth it IMO, and i'd never advocate it for britain.

[Ronin]

what price exactly? I always hear Americans and Brits speak of this supposed price but I am not aware of any.

I am supposing you mean a price in terms of restrictions to your liberty...or do you mean actual monetary expenses??

[InsaneApache]

what price exactly? I always hear Americans and Brits speak of this supposed price but I am not aware of any.

I am supposing you mean a price in terms of restrictions to your liberty...or do you mean actual monetary expenses??

It's a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law thing.

[Fragony]

what price exactly? I always hear Americans and Brits speak of this supposed price but I am not aware of any.

I am supposing you mean a price in terms of restrictions to your liberty...or do you mean actual monetary expenses??

Very easy for the government to frame you if they have your fingerprints and DNA. They aren't getting mine I don't trust the police. Nor do I trust judges. I don't trust anything government, you can't

[Ronin]

Very easy for the government to frame you if they have your fingerprints and DNA. They aren't getting mine I don't trust the police. Nor do I trust judges. I don't trust anything government, you can't

Calm down Jason Bourne :P
and btw...my government doesn´t have my DNA....that have 1 picture and the fingerprint of my right index finger...that's it.

I think the £50 required for the card was what put people off the most. End of the day, lots of people agree and consent because they feel it will help them stop criminals opposed to turning into a corrupt-police state.

It's way cheaper than that over here....that price does sound steep for something that is mandatory

I'm happy to carry papers which prove I'm qualified to drive a motor vehicle. I'm happy to carry papers which enable me to travel internationally. I'm not happy to carry papers simply to walk down the street.

It just seems natural to me that if you are a citizen of a country, then the government issues you a document identifying you as such.....
if they don´t then what is a valid form of identification if you don´t drive a car or don´t want to travel internationally? You simply don´t have a legal id? doesn´t that raise all sort of problems?

And btw, I am 29 years old and live in the biggest town in my country, we have (cue ominous music) a national identity card.
Total number of times I was required to show ID just for walking down the street -> 0 I´m feeling I can live with that.

[Furunculus]

It just seems natural to me that if you are a citizen of a country, then the government issues you a document identifying you as such.....
if they don´t then what is a valid form of identification if you don´t drive a car or don´t want to travel internationally? You simply don´t have a legal id? doesn´t that raise all sort of problems?

And btw, I am 29 years old and live in the biggest town in my country, we have (cue ominous music) a national identity card.
Total number of times I was required to show ID just for walking down the street -> 0 I´m feeling I can live with that.

i know Andres has disagreed with me on this, but i remain unconvinced by his argument, and remain convinced that it is fundamentally a Common Law thing:

English Common Law with its roots in the concept of Natural Law has led to a presumption of negative liberty; I am free to do anything that which is not specifically proscribed by the law. Rights are defined as being against interference by the sovereign in the liberty of individual on matters of religion, speech, press, assembly, and free markets.

Continental Civil Law with its closer association with Legal Positivism has led to a presumption of positive liberty. It is my right, as codified in the system of laws, to be able to act in this manner. Rights are defined as things you are allowed to do by the sovereign such as freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly. You are enabled to do these things.

[Noncommunist]

It just seems natural to me that if you are a citizen of a country, then the government issues you a document identifying you as such.....
if they don´t then what is a valid form of identification if you don´t drive a car or don´t want to travel internationally? You simply don´t have a legal id? doesn´t that raise all sort of problems?

There's birth certificates which I remember us using when getting my passport for the first time. And at the moment, I've got a state ID which I've found useful when I need some sort of ID. Plus, beyond a certain age, pretty much everyone has a driver's license. At the moment, I don't since I'm on a small campus but I'm sure once I get a "real" job, I'll probably have one.

[Beskar]

what price exactly? I always hear Americans and Brits speak of this supposed price but I am not aware of any.

I am supposing you mean a price in terms of restrictions to your liberty...or do you mean actual monetary expenses??

I think the £50 required for the card was what put people off the most. End of the day, lots of people agree and consent because they feel it will help them stop criminals opposed to turning into a corrupt-police state.

[Slyspy]

I'm happy to carry papers which prove I'm qualified to drive a motor vehicle. I'm happy to carry papers which enable me to travel internationally. I'm not happy to carry papers simply to walk down the street.

[InsaneApache]

I'm happy to carry papers which prove I'm qualified to drive a motor vehicle. I'm happy to carry papers which enable me to travel internationally. I'm not happy to carry papers simply to walk down the street.

Indeed.

[lars573]

I'm happy to carry papers which prove I'm qualified to drive a motor vehicle. I'm happy to carry papers which enable me to travel internationally. I'm not happy to carry papers simply to walk down the street.

Counterpoint: What if those papers could be used as the previous two?

[Furunculus]

I think the £50 required for the card was what put people off the most. End of the day, lots of people agree and consent because they feel it will help them stop criminals opposed to turning into a corrupt-police state.

lol, sorry, who were those "lots" of British people who agree and consent to use compulsory ID cards?

i ask because i am having trouble identifying them................

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/07...ard_astroturf/

A cackling Phil Booth, No2ID National Coordinator, writes to tell us that six months after he first pestered the Identity & Passport Service about its quotes from ID card-toting happy campers in its publicity material, it has confessed - um yes, all but one of those quoted worked for the government.

money was never a terribly significant reason to object to ID cards, people felt it was no business of the government to enforce the carrying of ID's, i.e it wasn't terribly British.

End of.

[Louis VI the Fat]

evil by british standards too, glad a murderer was caught but the price is not worth it IMO, and i'd never advocate it for britain.

He's now 68 years old. I say the guy simply decided to live like a prince in the Portugal sun for forty years, only to retire to the free healthcare of the American prsion system.

[Louis VI the Fat]

See, now this is why OBL didn't hide in Portugal.

[a completely inoffensive name]

If different kinds of goods were given different amounts of consumption tax, I might be fine with it. I would prefer jacking up the income tax on individuals making $1,000,000+ but reduce corporate and capital gains taxes to zero. If the rich won't invest and create jobs, force them to invest or keep the bonuses in the company coffers.

[Fragony]

'Just taking Fragony's argument to it's logical extreme conclusion....that if the government had the desire to take that kind of negative involvement in a person's life they have ample means to do so even without having your fingerprints.'

Higher government has stealth bombers lower doesn't, you wouldn't be the first that gets destroyed because the person who wants it knows the mayor. All lower authorities have access though, and Guiseppe and Alfonso went to school together, their wives go to the same party's