IRL Scores The First Street Scene Of Season - UPDATED

Photo: indyracing.com

This race comes just one week before the gran'daddy of all temporary street races - The Long Beach Grand Prix.

Today, the legends of American open wheel racing will be on and around the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. This race may be the only venue that the IRL will have that will remind racing fans of how good it was when American open wheel racing was unified and represented by one major series ... CART!

Back when CART was king, it was not uncommon for the first fifteen places on the grid starting the race on a closed temporary street circuit to have qualified within one second of each other. Today, when the IRL lines up, only the first six places on the grid will be that close.
Realistically, These first six places will be the racers to watch:

Grid Position - Car# - Driver Name - Speed - Sponsor, Team

1 - 27 - Franchitti, Dario - 104.054 - Klien Tools, Andretti/Green
2 - 09 - Dixon, Scott - 103.522 - Target, Chip Ganassi
3 - 11 - Kanaan, Tony - 103.493 - 7/11, Andretti/ Green
4 - 06 - Hornish Jr, Sam - 103.389 - Marlboro, Penske
5 - 03 - Castroneves, Helio - 103.270 - Marlboro, Penske
6 - 07 - Herta, Bryan - 103.058 - XM Radio, Andretti/Green

More about the St. Petersburg venue, this from indyracing.com -

Sunday, April 2, 2006
City invests in the long-term future of Honda GP of St. Pete
By Dave Lewandowskiindycar.com

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – When you live in the Sunshine State, where do you travel for spring break?

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker and family packed their bags, put gas in the car and drove 15 minutes across town to a hotel for three days of fun on St. Petersburg Beach.

“Just getting out in the morning and walking on the beach, you feel like you’re in a different country,” said 10-year-old Julann Baker. “We do a lot of things on the beach and just have fun.”
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Coupled with spring break visitors on Gulf of Mexico beaches (about nine miles from downtown), Baker said the economic impact of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is akin to a Final Four.
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"I love the St. Pete course,” Cheever Racing’s Chris Festa said. “It's easier to drive than most street courses. It's not so bumpy. There's one big bump on the back section, but that's about it. And you can actually pass on this street course, which is unusual for street courses. I love coming here. It's like being on a regular road course."
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We pray for a safe race.

This will be the first race of the year for the Rahal/Letterman team since they did not race last week due to the death of one of their drivers (Paul Dana). Their drivers, Buddy Rice and Danica Patrick will be starting Pos. #7 (1.31 sec. behind the leader) and Pos. #14 (2.23 sec. behind the leader) respectively.

UPDATE: This from indycar.com - "I Drove Like I Stole It!" (Castroneves)

Castroneves climbs to new heights with street-course victory
By Dave Lewandowskiindycar.com

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The fencing lining the 1.8-mile Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg temporary street circuit isn’t as high as many oval facilities, but Helio Castroneves nonetheless enjoyed the view.

Thousands of sun-splashed fans in the front stretch grandstand were treated to Castroneves’ eighth career fence climb after the Marlboro Team Penske driver won under caution on the streets of St. Petersburg.

Scott Dixon, who started on the front row and led 36 laps, was runner-up with Tony Kanaan third. The 2003 and 2004 IndyCar Series champions, respectively, won road-course races last year. Now Castroneves can boast, too.

“I was really pushing out there,” Castroneves said after climbing down from the fence but not necessarily returning to earth. “I was trying to go as fast as I could. Even when I was in the lead, I was getting too close to the wall, trying to make up time.”
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Scott Dixon, who started on the front row and led 36 laps, was runner-up with Tony Kanaan third. The 2003 and 2004 IndyCar Series champions, respectively, won road-course races last year. Now Castroneves can boast, too.
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A tough race for all. A great venue worthy to be in any racing series. This will be a race to travel to or watch every year.

Castroneves leads all drivers by 23 points in the point standings after two of fourteen races.

It's Monday, Monday for the "USF" Bruins

Photo by Andy Lyons, © Getty Images - Jordan Farmar #1 of the UCLA Bruins celebrates after scoring a basket against the LSU Tigers in the second half during the semifinal game of the NCAA Men's Final Four on April 1, 2006 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Now THAT is an "Ugly Sports Face" ... a well earned one at that!

