If you don't have enough to worry about, here's one more little irritating detail. Have you heard about Real ID?

A new federal law that goes into effect in 2009 will require every driver in the US to have a Real ID, which requires you to have your birth certificate, social security number, and passport scanned into a national computer system.

Congress passed the bill without funding, but state governments are responsible following 200 pages of guidelines to get the job done. The cost is estimated to be in the billions of dollars spread over the fifty states.

Somewhere in those 200 pages, maybe it will deal with the problem of people who never travel out of the country and don't have a passport. I would not be surprised if Big Brother soon requires us to have a birth certificate, social security number, and a passport issued when we are born.

It's all in the name of security, of course, but while it may make us a bit safer, it also erodes our freedom a bit.
Howard