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Trusting God, Not Credit Cards
Do you struggle to trust God rather than money for your future security? Pray with an mentor who will support you without judgment.
My friend Janet and I chatted and sipped cappuccino at the coffee shop. I complained about an insufficient salary and mounting bills since my son had entered college.
Due to across-the-board cuts, I had lost a good job. After much praying and searching, I took the only thing I could find: a job with lower pay and fewer benefits. In my former position I was financially comfortable and didn't have to worry. But my new position was mediocre, and my financial responsibilities were great.
Janet and I occasionally made a spiritual comment, but the underlying theme was complaint rather than praise–and worry rather than trust.
Our conversation turned to the past, and we reminisced about the financial hardships we had experienced years earlier. We both agreed that as difficult as those years were, we had frequently seen God miraculously answer prayer and provide our needs.
Remembering God's provision
I remembered one particular occasion when I cried, "Lord God, things are so difficult–I don't have dish soap, or shampoo for the children's hair."
Later that morning a friend visited. When she did so, she always brought a gift, and that day she carried a brown grocery bag.
"I'm so sorry—this is all that I could bring," she apologized as she pulled out a large bottle of baby shampoo. "And this," she added and pulled out a large bottle of dish soap. Then she handed me a bag of freshly baked granola cereal.
Tears streamed down my cheeks. God was the only one who had known my needs. He wasn't far off in Heaven somewhere– He was with me and He cared. That day I realized He was concerned about my personal needs and He would answer my prayers. I began praying and He began answering.
Plastic or prayer?
However, through the years I began to trust in my own capabilities and career and, at times, I trusted other people. Janet also talked of how in the past the Lord had provided for her needs. Then she asked, "Why do we have so much trouble trusting Him now?"
I said, "We don't want to have to trust Him—instead we make impulsive decisions. When we face a financial crunch, we rarely pray and expect God to provide. Instead, we worry about our bills, we borrow money, we pull out our credit cards, and we get deeper in debt. We focus on the problems– instead of on God." When Janet and I said good-bye, I was discouraged and wondered if other Christians experienced a similar lack of trust.
Misunderstanding God's goodness
I was a single mom with a son beginning college, and finances were critical. Maybe I wasn't in the right job. I had to find out. My search began the next morning as I read Hebrews 11, seeking the definition of faith and how I could apply faith to my life:
"Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see . . .. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Hebrews 11:1,6 NIV).
Hebrews 11 is filled with examples of men and women who saw God work miracles amid their circumstances, people "whose weakness was turned to strength" (Hebrews 11:34 NIV).
How could I turn from worrying and complaining to trusting and living the life of faith depicted in Hebrews 11? I prayed and wondered. If Daniel could face a den of lions and if Moses could lead the Israelites out of Egypt1, I knew that I could trust God to guide me.
With an updated résumé I went out to look for a job with excellent pay and benefits. A few weeks later Janet and I met over another cup of cappuccino. We were eager to hear each other's progress.
I said, "Janet, you're not going to believe my discovery. After studying the job market and making some contacts, I found the very best job for this season of my life—is the one I have!"
I had misunderstood God's goodness. My complaining had discouraged me, and I felt defeated. My job, which I had thought was inferior, was really God's gift to me. Instead of complaining about what I didn't have, I began to be thankful for what I did have, including the benefits and opportunities of my job.
A new, more creative lifestyle
I realized that my limited income required a change in lifestyle.
- I used to think that "sale" meant, "buy". I had to change that attitude—and I tore up a mountain of credit-card applications.
- Limited funds were pressing me into an uncomfortable new lifestyle and financial planning. Following a tight budget would be essential if my son and I were to live within our means.
- Budgeting stimulated creative new thinking. Instead of discarding faded sportswear, I dyed it and renewed the outfit. A "dollar" store became a favorite place to hunt for needed items. Rather than purchasing expensive greeting cards, I bought fine paper and made cards with my computer.
- For special occasions, I made gift baskets with delicacies from the kitchen. After years of not sewing, I resumed doing so and made gifts with a personal touch.
As I applied Bible promises and principles to my circumstances, I began to appreciate the job about which I had previously complained. With an industrious spirit and a more disciplined attitude toward spending, I was able to cut my expenses significantly.
I realized that the pressure of being "squeezed" had produced benefits. Through prayer, sacrifice and determination to resist impulsive measures, I can live debt-free, have peace of mind, and trust and know God better. When Janet and I complained about unstable finances, ingratitude dulled our vision. Doubt and fear consumed and defeated us. We talked about faith but lived in doubt; we focused on circumstances instead of on the Source of faith.
When I focused again on God instead of on my problems, and resisted credit cards and quick fixes, He showed me that He is greater than all my needs. Living life filtered through His promises changed me—beginning with my attitude—and instead of just talking about trust and faith, I began to live it.
Want More?
Coping with your husband's job loss
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12 Responses to "Trusting God, Not Credit Cards"
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God, did put money on, and helped me get cash too! Praise God! Thank you Jesus!
Thank you for sharing this. When it comes to money – there's just something about it that can grip us so tightly… But God's love and wisdom will always grip us tighter!
I thank God so much for this message. I just got disappointed today by a very good friend who always helps..through it all i had put my trust on men. Am a married woman, kenyan. My husband has no job,our boys depend on my little income i earn from an Epz company.I choose to believe God for my overdue rent. I say in you lord i put my trust.Thanks alot
Thank you for this post. You confirmed the conclusion to which I believe God has led me. I have been unemployed for a long while, but had an income until recently. I received a large income tax refund in February that I was not expecting. I saved the money just in case I needed it to get me through the summer. I was hoping that I'd have a job by now, but I don't. I believe the money was a blessing from God for this time, but I have not used it. I have used my credit cards instead. I have paid rent for the past two months with a credit card. I fear that when the money runs out, I will have nothing. My situation is dire, but I'm going to pay bills with my savings, even empty my small retirement account if need be. I am trusting God to provide. I hope that I am not testing him in putting my credit cards aside. There people everywhere who have financial problems, even believers. Believers go hungry, are in shelters, and suffer tremondous injustice. I am not special. I pray that God has mercy on me and reaches down to help me in my time of need.
Hello Sharon
I really appreciate your prayer and it works. Thank for your time. I will share to you my experience if have time. Anyway this lenten season Im on leave for 8 days. Again thank you
Thank you for the good news. I am in deep trouble as of the moment I have bills to pay next week.. and I dont know where to get money to pay.. same sitution here.. please help me to pray..
Thankyou so for christian page this will help me a lot Love June.
Debbie — if you would like someone to talk to further about the situation you're facing try clicking on the blue "talk to a mentor" button above. Your email will be matched with a mentor who can walk with you through your situation and pray for you. It's free if you want to give it a try.
I know it's no coincident that I came across this article. I literally just finished typing an e.mail asking for HELP and ADVICE with my current financial situation. Mine is very similar to yours. Lately, I've been trusting my credit cards and not GOD. Somewhere I've lost my focus and it has not been on God. I've been complaining and worrying about my financial situation and not trusting and praying to the only one who has the solution and is very well able to supply all my needs.
Thank you. I read your article in the nick of time!


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Training and Technical Assistance
This page provides resources to build the capacity of our partners, grantees, and the public health workforce with convenient, up-to-date, and high quality resources. We offer workshops, online courses, and other training activities to help you use education and communication approaches and NDEP resources to address diabetes. This page also includes resources for facilitators (e.g., diabetes educators, health educators, Community Health Workers) who provide training and technical assistance to others.
Training Courses
Training Courses
Managing the Emotional Impact of Diabetes Audio Program
The New Beginnings audio program gives group leaders a basic overview of the issues addressed in New Beginnings discussions including:
- Emotional impact of diabetes
- Role of family and social support in diabetes self-management
- Cultural considerations when addressing psychosocial and family support issues in people with diabetes.
This program has been approved for CNE, CEU, and CECH credit. Click here to access the programs. This activity is provided through CDC TRAIN, a learning resource for public health professionals and an affiliate of the Public Health Foundation Training Finder Real-time Affiliate Integrated Network (TRAIN). This program has been approved for CNE, CEU, and CECH credit. Visit the registration page for more information about continuing education.
Health Communication
How to Make Health Communication Work for Your Program Online Course
Use this self-guided course to learn how to plan health communication activities that are grounded in the day-to-day realities of your diabetes prevention and control work. You will leave with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to implement effective health communication strategies in all of your work.
Resources for Facilitators
Diabetes Prevention
Training resources to support the Road to Health Toolkit
Learn how to successfully use the Road to Health Toolkit and its resources by using training guides and videos. (English and Spanish)
Diabetes Control
New Beginnings: A Discussion Guide for Group Leaders to Address the Emotional Impact of Living with Diabetes (8 modules) [PDF-3.98MB]
Use this guide to facilitate discussions in diabetes support groups that focus on managing the emotional side of living with diabetes, goal setting, problem solving, and building self-confidence.
