100% failure on passport fakes

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Getting a passport, it seems, doesn’t have to be difficult. Even with stricter requirements in this post-9/11 travel world, investigators duped passport and postal service employees four out of four times. In one case, the identity of a dead man became a new identity – likewise a five-year-old boy.

The route from identity fraud to new passport takes fewer than 10 days. In fact, the investigator who used the dead guy’s identity got his passport in four days. Another used forged documents to get a real Washington, D.C. identification card. He parlayed that into a passport … on the same day!

Of course, none of this was unknown to the State Department. On February 26, 2009, the deputy assistant secretary of passport services sent a memo to Passport Services directors across the Untied States – saying that recent erroneous events had prompted the process for issuing passports to be reviewed.

Duh.

The underlying culprit – one of them, at least – may be how passport services officials are evaluated. Currently, volume is key, with a higher rate of passport issuances rewarded.

Bare butt (flight) bargains in Britain

by Tom Johansmeyer on

You’ll do anything for a free flight, right? You’ll stand at the counter and yell and scream at some gate agent for half an hour while a line that stretches back to the next terminal wait with looks of increasing contempt. You’ll get up in the middle of the night to enter every online contest you can find first. But, would you strip to your skin – in the company of 998 other non-professional strippers?

That’s right. An airline – which isn’t revealing itself yet – is offering free flights from London to eight destinations for the 999 people willing to show it all (except the “rude bits,” according to the website). On March 15, all those who register will be invited to come to a central location in London and shed their threads.

There is no trace of the airline responsible. A WHOIS look up and a hunt through the website’s source code only turned up Hotcow, a marketing company that specializes in coordinating these types of stunt. So, you now have two choices: (1) read the news on March 15 or (2) register to be one of the 999!

[Via Jaunted]

Will secretary Clinton help or hinder travel to Russia?

by Grant Martin on

Travelers around the world are waiting for the day when the borders to Russia open wider to visitors. Although the formerly Communist country does and will accept tourists, the application process is long and expensive — you don’t just wander up to the border to Russia, get your passport stamped and mosey down to Red Square, no, before visitors to the Red State are even allowed to apply for a visa they need to be sponsored, a process that isn’t difficult but one that takes time, money and most of all, patience.

Now that the Obama administration has the reigns, however, many have high hopes for better relations between the United States and some of her formerly cold neighbors. Cuba, for example, has recently been hinting at welcoming American citizens back into the island nation and kick starting its economy.

Such is the message that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is taking with her as she circles the globe: Give us some time and space to figure things out and rebuild bridges — we’re not here to fight.

Or at least that’s what she thought she was saying to Sergi Lavrov, Russia’s Secretary of State and a prominent official with whom she met last week. In an attempt to get relations started off on the right foot, Mrs. Clinton presented Lavrov with a gag “reset button” that was meant to symbolize the resetting of relations between the former Cold War foes.

On the bottom was written RESET, in English, while the top said PEREGRUZKA, in Russian. Which does not mean “reset.” It means “OVERLOAD.”

Thankfully, Mr. Lavrov took the gaff in stride and the meeting still went well. And with any luck, relations between the east and west will soon become even warmer, making we American tourists one step closer to easy weekend caviar and vodka trips to Moscow.

Cuba door cracks slightly

by Tom Johansmeyer on

President Barack Obama has announced that restrictions on travel to Cuba are about to become looser. But, it’s not time for cigar smokers across the United States begin to rejoice yet. So far, the measure will only allow Cuban-Americans with family on the island to visit, and Obama has stated that he supports the embargo.

The change in travel restrictions is part of a $410 billion spending bill approved by the Senate late Tuesday. It had already passed the House of Representatives and was signed by the president yesterday. The new law permits annual travel (rather than once every three years, under the Bush Administration‘s program) and increases a visitor’s allowable daily spend from $50 a day to $179 a day.

This is a small move, but by virtue of its involving Cuba, it becomes substantial. Bringing families back together, at least once a year, is a step in some right direction, whatever it may be.

Pink slip relief in Vermont

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The Rabbit Hill Inn in Lower Waterford, VT is willing to share your pain. If you or your spouse has been unemployed for more than six months, send your story to Leslie and Brian Mulcahy – the inn’s proprietors – and you could win a two night getaway, with everything from candlelight dinner to a rabbit’s foot and wishes for a return to gainful employment.

Every month from April through July and November through December, Leslie and Brian will award one of these trips, called “Pink Slip Getaways,” to the most deserving story. The total package doesn’t include liquor or transportation to the inn, but that’s a rounding error compared to two nights lodging (Sunday to Thursday, non-holiday only), a gourmet dinner for two, afternoon tea and pastry and a candlelit breakfast each morning. All gratuities, service charges and taxes are included, too.

In a page or less, lay out your tale of woe, and send it to info [at] rabbithillin.com. You may win some relief!