WEBVTT - How Can I Erase My Identity and Start Over?

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray.

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<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you welcome to stuff you should know

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<v Speaker 1>from house Stuff Works dot Com. Hey, and welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>the podcast. Josh Clark, Chuck Bryant. We're here for you.

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<v Speaker 1>How you doing, Chuck? I'm doing well, Josh. I'm doing

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<v Speaker 1>pretty good. To Chuck, I drank a vault on an

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<v Speaker 1>empty stomach. I'm about that. You cover off this microphone.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm ready to go. You got another one lined up?

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<v Speaker 1>I do? I do? This is my second one, right,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't even know what that is. I'm about to

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<v Speaker 1>pass out, actually, but I'll try to make it through. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>please don't. I can't carry this. So I've got a

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<v Speaker 1>great news item for you. Ready, Okay. So it turns

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<v Speaker 1>out the sovereign Nation of New Zealand actually enforces its

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<v Speaker 1>law that you can't give a child the name over

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred characters long, and you can't give a child

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<v Speaker 1>a name that could prove socially handicapping. You want to

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<v Speaker 1>you want to hear an example? Charles Manson, No, no, no,

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<v Speaker 1>And arguably I like it. I think it's very lilting

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<v Speaker 1>and sweet, but it's arguably worse than Charles Mason. There's

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<v Speaker 1>an a year old girl who was in the midst

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<v Speaker 1>of a custody battle with her parents, and the judge

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<v Speaker 1>found out what the girl's name was and how much

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<v Speaker 1>she hated it, and actually made her a temporary ward

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<v Speaker 1>of the Corps so she could legally change her name herself.

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<v Speaker 1>Tallula does the hula from Hawaii? I'm not kidding. Is

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<v Speaker 1>that two names? One name? No, that's her first name,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it's it's separate words. Um, and I think

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<v Speaker 1>they actually even spelled it correctly, like the is not capitalized,

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<v Speaker 1>that kind of things. But I was reading this BBC

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<v Speaker 1>article on it, and um. They brought up some other

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<v Speaker 1>examples of names in New Zealand that some made it

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<v Speaker 1>through and some didn't. There are a couple bizarre ones

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<v Speaker 1>that made it through, like number sixteen bus Shelter bus shelter, Yes, um.

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<v Speaker 1>And another one that made it through is Midnight Chardonnay,

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<v Speaker 1>which I think Q Grant probably has designs on that

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<v Speaker 1>poor child. Yeah, I think it's no secret how that

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<v Speaker 1>child was conceived exactly. But are a few more, um

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<v Speaker 1>that didn't make it through, like Yeah, Detroit, sex fruit

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<v Speaker 1>and um the twins, Fish and Chips. Uh, the the

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<v Speaker 1>the the federal government or maybe even local government moved

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<v Speaker 1>to block those names. Really, but um, I'm curious though.

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<v Speaker 1>It is Charles W. Bryan. Is that the name your

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<v Speaker 1>parents gave you? Did you change it? No, Charles Wayne.

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<v Speaker 1>I was named after John Wayne, which is a true story,

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<v Speaker 1>Is that right? Yeah? I didn't know what the W

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<v Speaker 1>stands for. Yeah, I'm Wayne, now I do. Well, if

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<v Speaker 1>you have your original name, you know anything about this

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<v Speaker 1>kind of thing? Is this in your field of expertise? Perchance? Uh?

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<v Speaker 1>You know, my wife actually changed the spelling of her

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<v Speaker 1>first name, although not legally, but uh, well, she spells it,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, when she fills out her driver's license records

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<v Speaker 1>and on her bank account, it's all spelled the Emily

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<v Speaker 1>with an i e and not Emily with a y.

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<v Speaker 1>But she never legally got it changed. But it just

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<v Speaker 1>kind of goes to show how you can change these

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<v Speaker 1>official documents without really having the court say you can, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>just by saying precedent right exactly. But there are legal

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<v Speaker 1>routes to do this kind of thing, right right, And

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<v Speaker 1>I think I know what you're getting to, yes, Chuck,

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<v Speaker 1>How could one erase their identity and start over. That's

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<v Speaker 1>a great question. Um. Unfortunately, I hate to spoil this

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<v Speaker 1>for the listeners, but there's really no way that you

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<v Speaker 1>can completely erase your identity, uh in this day and age, um,

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<v Speaker 1>at least in the United States without the government doing

