Off-Peak Immigration Series~1
It's been over a year since I resigned my job enforcing US law, and I'm ready to break my silence. I've commented here and there on the whole immigration debate, but I haven't put my thoughts down in...
View ArticleFriendly fire and the problem of infantry IFF
IFF is the military acronym for Identification Friend or Foe. For many years, the military aircraft of advanced countries have had special IFF transmitters that automatically identify them as...
View ArticleDemocrats: people over party
On both MyDD and the Daily Kos, there has been a lot of teeth-gnashing and fretting over the fact that many Democratic ads haven't mentioned the party anywhere in the ad. The general feeling was that...
View ArticleHomeland Security Ignores Its Own Security Warning
A blistering report on the effectiveness and privacy concerns of using RFID technology for identification purposes (i.e. allows criminals to lift personal data from documents such as the new...
View ArticleThreatened with arrest in Bowling Green, Ohio.
I went to school in Bowling Green from 1st grade till I received my computer science degree at Bowling Green State University in 1984. Mayor Quinn was my teacher for my favorite thing I did in high...
View ArticleOn Obama and Anti-Black Racism
I wanted to let you all in on a conversation that is taking place in the comments over at Open Left about Obama and anti-Black racism. My contribution to this conversation is rather long (and a bit...
View ArticleNumber of Self-Described Democrats Soars Nationwide
Rasmussen released a telling and significant report yesterday, which concludes that the number of Democrats in the United States has "soared" to historical levels. According to the release: As the...
View ArticlePart V: The American Post-Incarceration Crisis
Welcome to America, where 2.3 million people are locked up, and each year 600,000 of those individuals will be coming home, often to communities near you. For the most part, they will leave prison...
View ArticleThere will never be any documentation that will satisfy the AZ law. Ever.
Not long after 9/11, while driving from my home in Indiana to stay with my dad in PA for an extended time before he died, I lost my wallet somewhere on Interstate 70. I was scheduled to start a new job...
View Articlebin Laden's DNA: A primer on forensic DNA identification and its use to...
Twenty-five years ago the process of identifying someone by typing their DNA was extremely difficult and time consuming. It was not done on a large scale.Fast-forward to today, where we are told that...
View Article"whatever your gender identity is, that should be on the license"
It has been a week of pretty depressing stories, including a death of a brave transwoman in Malaysia, a shooting in DC, a housekeeper being fired for being trans, and a walk-out at a funeral. So some...
View ArticleThen he asked me for I.D. (Update)
A few nights ago I was on my way to my studio with a friend for our regular Friday evening band rehearsal. As is our custom we stopped at a market near the studio and picked up some beer and a couple...
View ArticleOn the Matter of Identification
Today in Argentina, the Argentinian Congress will debate a proposed gender identity law. If passed transgender Argentinians will be allowed to correct their names, gender, and image registration in...
View ArticleWelcome to adulthood! Now stand in line.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (the DOT, DMV, or Pit of Lost Souls, whatever one chooses to call it) was hidden behind a strip mall in my town, on an odd road neither of my parents used all...
View ArticleWe comes to steals yer gender
There is some good news for our transgender and interest sisters and brothers in Australia. Australian passports for transpeople no longer require sex reassignment surgery before a gender change is...
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Voting while Trans
The National Center for Transgender Equality has created a new resource…this time for voting. Voting While Trans addresses the problems that transgender people may encounter when we go to vote,...
View ArticleNow "I" Have to Show My Birth Certificate
I just received a notice on the renewal of my Drivers License in Wisconsin. I've had one since 1969. It now requires I bring a certified copy of my Birth Certificate with me when I renew along with...
View ArticleComing to a DMV Near You ...
I just completed what should have been a simple task: renewing my drivers license. In the past the most odious things about it was taking a half or full day off work (the DMV keeps "bankers hours"...
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The Daily Bucket: Heron or Eagle?
The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Snails, fish, insects, weather, meteorites, climate,...
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Privacy in Idaho
Idaho's transportation department has made the surprising decision (because this is, after all, Idaho) to amend its policy on driver's licenses to allow transgender people to change the sex designation...
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Pentagon acknowledges transgender veterans
Early in May the Pentagon formally recognized that there are transgender veterans for the first time. We can only hope that it is the first step to allowing transpeople to serve openly in the...
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Seven years to victory
The Social Security Administration announced on Friday that all that is now required to change the gender identity on their Social Security records is for individuals to submit government-issued...
View ArticleThen He Asked Me for I.D. (the sequel)
Two years ago I had my highest rated diary ever,Then he asked me for I.D. It rode the rec list for a couple of days and garnered 323 comments.The situation that inspired that diary happened again, with...
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The Daily Bucket: Harbor Seal, have we met before?
The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note of any observations you have made of the world around you. Rain, sun, wind...insects, birds,...
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AMA endorses changing birth certificate gender without surgery
The American Medical Association has adopted a new policy supporting the elimination of requirements for sex reassignment surgery in order to change the sex listing on a birth certificate. The new...
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Meanwhile in Europe
Alessandra Bernaroli has been battling with the Italian government for the past five years to keep her legal marriage in tact.When I was small I liked to play with little girls, I was looking to...
