Odds & Ends
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US Citizen "ID/Smart Card" is Ludicrous
The idea of a smart card is good, but not as an
"American Citizen Card". An "American Visitor/Visa
Card" would make much more sense, and it would be used to keep track
of non-US citizens. (The government already knows about its citizens
through social security #s, driver's licenses, credit usage, etc.)
There would be a fee for this card to help defray costs of the program,
which would be collected at the time it was issued at the port of entry
into the US. Consider this as a port of entry tax. This card,
and full fee (no discount amounts) would be required by all visitors, no
matter the age, purpose, etc.
Data on the card would include at least the
following facts:
- photos (head front, head profile, and full body
front)
- physical description of individual, including
height, weight (measurements taken onsite), eye color (with a
guideline for the agent to follow in color selection, and training for
the agent in recognizing contact lenses), any identifying marks,
current hair color
- notation on card what type of sample taken
(clipping of hair or other sample for possible future DNA analysis
- detailed description of what carrier the
individual arrived by
- arrived solo, or as part of a group - what group?
- country the individual departed from prior to
arriving in US
- home, including country, district, city, etc.
- current occupation and previous occupation
(especially if currently unemployed) and years in those occupations
- passport # and all information from passport
- details on past visits to US
- length and type of US visa granted; visa
information, including name & title of agent issuing the visa
- name & title of agent who prepared this card
for the individual
The card would need to be scanned at least once a
week - guidelines would be defined and the visitor would be made aware of
where "check-in" points were. It could be scanned by any
credit card scanner (software and database, of course, would have to be
developed). An alert would immediately be issued if the card were
not used within the required timespan. Alerts would be issued to all
scan sites, as well as designated law enforcement sites.
Visitors should be happy to follow these guidelines
in order to enjoy the security they would feel while on US soil as well as
the benefits of capitalism and democracy. They would experience the
full freedom granted US citizens only if they chose to take the oath of
loyalty to become a US citizen, and had thus learned the fundamentals of
what the US is all about. (CG-10/20/01)
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Airport Confiscations
Contraband confiscated at the airport, that does not
result in the immediate arrest of the individual, should be tagged and
returned to the owner if he/she returns to the confiscating airport within
1 month. If the contraband was taken from a terrorist or criminal,
then a great info-gathering opportunity is currently being missed.
Contraband should be tagged, and a matching numbered
receipt given to the individual. Data collected should include:
- photocopy of driver's license and/or passport
- photocopy of airline ticket
- thumbprint (like some banks do)
Gathering this info would go quickly, and would
eliminate even more contraband from those "shady" characters who
didn't want to be singled out for further investigation.
(CG-11/19/01)
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- US,
China, and Iran race to be first to lay oil and gas pipelines
through the Afghan region. 2/6/02
- OPEC (Organization
of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)
- According to OPEC, "...the price of crude oil is set by
movements on the three major international petroleum
exchanges"
- 11 member countries: Algeria, Indonesia, Iran,
Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab
Emirates, Venezuela,
- US Energy Information
Administration (EIA) - "Official energy statistics from the
US"
- Crude
oil dropped to $25.70 per barrel from a six-month high of
$28.35. 4/5/02
- US was paying $20.30 per barrel (NYMEX)
1/11/02 (Financials.com
shows price comparisons). Paid $25.35 per barrel 1/10/01.
- Gasoline
and oil prices from 1918-1999 in the US
- Baker
Hughes Rotary Rig Count - "weekly census of the number of drilling rigs actively exploring
for or developing oil or natural gas in the United States and Canada"
- RigZone.com
- "provides all the information you need about the worldwide offshore
drilling fleet including utilization rates, locations, day rates, and more"
- Crude Oil and
Natural Gas Prices - industry information and links
to petroleum companies' prices
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Non US Citizens Benefit
- Did you know that there are many thousands of non-US-citizens that
have entered the US legally, and are now residing outside this country
and collecting Social Security benefits, disability benefits, medical
benefits (come into the US to have their babies free, etc.), and other
benefits? How many times have you done without, for example,
medical attention? If you are a tax-paying US citizen, you are
funding these aliens.
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LT Col Oliver North (USMC) Ret.
- An e-mail circulating after 9/11/01 attacks stated
that North warned about Usama bin Laden. The terrorist he
referred to was not bin Laden, but was Abu Nidal, backed by the
Libyans. There are other inaccuracies - read
his response. The truth is even more chilling.
- Visit his Common
Sense Radio site.
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United Nations
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Tall Buildings
- After the tragedy of New York's World Trade Center, you may be
interested in other tall buildings.
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Major Plane Crashes and Airports
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Images For Your Computer
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Relevant Fiction
- The Lion's Game by Nelson DeMille, published Oct/Nov 2000, is
about mideast-related terrorism on US soil. The release date of
the movie based on this book has been postponed, due to 9/11 tragedy.
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The "Di" Connection
- On August 31, 1997 (Sunday), Diana, Princess of
Wales, and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed were in the fatal car crash in the
Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris, France. Diana, Fayed and the
driver, Henri Paulon, were killed. Riding shotgun, Fayed's
bodyguard Trevor Reese Jones survived the wreck.
- It was rumored that Diana and Fayed, a Muslim, might
marry, which was against the wishes of the Royal Family.