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<v Speaker 1>it for you. Yeah. Technology has made it a lot

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<v Speaker 1>more difficult to commit just about any kind of crime. Huh. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>In the old days you could do there was one

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<v Speaker 1>thing called a paper trip, which is you could assume

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<v Speaker 1>the identity of like a dead infant and um, get

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<v Speaker 1>their records and claim their identity as your own. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>But yeah, you can't do that anymore though, because you

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<v Speaker 1>know computer records nowadays and everything it's it makes it

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<v Speaker 1>really difficult to completely erase your identity. So I guess

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<v Speaker 1>even if you do change your identity, there's still records

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<v Speaker 1>of your former identity linking the two together exactly. So

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<v Speaker 1>if you're on the run from somebody like you can

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<v Speaker 1>change your name uh pretty easily if you're if you

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<v Speaker 1>have special circumstances, you can change your Social Security number,

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<v Speaker 1>but you have to prove to the government that someone's

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<v Speaker 1>either been misusing yours and another reason you can change

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<v Speaker 1>your social uh is, if you're a victim of domestic

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<v Speaker 1>violence and you really need to, you know, go underground

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<v Speaker 1>where your ex husband or ex wife. I guess if

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<v Speaker 1>you know your victim of spousal abuse as a husband,

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<v Speaker 1>which is actually um not paid nearly enough attention to

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<v Speaker 1>husband abuse. I'm not kidding. It actually is a real problem.

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<v Speaker 1>Men don't feel uh the least bit confident in admitting

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<v Speaker 1>that they are abused by their wives. They're not gonna

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<v Speaker 1>tell you. It's out there, you know. Sure, well that's

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<v Speaker 1>a podcast for another day. Sure, well, let's do it.

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<v Speaker 1>We'll put it on a calendar. Agreed. So, uh, Like

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<v Speaker 1>I said, you can change your social for several reasons.

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<v Speaker 1>It needs to be approved. You can change your name.

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<v Speaker 1>It depends what state you live in, uh, for the

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<v Speaker 1>uh the process you go through, but it generally costs,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, fifty bucks or under. And a judge actually rules.

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<v Speaker 1>I thought that was interesting whether or not you can

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<v Speaker 1>change your name. Well, that's only if there's objections. Right, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>they make a ruling regardless and it's always yes unless

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<v Speaker 1>there's an objection. Okay, So you basically to change your name,

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<v Speaker 1>you have to advertise it in the in the legal

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<v Speaker 1>organ that usually the county newspaper. And this is for

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<v Speaker 1>the great state of Georgia that we leven. Ok Um,

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<v Speaker 1>So it does that for several weeks. And you know

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<v Speaker 1>if if somebody notices and they have an objection, they

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<v Speaker 1>can object. And I actually um know of an instance

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<v Speaker 1>where that happened. You remember Jeff Killooley, Oh who doesn't. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>so apparently kneecapping America's sweetheart, um is, he can get

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<v Speaker 1>you some really bad press in this country, right because

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<v Speaker 1>here he famously uh hit Nancy Kerrigan, ice skater, Nancy

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<v Speaker 1>Carrigan and the knees with a crow bar. Yeah on

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<v Speaker 1>on behalf he said, he claimed of his wife Tanya Harding,

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<v Speaker 1>who was in competition for Karagan for you know, America's sweetheart,

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<v Speaker 1>that kind of thing. Um. So after the whole thing

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<v Speaker 1>dies down. Um, A couple of years after Galilee petitions

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<v Speaker 1>to have his name changed to Jeff Stone. There were

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<v Speaker 1>plenty of Jeff Stones that for that lodged formal objections,

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<v Speaker 1>including oddly enough, I heard the guy who played Jeff

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<v Speaker 1>Stone the son on the Donna Reed television show from

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<v Speaker 1>the sixties. Isn't that weird? Yeah? So people do object,

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<v Speaker 1>but I think you have to be um a little

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<v Speaker 1>unsavory for somebody not want you to share their name.

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<v Speaker 1>And I would think Galilee would have changed his name

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<v Speaker 1>before that, just for the simple fact that his name

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<v Speaker 1>was Galule, right exactly. Yeah, that's just me. Yeah. So, um,

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<v Speaker 1>those you've you've given us a couple of good reasons.