Diabetes, Distress and Depression: Incorporating the Emotional Side of Diabetes in Clinical Care
Diabetes and depression have been associated with poor self-management behavior and poor clinical outcomes. However many unanswered questions remain about the links between diabetes and depression, leaving diabetes educators and clinicians struggling to find effective strategies to address these issues in their practices. What if our symptom-based approach to diagnosing depression in people with diabetes is too narrow? During this podcast, Dr. Lawrence Fisher invites clinicians to consider the broader construct of emotional distress which takes into account the context of living with diabetes including its management, other life stresses, and other contributors that can impact emotional well-being. Dr. Fisher will explore the construct of emotional distress, and suggest strategies for integrating the emotional side of diabetes into regular diabetes care. This approach can reduce confusion between depression and distress so that appropriate and targeted patient-centered interventions can occur.
Diabetes and Nutrition in the Latino Community
Learn about culturally oriented nutrition education for Hispanics or Latinos with or at risk of diabetes from expert Lorena Drago, MS, RD, CDN, CDE, and relevant nutrition resources.
The Art of Storytelling and Use of Culturally-Adapted Tools to Educate on Diabetes Prevention
Storytelling can play a role in diabetes education and can influence self-efficacy, outcome expectations, risk perceptions and problem solving, resulting in improved self-care behaviors, particularly in vulnerable populations. Many cultures use storytelling to share wisdom. Stories create vivid mental images that encourage thinking and aid understanding and recall. Using storytelling as a teaching method and listening to patients' own stories can enhance communication by building trust and understanding, especially when the patient and the diabetes educator have different backgrounds and life experiences.
Partners in Health: Engaging Faith Communities in Diabetes Prevention and Control (1 hour)
Learn about tools and strategies for working with faith-based organizations to educate them about diabetes, conduct diabetes prevention and control activities, and create a healthy church environment from a panel of inspirational presenters.
Culturally Competent Health Provider Communication: Insights from Research with Chinese, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Island Diabetes Patients
Learn about the major issues in culturally competent medical communication with Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander patients, and principles and methods for effective communication with these populations.
Link to additional webinars on the NIH NDEP site.
Online Learning Communities
Online Learning Communities
NDEP hosts learning communities to connect people working with NDEP resources, or specific populations. In these learning communities, you can access information and resources to support your efforts, ask questions, and share the work you are doing to address diabetes.
NDEP Road to Health Implementers Community
A learning community to help people who manage diabetes prevention activities using the Road to Health Toolkit share lessons learned, tools, and resources to support their activities. Also available in Spanish:
Campeones del Kit El camino hacia la buena salud Una comunidad de aprendizaje para ayudar a quienes manejan actividades de prevención de la diabetes usando el Kit El camino hacia la buena salud (RTH, por sus siglas en Inglés), en sus actividades.
pHConnect Making Health Communication Work for Your Program
A learning community for participants in the National Diabetes Education Program's How to Make Health Communication Work for Your Program course.
Continuing Educations Credits Available:
New Beginnings: Improving Emotional Well-Being and Positive Social Support in People with Diabetes (Coming Soon)
Contact Us:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Rd
Atlanta, GA 30333
- Contact CDC-INFO

subset: commoncrawl


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Kristoffer Jorgensen Named Co-Diver of Big Ten Championships
March 2, 2012
The Big Ten Conference office announced Friday its 2012 men's swimming & diving individual award winners. Minnesota's Kristoffer Jorgensen was tabbed Co-Diver of the Championships along with Ohio State's Shane Miszkiel and Indiana's Darian Schmidt.
Jorgensen was crowned champion in platform diving after posting a program-record score of 430.65. With the win, the senior became the first Big Ten diving champion in any event for the Gophers since 2001.
Minnesota's Andy Knaak was named an honoree for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. Out of nine candidates, one will be chosen at the end of the school for the award.
Michigan's Dan Madwed was named the Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships, while Freshman of the Year went out to Nate Savoy of Penn State. Michigan head coach Mike Bottom was named Swimming Coach of the Year, and Indiana diving coach Jeff Huber earned Diving Coach of the Year accolades.
More Headlines
7/31/2015Future Freshman: Erik Hunter
7/27/2015Weekend Roundup: 7/27
7/20/2015Weekend Roundup: July 20
7/17/2015Future Freshman: Hunter Doerr
7/16/201510th Gophers Record Broken in 2015
7/13/2015Weekend Roundup: July 13
7/6/2015Weekend Roundup: July 6
06/29/2015Weekend Roundup: June 29
06/22/2015Weekend Roundup: June 22
06/19/2015Future Freshman: Nick Plachinski
06/05/2015Minnesota Adds Gerst to Coaching Staff
06/05/2015Future Freshman: Alan LeBlang
05/28/2015Johnson Named Most Valuable Gopher


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17 April 2014
Stonewall has received £68,800 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for an exciting new project looking back at the campaign for equality for lesbian, gay and bisexual people over the last 25 years.
The programme will focus on the gay equality movement since 1989 and will chronicle and celebrate the accomplishments of key individuals, historic events and legislative changes.
The two year project will involve a number of activities around the country, volunteering opportunities and an oral history project to celebrate the older lesbian, gay and bisexual community.
Commenting on the award, James Taylor Stonewall's Head of Policy said: 'We are thrilled to have the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund to ensure the voices and contributions of all those involved in the gay equality movement since 1989 are not lost or forgotten.'
In March Stonewall launched a new website to mark its 25th anniversary. The site features a historical timeline of key moments in the fight for equality and can be found at: www.stonewall25.org.uk
About the Heritage Lottery Fund
Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) aims to make a lasting difference for heritage, people and communities across the UK and help build a resilient heritage economy. From museums, parks and history places to archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions, we invest in ever part of our diverse heritage. HLF has supported almost 36,000 projects with more the £6bn across the UK.
During office hours please call: 020 7593 1856 or outside office hours on 07985 439 660.
If you are a journalist and wish to be added to Stonewall's media contacts list, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com


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News, trends and ideas we're tracking today.
Posts filtered on Tag
Warm winter a boon for hungry mosquitoes
Houston's unseasonable warm winter might be a welcome change for many, but it may come at a price — blood-thirsty mosquitoes, according to a KPRC-TV story. According to the television station, the warmer winter temperatures are allowing mosquitoes to breed sooner, and in Sugar Land, it's feeling a little like summer. "We're seeing more mosquitoes than […] [Read More]
KHOU: Raccoon meat, drugs seized at car wash
HPD's deferential response team raided the business after receiving complaints from neighbors. [Read More]


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Angelina Jolie
Birth Name: Angelina Jolie Voight
Age: 40, born 4 June 1975
Born and residing in: United States
Height: 5' 7"
Relationship Status: Married
Partner: Brad Pitt
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Angelina Jolie's Journey to Cambodia (Louis Vuitton)
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Angelina Jolie look alike is stunning.
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About: Angelina Jolie [ born: Angelina Jolie Voight on June 4, 1975 in Los Angeles, California ] is an Oscar-winning actress who has become popular by taking on the title role in the "Lara Croft" series of blockbuster movies. Off-screen, Jolie has become prominently involved in international charity projects, especially those involving refugees. She often appears on many "most beautiful women" lists, and she has a personal life that is avidly covered by the tabloid press. In her ear Angelina Jolie [ born: Angelina Jolie Voight on June 4, 1975 in Los Angeles, California ] is an Oscar-winning actress who has become popular by taking on the title role in the "Lara Croft" series of blockbuster movies. Off-screen, Jolie has become prominently involved in international charity projects, especially those involving refugees. She often appears on many "most beautiful women" lists, and she has a personal life that is avidly covered by the tabloid press. In her earliest years, Angelina began absorbing the acting craft from her parents - her father is the Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight and her mother is Marcheline Bertrand, who had studied with Lee Strasberg. At age 11, Angelina began studying at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, where she was seen in several stage productions. She undertook some film studies at New York University and later joined the renowned Met Theatre Group in Los Angeles. At age 16, she took up a career in modeling and appeared in some music videos. Her good looks may derive from her ancestry, which is German and Slovak on her father's side, and French-Canadian, Dutch, German, Czech, and remote Huron, on her mother's side.
In the mid-1990s, Jolie appeared in various small films where she got good notices, including Hackers (1995) and Foxfire (1996). Her critical acclaim increased when she played strong roles in the made-for-TV movies True Women (1997), and in George Wallace (1997) which won her a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination. Jolie's acclaim increased even further when she played the lead role in the HBO production Gia (1998). This was the true life story of supermodel Gia Carangi, a sensitive wild child who was both brazen and needy and who had a difficult time handling professional success and the deaths of people who were close to her. Carangi became involved with drugs and because of her needle-using habits she became, at the tender age of 26, one of the first celebrities to die of AIDS. Jolie's performance in Gia (1998) again garnered a Golden Globe Award and another Emmy nomination, and she additionally earned a SAG Award.
Angelina got a major break in 1999 when she won a leading role in the successful feature The Bone Collector (1999), starring alongside Denzel Washington. In that same year, Jolie gave a tour de force performance in Girl, Interrupted (1999) playing opposite Winona Ryder. The movie was a true story of women who spent time in a psychiatric hospital. Jolie's role was reminiscent of Jack Nicholson's character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), the role which won Nicholson his first Oscar. Unlike "Cuckoo", "Girl" was a small film that received mixed reviews and barely made money at the box office. But when it came time to give out awards, Jolie won the triple crown -- "Girl" propelled her to win the Golden Globe Award, the SAG Award and the Academy Award for best leading actress in a supporting role.
