keelec

At the moment, all I am worrying about is getting Irina HERE!!!!! Everything else comes later. However, should I start worrying about the AOS? When Irina gets here, she will be studying in school, and maybe doing some workstudy, or I could get her onto EBAY (hopefully making money ) I was hoping to move back home to the Northwest this summer. Which office would be the easiest to file the AOS? ------ Clifford ------

Yes. Leaves you with quite the conversation piece on your adobmen. You can tell people that you were grown in an artifical womb, and display your lack of a belly button as proof. The age old question.........did Adam have a belly button??? And....if he did, does that mean God is a woman? So, If Man was made in God's Image..... Does God have a belly button?

You don't want to hear me sing it...... Last time I tried to do something like that, I had to replace all of the windows in my house!!!!!!!!!! ----- Clifford -------

Huan, Actually I don't find myself tumbling head over heals over Chinese Women..... (sorry guys). But, I imagine that some of my same feelings apply. Irina is a wonderful Russian Woman. I have told her many times that I believe that she is an "extraordinary woman".... She insists that she is just an "ordinary woman". Perhaps, in a sense, we are both right. She is extremely beautiful (although somewhat bashful about it), but she doesn't have the drop-dead gorgeous look that some women have. Yet, my experience is that many of the drop-dead gorgeous women are so stuck on themselves that they are not pleasant to be around. Maybe Irina thinks of herself as a plain "farmer's daughter"…… But, I wasn't looking for a "city girl", and I was hoping to find someone who would be comfortable in the countryside. Somehow, a half a world apart, we have so very much in common. Irina hasn't seen, experienced, or tried everything imaginable….. Of course, it will leave us a few things to do together. I feel that I want to share everything in the world with her. I think she feels the same about me. Ok, yes, Irina is younger than me….. And, yes, that may be part of what makes me so attracted to her. But, I certainly wouldn't take advantage of her in any way. Sometimes I wonder what she sees in me…. Hopefully she sees in me a great friend as the best marriages are based on a wonderful friendship more than anything else. ----- Clifford -----

I hope you guys don't mind a little country music!!!!!!

Every culture has it’s own rituals. Some are based on “Scientific Evidence”. Some are holdovers from problems that occurred in the past and are no longer necessary in today’s society. Some are done because they seem “logical”. For example, it is still extremely common in today’s American society to whack off the end of little boy’s private parts….Owwwwww……. In some cultures, they do the same thing, but rather than doing it in infancy, they wait until the boy is a teenager and is very much aware of the painful process!!!!!!! Why is this done?…. Well, perhaps the practice was started for hygienic issues. But, as hygienic practices have changed in our society, perhaps it is no longer necessary. If babies are healthy in China while covering the umbilical cords….. Well, isn’t that the most important thing in the world to a family, to have a healthy baby? I could imagine the possibilities of a baby suffering from cold stress in the abdominal area. Keeping the abdomen warm might aid in many ways. Dirty dressings, of course, would be worse than no dressings at all. As far as Chinese Medicine, I can understand the concept herbs having incredible healing properties that few “Western” Doctors are unaware of. I have troubles fathoming the 5 elements of Chinese Medicine and Qi; Earth, Fire, Metal, Water, and Wood. Yet, using these concepts, the Chinese Doctors can be very effective in many situations. Even furniture arrangement in a house is vital….. I would think that starting life off properly from birth would be as important for a child as anything else. -------------------------------------------- Hmmm, Part of the original question is what happens to the Umbilical cord. Western Doctors have recently discovered an exceptional value in the Umbilical Cord and Placenta….. Many more applications will be discovered soon. Apparently they contain partially differentiated stem cells. These cells can be used instead of bone marrow transplants in patients suffering from leukemia and other blood diseases and cancers. In many senses umbilical cord blood transplants are safer for the recipient than using donated bone marrow. It is a big up and coming field that you will hear lots about in the future. ----- Clifford ------

In theory they believe there is a higher concentration of the prions in the central nervous system (brain / spinal cord) such as is found in the T-Bone steaks. However, steaks are generally made from the younger tender animals rather than the older tough ones. The risk factor of beef from "younger animals" that have never been fed meat products is virtually nill, even if you eat that juicy bite on the back of the T-Bone steaks. Only the older animals have the potential of being exposed to meat products. These older animals are generally only used for hamburger. EAT - UP!!!!! Oh, and watch out for your neighbor who has a much higher chance of flattening you as you pick up your morning newspaper than you would have of contracting the disease. ----- Clifford -----