This from AP via Yahoo Sports -

(2) UCLA 59, (4) LSU 45
By EDDIE PELLS, AP National Writer
April 1, 2006 AP - Apr 1, 11:10 pm EST

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Oh, Baby, can UCLA play defense.

Throw some offense in there on the same night and not even LSU and its gigantic star, Glen "Big Baby" Davis, had a chance. The Bruins shut him down Saturday en route to a 59-45 victory over the Tigers that put them one win away from their 12th national title.

The last step in the quest to hang another banner at Pauley Pavilion comes Monday in the final against Florida, a 73-58 winner over George Mason in the first semifinal.

Luc Richard Mbah A Moute was UCLA's top performer in this one, finishing with 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting, to go with nine rebounds. But he got plenty of help.
Read On>>

And this from the Rocky Mountian News -

Bruins' defense shuts down Tigers
By Randy Holtz, Rocky Mountain News April 1, 2006

INDIANAPOLIS – Hey, isn’t this the Final Four?

Isn’t this supposed to be the most riveting, compelling, dramatic basketball on the planet? No one seemed to get that memo on Saturday, fans streaming out of the RCA Dome halfway through the second of two nondescript games on an unusually forgettable day of hoops on the college game’s grandest stage.

After Florida led nearly from start to finish in Game 1 to dispatch George Mason, UCLA followed suit with a surprising 59-45 thrashing of Louisiana State, the Bruins using their defense to harass the abysmally shooting Tigers into easy submission.

The Bruins, a No. 2 seed, and the Gators, a No. 3, will hook up on Monday night in what fans hope will be a far more entertaining game than the ones they saw Saturday. UCLA will try to extend its record number of NCAA titles to 12, while Florida will be going for its first. Tipoff is 7:17 p.m. MDT on CBS 4.
Read On>>

UCLA "Faces" The Music In The Final Four

Photo: MIKE WINTERS/daily bruin senior staff - UCLA coach Ben Howland has an 8-4 career record in the NCAA Tournament in five appearances with three different programs.

We wish UCLA well against LSU today in the Final Four.

While watching the game I will be watching for the faces that exude the best of what it means to have an Ugly Sports Face. We have seen them throughout our viewing of sporting contests, however, they are never better than when everything is on the line.

This from the Washington Post -

Essay
Rarrgh
The Ugly Sports Face: We're So Not Ready For Primal Time
By Hank Stuever
Washington Post Staff WriterSaturday, April 1, 2006; Page C01

Feel like a winner? Then, please, make a face like the Devil's: Bare your teeth and open your mouth in a triumphant, testosteronic "Yeahrarrrgh!" Squint your eyes and furrow your brow with the cruel, overbearing certainty of your complete dominance. Be Mel Gibson in "Braveheart" and Howard Dean in Iowa and Ozzy Osbourne in 1981 all at once. Clench your fists and punch the air. Let the world see your best Ugly Sports Face.
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Ugly Sports Face (USF) should not be included among the freeze-frame oofs and grimaces captured when the ball is in play, when an athlete has no control over what his face might be doing. We all understand the exertion there, in midair or mid-catch or mid-tackle or mid-serve; getting or giving the punch, coming into the final lap, colliding with the catcher at home. Those are moments of pure intensity, and in many obvious ways, they are beautiful contortions. The twisted masks that are athlete's faces only begin to hint at what kind of intensity it takes to play the game.
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Rather, USF comes after the score. It is a phenomenon of end zones and victory laps, when an athlete is more in control of the face he shows the world -- the swish of a three-pointer, or the overtime squeaker, the winning difference of milliseconds.
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But what is more commonly seen in all competitions, in young men and women, even at chess tournaments, is Ugly Sports Face. Every last person is now a gladiator. The Beast has been loosed -- forget the Gatorade; get the holy water. That young man at the dinner table who manages to catch the olive tossed by his father at his mouth -- even he entitles himself to some USF.
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I pray for many USF opportunities in this coming political year. USF for our efforts in Iraq - USF for a fence on our borders - USF for the defeat of Rob Reiner's Proposition 82 and etc!!

