Tagged as: texas
hurricane ike ~imminent~
so, yes, i’m glued to hurricane tracker sites, mostly weatherunderground and the sciguy @ chron.com.
last update has ike coming in to galveston, tho at this point, it’s anyone’s guess on what it might really do.
latest 5 day track
computer models
~the gulf coast~
right now, ike could go in anywhere between freeport and high island. the shaded portion on that map is my area ;O
i’m all hurricane prepped, tho, so now it’s just a game of wait and see.
something here just doesn’t add up…
recently, i went to get my texas driver’s license renewed. for the first time EVER, i was told that i had to ~remove~ my glasses for the license picture. now, it’s always been my belief that your license picture was supposed to look like you ~for identification purposes~. i’m nearsighted enough that without my glasses, i can’t see clearly a foot past my nose. (nevermind the astigmatism and weak eye muscles.) needless to say, i’m ~rarely~ without my glasses - bed, shower, that’s about it - none of which i’m apt to need identification for. needless to say, without my glasses, i don’t look like me. at all. so when i was told that i had to remove my glasses, i was a bit surprised.
i emailed for further clarification about this new requirement and was told by Rhonda Fleming at the DHS:
In 2005, the Texas Legislature approved funding for an Image Verification System. The Image Verification System (IVS) is Facial Recognition Technology software which is used to discover those applicants who have fraudulently obtained multiple driver licenses or identification cards within the driver license system. In 2006, the Department enrolled 20+ million license and ID records for comparison against each other to locate multiple records. As many as 2.9 million matches were returned. The Department is in the process of going through each of these records to determine those that require a criminal investigation as well as to cull those records that are matched due to clerical error. Since the application of IVS and the resulting 2.9 million matches, the Department determined that in order to properly utilize the Facial Recognition software and to further guard against identity theft and fraudulent use of our driver licenses and identification cards, all applicants will be requested to remove any eyewear before the photo is captured. We will also make sure that the applicant is looking straight at the camera and that the head is not tilted “up or down” creating an angle. Applicants with a physical limitation preventing them from looking straight at the camera are exempt.
The change in policy, which went into effect January of 2008, is necessary to enhance the biometric photograph that is stored in the Image Verification System. The ability to detect the pupils of the subject’s eyes, while looking straight at the camera without angles, ensures a more accurate image result during the comparison process. Unfortunately, the use of glasses distorts the pupils and prevents a quality biometric photograph from being taken.
The Department is committed to ensuring the integrity of all records and the Image Verification System enhances this goal. I apologize if our employees failed to fully explain the request to remove your glasses and hope that this explanation fully provides the information you seek. If you have any further questions or concerns regarding this matter, please feel free to contact me at this email address.
since we’re seeing this technology used more and more as a part of “homeland security”, it’s interesting to note that something as simple as wearing glasses can subvert the technology.
~don’t mess with texas~ : 6 flds members indicted
even after repeated refusals by witnesses to testify, instead choosing to plea the fifth, the grand jury handed down indictments against 6 flds members, including warren jeffs, their “prophet”. 5 of the members were charged with sexual assault of a child and the 6th member was charged with failure to report child abuse. one of the 5 was also charged with bigamy.
Jeffs has married girls as young as 11, according to evidence entered in court since the raid.
While the group acknowledges that unions between underage girls and men exist, they have stressed that such unions are rare and are the girl’s choice.
i hope they throw the book at the lot of them.
texas leads nation… in losing!
from today’s chronicle, Texas leads nation in abstinence education funding:
AUSTIN — Texas spent a nation-high $17 million last year for abstinence education programs that continue to stir debate about whether classes promoting virginity before marriage work in public schools.
Federal statistics in June showed that 52.9 percent of Texas students in ninth through 12th grades had sexual intercourse, compared with 47.8 nationally. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reported that Texas youths are less likely to use condoms.
Public schools in Texas are not required to offer sex education, but those that do must make the lessons abstinence-focused. Instructions about condoms are couched in terms of how often they fail, according to state law.
Abstinence-only supporters say more comprehensive sex education sends a mixed message to teenagers that having sex at their age is fine, while opponents cite surveys that they say prove abstinence lessons are failing.
woohoo, we’re outspending the rest of the nation in ~abstinence only~ education, while our teens have sex more often than the national average AND use condoms less often. why that must mean…. yep, you guessed it…
court: cps improperly removed flds children.
from the bbc, “Court overrules Texas sect raid”:
An appeal court has ruled that US officials had no right to seize 463 children from a polygamist sect in western Texas last month.
The court said that the reasons given for the children’s removal were “legally and factually insufficient”.
But it did not immediately order the return of the children to the ranch.
the court’s actual ruling is here: 3rd Court.pdf
personally, i think it’s a shame that a cult, whose beliefs are such that “there is no age at which a girl is too young to be married”, can exist. colour this a victory for pedophiles everywhere. :( if you want to be a pedophile, just start a church…. or join the flds.
a telling “cartoon” straight off the flds site, http://www.truthwillprevail.org. (blech)
update: 09/30/08 - it appears that the flds site is trying to ~clean up their act~, as the image is no longer available on their site. they won’t get off that easy, though, the intarwebs came through:
you created it, don’t go gettin’ all shy now, flds.
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