If someone asks for your ID (and you're of driving age), you probably whip out your driver's license. In personal identification circles, what you obtain from your state's department of motor vehicles is considered a de facto national ID because most adults carry one and most places that require ID accept it. 
But it's not really a national ID. Each state has its own DMV, with its own computer systems, and its own unique license characteristics for protecting their integrity. Not surprisingly in the post 9/11 age, there are those in government who wish we'd all just carry a single, United States ID card--maybe even one that contains biometric data about us.

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Some really scary things are happening around Washington these days.
Congress has become a place of great incivility and rancor, which threaten to undermine any hope of legislative remedy to a myriad of problems, from Social Security to soaring health-care costs to immigration to a steadily crumbling manufacturing base once the envy of the world.

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The North poured out anti-American rhetoric — a tactic it has used in the past before entering negotiations — by claiming that Washington's "hostile policies" led it to develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent and warning against any attack to dislodge its leadership.
"The United States should be aware that the choice of a pre-emptive attack is not only theirs," the North's official news agency quoted the state-run newspaper Minju Joson as saying. "To stand against force with force is our unswerving method of response."

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TEL AVIV [MENL] -- Israel's military has been discussing the prospect of delaying its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank amid logistical difficulties and increasing Palestinian attacks.
Military sources said the General Staff has concluded that the withdrawal and eviction of 10,000 Jews from these areas would take place under Palestinian fire. They said most of the military brass has advised a delay of the withdrawal operation until early 2006.

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Imad Moustapha told CNN that Syria's decision came in the wake of recent "unfair and inaccurate" statements by U.S. officials that Damascus was allowing foreign fighters to cross Syria's border to aid in the insurgency in Iraq.
"This is actually the state of the affairs. Today, we are not cooperating with the United States," Moustapha told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
At the same time, Syria is still willing to work with the United States on security issues, he said.
"We're not saying we will not do this anymore," Moustapha said. "We are saying that this is not happening today because of this state of affairs between us and the United States."

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May 24, 2005—Last week, Chase’s credit cards division became the first credit card issuer to announce a contactless payments program. Beginning this summer, it will issue MasterCard and Visa credit cards embedded with RFID tags used to make transactions via radio communication with an RFID-enabled payment terminal. Chase calls the contactless functionality 'blink,' and plans to begin sending blink cards to millions of MasterCard or Visa cardholders in two undisclosed U.S. cities in late June, according to Scott Rau, senior vice president of payments at JPMorgan Chase & Co, which owns Chase credit cards.

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25 May 2005

The first drops of crude will snake their way along a pipeline that traverses some of the most unstable and war-ravaged countries on earth. This is the oil flow that was meant to save the West, and this morning the taps were turned on.
Only 42 inches wide, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan was supposed to alter global oil markets forever. The 1,000-mile project has transformed the geopolitics of the Caucasus and its impact is now being felt in the vastness of central Asia

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Story in full SPORTSMEN and women in Scotland were warned last night to be extra vigilant about their personal hygiene to avoid infection from a potentially-deadly toxin linked to the "superbug" MRSA.
Health Protection Scotland (HPS) issued the recommendation following an inquest into the death of Royal Marine Richard Campbell-Smith, who died from a virulent mutation of the MRSA bug infected with the toxin Panton Valentine Leukocidin (PVL).
It is thought Mr Campbell-Smith, 18, was infected after he suffered scratches to his legs while on a training run. Once inside his body, the bug multiplied, killing off his white blood cells. Within four days, he was dead.

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Your body could soon be the backbone of a broadband personal data network linking your mobile phone or MP3 player to a cordless headset, your digital camera to a PC or printer, and all the gadgets you carry around to each other.
These personal area networks are already possible using radio-based technologies, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or just plain old cables to connect devices. But NTT, the Japanese communications company, has developed a technology called RedTacton, which it claims can send data over the surface of the skin at speeds of up to 2Mbps -- equivalent to a fast broadband data connection.

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Wenran Jiang
May 18, 2005   
Although a few deals may be reached soon, there are still barriers ahead for Beijing and Ottawa
April marked a small leap forward in China's energy relations with Canada. China National Offshore Oil Corp put down US$150 million (HK$1.17 billion) for a one-sixth stake in MEG Energy Corp, an upstart oil sands company. This is China's first major investment in Canada's vast oil sands industry. Two days later, PetroChina International signed a memorandum of understanding with Canada's giant pipeline company Enbridge, promising cooperation in the US$2.5 billion Gateway pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast that may supply China with 200,000 barrels of crude a day once completed. China's large energy corporations are predicting more such deals but at a ``much bigger'' scale
 
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By Hanan Greenberg  

TEL AVIV - The IDF has released a video documenting Hamas members caught in the act of firing mortar shells at Israeli settlements, moments before a missile fired by the Air Force hit the terror cell.

The video features several small explosions, marking the mortar shells fired by the terrorists, followed by a large blast, marking the impact of the missile fired at the terror cell.

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced on Sunday that his country is interested in pursuing nuclear technology. Chavez said he would enlist the help of Iran in developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Venezuela possesses vast oil and natural gas reserves, substantial coal reserves, and ample hydroelectric power. Therefore it is not unreasonable to regard Venezuela’s nuclear ambitions as highly suspect.
Venezuela is one of the founding members of OPEC and is strongly aligned with the Islamic oil producing nations of the Middle East. President Hugo Chavez has repeatedly defended Iran in its dispute with the United States and Europe over its nuclear program, saying Iran has a right to atomic energy. Iran claims its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes, but ample evidence exists contradicting those claims and the United States believes that Iran is attempting to obtain nuclear weapons.

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