Maxine wishes one and all USF opportunities, especially for UCLA as it plays LSU today.

Booze Health Benefits Studies Drowning In Flaws

A man in a liquor store. An international team of researchers have found that most studies suggesting that moderate drinking staves off heart disease are flawed (AFP/File)

It never fails, come St. Patrick's Day, Spring Break, Graduation, the Holiday season, hey! - a slow news day, there are these stories about scientific studies that extol the health virtues of drinking alcohol (...in moderation).

Some truth about how these studies were conducted are coming to light and the results are a little woozey.

Excerpts from AFP via Yahoo News -

Studies showing health benefits of alcohol are flawed
Thu Mar 30, 6:17 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Most studies suggesting that moderate drinking staves off heart disease are flawed, an international team of researchers concluded in a report.

In the suspect studies, people who had cut back or quit drinking because they were ill, frail or on medication were counted as "abstainers," whose death rates were compared to that of drinkers, said the study released in San Francisco.
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"These findings suggest that caution should be exerted in recommending light drinking to abstainers because of the possibility that this result may be more apparent than real," said Tim Stockwell of the Centre for Addictions Research at the University of Victoria.
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Too few studies have been done without the "abstainer error" to conclude that drinking has health benefits, the researchers said.
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This Attitude Should Scare You - A Rant ...

The attitude expressed in this photo should scare every citizen of the U.S. This is why MAXINE believes this whole immigration issue is not really about opportunity, freedom and citizenship. This flap is about illegal occupation and squatters rights without the recognition of the rule of law.

We fought a war (the Mexican-American war). We won the war (the treaty was signed in 1847 just one mile from where I live - Campo de Cahuenga). We put a system in place that is the envy of the world ... not just of Mexicans ... that represents the values of American Culture. Get on board, or go home - but definitely get over it. This is OUR hard fought for HOMELAND and that is the true history! No, we will not give it back or allow you to just occupy it.

This goes for you Canadians too ... well, the really socialist ones anyway!!

... 'nuff said.

The Cost Of Freedom - The Home Front

Photo: Shell Oil in Kowloon, Hong Kong c 1988

This from USA Today-

Ethanol shortage could up gas prices
By James R. Healey, USA TODAY Thu Mar 30, 6:45 AM ET

Gasoline prices will be unusually high and shortages might occur this summer, because the U.S. ethanol industry can't keep up with the demand for fuel-grade alcohol to mix with gasoline, the head of the U.S. Energy Information Administration told a Senate committee Wednesday.

Merely "short-term challenges," countered Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, the ethanol trade group. Whatever can't be produced here can be imported, he said.

But imported ethanol, mostly from Brazil, carries a 54-cents-per-gallon tariff that would boost fuel prices even more, unless it were waived. (Story: Energy independence spurs Brazil to boost ethanol goals)

Ethanol - grain alcohol made mainly from corn in the USA - is being promoted by the auto and ethanol industries and the government as a substitute for gasoline, usually in a mix called E85 that is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.
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EIA has forecast summer gasoline prices averaging about $2.50 per gallon, or 12 cents more than last year. It has not, however, directly blamed ethanol shortages.

EIA reported Wednesday that U.S. inventories of gasoline - though still robust - dropped 5.4 million barrels last week, the biggest drop since the week ended Aug. 22, 2003.

The wholesale price of gasoline for summer-month delivery rose several cents a gallon, to about $1.91.

Ethanol, by contrast, ranged from about $2.49 to $2.52.
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Actually, this is good news because some of the fuel consuming public has found a way to participate in the war on terror. Demand is up for E85. This article is just reflecting the cost of freedom on the home front.

E85 Incentives vs Hybrid Power

(Photo: urbanext.uiuc.edu)

These two articles illustrate the difference in the 'greening' of America approaches and the freedom from our addiction to oil.

This from AP via Convenience Store News -

Kansas Offers More E85 Outlets

HUTCHINSON, Kan.--Although only ten gas stations in Kansas are curently offering E85 fuel, more gas stations are now poised to offer the ethanol-gasoline blend, reported the Associated Press.

Officials say three more will come on line in the next 40 days and an additional 20 are possible by the end of the year, according to the report.