With her new-found prominence, Jolie began to get in-depth attention from the press. Numerous aspects of her controversial personal life became news. At her wedding to her Hackers (1995) co-star Jonny Lee Miller, she had displayed her husband's name on the back of her shirt painted in her own blood. Jolie and Miller divorced, and in 2000, she married her Pushing Tin (1999) co-star Billy Bob Thornton. Jolie had become the fifth wife of a man twenty years her senior. During her marriage to Thornton, the spouses each wore a vial of the other's blood around their necks. That marriage came apart in 2002 and ended in divorce. In addition, Jolie was estranged from her famous father, Jon Voight.
In 2000, Jolie was asked to star in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001). At first, she expressed disinterest, but then decided that the required training for the athletic role was intriguing. The Croft character was drawn from a popular video game. Lara Croft was a female cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond. When the film was released, critics were unimpressed with the final product, but critical acclaim wasn't the point of the movie. The public paid $275 million for theater tickets to see a buffed up Jolie portray the adventuresome Lara Croft. Jolie's father Jon Voight appeared in "Croft", and during filming there was a brief rapprochement between father and daughter.
One of the Croft movie's filming locations was Cambodia. While there, Jolie witnessed the natural beauty, culture and poverty of that country. She considered this an eye opening experience, and so began the humanitarian chapter of her life. Jolie began visiting refugee camps around the world and came to be formally appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Some of her experiences were written and published in her popular book "Notes from My Travels" whose profits go to UNHCR.
Jolie has stated that she now plans to spend most of her time in humanitarian efforts, to be financed by her actress salary. She devotes one third of her income to savings, one third to living expenses and one third to charity. In 2002, Angelina adopted a Cambodian refugee boy named Maddox, and in 2005, adopted an Ethiopian refugee girl named Zahara. Jolie's dramatic feature film Beyond Borders (2003) parallels some of her real life humanitarian experiences although, despite the inclusion of a romance between two westerners, many of the movie's images were too depressingly realistic -- the film was not popular among critics or at the box office.
In 2004, Jolie began filming Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) with co-star Brad Pitt. The film became a major box office success. There were rumors that Pitt and Jolie had an affair while filming "Smith". Jolie insisted that because her mother had been hurt by adultery, she herself could never participate in an affair with a married man, therefore there had been no affair with Pitt at that time. Nonetheless, Pitt separated from his wife Jennifer Aniston in January 2005 and, in the months that followed, he was frequently seen in public with Jolie, apparently as a couple. Pitt's divorce was finalized later in 2005.
Jolie and Pitt announced in early 2006 that they would have a child together, and Jolie gave birth to daughter Shiloh that May. They also adopted a three-year-old Vietnamese boy named Pax. The couple continues to pursue movie and humanitarian projects.
One of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World (2000).
She is extremely close to and protective of her older brother, James Haven. He often accompanies her to awards shows, and she used his name, or at least his memory, as inspiration in the "Where's Jamie?!" scene in Girl, Interrupted (1999).
Has the letter "H" tattooed on the inside of her left wrist, which is a reference to two people she is close to who have this letter in their names: her brother, James Haven, and Timothy Hutton. She got the tattoo when she was dating Timothy but since their break-up she now says it's only for James.
Has a tattoo of the Tennessee Williams quote, "A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages." on her left forearm.
Was married to Jonny Lee Miller in a black leather pants and a white shirt. On the white shirt she painted her husband's name in her own blood (across the back).
Tattoos include the Japanese sign for death, two pointy black American Indian symbols, a dragon, and a large black cross.
Daughter of Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand.
Collects knives and has an interest in mortuary science.
Angelina and her brother, to whom she is very close, publicly spoke out to deny false rumors that the two were having an incestuous love affair (2000).
Started modelling at age 14 and had a childhood dream of becoming a funeral director.
Named the world's sexiest woman in Swedish magazine Café.
"Jolie" means "pretty" in French.
Goddaughter of actress Jacqueline Bisset.
Has the Latin phrase "Quod me nutrit me destruit" ("What nourishes me also destroys me") tattooed across her stomach.
(August 27, 2001) Appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland after her visits to Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Pakistan.
Born at 9:09 AM PDT
"Introducing Angelina Jolie" in opening credits of Love Is All There Is (1996) suggests delayed release as Jolie already had at least two major screen roles by 1996.
On her father's side, she has German and Slovak ancestry. On her mother's side, she has French-Canadian, Czech, Dutch, German, and remote Huron, ancestry. Her Huron ancestor was her eight times great-grandmother, Catherine Anenontha, who was born in 1649.
Ranked #87 in Premiere magazine's 2002 annual "Power 100" list.
In role as goodwill ambassador, she visited Tham Hin refugee camp in Thailand to check on conditions of 9,000 refugees from bordering Myanmar. [May 2002]
Announced in late 2002 that she was "in talks" to portray the late porn star Linda Lovelace.
Voted the 3rd Sexiest Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire Magazine. [September 2002]
She is the woman most American males would like to date on New Year's Eve, according to a survey by movie rental chain Blockbuster Inc. Results of the survey showed her in the top spot with 35 percent of respondents saying she would be their number one pick for a hypothetical New Year's Eve candlelit dinner. Rival star Catherine Zeta-Jones gained second spot in the online survey conducted by Blockbuster in November 2003. The survey had 31,969 responses.
Was named "The sexiest woman alive" by the Swedish evening newspaper "Aftonbladet" (2003).
Voted #9 in the 2004 FHM UK list of 100 Sexiest Women in the World.
One of her favorite television series is King of the Hill (1997). She also enjoys the Game Show Network and Animal Planet.
She was voted #2 on VH1's "100 Hottest Hotties".
Graduated from Beverly Hills High School at age 16, the same school as Lenny Kravitz. She also went to school with Michael Klesic and Bahar Soomekh.
Voted Hollywood's Sexiest Single Mother, in a poll for website Date.com.
Consulted with real-life FBI profiler Robert K. Ressler for her role in Taking Lives (2004).
In 2003, she was the first recipient of the Citizen of the World Award from the UN's Correspondents' Association for her work as a goodwill ambassador with the UNHCR.
She ranked #2 in 2000 on Mr. Blackwell (aka Richard Selzer)'s Worst Dressed List.
Named Esquire magazine's Sexiest Woman Alive in 2004.
Named Most Beautiful Woman in People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World (2005). More than 500,000 readers were polled.
She was made an official citizen of Cambodia by the King for her ongoing efforts to help the environment there. [August 2005]
Was nominated for Worst Actress at the Razzie Awards for four straight years from 2002 to 2005, but each time was beaten by another of her fellow nominees.
Performed her own stunts in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) and received cuts from the chandelier scene as a result. She also set fire to her silk pajamas on the chandelier while she was doing her "bungee jumps" in the house. She was taken to a hospital with minor burns but resumed filming the next day.
Named #7 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 Women of 2005 list.
Ranked #1 in E! Television's 2006 101 Sexiest Celebrity Bodies.
Gave her Oscar Statuette, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, and Critic Choice Award to her mother. She felt she didn't need to hang on to awards.
Her godfather Maximilian Schell always gave her a doll as a birthday present, from her first to sixteenth. Sometimes it was a modern doll, made of plastic, sometimes it was an old and precious one, made of wood or porcelain.
Gave her mother the nickname "Great Lady".
One of the first actresses to win 3 consecutive Golden Globes in 3 different categories: "Best Supporting Actress in a Mini Series": George Wallace (1997), "Best Actress in a TV Movie or Mini Series": Gia (1998), "Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture": Girl, Interrupted (1999). Coincidentally, all her roles were based on real people.
Ranked and voted #3 by Ask men.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2006.
(April 28, 2006) One of People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People in the World.
Named #1 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement.
Has tattoos of the coordinates representing the birth countries of each of her kids (she even has the coordinates of France tattooed on her arm twice, one each for Knox and Viv), which cover up the Billy Bob Thornton tattoo. [June 2006]
Holds a Private Pilot Certificate with the Airplane, Single Engine, Land rating. This means that she is qualified to fly any single-engined aircraft based on land (i.e., no seaplanes) under visual flight rules only (i.e., no instrument qualifications yet so she cannot fly in conditions requiring instruments).
Has a fondness for Liverpool Football Club because her son Maddox "only wants to play for Liverpool".
She donated many items to Rocky Stone to be given to less fortunate kids as part of the Toy Mountain Campaign.
Was the cover girl for the much anticipated issue of Forbes magazine, in which appeared the infamous Celebrity 100 list. [June 2006]
Named #4 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 Women of 2006 list.
Became the third actress to join the coveted $20 Million Club (after Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz), when she signed to do Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) for that amount.
Is a huge fan of author Ayn Rand.
Named #2 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement.
Is left-handed and therefore had to have guns specially made so that she could reload them easily for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001).
(January 27, 2007) Her mother Marcheline Bertrand died from ovarian cancer in Los Angeles after a 7 1/2 year battle.
Chosen the greatest sex symbol of all time in the British television show "The 100 Greatest Sex Symbols". [February 2007]
Was on the "Time 100", a list of the world's 100 most influential people in the world by "Time" magazine (2006).
Ranked #12 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 Women of 2007 list.
Is an alumna of the Lee Strasberg Institute as are Frank Miranda, Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Sally Field.
