Federal Form DS-5513-WTF
If you don't have a U.S. passport and any plans to get one, you need to read this.
A new form has been proposed that includes a "biographical questionnaire" quoting the linked article, the form "asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers’ and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any 'religious ceremony' around the time of birth; and a variety of other information. According to the proposed form, 'failure to provide the information requested may result in … the denial of your U.S. passport application.'"
I looked at the proposed form. It not only wants Mom's address a year prior to birth, but also during and a year after. There is also a nice long paragraph you can fill in regarding "circumstances" of your birth, and people involved.
Of course, my memories of the event are kinda foggy, but I've been told (heresay, I know) that Mom was in a movie theater when her water broke. I strongly suspect the movie was "The Sound of Music" -- will Julie Andrews have to be questioned?
And I have to list Mom's employer when I was born. Do I get rejected because she didn't have a job? (It was the 60s, she was a housewife.)
The form resembles the one filled out on me when I got my Top Secret clearance in the military -- and only a handful of military folks get those. Y'know why? Because (a) they only need that many (Secret clearances take an easier background check, only poking further if a flag pops up) and (b) the NSA goes to a lot of trouble and expense to check and verify the background data. This form adds about 75,000 background checks (by their own reckoning) to Uncle Sam's to-do list. Your tax dollars at work.
And this ain't to become a State Department employee, but appears to be presented as an option for regular citizens seeking a passport, which nowadays you have to have just to cross into Mexico or Canada. They need all this info so I can go touristing in Toronto? Really?
I've noticed comments (on the linked site) that this is proof of how anti-freedom Obama supposedly is. Granted it's happening on his watch, but I wouldn't be surprised if it has the previous homeland-security-paranoid administration's fingerprints on it. And no doubt there are a few Teabag GOP members who would love to take credit.
A new form has been proposed that includes a "biographical questionnaire" quoting the linked article, the form "asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers’ and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any 'religious ceremony' around the time of birth; and a variety of other information. According to the proposed form, 'failure to provide the information requested may result in … the denial of your U.S. passport application.'"
I looked at the proposed form. It not only wants Mom's address a year prior to birth, but also during and a year after. There is also a nice long paragraph you can fill in regarding "circumstances" of your birth, and people involved.
Of course, my memories of the event are kinda foggy, but I've been told (heresay, I know) that Mom was in a movie theater when her water broke. I strongly suspect the movie was "The Sound of Music" -- will Julie Andrews have to be questioned?
And I have to list Mom's employer when I was born. Do I get rejected because she didn't have a job? (It was the 60s, she was a housewife.)
The form resembles the one filled out on me when I got my Top Secret clearance in the military -- and only a handful of military folks get those. Y'know why? Because (a) they only need that many (Secret clearances take an easier background check, only poking further if a flag pops up) and (b) the NSA goes to a lot of trouble and expense to check and verify the background data. This form adds about 75,000 background checks (by their own reckoning) to Uncle Sam's to-do list. Your tax dollars at work.
And this ain't to become a State Department employee, but appears to be presented as an option for regular citizens seeking a passport, which nowadays you have to have just to cross into Mexico or Canada. They need all this info so I can go touristing in Toronto? Really?
I've noticed comments (on the linked site) that this is proof of how anti-freedom Obama supposedly is. Granted it's happening on his watch, but I wouldn't be surprised if it has the previous homeland-security-paranoid administration's fingerprints on it. And no doubt there are a few Teabag GOP members who would love to take credit.