"It's starting to take off like wildfire," Robert White, deputy director of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, said of E85 sales. White told AP that demand is rising as more vehicles capable of using the fuel are produced.
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In Kansas, people who buy a vehicle that can use e85 gasoline are qualified for a $750 tax credit if they purchase 500 gallons of fuel in the first two years. State and federal tax credits also cover about 70 percent of the distributors' costs in converting a regular fuel line to an E85 line, AP reported.

Last week, the Kansas Legislature passed a bill lowering the tax on E85 from 24 cents to 17 cents per gallon. That bill awaits Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' signature, AP reported.

"It makes the tax fairer, because with the flat tax for all fuels you were actually paying more per mile when using E85," Sue Schulte, communications director for the Kansas corn growers and grain sorghum producers associations, told AP. "And it encourages the use of E85, too."
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Although some people think this is a better idea.

This excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter -

March 22, 2006
New Lexus Hybrid Sedan Emphasizes Performance Over Efficiency

Are you looking for a high-performance luxury sedan, but hoping to avoid fuel economy in the teens? The new Lexus GS 450h may be your dream car. The sedan's fuel economy of 25 miles per gallon (mpg) in the city and 28 mpg on the highway doesn't break any mileage records, but the GS 450h does set a new performance level for hybrids. The rear-wheel-drive sedan accelerates to sixty miles per hour in only 5.2 seconds; according to Autos.com, that places it on par with the Porsche Cayman S.
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This is exciting that an automobile company is producing a HYBRID car that is among the quickest 10% of all production automobiles but I believe this misses the point in aid to the world war on terror.

Isn't it the point to become less addicted to oil based products and thereby reduce the major funding source of radical Islamic fascists?

For every gallon of E85 consumed, a gallon of oil based petrol fuel is not. A fair trade as MAXINE sees it!

Grinding Meathead - Sausage Out, Chorizo In?

(Photo: tastingmenu.com)

In a suprising move rarely seen in California politics, a major political figure, in control of hundreds of millions of dollars, resigns. Rob Reiner tendered his resignation today and suggests to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that he appoint his equally liberal political associate, Hector Ramirez. Gov. Arnold, felt comfortable "cooking" with similar meat. A new "controversy meal" is served.

Excerpts from LA Weekly, Bill Bradley's New West Notes -

FLASH: Rob Reiner Out Of First 5 (With Updates Throughout Day)
March 29th, 2006

Controversial movie director/initiative promoter Rob Reiner has resigned his long expired term as chairman AND member of the California Children and Families Commission (aka First 5). Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed Para Los Ninos chief operating officer Hector Ramirez to replace him. Para Los Ninos is a very well-respected nonprofit family service organization in the Los Angeles area which receives funding from First 5.
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UPDATE: Support for Reiner's Preschool for All initiative, Proposition 82 on California's June ballot, has spun downwards to barely more than 50 percent in new polling, a perilously low level of support for a complex fiscally-oriented ballot measure.

Prop 10 is funded by a 50 cent a pack tax on cigarettes. Prop 82 would be funded by an income tax surcharge on high-income Californians. In both cases, Reiner's stewardship of taxpayer money is at issue.
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UPDATE: Schwarzenegger may have created another controversy for himself with the appointment of Hector Ramirez as First 5 Chairman. Ramirez is a political associate of Reiner's. The Proposition 82 campaign was launched at an event outside Para Los Ninos. Ramirez served on the executive committee of the First 5 LA's Preschool For All Initiative, which was, as I reported earlier, Reiner and First 5's initial attempt to institute a publicly-funded universal preschool program and served as a model for Prop 82.

Ramirez is also a leading member of the National Council of La Raza ("The Race"), an advocacy organization on a variety of issues, including immigration reform, in which it is frequently opposed to Schwarzenegger's policy.

