Warp wrote:
> Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
>> Sure. That doesn't mean the government knows where that kid is living 30 
>> years later and how to get in touch with her.
> 
>   They do here. The government must know where to send tax forms, for
> instance. 

Yes. I understand that most people in Finland (and many other european 
countries) manage to get away with the pre-filled-out form for taxes that 
the government sends. I saw a study where they said 60% to 70% of the people 
in the USA file taxes with no information other than what the tax authority 
already knows.

> (When you move you have to inform the government about it.

Your mistake is treating it as if the USA has one government. "The 
government" does know where you live, for the most part. Just not the folks 
who do the jury duty.

When you move, you (usually) tell the post office where to forward your 
mail. Your name is on the deed. But the post office doesn't tell the county 
land registrar, and vice versa, that you've moved.

It also breaks down if (for example) you are in the military getting 
reassigned, away at college for a few months, etc.

And regardless of all that, a cat shouldn't be called to jury duty. ;-)

> Doing that is actually a lot more beneficial than one could hastily think.
> That's because your info will be automatically updated in a ton of places,
> so you don't have to report your new address to a million places.)

Sure, having a central registry like that would be handy in many ways.

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Forget "focus follows mouse." When do
   I get "focus follows gaze"?

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