On Sat, 29 Jan 2011 16:23:02 -0800, Jessica B
wrote:

On Sat, 29 Jan 2011 19:05:11 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Sat, 29 Jan 2011 14:30:04 -0800, Jessica B
wrote:

Why do they charge $100 for that
card ..TIWC? Seems like it's kind of over the top. What does it get
you?

It gets you a fancy ID card that has all of your biometric data,
including fingerprints, encoded on to an internal chip. All people
involved in public transportation are now required to have one.

Sounds like it gets the government a whole lot more than they need for
people who take a few people sailing. I guess I could see it for a
tanker or a ferry or something. I really wouldn't want all that info
on a chip.

Typical government stuff, one size fits all. We had a joke in the
army that you could have any color shirt you wanted as long as it was
green. That joke obviously predates today's fancy desert camouflage
outfits. The idea with the TWIC card is to ensure that all people
with access to port infrastructure areas, docks, builldings, etc.,
have proper security credentials.

It's entirely possible that our friend in question has some sort of,
uhhh, "issue" in his past that would preclude security authorization.