View ArticleAMA tells States to stop forcing surgery on Transgender residents wanting...
States throughout this nation insist the lowest economic bracket in this country, no not undocumented immigrants, but people born here also denied rights due to arbitrary boundaries defining...
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Study estimates 24000 transgender people will be disenfranchised by Voter ID
The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law has released a new study, this time concerning the affects of Voter ID. The Potential Impact of Voter Identification Laws on Transgender Voters in 2014...
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Rhode Island changes procedures to benefit transgender people
A change in regulations in Rhode Island has made it easier for transgender people born in that state to revise the information on their birth certificates.The regulations were filed on Thursday with...
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Top Comments - Charlie, Identification and Einfühlungsvermögen
I identify as a proud Kossack on Daily Kos. I care, I am involved here, I am engaged here, I am invested here. I care about what happens here. I care about how we engage with the problems of our world,...
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ACLU challenges anti-transgender Michigan identification policy
The ACLU is representing six transgender Michigan residents who are suing the Michigan Secretary of State in federal court (Eastern District of Michigan) seeking to change a policy which almost...
View ArticleIdentification in a changing society
I am a transwoman. This means that I have a female mind and was born with a male body. I now identify as female while making the effort to change my body to match how my brain says it should be.This is...
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The Daily Bucket - eagle feather
Wrapping up "Bald Eagle & Other Predators" Week at the Daily Bucket....The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of...
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11-year-old gifted student suspended 1 year for having a pot leaf that wasn't...
You wanna get high? Don't smoke these, they're Japanese maple leaves The Roanoke Times has a terribly disturbing story of a Bedford Middle School 11-year-old who was suspended last year for having a...
View ArticleMichigan changes ID policy
Effective March 10, the Michigan Secretary of State has altered the policy on transgender people changing the gender on our driver's license. Under the new policy, a passport denoting current gender is...
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The Daily Bucket - a wake of vultures
There’s a rock in the middle of a bay near my home where sometimes birds or otters hang out, about 250 yards/meters from the shore, far from human interference. Recently I watched half a dozen Turkey...
View ArticleNuts & Bolts: Inside a Democratic Campaign—having allies who can press...
Welcome back, Saturday Campaign D-I-Y’ers! For those who tune in, welcome to the Nuts & Bolts of a Democratic campaign. Each week, we discuss issues that help drive successful campaigns. If you’ve...
View ArticleGeorgia AG chooses not to be involved in name-change cases
A panel of three judges from the Georgia Court of Appeals will be deciding whether or not transgender Georgians have the legal right to change their names.Two cases from Columbia County Superior Court...
View ArticleNew rules in Delaware
State officials in Delaware are changing regulations involving alteration of birth certificates.Officials are deleting current language that says a birth certificate can be amended upon receipt of a...
View ArticleWithout identification, poor people stay in the shadows—and Republicans want...
Imagine trying to navigate life in the United States without having some kind of identification. Without an ID, it’s near impossible to obtain lawful employment, register your children for school, and...
View ArticleThis could happen to you
A Cleveland woman was nearly attacked because she refused to expose herself to prove she was not transgender.The woman was talking with friends at a bar when a young lady walked up to her.No, I am not...
View ArticleTrauma in the courthouse
The Liljestrand family visited Stanley Mosk Courthousein Los Angeles for a momentous occasion in their 14-year-old daughter's transition. Their daughter was seeking to have her name and gender...
View ArticleTrans people sue Alabama
The ACLUhas filed suit against the state of Alabama on behalf of Darcy Corbitt and two other transgender people, claiming that the states driver's license policy "violates the privacy, due process,...
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Party ID trends
Trump just wrapped up a big rally in Minnesota that proved his base remains large and enthusiastic. His approval among Republicans is at an all-time high of 90%. Some pundits have made the observation...
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Dawn Chorus: Who's that Gull?
I love all the gulls. They are graceful, powerful, versatile, beautiful and intelligent. Gulls have a complex language and interact with other creatures extensively. Among the most adaptable birds out...
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The Daily Bucket - birds not posing
The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns.We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part...
View ArticleThe FBI asks for help identifying Trump’s terrorists. Internet (and local...
Yesterday’s insurrection at the nation’s capitol was pure chaos. It reportedly left four people dead; one woman was shot and killed by Capitol police when she attempted to breach a barricaded doorway...
View ArticleThanks to Republican hate, Oklahoma is the first state in the nation to do a...
Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has been absolutely relentless when it comes to attacking trans and nonbinary youth in the state of Oklahoma. On Tuesday, Stitt signed a hateful bill into law that bans...
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“If they can do it to a former President, imagine what they can do to you"
I don’t know about you, but I’m still amazed at the alacrity, the sheer speed at which Donald Trump’s supporters have come out to defend him after the FBI executed a search warrant on his estate. You...
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By putting them down, he raises them up: How Trump woos new recruits into his...
Steven Hassan, in Combatting Cult Mind Control (1988, p. 150), states,Remember, every person is different, and every cult member is at war between his cult identity and his real identity. At any time,...
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