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<v Speaker 1>Can you give us any famous cases of of people

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<v Speaker 1>changing their identities? I can, Well, let's hear it. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a really recent one. Radovan credits Um the Serbian

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<v Speaker 1>leader from Bosnia Herzegovina. Right. Yeah, back in the Balkan Wars,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a lot of ethnic cleansing going on. Um and

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<v Speaker 1>Ratti was one of the ones who was committing genocide

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<v Speaker 1>against the Muslims in that area. Uh So the war's end, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>the u S indictes him for crimes against humanity, he

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<v Speaker 1>drops out. Apparently he was still something of a hero

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<v Speaker 1>to the Serbian population around there. He was hiding in

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<v Speaker 1>plain sight to an extent. He actually grew a beard

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<v Speaker 1>and became a an alternative health guru and was living

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<v Speaker 1>quite publicly in Belgrade. Finally, we get a very pro

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<v Speaker 1>pro American, pro West leader uh in in that area

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<v Speaker 1>and um like the next month ravages under arrest and

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<v Speaker 1>on trial. So war crimes is a pretty good reason

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<v Speaker 1>to change your identity as well. Yeah, I think, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>when I was researching this article, I found that a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of people that enquire about this on the internet,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, you can get certain websites will say they'll

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<v Speaker 1>change your name, but it's really just a big scam.

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<v Speaker 1>They'll give you a fake idea and or reuse a

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<v Speaker 1>bunch of the same records over and over. And it's

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<v Speaker 1>really for those of you out there that look and

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<v Speaker 1>these is just a big money rip off. That's one

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<v Speaker 1>of those things where if you want it done right,

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<v Speaker 1>you have to do it yourself, I would imagine. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, especially if you're having trouble with your identity

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<v Speaker 1>through identity theft or whatever. But I guess if your

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<v Speaker 1>identity gets so ragged out, it doesn't matter who you

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<v Speaker 1>trust it to to change it for you. But I

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<v Speaker 1>wonder if the if the percentage of people changing their

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<v Speaker 1>identity is on the rise, what with identity theft just

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<v Speaker 1>exploding all over the place. Yeah, I think, I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>that's one of the problems that the Internet is identity theft,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's also one of the problems of people not

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<v Speaker 1>being able to change their identity because of the paper

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<v Speaker 1>trail via computer, So it's sort of a double edged sword.

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<v Speaker 1>So check you want to give our listeners the number

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<v Speaker 1>they can call if they're interested in changing their Social

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<v Speaker 1>Security number. Yeah, if you're a victim of spousal abuse

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<v Speaker 1>or um. If you're you know social Security number has

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<v Speaker 1>been tampered with, can call one eight hundred seven seven

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<v Speaker 1>to twelve thirteen to inquire to the s s A

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<v Speaker 1>about you know what you can do and for all

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<v Speaker 1>the great details you can read Chuck's our coal how

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<v Speaker 1>can I erase my identity? And start over on how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com and stick around to find out

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<v Speaker 1>what article makes Chuck think of Frankenstein. Right after this,

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<v Speaker 1>we're back. Thanks for hanging around. I don't blame you.

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<v Speaker 1>What article is it, Chuck? Well, it's sort of misleading.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not Frankenstein, the doctor who created the monster, but

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<v Speaker 1>it's the awesome seventies instrumental groovy song Frankenstein. D D dude,

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<v Speaker 1>ain't d we have to pay anybody? I don't think

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<v Speaker 1>so okay to anyone? It would be Johnny Winner because

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<v Speaker 1>that's his song. And uh, you can ask me why. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>this is kind of you. Not only did we start,

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<v Speaker 1>you misled me to mislead the readers. And now I'm

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<v Speaker 1>just as confused as ever. Why would that possibly remind

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<v Speaker 1>me of frankenst Like, what article are you talking about? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>because Johnny Winner famously is has albinism along with his brother,

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<v Speaker 1>fellow musician Edgar Winner Afar Winner Group, they're both albinos.

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<v Speaker 1>Currently it runs in the family. So the article how

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<v Speaker 1>albinism works is that's the one said you just sit

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<v Speaker 1>there and Frankenstein plays over and over in your head.

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<v Speaker 1>Every time you're in over and over, I get the

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<v Speaker 1>ear worm. Well that's fantastic, Chuck. So you can read

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<v Speaker 1>all about albionism and all sorts of other interesting articles

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<v Speaker 1>on how stuff works dot Com. Check it out for

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<v Speaker 1>more on this and thousands of other topics. Is it

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com? Let us know what you think.

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