Ranked #33 on EW's The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood (2007).
In 2007, Forbes magazine estimated her earnings for the year at $20 million.
In 2007, she moved to New Orleans with Brad Pitt and their four children.
In 2006, after the birth of her daughter Shiloh, she sold the first pictures of her newborn for $4,100,000. She later donated the profits to charity.
Ranked #3 in the 2008 Forbes Celebrity 100 list.
The first male to hold Jolie in his arms was Charley Boorman. He'd served as a pageboy at the wedding of Jolie's parents Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand during the Deliverance (1972) shoot, and later happened to be present during the delivery of Jolie. Boorman was just 8-years-old and Jolie was but an infant. Today (2008) Boorman quips that his epitaph should read: "I was the first man to get his hands on Angelina Jolie".
Was considered for the role of Kelly Kapowski on Saved by the Bell (1989), which went to Tiffani Thiessen.
Since becoming a Goodwill Ambassador in 2001, she has visited over 20 countries.
In an interview about her movie Changeling (2008), Angie revealed that although her mom's name was Marcheline, everyone called her "Marshmallow", because she was such a softie.
Went to Beverly Hills High School with writer/actor Quincy Rose, son of Mickey Rose, and Antonia Bennett, daughter of Tony Bennett.
Friends with Gwen Stefani.
In July 2009, she was voted in first place in a poll to find the 100 Greatest Sex Symbols for Britain's Channel 4. Elvis Presley was runner-up.
Viktoriya Bonya named her daughter after her.
When Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton first married, the couple moved into the Beverly Hills home formerly owned by Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash (2000).
Was considered for the role of Natasha Rushman/Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (2010) after Emily Blunt dropped out of the project, but Scarlett Johansson was cast instead.
Replaced Charlize Theron as Elise Clifton-Ward in The Tourist (2010) shortly before filming began.
Was originally cast as Dagny Taggart in Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011) before being replaced by Charlize Theron, who in turn was replaced by Taylor Schilling.
Was 6 months pregnant with her daughter Shiloh when she completed filming The Good Shepherd (2006).
Returned to work 4 months after giving birth to her daughter Shiloh in order to begin filming A Mighty Heart (2007).
In March 1999, it was reported by People magazine that she would star as one of the three angels in Charlie's Angels (2000). However, she left the project shortly before production began, stating in an interview that she chose not to be in the film.
Was considered for the role of Ryan Stone in Gravity (2013), but Sandra Bullock was cast instead.
Was born Angelina Jolie Voight, however in 2002, she dropped her surname "Voight" and began using her middle name "Jolie".
Ranked #90 in the 2011 FHM list of "100 Sexiest Women in the World". Previously, she ranked #70 in 2010, #14 in 2009, #9 in 2008, #8 in 2007, #4 in 2006, #3 in 2005, #9 in 2004, #32 in 2003, #32 in 2002, #61 in 2001, and #68 in 2000.
Was named after costumer designer Angela Alexander who designed costumes for the film The All-American Boy (1973) that her father Jon Voight starred in. Jon and Angela became good friends on the set, and he became fascinated when she told him her original Greek name was "Angeliki", which in Greek means "Angelic Messenger of God". During the film's shoot, Jon Voight came to Angela on the set and told her that one day if he and his wife (then actress Marcheline Bertrand) ever had a daughter he was going to name her "Angelica". They had only had a son at the time; Jolie was born two years later. Although he originally named her Angelica, a year later after his divorce with Marcheline, she began calling her "Angelina.".
Was 2 months pregnant with twins Knox and Vivienne when she completed filming Changeling (2008).
Returned to work 8 months after giving birth to twins Vivienne and Knox in order to begin filming Salt (2010).
Ranked #10 in Men's Health 100 Hottest Women of All Time (2011).
The three oldest children of Angelina and Brad Pitt were adopted: sons Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt (born on August 5, 2001, adopted by Angelina on March 10, 2002 and by Brad in early 2006) and Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt (born on November 29, 2003, adopted by Angelina on March 15, 2007 and by Brad on February 21, 2008), and daughter Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt (born on January 8, 2005, adopted by Angelina on July 6, 2005, and by Brad in early 2006).
Delivered all her biological children via scheduled Caesarean sections.
Was a guest writer for The Economist's special edition The World in 2008. In an article entitled A Year For Accountability, she stated that, "accountability is perhaps the only force powerful enough to break the cycle of violence and retribution that marks so many conflicts... Common sense tells us that when risks are weighed, decisions are made differently. When crimes against humanity are punished consistently and severely, the killers' calculus will change."
Has been in a relationship with Brad Pitt since May 2005 and they are engaged since April 2012. They have 6 children together.
Gave birth to her 4th child at age 30, a daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, on May 27, 2006. Her father is Brad Pitt.
Gave birth to twins (her 5th and 6th child) at age 33, a son, Knox Léon Jolie-Pitt, and a daughter, Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt, on July 12, 2008. Their father is Brad Pitt.
Jolie wrote an Op/Ed newspaper article titled "My Medical Choice" that was published on May 14, 2013, in The New York Times in which she revealed that she had undergone a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction because she is a carrier of a "faulty" gene, BRCA1. Her doctors advised her that that gene, along with her family history of breast cancer (including her mother's death at age 56) made it much more likely that she would have developed breast cancer (the medical estimate was that she had an 87% risk of breast cancer), so she elected to have the surgery as a preventative measure.
(May 26, 2013) Her maternal aunt, Debbie Martin, died from breast cancer at age 61.
She handpicked Lana Del Rey to perform the song "Once Upon a Dream" as the main theme for Maleficent (2014).
Was the 116th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Girl, Interrupted (1999) at The 72nd Annual Academy Awards (2000) on March 26, 2000.
Was made a honorary Dame by Queen Elizabeth II on June 13, 2014 in London. ... (more) (less)
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Gear Review
Cheap piece of garbage
- Gender: Male
- Familiarity: I've used it several times
Cons:1) Made in China. 2) Leather is of the cheapest quality (probably not cowhide). 3) The cheap leather smellsmlike rotten fish. 4) You and your clothes smell like rotten fish after you wear it. 5) Multiple cleanings with leather cleaner cannot remove the stench. 6) threw the belt away, and now I am stuck with a $45 buckle. 7) This site is a douchebag for even selling this.
View More Details on 686 Rivet Toolbelt


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Brentwood, New York based hip hop group EPMD was one of the leading East Coast hip hop forces in the late 80s and early 90s, with a funk-fueled brand of hip-hop that won millions of fans and which has secured for the act a permanent spot in music history. And their combination of beats and heavy sampling of past hits gave their music both familiarity and freshness.
EMPD was the subject of an episode of TV One's excellent biography show, "Unsung." We have the full episode below. Check it out and tell us what you think!


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Here is our Xtreme Synthetic Sparring Single Hand Sword-Silver Blade designed in conjunction with Dave Rawlings.
This latest addition to the synthetic range has been designed and tested in conjunction with the English Martial Arts Academy. The swords are very well priced and are a must for all backsword practitioners, allowing for greater levels of intensity during sparring and in the tournament arena.
The swords excel in practicing techniques from George Silver and the Highland Broadsword fighting manuals.
The blade of the sword is the standard Rawlings Xtreme Single Hand Blade and is compatible with all Rawlings Single Hand Sword fittings.
The blades are designed to flex in the last one-third of their length towards the tip, allowing for much safer thrusting than with conventional wooden wasters or shinai. The blade/tang joint is reinforced by a high tensile steel rod running along the full length of the handle, so removing the handle flex typically associated with plastic training swords.
The swords are modelled using dimensions similar to those seen on existing historical pieces and reinforced high-impact polymer is used in the standard guard and pommel construction. The ball shaped quillon finials and rounded pommels of the Longsword and Single-hand sword are designed for sparring safety, as are the pommel and basket of the basket-hilt sword.
The grips are manufactured from a rubber-like thermoplastic elastomer, designed to absorb the impact of strikes and to provide a tight fit on the tangs.
These synthetic swords are about two-thirds of the weight of a steel-bladed sword, heavier than most wooden wasters on the market but still having less impact than a steel sword, thus lowering the impact when sparring. The swords are well-balanced with a slight bias towards the hilt, again reducing the force of impact.
A key feature of the swords is their ease of assembly and disassembly which, when combined with the range of color options available for all of the interchangeable components, allows for customization of individual swords. Additionally, this disassembly feature makes for easy transportation. A brass nut is molded into the pommel, providing a tight metal on metal joint to the tang and compressing the slide-on grip against the guard.
These synthetic-bladed swords also provide an excellent option for theatrical use, being inherently safer than steel or aluminum. The variety of interchangeable parts also provides an economical means to create many different styles of sword on a single blade.
This sword features: White Blade, Black Guard, Black Handle, Black Basket Hilt Pommel
Overall: 41"
Blade Length: 34"
Handle Length: 6.5"
Weight: 1.76 lbs
Point of Balance: 6"
Specs will vary slightly
from piece to piece.
Copyright © 1995 - 2015 By The Sword All rights reserved
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School Safety
As tempting as it may sound, you can't keep your children in a "safety bubble." What you can do is follow some simple safety tips that will give you and your family some peace of mind and a more secure way of life.