By the way, You can edit your own posts by clicking on the "Edit" icon next to the post. Sometimes it is helpful to fix goofs or formatting problems. I am not sure about the processing timelines. As I understand it, the majority of the processing time is spent in the USA, and if your case is routed through Vermont, it can often be relatively quick. Your case will progress to many of the same offices as the K1/K3 visas, but at a somewhat slower pace. National Service Center --> National Visa Center (New Hampshire) --> Post (GZ). I believe that the portion of processing done at the Post (GZ) is in fact less than what is done for the K1/K3 visas, and thus could potentially be quicker. Don will surely correct me if this is a misconception. ---- Clifford -----

There are 2 types of popups. 1 - Popups from certain sites you visit like "about.com" always creates popups ads. 2 - SPYWARE -- These can often generate popups from you just logging onto the internet. They are often XXX rated popups, but can be anything. The best way to combat spyware is to use anti-spyware programs. Two of the most common and FREE programs are the following. They will find slightly different stuff. Spybot has some kind of spyware blocking software, but I am not sure what it does. Don't be overly concerned with the cookies that they programs find, but delete them anyway. You may want to adjust your internet security to block some of these. Anyway, consider using the following software: adaware 6.0 from lavasoft (www.lavasoftusa.com) Spybot Search and Destroy In general, to protect your computer from viruses and spyware, ONLY INSTALL PROGRAMS ON YOUR MACHINE THAT YOU HUNT FOR AND REQUEST TO BE INSTALLED. NEVER INSTALL PROGRAMS THAT COME TO YOU AND ASK YOU TO INSTALL THEM. ---- CK -----

I have discussed Mad Cow Disease with my family quite a bit over this weekend. In many senses the boycotts are foolish. However, the USDA’s policy towards Beef has also been quite foolish over the last few years. First some background: Mad Cow Disease is caused by Prions. Prions are actually naturally occurring proteins in the body that have assumed an abnormal conformation (shape). Presumably this could happen randomly, but would be extremely rare. These incorrectly shaped proteins can cause additional proteins to take the same shape. Unfortunately, we have no medications that can target these specific proteins, and they are also highly heat resistant, as well as being resistant to almost all other anti-microbial treatments that we have used in the past. Fortunately, the disease essentially requires direct tissue contact to pass on such as consumption of the flesh of a diseased animal. It is unclear whether the disease can be passed to calves, and it is not believed that it is passed through milk. Now, there are 2 policies that have brought this disease into the light. 1 – Feeding of animal product based protein supplements to livestock intended for human consumption (including feeding beef products to cattle). These protein products come from rendering plants that cook either animals that died from disease and other various causes, or animals waste products from butchering until a dry powdered meat product is obtained. This process should be adequate to kill ordinary bacteria and viruses. However, apparently it does not destroy the prions. Thus, the sickest of the animals which could potentially be carriers of the disease, are converted to a product that is fed back to the livestock. About 5 years ago, it was prohibited to feed animal product protein products to cattle (and, presumably other livestock intended for human consumption). However, any animal that is over 5 years old could potentially have been fed these products. Cattle are now generally fed Soy protein supplements that can not carry the disease. 2 – “Downer Cattle”. While all beef animals have to pass a veterinary inspection prior to butcher, there are certain classes of cows that are allowed to be butchered FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION that are very sick, or possibly even unable to walk. Some of these are due to an “obtorator nerve paralysis” that can occur during calving, especially when young cows (heifers) have large calves. This can cause a generally temporary paralysis of the back legs and difficulties walking. Apparently there are certain other illnesses that are allowed. Our argument here at home is whether the Mad Cow disease was presenting (or being masked) by one of these other illnesses, or whether in the Washington case it was asymptomatic, and was only discovered because these “downer” animals were given additional scrutiny. Of course, here at home, we have always been careful to NEVER send unhealthy animals to market, and to treat any diseases and wait the required withdrawal periods before sending the animals to market. --------------------- Ok, what does this all mean to you? Steaks are generally made from young animals (1-2 years old). Virtually none of these would have been fed rendering plant based protein supplements, and thus the risk factor for those animals is EXTREMELY LOW. Eat up as much as you want, and you will be just fine. Hamburger, however, may be made from diseased cattle (not “believed” to be harmful to humans), and older cattle (over 5 years old that wouldn’t have been subject to the rendering plant product restrictions). This is where the real danger lies. Although, I am sure that it is still extremely remote. I guess eating hamburger is like deciding whether you like eating at a restaurant that you know has rats in the pantry. Another side note about Hamburger. E-Coli (Escherichia coli 0157:H7) causing Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome can be carried by cattle in their intestinal tract. If this bacteria comes in contact with a steak, it will always be on the surface, and be killed by cooking. However, if the bacteria comes into contact with hamburger, it can be mixed in anywhere. If you eat your hamburger rare, it is possible that there will be some bacteria in the middle that wasn’t killed by cooking. Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease is the prion disease in Humans. It can spontaneously occur in about 1/1,000,000 people. However, in new Guinea, there was a tribe of people who believed that they could pass on knowledge by eating the brains of their dead relatives. Many of these tribesmen developed Kuru, a form of Crutzfeld-Jacob Disease. When the practice was eventually stopped, new cases of the disease essentially disappeared. Anyway, The moral: EAT Beef Steaks!!!! BE AWARE OF THE THEORETICAL POTENTIAL RISK OF EATING HAMBURGER.

