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k4kyv
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Don
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« on: May 24, 2006, 12:10:00 PM »

ABOUT 10,000 people a week go to The Rack, a bar in Boston favored by sports stars, including members of the New England Patriots. One by one, the sheep hand over their driver's licenses to a doorman, who swipes them through a sleek black machine. If a license is valid and its holder is over 21, a red light blinks and the patron is waved through.

But most of the customers are not aware that it also pulls up the name, address, birth date and other personal details from a data strip on the back of the license. Even height, eye color and sometimes Social Security number are registered.

I wonder what happens to people who don't have a licence because they don't drive.  What about people from out of the country, whose driving permits don't contain the required data base?

http://tech2.nytimes.com/mem/technology/techreview.html?res=980DE5DE1038F932A15750C0A9649C8B63
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Don, K4KYV                                       AMI#5
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W1EUJ
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« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2006, 12:52:03 PM »

I think I can help answer this question, having possessed all forms of Mass ID...

Massachusetts has a set of IDs: a Driver's Licence, a State ID, and a Liquor ID.

If you don't drive, you can get either a Liquor ID if you are >21 (used for entering bars or buying liquor)
or a State ID. All recent versions of these IDs posess some form of data encoded stripe or figure.

Either the Mass. driver's licence or liquor ID may be presented to enter a bar or to purchase liquor. The state ID is NOT VALID for this purpose.

Out of state people may present a valid driver's licence, a state ID, or a passport. Military personnel may present military IDs.
Foreigners may present passports.

HOWEVER, in ACTUAL PRACTICE:

Liquor stores in the college towns, especially Boston, don't trust state IDs, even the Mass ones. They are too easy to fake (though newer versions of the Mass ID have improved). It is just too easy to take your old Mass ID and digitally modify it with a different age. Almost none of the liquor stores feature a card scanner. Military IDs, all Drivers, and Passports are accepted.

While Mass. liquor IDs should be universally accepted, they are not. Permitting sale of liquor to a minor is a huge offence, and many stores and bars will just refuse sale or entry for any reason. I have found that liquor stores in the suburbs ONLY accept driver's licences. Their choice...

--------------------------------------------------------

The Rack bar in Boston does accept ID from other states and countries. It isn't the blind gate that the article makes it to be - I would call this a poor write-up of what actually occurs. Really, when does a news article really describe something accurately? They seem to have a trial device that must have been made with the cooperation of the state government. Believe me, they are letting in people without Mass Drivers Licences, especially if they are attractive women.

When I was often stuck with the wrong ID for what I wanted to do, I learned the ID laws, as i did not have a driver's licence for my time at Northeastern U. in Boston.


Dave Goncalves
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k4kyv
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Don
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« Reply #2 on: May 24, 2006, 02:50:02 PM »

When I used to live in MA, I rarely if ever got carded.  I was in my early to mid 30's then.  My 70-years-old mother-in-law who now lives on the Cape, in Sandwich, told me that the local grocery store recently refused to sell her a bottle of wine because she was not carrying a valid ID on her person.

What ever happened to common sense in this country?
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Don, K4KYV                                       AMI#5
Licensed since 1959 and not happy to be back on AM...    Never got off AM in the first place.

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« Reply #3 on: May 24, 2006, 03:14:14 PM »

I get carded at the local grocery store....  One "girl" said that I looked like a police officer........" Why would THAT make a difference??"   its stupifying to ask 30+YO people for the ID... I always ask them how old I am after they return my license... Duh??  ----  but you will not get carded if ur a illegal alien asking for free medical services at the local Hospital ....
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W1EUJ
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« Reply #4 on: May 24, 2006, 04:27:50 PM »

Did I step into the old buzzard room? I hear buzzardly grumbings...

Where did the common sense go?

It fled the scene when when emotions ran beyond reason, and when the exeptional cases were made precedent.

Don, those changes were fairly recent (last decade). When where you a resident of the Commonwealth?
It thats you in the avatar photo, you would have been around when the last old blue laws were still enforced.


David Goncalves
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« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2006, 05:27:14 PM »

in new york state, you still cant buy beer on a sunday untill noontime....
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« Reply #6 on: May 24, 2006, 09:38:05 PM »

in new york state, you still cant buy beer on a sunday untill noontime....

In Arkansas, you can't buy beer on Sunday PERIOD.  The exception are private clubs and some restaurants.
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John Holotko
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« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2006, 10:31:07 PM »

I remember buying a bottle of liquor in NYS back when I was still 17 years old. The guy never asked for proof, it was almost never done back in those days. Then I remember one day buying liquor after I had just turned 18. Back in those days 18 was the legal drinking age. I remember the proprietor saying to me, "you know I never asked you your age".. I told him I was 18. He smiled at me and said, "I'd love to trade ages with you". I laughed, paid for my purchase and left. He never askied for a card, nor was there any magenetic strips to swipe nor was there any database. The only database was inside our memories. Seems like life was so much simpler years ago.
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« Reply #8 on: May 24, 2006, 11:35:49 PM »

ArKansas?Huh    yes,  i can dig that.........................       Picture ID??? draft cards didnt have no stinkin pic on them....
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W1EUJ
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« Reply #9 on: May 25, 2006, 06:10:01 AM »

This brings up the old conundrum - how is 18 old enough to fight and vote but not old enough to drink?

David Goncalves
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« Reply #10 on: May 25, 2006, 12:11:31 PM »

its 17 with mommies permission.....
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k4kyv
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« Reply #11 on: May 25, 2006, 12:25:35 PM »

It was 18 in most states back in the early 80's till Ronnie "Get the government off our backs" Raygun signed legislation that blackmailed the states into "voluntarily" raising it to 21 or else lose all their federal highway funding.

I have travelled in quite a few countries in N. Amercia, Europe and Africa, and the US "land of the free" is the only place where I have ever seen anyone asked for "papers, please" in order to buy a drink.  In most other countries of the world, people would find the idea downright bizarre.

And it's getting worse.  Nowadays some places are carding 70 years-olds before they will sell them alcohol or cigarettes.  But the sheep don't question it; they just show their papers and go on.
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Don, K4KYV                                       AMI#5
Licensed since 1959 and not happy to be back on AM...    Never got off AM in the first place.

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k4kyv
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« Reply #12 on: May 25, 2006, 12:29:29 PM »

its 17 with mommies permission.....

But not even mommie can give them permission to drink.  I recall a few months ago reading a newspaper story about some parents being arrested because they let their 18-yrs old daughter have a sip of their drink during a family meal at a restaurant.
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Don, K4KYV                                       AMI#5
Licensed since 1959 and not happy to be back on AM...    Never got off AM in the first place.

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This message was typed using the DVORAK keyboard layout.
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