Safety Tips for the School Season
Although riding the school bus is one of the safest ways to travel to and from school, injuries do occur. Many injuries happen when children are boarding or exiting the bus. A blind spot extends 10 feet around the bus, obstructing the driver's view. Children are unaware of this danger zone and might mistakenly believe if they can see the bus, the bus driver can see them. Safe Kids Tulsa Area offers these important tips for school bus safety:
Waiting for the Bus
Arrive at the stop at least five minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive.
Stay out of the street and avoid horseplay.
Always wait for parents on the same side of the street as the school bus loading/unloading zone.
On the Bus
Remain seated at all times and keep the aisles clear.
Do not throw objects.
Do not shout or distract the driver unnecessarily.
Keep hands and arms inside the bus at all times.
Boarding and Leaving the Bus
Wait until the bus comes to a complete stop before exiting.
Walk in a single file line.
Use the handrail to avoid falls.
Be aware of the driver's blind spot (10 feet in front of the bus) when walking away from the bus. (Don't bend over to pick up dropped items. Instead, children should let the driver know and ask for help.)
Cross the street at least 10 feet in front of the bus.
Remove loose drawstrings or ties on jackets and sweatshirts and replace with Velcro, snaps or buttons. (Loose drawstrings or book bags can snag on bus handrails putting children in danger of being strangled or dragged by the bus.) If parents are concerned a bus stop is in a dangerous place, they should talk with school officials about changing the location.
Walking to School
Pedestrian injuries are the second leading cause of accidental deaths among children ages five to 14. Safe Kids Tulsa Area recommends that children under 10 never cross the street alone. Please be sure to follow these additional safety guidelines:
Choose the safest route and walk it with children. Look for the most direct route with the fewest street crossings. Walk the route with children until they demonstrate traffic safety awareness. They should take the same route every day and avoid shortcuts.
Teach children to obey and recognize all traffic and markings. A flashing "walk" sign is not an automatic "go" signal. It means a pedestrian has permission to cross, but must first stop and look both ways for cars.
Make sure children look in all directions before crossing the street. Teach them to stop at the curb or edge of the road, and to look left, right and left again for traffic before and while crossing the street.
Teach children not to enter the street from between parked cars or from behind bushes or shrubs. Darting into the street accounts for most child pedestrian fatalities.
Teach children to cross the street at a corner or crosswalk. Make sure children allow plenty of time to cross. Teach them to walk, not run, across intersections. Tell children to listen to adult crossing guards or safety patrols monitoring intersections.
Warn children to be extra alert in bad weather. Visibility might be poor and motorists might not be able to see them or stop quickly.
Demonstrate proper pedestrian safety by being a good role model. Parent caregivers and older peers should set good examples for younger children. Children need you to not only tell them, but also show them how to be safe pedestrians. If there are older children in your home or neighborhood, express to them how important it is to be good role models.
Bike Safety
More than 27 million children from ages five to 14 ride bikes. Unfortunately, bicycles are associated with more childhood injuries than any other consumer product except the automobile. To keep children safe, Safe Kids Tulsa Area offers these safety tips for children riding bicycles:
Bike helmets should be worn at all times when bicycling. Head injury is the leading cause of death when it comes to bike crashes. Bike helmets have been shown to reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent and the risk of brain injury by as much as 88 percent. Purchase an approved bike helmet for each child and make sure that it is worn correctly every time the child rides his or her bike.
Follow the rules of the road. Children who ride bikes to school should be taught to follow the rules of the road that apply to all vehicles. Ride on the right side of the road, with traffic, not against it; use appropriate hand signals; respect traffic signals; stop at all intersections, marked and unmarked; and stop and look left, right and left again before entering or crossing streets.
Children should not ride on the road without direct adult supervision.
Plan a safe cycling route with children and ride it with them. A safe cycling route to school and other common destinations may not be the same as a safe walking route. Streets with a steady flow of fast-moving traffic are not appropriate for young cyclists with limited traffic experience.
Do not ride at night. The risk of sustaining an injury during non-daylight conditions (e.g., at dawn, dusk or night) is nearly four times greater than during the daytime.
Schools should provide cyclists with "safe areas." Bike racks should be placed in areas where there are few motor vehicles and pedestrians. Avoid drop-off and pick-up zones in school parking lots.
Driving Children to School
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 1 to 14. Seventy-five percent of motor vehicle crashes occur within 25 miles of home. Safe Kids Tulsa offers these safety tips for driving children to school and participating in car pools:
Always use child safety seats and/or safety belts correctly every time you and your children ride. Remain buckled up until exiting the vehicle. Children who have outgrown a convertible seat (usually about four to eight years old and about 40 to 80 pounds) should graduate to a booster seat.
Drop off children as close to school as possible so that they do not have to cross the street. Make sure they enter and leave the car on the curbside.
Arrange to pick up children at a safe spot away from the congestion of cars around the school.
Allow extra time in your schedule to avoid driving too fast when late.
Never put loose or heavy objects in the passenger area of the car that could injure someone if you stopped suddenly.
Never leave a child alone in a car.
Children and Air Bags
When driving children to school with their younger brothers and sisters, be aware that you should:
Never put an infant in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger air bag. This applies both to motor vehicles with and without passenger air bags.
If it is absolutely necessary for a child to ride in the front seat of a car with a passenger air bag:
Never put an infant less than one-year-old or less than 20 pounds in the front seat;
Secure the child in a restraint system that is correct for the size of the child - a front-facing child safety seat, a booster seat or a lap/shoulder belt;
Move the seat as far back from the dashboard as possible; and
Never allow a child to lean forward toward the dashboard.
Following these important safety guidelines and reviewing them with your children can help keep the back-to-school season safe -- year after year.
Learn More About Safe Kids Tulsa Area
To learn more about Safe Kids or available safety resources, please call 918-494-SAFE (7233).
Safe Kids Tulsa Area is the eastern Oklahoma affiliate of
Safe Kids Worldwide
-a global organization dedicated to preventing injuries in children. The Tulsa coalition is led by The Children's Hospital at Saint Francis.
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I have finished the back of the sweater, and I am nearly up to the armscye on the front.
It is not the most thrilling item of knitting photography, I grant you. I wonder if it would help if I did that "super close-up" thing?
Hmm, not really much of an improvement, interesting-wise.
Wait, I know! Blingee to the rescue!
Awwww yeah!


text:
I loved Ollie, his story made me cry and made me and pull for him to make it so hard.
Printable View
I loved Ollie, his story made me cry and made me and pull for him to make it so hard.
Ollie and Big Jim were my faves. I wonder who will portray Ollie in the TV series. :heheh:
I like Julia Shumway, because she, IMO, is the wise-ass character of this book. In many Sai King novels, there is always a "wise-ass" character. In the Dark Tower it was Eddie Dean. In It, it was Ritchie Tozier. In The Stand it was Larry Underwood. The Long Walk's wise-ass contestant I suppose might have been Barkovitch. But yeah, I love the wise-assery of Julia, and her wit. Her dialouge, esp with Col. Cox is great. It reminded me of Eddie and Roland. A wise ass cracking wit with someone with no sense of humor whatsoever.
Absolutely, positively has to be Barbie, not because he's an out-front hero - Rusty, Piper & Julia - are heroes.
But because SK has written him as a hotty (I'm so ashamed).
& Joe McClatchey & his crew are a great advert for adolescents.
If only AMC (as in The Walking Dead)had turned it into a series, complete with a (mostly) 'who's that?' cast. . .
Barbie, then Big Jim.
Julia Shumway.
Julia Shumway. :wink: I have my reasons.
I would have to say big Jim, loved that character and how well written he was also the way he justifies his decisions to himself, I know he was the baddie but is one of my favourite characters ever! loved all the good guys too found all of the character's to be very well written and enjoyed my time spent with them will re read this book in the future, probably more than once.


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COLONEL DAVID LAPAN (deputy assistant secretary of defense for media operations): Just before we get started, we are being very creative with technology here. Obviously we have a very nice video picture, but what is happening is that they are not -- the two principals are not able to hear us directly. There's a third person off camera who has a phone line that will relay the questions to the two principals. But we will be able to hear directly their answers.
So with that, good morning here in Washington and good evening in Afghanistan. I'd like to welcome to the Pentagon briefing room Italian Brigadier General Claudio Berto, who is the commanding general for Regional Command West.
General Berto assumed his duties in Afghanistan approximately five months ago, in April 2010. This is his first time joining us in this format. He will provide an update on current operations from his headquarters in Herat. General Berto will brief today, along with his deputy chief of staff for stability operations, Italian Colonel Vito Cracas. They will make some opening comments, and then we will take your questions.
And with that, sir, I'll turn it over to you.
GEN. BERTO: Okay. I am Brigadier General Claudio Berto, RC West commander. My area of operation in the west of Afghanistan is more or less the -- shaped with the dimension of 400-kilometers by 400- kilometers. The amount of inhabitants are more or less 3.5 million, and the majority of them concentrated in the Herat province.
The other provinces are Badghis in north, Ghowr in the east, the less populated, and Farah in the south.
In the framework of the operation in Afghanistan, we are in economy of forces. And nevertheless, my main effort in the Badghis province -- up there we have deployed two task forces. Task Force North is an Italian task forces, and Task Force Badghis. The others are deployed in Shindand, in Farah, and we have only a PRT in Chaghcharan. That is the main city in Ghowr province.