I believe that I saw somthing about a deadly Natural Gas Leak in Chonging a couple of days ago. I hope everyone's friends and family members are ok. ----- Clifford -----

Hmmm, I think there was a recent discussion on the Candle on new Toilet Seats. Cushy, Padded, Oak, etc?????? -------------------------------------------- Oh, that reminds me of a story. My parents were sharing a friend's vacation house. Apparently everyone knew that the toilet seat in the guest bathroom was broken, except for the owner of the house who rarely used that restroom. So, my parents decided to get them a new Oak toilet seat (not real expensive now days). Anyway, a few weeks later the house was robbed..... And the TOILET SEAT in the guest bathroom was stolen. The owner of the house, of course, was puzzled about why anybody would go through the hassle of stealing a plain toilet seat (not realizing that it had been recently upgraded). ---- CK -----

Here is an idea..... Bring an unlabled tape of "Bill & Ted's Greatest Adventures" to the interview (just so you look prepared)..... And, hope they can't find a VCR that can read it!!!! (Ok, it would be itneresting to know if they actually watch the tape, but certainly not worth the risk).

The one thing that was missed in the article...... QUALITY. Or, perhaps I should say, QUALITY, STYLE, and MARKETING. Say, you have a Mexican factory that has been making the same Christmas Ornaments for the past 30 years, and heavily exporting them to the USA for the last decade. How does one keep market share? Offer something "new" each year. Try to market to those that bought ornaments last year, convincing them to add more to their collection. Create something other than round balls and blobs. Perhaps try a hand blown Santa. Perhaps make ornaments out of combinations of glass and other materials, or wholly out of other materials. And, of course, don't just sell them in flea markets... Try to get the BIG Mall stores, and don't have them hidden either.... Right at the end of the isles so they can be seen by the casual shopper. ------------------ Oh, and what about making "edible" Christmas Ornaments?????? One thing my great grandmother did was make a set of hand-made Christmas ornamets on foam balls for when my brother and I were young. They might not have been very good to eat, but were certainly not as dangerous for small kids as the glass balls that are so common. I think she made a set for every Aunt and Uncle. ----- Clifford -----

That sums it up pretty well. Then there are those cheap ones who'll sucker the GUY out of $$$, get the visa, and vanish. At least, that's JM's story. Wow, 35K..... Was that Dollars, Rubles, or Lira? I am surprised that any Chinese woman could afford to spend that much money for marriage, unless it was tied to an offer of indentured servitude in the USA. How sad that would be. I guess I met the wrong woman.... She asks me for a little money every month to help out with expenses. Instead, she could be sending me money every month to help with my expenses Yet, I would much rather a relationship based on unconditional love, rather than a contract. ----- Clifford -----