- Diana had just ended a two-year relationship with
Pakistani Dr. Haznet Khan. In May 1997, she went to Pakistan to
visit him, apparently hoping to marry him, but the visit resulted in
indications the relationship might be over. Diana then traveled
to San Tropez with her sons and visited a Spencer (her family's name)
family friend, Mohammad al Fayed. (Fayed had been refused a
British passport.) He called his 42-yr old son, Dodi, a
part-time Hollywood film producer, to join them. In July, she
went back to the Mediterranean, alone, to spend more time with Dodi.
- Diana's "pet charity" was working with The
Halo Trust to remove landmines. In mid-2002, the
organization had cleared over one million mines and bombs. Halo
Trust has mine clearance projects ongoing in Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia,
the Caucasus (Abkhazia/Georgia), Eritrea, Mozambique, Nagorno Karabakh,
Somaliland, and Sri Lanka. The Halo Trust website is currently
hosted by a Demon.net server in London. 9/3/02
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Diana, Princess of Wales, walking an Angolan minefield in 1997.
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European Union
Complete changeover to euro in public administration
within Monetary Union was 1/1/02
- There are 15 countries in the European
Union (EU): Austria, Belgium, Denmark*, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden*, and United Kingdom*. (*not part of
Monetary Union)
- The countries in the European Monetary Union (EMU)
share the same currency - the euro.
Currently, 1 euro equals $0.903. (1/02)
- The "European
Union in Your Hand" - includes converters, monetary
changeover plan and timeline, info about coins/currency, etc.
- For more legal information and documents, visit the European
Central Bank
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"Taliban"
- Did you know that if you spell check the word "Taliban" in MS
Word, the suggested correct word is "tailbone"? With a
little research, I discovered Webster's definition of "tailbone"
is "The coccyx". Derived from the Greek word "kokkux",
it then became "cuckoo", then "coccyx". Hmmm, what
does "cuckoo" mean? In Webster's definitions are included
"The cry or call of a cuckoo"; "A fool". It
doesn't take a genius to see that when the Taliban speaks, it is the same as
the "cry or call of a cuckoo, or fool". (CG, 10/12/01)
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The Number "11"
- Making the e-mail circuit is the message, from an unknown author,
about the number "11" in connection to the 9/11
hijackings. (Thanks, Karen J. of Florida.) "11" seems
to involve the day of terror. I researched the non-obvious
"facts" and found these to be true:
- Date of attack on the 11th: 11
- Date of attack 9/11: 9+1+1=11*
- For this year, a non-leap year, 9/11 is the 254th day of the
year: 2+5+4=11
- 365 days in this year - 254 days = 111 days remaining
- WTC towers, standing side-by-side looked like number 11
- The first plane to hit a target was Flt 11
- There were 92 people onboard Flt 11: 9+2=11
- There were 65 people onboard Flt 175: 6+5=11
- Our independence at stake, as 4th of July = 4+7=11
- "New York City" contains 11 letters
- "Afghanistan" contains 11 letters
- "The Pentagon" contains 11 letters
- My additonal observations about the number "11":
- There were 44 people onboard Flt 93 and 4 planes
hijacked: 44÷4=11
- The country code for Pakistan, which has many Taliban
sympathizers, is 92: 9+2=11
- *September is the only month that contains the same number
of letters as the month that it is. Adding a
"1" for each letter and the 1+1 for the date still =
11.
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The Number "12"
- I found the number "12" interesting in relation to defense
and the pivotal point for the beginnings of world justice:
- The passengers onboard Flt 93 prevented it from reaching the
intended target: 9+3=12.
- There were 64 people onboard Flt 77, which is believed not to
have reached its intended target, either. 6+4+7+7=24;
because 2 sets of numbers were used in this calculation, must
divide by 2; therefore, 24÷2=12
- "United States" = 12 letters
- "United States of America" has 21 letters, which
backwards = 12
- The country code for Diego Garcia, the first air/land space
offered to us for use in the Attack on Terrorism is 246:
2+4+6=12
- The country code for Afghanistan, where within lies our target,
is 93: 9+3=12 ("12" is their unlucky
number.)
- We are using B1 and B2 bombers, which, side by side = B1B2, then
remove the like characters = 12
- This is the year 2001 by our Gregorian calendar, the Islamic
year is 1422: 2+1+1+4+2+2=12 (The year of our Lord.)
- Adding the two years 2001+1422=3423: 3+4+2+3=12 (No
matter how you figure it, the US dominates the date game.)
- The attack date was September 11 by the Gregorian calendar, and
by the Islamic calendar Jumada-al-Thani 23: 23-11=12 (the 23
is the first number in the calculation because the act was
committed first by those using that calendar) "Pivotal
point for justice"
- There are 354 days in the Islamic calendar this year:
3+5+4=12
- "George Bush Jr." contains 12 letter
- "State of Texas" contains 12 letters
- Personal trivia: My last name has 12 letters. Adding
the letters in my first and middle names = 12 also.
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"11" and "12"
- Using the two numbers "11" for attack and "12"
for justice: 11+12=23 (the 23rd day of Jumada-al-Thani; i.e.
the day
chosen for evil); and both sides of the equation are numerically
equal: 1+1+1+2=2+3 or 5=5. Reduce by division, resulting
in 1=1. Hmm, apparently this means after reducing the enemy by
division, the result will yield 1 as victorious. The country
code for the US is 1.
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