The amount of ISAF soldiers under my command are 7,000, plus I'm partnering more or less 11,800 of ANSF. That means ANA, the army; ABP, the border police; and the ANP, the police, uniformed police.
That's all.
STAFF: Colonel Cracas, would you like to make some introductory remarks?
COL. CRACAS: Good morning to all. I am Colonel Vito Cracas of the Italian Air Force, and I'm for Regional Command West deputy chief of staff of stability operations here at RC West.
For -- according to the NATO operation here in Afghanistan, I follow all governance and development aspects for General Berto, the RC West commander.
As said by the general, we have here four provinces. In Herat and Farah, we have the -- in Herat the Italian-led PRT and in Farah the U.S.-led PRT.
The PRT, the Provincial Reconstruction Teams, are the so-called battle space owners for all aspect of governance and development. They work closely with the province governor, reinforcing their authority by developing projects for the Afghan people in accordance with the Afghan provincial strategic plans.
In other words, the PRTs are the way that donor nations are actually helping the people of Afghanistan. Herat is the economic engine of the western region, in the Italian PRT of Herat, considering the importance of this province, one of the richest in the -- all Afghanistan.
During this year there has been an outstanding collaboration between the Italian and U.S. personnel. The military have worked side by side developing many projects then funded by U.S. Army CERP money. The U.S. Army CERP, Commander Emergency Response Program, has been designed to enable local commanders in Afghanistan to respond to urgent humanitarian relief and reconstruction requirement within their area of responsibility by carrying out programs that will immediately assist the population. Therefore, U.S. -- (inaudible) -- commander and the Italian PRT commander have worked closely together to develop many projects that have been delivered while others are in progress, and many more have already been studied.
COL. LAPAN: Okay. Anne?
Q: Can the general give us an update on security conditions in the region and how soon it might be before he thinks -- how soon it might be before NATO can begin to reduce the number of troops there?
GEN. BERTO: The security condition change from province to province. For example, in Herat, Herat city is a quite normal city, I would say also for our standards.
Of course, in the north, in which we have our main effort, the situation is worse. But we are able to keep under control. And we have developed a big effort, I would say, in fighting the enemy. And we were able to enlarge a so-called security bubble along the Murghab Valley for 20 kilometers. The result of that is that more or less 6,000 inhabitants were able to come back to their home and to their jobs.
The situation in Farah is different, because we say that in Farah there is an ideological insurgence, resistance. But with our task forces, we are able to keep under control the situation. I would say that it is not so bad.
GEN. BERTO: It depends how long that it takes to have effective ANSF forces. I think that it is a matter of years. It can start with a transition also tomorrow, but to empower the ANSF it takes more time, probably two or three years. It depends on the effort and on the materials, on the training that we are able to produce and to give to them.
COL. LAPAN: The next question.
Q: It's Mike Evans from The London Times. In the north of Afghanistan, it was regarded as relatively stable maybe 12 months ago, but there's been a lot of insurgent activity in the north in the last 12 months.
Has there been any indication of that sort of change in the western provinces?
STAFF: I'm sorry, could the moderator please repeat the question?
COL. LAPAN: Excuse me, I'll try from here.
In the last 12 months or so, there has been an increase in insurgent activity in the north of Afghanistan. And the question was whether you are seeing similar increases and similar changes, over the last several months to a year, in western provinces.
GEN. BERTO: Yes, I have seen. There has been a sort of increasing of enemy activity. But the reason why is because we have more soldiers on the ground, and they can fight -- I mean the enemy can attack more soldiers. And that's the reason why we have more incident.
But I have to say that the enemy has changed the way to attack us. Because since the last year, the majority of the attacks were conducted with the small-arms fire and RPG rockets.
Now, the TTPs that they have adopted are more IEDs. That means explosive mines on the ground, on the road. I've got five soldiers killed for this event and this kind of threat.
Q: (Inaudible) Sorry. One more question. Have you got evidence of any malign influence from the Iranians in the west? Or do they tend to be perhaps more positive in that area?
STAFF: I'm sorry, can (inaudible)
COL. LAPAN: Okay, I'll try again from here. Are you seeing any evidence of malign influence by Iran in the western part of the -- in your area?
GEN. BERTO: No, I am a tactical commander. What I see is the insurgents that are fighting against us. I'm not able to say for -- there is a western influence. Or better, I see the western influence in the market, in the bazaar, because all the booths are coming from the west. But as fighter, I can say I'm not sure.
Q: Start with -- (inaudible) -- how many districts does he estimate that the Taliban controls in his region?
COL. LAPAN: Okay, so the question is, can you estimate approximately how many districts you believe the Taliban controls in your area?
GEN. BERTO: I would say that they are not in control of any districts. But I have to say that in the provinces and in the districts which don't have forces, they have influence, of course.
I say that the less populated province is Ghowr. Then, in the south of Ghowr that is on the border with the Helmand province, there is a big influence from the insurgency. We perform several operations down there and -- but any time, it was impossible to get in touch with them, because they were (inaudible) away. And another district problematic I would say is Jawand district in Badghis area. But also, they have no permanent bases. They go back and forth from other districts and provinces, and they are not permanently in those districts.
Q: General, can you tell us how many and what U.S. troops are in your area, and what their role is?
GEN. BERTO: Okay. More or less, I have 2,000 American soldiers under my command. And the majority of them belong to the Task Force Raider as a part of 101 Division.
And then I have an aviation battalion deployed in Shindand and (inaudible) augmentees in my HQ that are helping us to perform our work the best way possible.
Q: Are they more doing the training mission, or are they actually, you know, tracking down bad guys during the kinetic ops?
GEN. BERTO: Both. Some of them are employing their mentors and trainers. And -- but the majority -- I mean, Task Force Raider is fighting, is seeking for the enemy, and, where it's possible, they are killing the enemy.
COL. LAPAN: Joe.
Q: General, this is Joe Tabet with Al Hurra. You have said in your first answer that you are facing somewhere in your area of operation -- what you said, it is an ideological insurgency. Could you give us more details about what you -- what you mean by that and what kind of insurgency other than the ideological you're facing?
STAFF: Can the moderator repeat the question?
COL. LAPAN: The question had to do with the general's initial comments about facing an ideological insurgency. So the question was, could you explain a little bit more about what the general meant by that? And if you could describe also what other type of insurgency, beyond an ideological one, there might be.
GEN. BERTO: Okay. I think that, yeah, in my region we are facing an insurgency that is made for the majority of criminals. There are people that are paid to do something.
And when I talk about ideological insurgency, I mean the real Taliban. And I think that they have not a great freedom of movement in the area. And the majority of them are in the south, because the vicinity with the most (inaudible) in Helmand, and of course -- in which there is the main effort of ISAF.
In the box, I would say of criminals, there is -- everything's the same that we have in our city.
COL. LAPAN: (Inaudible) -- direct all questions to me to save time. Phil.
Q: Just a clarification on an earlier -- an earlier answer you gave. If you could tell us when the transition -- when do you believe the transition in your -- in some of the provinces in your region could begin? You said it could begin any moment. So does that mean that there are provinces in your region that are ready to start transitioning now?
COL. CRACAS: I think that, for example, the district of Herat, Herat City, the transition could begin also tomorrow, as I stated before. Of course, the situation is not the same on the other provinces and the other cities. It takes more time. But I would like to underline that Herat is ready to begin the transition. And in my point of view, it's a good step.
COL. LAPAN: Yeah.
Q: For the general and the colonel, this week Secretaries Gates and Clinton called for more civilian help to the war effort. I wonder if you have any -- is there any worry in your area that you're not getting the civilian help you need or is required to make the transition in those stability ops that the military is currently leading?
GEN. BERTO: Generally speaking, our efforts are in those districts in which we have a lot of population, the condition to set up a good development.
And that means that not all the provinces have the opportunity to have the same numbers of soldiers and, in this case, of money. Again example. In -- (inaudible) -- provinces, we have just the presence of few soldiers in Chaghcharan. The other districts of this province are empty. Then probably they need not only soldiers but also money.
(To COL. Cracas): So, it's up to you.
COL. CRACAS: Well, can you please clarify? Civilian help from the Afghans or from the international community?
Q: Community.
COL. LAPAN: From the international community.
COL. CRACAS: Well, in this case I can say that, as the general was saying, we have different realities here, but I will say overall the cooperation with the civilian counterparts has been really good. In Herat province, for example, we have the Italian PRT, as I stated before.
And within the Italian PRT there is a civilian Italian component, who is the Cooperazione Italiana, which is the way that the Italian foreign minister -- minister of foreign affairs actually can contribute to the operation here in Afghanistan. And those are civilians.
And as a matter of fact, in the PRT compound, also the U.S. senior civilian representative lives in the PRT compound, together also with the chief of USAID here in Herat.
So I can say that there is a lot of very good collaboration in between the civilians and their military counterparts lately. As a matter of fact, during the mandate of General Berto, the RC West has also organized a forum which is called the Development and Governance Working Group, which has seen civilian and military all together to discuss about governance priorities, for development and actual projects. And in that forum we have seen GIRoA officials that -- for the civilian counterparts from the Afghan parties, and us, but also USAID, AECID, the Spanish civilian cooperation for international development, which are based in Qala Nau, in Badghis province.