Yeah, and there are some "bad boys of America" who reeeaaaalllly like those "bad girls of China." - Is every relationship "Legit"? No, probably not. - Will every K3 relationship last 3 months to the marriage? No - Will every relationship last the first year (K1 or K3)? No - What about 5 years, 10 years, 20 years? - Will the relationships for even a few of us on the Candle crumble, and we will feel badly burnt? Of course, it has already happened to some members. - How does a 8,10,12,14 month, or longer wait affect a relationship. Is it possible that some relationships begin as "good", but turn sour over time separated with neither party willing to admit the problems? I have heard stories of partners falling in love with someone else while waiting…. But still enduring the visa application process. If one evaluates the relationships on paper, there are a number of factors that might predict a long enduring relationship, and a few factors that might predict trouble. Yet, what the relationship looks like on paper shows only a fraction of the true relationship between a couple. Can you video tape daily life together.... Do you think that would be staged? Are we paying the interviewers in GZ to be our marriage counselors? --------------- I have certainly never seen a web site advertising…. "Marry an old HAG in China, and earn $10K", nor have I heard of the Chinese Citizens sending money to their US partners. And, I can't imagine that very many K1 or K3 visa applications are filed without a "real" US Partner. Of course, each partner may have a different view of the legitimacy of the relationship. Yes, marriage fraud exists. But, my impression is that the majority of this is from foreigners who are already in the USA and are trying to extend their visas.

That might not be a bad idea.... As long as the exchange rate is still sliding. I haven't looked at the Dollar-Yuan exchange rate lately, but a year ago I thought about purchasing Euros.... It would have returned about 20 or 30% in a year. I know that the Ruble has been stable at 30 Rubles to the dollar for quite a while. When talking to one of Irina's uncles I asked him what he thought about the last decade. His biggest complaint was that prior to the fall of the USSR, the exchange rate valuation was held at approximately 1 Ruble = 1 Dollar. Extremely rapidly, it fell from the 1-1 ratio to 30-1. Of course, wages fell quite a bit too, but not all durable goods fell in values as much. Think of it, if you had $3000 or currency, it's buying power just became equivalent of $100. $30,000 is suddenly $1,000. Wages equivalent to $100 per day is suddenly $3 / day!!!!!!! Not everything fell. Imported goods remained relatively high in cost. Housing is almost priced out of reach of most Russians. Anyway, I can't imagine seeing the Ruble fall any further, I presume the same woudl be with the Yuan. Both countries would likely benefit from an increase of value of their currency vs the Yuan, even if it reduces the trade.

Whew, With all of you coughing and sneezing on your computers..... Good thing that the computers can't transmit that kind of virus!!!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The flu is a small virus that rapidly mutates. There are certain common features that is common among all of the flu viruses, but each new virus is unique enough that most people are susceptible to it. The flu virus is classified as "Hit & Run", making large populations sick in a matter of weeks moving from one host to another as immunity is quickly built up in the population to it. I presume that the virus can not re-infect the same host unless it significantly mutates, so eventually it dies down in the population. However, the viruses that are currently going around other continents would likely be different enough that they could move to the USA and hit large populations again if someone were to come over (or return home from a vacation) that was sick. How do the vaccines work? Every year a few scientists get together and try to guess what the "most common" variants of the virus will be. To do this, they look at what is common in other countries. China and southeast Asia has half of the world's population so that would be a good place to look for viruses. The predictions have to come in early to allow for processing and creation of the vaccine, so what is happening in China one spring hopefully would be representative of what would hit the USA the next fall. They culture these variants that are expected to hit the USA 6 months later, and create the vaccine out of them. It doesn't prevent "The Flu", but only prevents these variants that are expected to migrate to the USA from infecting the individuals. Sometimes they are wrong and culture the wrong viruses and the vaccine is absolutely no help. ----- CK -----

Wonderful Idea...... The East Germans fixed this problem..... They walled in half of a City. Tall fences, electrified wire and, barbed wire on top, pillboxes with armed guards every few hundred yards.... Orders to shoot anyone within 100 ft of the fence..... Shoot first, ask questions later was the motto. The USA has the resources to do this with the entire country!!! We could just wall ourselves in and not have to deal with the outside world any more. Oceans..... Well, we would have to sacrifice some of the views of the seascape, but this could be made up with a closed circuit TV of what is happening on the other side of the wall..... Stack up a few big 42" TVs, and it would be as good as being there. We would have to wall in Hawaii too. PLUG ALL OF THE HOLES. Hotels could just put in wall-sized closed circuit TV’s in, perhaps add a fan, and one could get the whole effect of the surf from the hotel room. Just think of the benefits in California alone…. No more houses sliding into the Ocean, just put in a 300 ft concrete reinforced wall along the seashore which could serve as both a retaining wall and a security fence. Heck, for those hard-core people, we could even build a simulated surf in Arizona. Of course, the benefits of good National Security is worth a few sacrifices. -------- Oddly enough, the wall around West Berlin wasn’t built to hold out the tyranny of the West…. East Germans were willing to risk their lives to run the gauntlet to freedom. Although many East Germans perished, some even made it across 100 yards of no-man’s land, and over or through the high fences to FREEDOM.