Ramirez, according to his bio, serves as co-chair of the California Region Education Committee for the National Council of La Raza. The Packard Foundation (based on the Hewlett-Packard Co. fortune), which has worked closely with Rob Reiner on the First 5 program in general and Preschool For All in particular, is a major funder of the National Council of La Raza.
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UPDATE: Mark Fabiani called a little while ago. Fabiani has very recently come on board as public relations counsel to Rob Reiner. Fabiani has extensive high-level political and PR experience. He is perhaps best known for serving as special counsel to President Bill Clinton handling the Whitewater controversy.
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With Rob Reiner (Meathead to sausage) being able to replace himself with a staunch political ally, it will be hard for him to continue to allege that he was pressured out due to partisan politics. The issue has always been Reiner's possible illegal use of government funds to pursue/fund personal political objectives.

UPDATE: Friday, March 31 - More excerpts from LA Weekly, Bill Bradley's New West Notes -

Rob Reiner's End Game

By the end of last week, it was evident that movie director/initiative promoter Rob Reiner was in very hot political water. The California State Auditor investigation of his California Children and Families Commission, previously not scheduled, was now imminent, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office continued its review, his Proposition 82 universal preschool initiative was in trouble in the polls, his friend Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was pressured by the controversy and involvement of his associates with the commission, and Reiner, hardly a man bereft of public relations counsel, was attempting to hire several high-powered PR and lobbying pros.
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“The audit is clearly important,” said (California State Auditor Elaine)Howle. Important enough to move ahead of an audit of University of California financial practices. Once begun in mid-April, the audit will take four months.

“I expect to finish in August,” the state auditor said. “I don’t see that as a problem.” Finishing in August will allow time for legislative hearings on the Auditor’s findings.

She described the audit as having a very expansive reach, looking through the commission’s activities from 2004 on.
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Reiner had put his friend Schwarzenegger on the spot, testing their Hollywood friendship by his refusal to finally step away from the commission, where his term had actually expired in 2004. His half-measure of taking a leave of absence had clearly and predictably failed. So over the past weekend, he spoke with the governor and made clear his intention to resign. The former action superstar agreed to replace Reiner with a Reiner associate, Hector Ramirez, chief operating officer of the highly respected Los Angeles family service organization, Para Los Ninos.
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We will all watch as this "controversy meal" continues to simmer. To date, this whole Rob Reiner controversy has given us Meathead ground to sausage -- momentarily changed to schnitzel -- then added chorizo -- a sausage, schnitzel, chorizo stew seems to be what is simmering and it should be plated and ready to serve by the end of summer.

Thank you Bill Bradley and LA Weekly for showing the MSM (re: LA Times) how to cover, report, and inform citizens of the goings on in Sacramento.

A Greater Level Of Disrespect/An American Problem

This level of disrespect for our American values is what MAXINE was trying to point out in previous posts. Again, a large segment of the illegal immigant population believe they have the RIGHT to enjoy our opportunities without being a citizen ...

This from Michelle Malkin -

THE AMERICAN FLAG COMES SECOND

By Michelle Malkin · March 29, 2006 01:15 AM

You will not see this heart-stopping photo on the front page of the NY Times or on the lead story of the major news networks. You should (hat tip: Mika and F/R):

03/28 : Student protest
Whittier area students from Pioneer, California and Whittier high schools walked out of classes to protest the proposed federal immigration bill March 27, 2006. The protestors put up the Mexican flag over the American flag flying upside down at Montebello High. (Leo Jarzomb/Staff photo)
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Like I said: Welcome to reconquista.

I predict this stunt will be the nail in the coffin of any guest-worker/amnesty plan on the table in Washington. The image of the American flag subsumed by another and turned upside down on American soil is already spreading on Internet forums and via e-mail.

The battle for borders and immigration laws that actually mean something, however, hasn't even begun.

NOTE: An upsidedown display of the American Flag is actually a signal for DISTRESS! An unintended message communicated but definitely noted and taken to heart at MAXINE.

The Language Of Equivocation

(Photo: Carlos Chavez / LAT)

My son-in-law shared a story with me about a conversation he had at work. He works in a service based industry along with many co-workers who are concerned with what congress may do to actually clamp down on illegal immigration.

When he was reading the LA Times during a break, he chuckled to himself over the picture he noticed on the front page. The photo featured a group of high school 'protesters' carrying a Mexican flag (above).