We have seen many other actors. We have seen the -- all the militaries that are in our area. As I said, also UNAMA has been taking part to that forum, and that has helped in de-conflicting all the development efforts.
I will say then (inaudbible) -- for the transition that is imminent – may be imminent in some parts of our AOR, then of course the civilian presence must increase, because we must start to hand over to the civilians the organization of the government and all development aspects.
COL. LAPAN: Luis?
Q: Do you want me to ask (inaudible).
COL. LAPAN: Yeah.
Q: Beyond Herat, in preparation for the Lisbon conference, is he -- would he recommend any other districts for transition? And when the colonel says imminent, what timeline is he talking about?
COL. LAPAN: Okay, the question in -- you know, with Lisbon coming up soon, beyond Herat, are there any other parts that you would recommend for transition? And when you say that transition could be imminent, could you put sort of a time frame on that?
COL. CRACAS: Well, I would say that within province of Herat there will be many districts that will be eligible to be set up for transition. Outside the province of Herat, there might be some districts, but with a slightly longer time scale. RC West, together with the commanding Kabul IJC, are looking at time scales on what could possibly be in the near future. And we're discussing six to nine to 12 months or then 24 or more.
And I would say that here in the west we have all these realities. So roughly speaking I can say there are some district in Herat province that there -- would be able to start transitioning in the next six to nine months, maybe, and then of course for the rest we'll need to wait until 12 to 24 months. But of course there are also other areas that we don't foresee transitioning being possible within two years period.
Q: When you talk about these transitions, how many ISAF troops are you talking about removing from those areas? And would those include the removal of U.S. troops in time for President Obama's deadline next July?
GEN. BERTO: It depends on the district. There are districts in which we have a few troops, and then, of course, we are taking away our troops. It means no more than a company. In other districts we have more soldiers. But if we have more soldiers, there is a reason why, because the situation is worse than in Herat city. And then, of course, it would take more time.
COL. CRACAS: I think it is possible, but not sure, because it's not up to me.
COL. LAPAN: Okay. Next question.
Q: This is Tejinder Singh, from AHN and TV Today.
Pakistan has banned NATO supplies, colonels. What are your reaction to that? And what part of your supplies come from that route?
STAFF: Can you repeat the question?
COL. LAPAN: Question has to do with whether a temporary ban on some supply routes through Pakistan will affect you, and what kind of support and supplies you get coming through Pakistan.
GEN. BERTO: Under my point of view, is not a problem. We are really far away from Pakistan. And if you mean the good for the soldiers, (inaudible) who are coming through other borders -- for example, the Turkmenistan. And we have no problem with this issue.
Q: For the elections, there were about 150 candidates vying for about 17 seats. And U.S. officials were concerned that maybe some of the losers of the election might cause problems. Has he seen any of that?
COL. LAPAN: At the recent elections, there were many candidates for relatively few seats. Some officials expressed concern that those who did not do well in the elections might cause trouble. Have you seen any of that in your area, those who didn't do well in the elections stirring up unrest?
COL. CRACAS: Well, it's been an aspect of governance. I think it's very good when you have many candidates that want to actually participate to the governing of their own country. So I wouldn't take that as a bad sign.
As a matter of fact, actually, I think it was a very good sign that many candidates were willing to take action and start ruling their own country. Of course, the Wolesi Jirga has got so many seats, as you clearly underlined, therefore they won't be able all to assess. But I will say that the more, the better, so that the people have more choice, they could actually take a better decision, a more democratic decision, all said.
COL. LAPAN: Okay. And --
Q: (Inaudible) -- follow up on that. The question was that the losing candidates were expected to stir up trouble. Have you seen any trouble?
COL. CRACAS: No, no. Since the end of the election, we are not facing any trouble. I would say that the situation is quiet.
COL. LAPAN: Okay. Last question, Al.
Q: Yeah, General, you said that most of the insurgents in your area are just criminals who do what they do for money. How does that affect your approach to defeating them? And is that easier to address than an ideological insurgency?
GEN. BERTO: This is a COIN counterinsurgency operations. Our first task is to protect the population.
And coming back to the example of Bala Murghab, we were able to protect them, setting up a lot of combat outposts and patrolling the valley. That means that the criminals have no freedom of movement, and they are facing us and the ANSF troops. And I would say that is the way to keep calm all these bad guys.
For the ideological insurgency, it is a different matter. But you know that there is progress in the way that President Karzai is facing the Talibans. And then probably from a diplomatic point of view, we are doing really -- we are heading to really good result.
Q: I'm sorry, what do you mean by good result from the diplomatic point of view? And wouldn't it be easier to reconcile with criminal elements locally than it might be with ideological elements at the higher level?
GEN. BERTO: When I talked about diplomatic, I was referring to the ideological insurgency. You know that we have a program called reintegration. We are trying to get involved the insurgency, the real insurgents. And somewhere we had some sign, some good result. Some people have given up their weapons to us. For example, in Qala Nau, a band of 23 insurgents surrendered and joined the program. And now they are with their families, their villages, and they are working as normal citizens. And that's a good result.
COL. LAPAN: And one last --
Q: You spoke about areas where they are not able to put troops because of numbers. Does he worry that the Taliban may move into those areas?
COL. LAPAN: General, the question was, areas where you may not have enough troops to have coverage, do you have concern about Taliban moving into those areas where you don't have a significant number of forces?
GEN. BERTO: Yes, I have concern, but I have also to say that the Talibans are in the same place in which we are. The majority of the incidents happened in the areas that our troops are deployed.
That means in Bala Murghab, that means in Farah and in Shindand and -- (inaudible). For example, no major incident happened in Ghowr province since the beginning of my mandate. The Talibans are attacking us. And that's the question.
COL. LAPAN: Okay. Gentlemen, thank you. I will send it back to you for any closing remarks you'd like to make.
COL. CRACAS: Well, I'd like to say that in order for Afghanistan to gain and sustain stability, the Afghan National Security Forces elements must be able to combat in the insurgency and maintain a secure environment; and also, of course, to have the local support of the population.
We are here to help them to achieve this. And we all know, in fact, that there is no development without security. But let me also say that it is true that there is no security without development. And therefore, our job is also to set the conditions so that the Afghan people benefit from improved social services, expanded infrastructure and advance economic opportunities; while deterring also illicit economies.
We are here to support GIRoA efforts to extend functional governance across Afghanistan, establish and uphold the rule of law, help the GIRoA to provide essential services to the population, increase the role of women in the Afghan society.
Here in the western area, the overall situation can be assessed as very positive overall, and as a consequence of all the good work performed by everybody, military or civilians, of every nation that is here representing the RC West.
Thank you.
STAFF: And General Berto, do you have any closing remarks?
GEN. BERTO: No; I want just to say that never in my life I thought to speak with the Pentagon. It's an honor for me. (Laughs) Thank you so much.


text:
A secure credit card having daily changing security number is disclosed. The upper half portion of the secure credit card has a magnet strip and its thickness is same as a normal credit card, so it can be read by a credit-card reader. The bottom half portion of the secure credit card contains a processor, key or keypad, battery, display window and a program download port. The processor is loaded with a predetermined program so that the processor can generate date and a daily renewed security number that can be shown on the display window. The security number is the function of the date and their relationship is defined by the predetermined program. Giving a date, a corresponding security number can be generated by this predetermined program. The computer of the credit card company keeps this predetermined program and can compute the security number of the date by this predetermined program. The security number of the date computed by the credit card company is identical to the security number of the date shown on the display window of the secure credit card. So that the valid of the credit card and its transaction can be verified by the credit card company based on the cardholder's name, card number and the security number of the date. With this secure credit card, the credit card payment becomes very secure even through internet.
1. A secure credit card comprising:
a card body;
a processor embedded within the card body; wherein the processor contains a predetermined program that can generate a correct date and produce at least one new security number per day; and wherein the security number is the function of the date, and the relationship between the security number and the date is defined by the predetermined program;
a display window located on one surface of the card body for displaying the correct date and the at least one new security number generated by the processor;
a controller located on one surface of the card body for controlling the status of the processor;
a power source disposed within the card body for powering the processor; and
a program download port for downloading the predetermined program into the processor;
wherein a host computer for authorizing the transactions of the secure credit card contains the predetermined program that matches with the card number of the secure credit card;
thereby the host computer can compute a security number of the date which is identical to said security number of the date produced by said processor in said secure credit card; and
whereby the secure credit card with the at least one security number per day prevents credit card frauds.
2. A secure credit card according to
3. A secure credit card according to
4. A secure credit card according to
5. A secure credit card according to
6. A secure credit card according to
said upper half portion has the same thickness as a normal credit card, and there is a magnetic strip on said upper half portion,
said bottom half portion contains with said processor, display window, power source, controller and said program download port.
7. A secure credit card according to
This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for the usage of credit card, more particularly, a secure credit card provides secure payment by this credit card at counter, through telephone or internet and eliminates the possibility for gang to make fraud credit card.
In modern society, more and more people make their payment by credit card when they shop, purchase through internet, travel oversea, book hotel through telephone, etc. When they do so, they have to reveal full information of the credit card. It is a risk for cardholders and banks as malicious people may access to this information, they can use this information for their illegal payments, or forge a fraud credit card. Banks have lost millions dollars each year due to the payment made by fraud credit cards.