The co-worker asked "What's funny?" My son-in-law responded that if these people are trying to create sympathy to their cause of immigration ... "they might be carrying the wrong flag, do you think?"

The co-worker's response was quite revealing to anyone who cares for the freedoms and commerce our system creates ... "Well, we really do not want to become American citizens."

I am just now listening to an interview with Gov. Bill Richardson (D) New Mexico. Gov. Richardson actually believes the opposite of what was expressed to my son-in-law. That these 11 to 12 million illegal immigrants (squatters?) actually would like the opportunity to gain the respect, dignity, and recognition that comes from attaining citizenship.

This opinion from the New York Post -

THE AMERICA THEY 'KNOW'
By Arnold Ahlert

March 29, 2006 -- THE hundreds of thousands of protesters who took to the streets in favor illegal immigration seem to "know" America better than most Americans. Here's some of what they know:

* The rule of law is irrelevant whenever enforcement becomes impractical, burdensome or politically inconvenient. The thousands of marchers, many illegals, had no fear whatsoever of being arrested or detained.

* The English language is "flexible." Thus "illegal alien" becomes "undocumented worker" - as if the two were actually interchangeable.

* We're the world's leading practitioner of moral relativism - free to say that anyone who opposes massive law-breaking or defends the integrity of American culture is "racist" or "xenophobic."

* The will of the American people is of no consequence. Poll after poll shows a substantial majority opposed to amnesty, guest-worker programs, open borders, drivers' licenses for illegals, etc. - but our politicians care more about courting Hispanic votes. Though Congress has passed seven separate amnesties for illegal aliens since 1986, the Senate's getting ready to pass another.

All sad but true. Just read the transcript of the speeches given at these rallies.

While the protesters covet the opportunities that exist here in the U.S. ... they really want to tear down the freedoms and opportunities that have taken over 200 years to create - it's called An American Culture - and it comes with citizenship!

The Eyes (and fingers) Have "IT"

It has to fast, un-invasive, 99%+ accurate, and secure ... but it is an interesting area of Information Technology expansion and application.

This from Business Week Online -

Biometrics: Payments at Your Fingertips
Fingerprints and iris scans will replace keys and credit cards if outfits like Pay By Touch succeed in their biologic mission
Technology - By Alex Halperin

In the future, no one will need pockets. That stuff jingling around in there -- keys, credit cards, checkbooks -- will be replaced by something closer to the body. When you need to open a door or make a purchase, chances are you'll do it with a fingerprint, a voice command, or a computer scan of your eyeball.

That is, if companies like Pay By Touch have anything to say about it. Pay By Touch, a closely held San Francisco outfit, specializes in biometrics, or the technology of identifying people by unique biologic traits -- not just fingerprints, but also irises, palms, and voices. And increasingly, those traits are being used in place of keys, credit cards, and even computer passwords.
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What's in it for the store? Using fingerprint scanners can accelerate purchase times by minimizing the checkout lane "fumble factor." Because a customer's Pay By Touch account can be linked to several payment devices, retailers can also save money by encouraging people to use accounts that incur lower fees, such as a checking account accessed by debit card. A recent report by Bernstein Research noted that systems like Pay By Touch could increase pressure on credit-card companies to reduce their charges to retailers so they don't lose market share.

BARGAIN ALERT. Supermarket owners overall say they're pleased with Pay By Touch results. "We'd like to encourage anybody who has a checking account to enroll in Pay By Touch," says Trisha Belisle, manager of retail technology at Cub Foods, a Midwest supermarket chain owned by Supervalu (SVU). She declined to comment on whether it saves the stores money, however.
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PRIVACY PERIL. Jay Stanley, communications director for the American Civil Liberties Union's Technology & Liberty Project, says that information obtained by a biometrics company could threaten consumer privacy, though he doesn't single out Pay By Touch. "The main problem with the situation we're in right now is that the technology is really ahead of the law," Stanley says.

The ACLU does not object to biometrics technology itself. "We need a law to prevent against the dark side of new tech to make sure they are not used against us" by the government mandating it or companies selling it, Stanley says.
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Where would we be if the ACLU wasn't there protecting us from our silly selves?

Republished at Symblogogy - All Things Automatic Identification & Data Collection!