Currently, the credit card is secured by the information of credit card: cardholder's name, card number, and cardholder's signature. When a person makes his/her payment by a credit card, the clerk can verify this card by calling to the bank with the only information of the authorized cardholder's name and the card number. After that the cardholder (please notice the difference between the 'cardholder' and the 'authorized cardholder'. 'Authorized cardholder' is the person whom the bank issues the credit card to, 'Cardholder' is the person who holds a credit card, but the credit card may be a fraud credit card) signs on the invoice and takes away the purchased items. The bill will be sent to the person with the credit card account. There are two insecure factors: first, the clerks obtain the full information of credit card and they may reveal or leak the information to fraud-credit-card gang. Second, if the credit card is fraud one, the person with the credit card account will reject to pay. The bank will check the invoice and find out the fault signature, but it is too late as the malicious person has taken away the purchased items. It is even danger if the payment is carried out via internet as the gangs can hack information from internet easily.
The credit card system provides convenient and safe for credit card users as they do not need to carry many cashes when shopping, or travelling. However, the security information of credit card is shown on the card fully: The name of cardholder, the credit card number, and signature of cardholder. Every transaction by the credit card has the possibility of information leakage. Any information leakages endanger the banks and cardholders. To enhance the security of the credit card system, inventors have proposed many interesting ideas. Such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,087 presented a secure credit card with an opaque shield. The credit card number is hidden beneath this opaque shield. This shield can be rendered transparent after user inputs a correct password through a keypad. U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,273 revealed a credit card security system. In this system, cardholder inserts identifying information in electronic distorted form pertaining only to assigned holder. The system can check the validity of the card by examining the hidden information. U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,787 showed a programmable credit card whose identification information is readable by a reader device but is not discernible by the human eye. The completed account number and the identification information by a reader device are transmitted to the clearinghouse for verification. U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,035 proposed a credit card with memory aiding device for pin numbers. A thin label consisting of a geometric matrix helps the authorized cardholder to recognize the sequential pattern within the matrix and to recall the specific PIN. U.S. Pat. No. 5,818,030 put forward a credit card system with key module. This key module can be inserted into the main body of credit card. This programmable key module can open or lock access to the function of the main body of a credit card. Additionally, the credit card number can be displayed only at the LCD on the key module, so that without said LCD and ROM data and security codes properly inserted into the main body, the body of the card (and key module) each individually is merely a blank without information of the credit card. U.S. Pat. No. 6,188,309 suggested a method and apparatus for minimizing credit card fraud. This intelligent credit card requires user to input PIN number. If the PIN is correct, the card is then activated, and the credit card number is popped out by the output device. U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,011 brought forth a remote credit card authentication system. This system requires a fingerprint scanner at the point-of-sale to obtain fingerprint data, so that a credit card company database can verify the fingerprint data against stored fingerprint information and verify the transaction. For internet purchase, an authorization adaptor connected to the user PC provides the fingerprint scan, and sends the data to the credit card company for authentication. Most of those patents are not secure when use via internet or telephone. The last patent is also difficult for practical application as this system requires special adaptor for every user. However, there are some patents that can be applied to internet purchasing with high security. Such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,636 which disclosed a method and apparatus for securing credit card transaction. The credit card in this invention has a processor, a memory and a display window. When used, the card generates a verification number, which is based on a transaction sequence number and an encryption algorithm. The verification number is transmitted to a verification computer and is de-encrypted to a computed transaction sequence number. The transaction will be authorized if this computed transaction sequence number is corresponding to that stored in the computer. After each transaction, both the credit card and computer change their respective transaction sequence number. U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,994 demonstrated a secure credit card which prevents unauthorized transaction. The credit card has a programmable read only memory device programmed with a series of random number in a predetermined sequence. Both the credit card and host computer generate identical random numbers after each use of the credit card. These two patents provide a secure way for transaction of credit card as the cardholder has to present an additional changeable number for verification besides the card number and cardholder's name which are non-changeable. This additional number is changed to a new number after each transaction or each use of the credit card according to a predetermine sequence. So, even malicious person can steal the information of a credit card, but he/she can not use the information as the additional number is changed for next transaction.
The ideas behind these methods are good but it is difficult to be implemented. Usually, not all the credit card payments will require the verification from the credit card company. Second, there is a time lag for transaction in host computer of the credit card company. The time lag in transaction in host computer may cause error in the transaction sequence number. Third, if credit card payment is through internet, how to trigger the credit card and host computer for next additional number? And so on.
It is our objective of the invention to provide a secure credit card which is simple and yet secure for use. Cardholder can make payment via telephone and internet securely. The manufacturing cost of this secure credit card is very low as it uses very simple principle, and this secure credit card system does not require any additional apparatus for implementation, so the credit card company does not need to invest much money to implement this secure credit card, but does save a lot money on the battle with the fraud-credit-card gangs, and have potential to expand the credit card business on internet shopping, e-commerce, etc.
These and other objectives of the invention are realized in a secure credit card comprising a card body, processor, display window, key or keypad, program download port and a battery.
The card body has two portions, the upper half portion and bottom half portion. The upper half portion is exactly same as the upper half portion of a normal credit card having a magnetic strip, card number, and the same thickness. So that the upper half portion of the credit card can be inserted into a normal card reader for reading out the information. The bottom half portion of the credit card is slightly thicker as this portion has to contain a processor, display window, key or keypad, program download port and a battery. The processor is loaded with a predetermined program which can generate date, month, year (DD/MM/YY) and a daily changed security number. This security number is a function of DD/MM/YY defined by this predetermined program. When DD/MM/YY changes, the security number is changed also. When a cardholder wants to make payment by credit card, he/she presses the key, the processor is activated and the date, month, year and the corresponding security number appear on the display window for a while (the display window is normal-off, so that the battery can last for quite a few years enough to cover the valid period of a credit card). Cardholder has to provide the security number and date (DD/MM/YY) besides the cardholder's name and card number. This information can be sent to the host computer of the Bank (or the credit card company) for authentication. The host computer has kept the information of the credit-card account and the predetermined program, and it can generate a computed security number by the predetermined program with the date (DD/MM/YY). If these two security numbers—one given by the cardholder and another by the host computer—are identical, then the transaction is approved or a confirmation is sent back to the shop. As the security number is changed everyday (or every half day—am or pm), the security number is valid for purchase only on that day (or half day). Therefore, it is safe to make payment via internet as the exposed information of the credit card—card number, cardholder name and security number—is valid only on the payment day (or half day). The exposed information is not able to be used by gangs to fabricate another fraud credit card.
The implementation of this secure credit card does not require any additional apparatus. The host computer of the Bank is not required to increase its memory significantly as only a simple program is added to each credit card account. The only cost incurred is the manufacturing cost of the secure credit card. However, as this secure credit card employs very simple technology with only a few electronic components, its cost should be very low for mass production.
To extend the protection to the situation when a credit card is lost or is stolen, a PIN can be used to activate the display window. The card number or cardholder's name is not printed on the credit card. Only a correct PIN is inputted then the display window is activated. The same processor can fulfill this function easily. When a credit card is used for payment, the cardholder has to enter the PIN through the keypad. The display window is on if the PIN is correct. The display window can display the card number or cardholder's name, the date (DD/MM/YY) and security number sequentially or simultaneously.
The invention will now be further explained by means of examples only and with reference to the following drawings wherein:
An example of 6-digit security number is given here:
The first two digits a1a2:
The second two digits a3a4:
The third two digits a5a6:
DD is date, MM is month and YY is year. "int" is the computation command to trim the number as an integer. The numbers of 100, 4.6, 3.2, 98 and 5.8 in these three equations are randomly selected.
For example, the current date is 28/07/03, the security number computed by these 3 equations is 28 30 13 (a1a2 a3a4 a5a6).
In the following day—29/07/03, the security number becomes 33 27 15.
These examples illustrate clearly that the security number can be varied as a function of the date (DD/MM/YY), and the function can be a few simple equations. The security number is not confined at numerical numbers, it can be the combination of alphabet and number too.
Before a secure credit card is issued to an authorized cardholder, a predetermined program is loaded into the processor 6 of the credit card. This program can generate the date (DD/MM/YY) and compute a new security number every day. The bank also stores the program under the account of the credit card. When the cardholder makes payment by the credit card, he/she presses the on/off key 9, the date and the correspondent security number are displayed on the display window 7. The cardholder must submit the cardholder's name, card number, and security number together with the current date (as the payment date) to the counter clerk or to remote supplier via internet or telephone. This information then is sent to the bank for authentication. The bank retrieves the stored program from the corresponding account and computes a security number based on the payment date sent by shop clerk or supplier. If both the security number sent by the cardholder and that computed by bank is identical, the transaction is approved, otherwise rejected. Since the security number is changed every day (or every half day), the information of a credit card exposed to the people or in the internet will not put a risk to the authorized cardholder and bank as malicious people or gangs can not make illegal payment or forge a fraud credit card based on this varying information.
This secure credit card also can protect the cardholder when the credit card is lost or stolen by adding in PIN number. Refer to
With this secure credit card, the website shopping is secure.
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