Good, Actually, last night I had a horrible time with the DS-230. Apparently I had filled out the "old" version (2001) earlier, and realized that I had better send the new version (2004) otherwise there might be trouble. I just hope the interview doesn't come after the expiration date for the "new" forms. The only copies I could find of the "new" version were all locked so I could neither type in cyrillic, nor paste in my JPG for Irina's name. I managed to find software that would unlock page 1, but not page 3. I have been working on converting some of the INS forms to MS Word format. The main reason for this is to give people editing and saving choices. I have the I-129F about 2/3 finished, and the g-325a about 90% completed (sorry, no links between fields on pages 1-4 on the g-325a as of yet). I found a few copies of the DS-230 in HTML format (with Spanish translations) and a few other documents, these should be easy to convert back to Word and clean up. As far as Locked vs Unlocked.... I will probably distribute my forms as unlocked, with the request that they not be sold for commercial usage. Keep an eye out for the forms. ----- Clifford -----

NEWS FROM THE NORTH POLE The Elves are threatening going on strike if Santa doesn't distribute the warehouse full of toys that they have been slaving to make for the American Children. Although most of the toys have already been made, if they walk out, there will be nobody to load the sleigh for Santa to deliver to the rest of the world. All they need to do is figure out how to attach headlights and foglights to the lead reindeer….. without blinding them all. It certainly wouldn't be popular if the glare from the Sears tower caused them to crash into the building. Blixen, an avid Rambo fan, has already started experimenting with weaving army-type glow sticks into his harness. They should be able to provide enough light without blinding them….. Comet, however, thinks the blinky bicycle lights would be better, and they would be less likely to be shot down when flying over Iraq if they aren't wearing any Army gear. Dancer, of course, likes the fancy glow necklaces that are so popular at the discos. Now they all have to compete on who will actually be the leader for the first time in decades, and it looks like the decision will come down to whoever comes up with the best headlight system. Santa is planning a competition on December 23rd, and all of the reindeer are working hard to come up with a new light system. Even, Rudolf has put off his despair and chipped in a helping hand. ---------- JUST IN…… Apparently Prancer and Vixen are having troubles with their visas too. Their Veterinarian Certificates expired December 4th and 9th (one year from last the last time they applied for the visa, before Christmas a year ago). Last year, Prancer was getting hungry in London and convinced the team to make a quick stop at McDonalds where he had a Big Mack……. Not having any data about the cross species effects of Mad Cow disease, and having no way to detect the disease, the vet decided to withhold issuing the veterinarian certificate, and thus, he has been denied the visa. Vixen had managed to step in a cow pie in Farmer Johnson's property in Northern Scotland last Christmas…… Six months later, the farm was condemned for having Hoof and Mouth Disease, and the entire herd was destroyed. Some have even blamed Vixen for this ill fate. Even though Vixen is asymptotic, his vet worries that he will be spreading the disease around the world, and thus has denied issuing the certificate. ----------- Loosing 2 more of his best reindeer….. And, now with all of the unrest among the elves…… This is just getting to be too much for poor Santa to take. ----- Clifford Keele -----

One thing I have noticed in my reading lately is that one is REQUIRED to apply for a K3 visa in the country that a marriage takes place. What about trying to find "Visa Friendly" countries for marriage? Make sure that one can get 2 visas to the country (one for the wedding, and 1 for the interview). In a sense, that could become a HUGE tourist rap (assuming that the US Consulate in that country worked with the foreign weddings). I think I was reading earlier posts that suggested getting married in Thailand (or perhaps Vietnam), or Hong Kong.... Or just about any place EXCEPT China, Russia, or Ukraine. It certainly would be worth 2 plane tickets to Canada if one could get a visa for the Fiancee, get married in Canada, let her go back home for a mere 6 months (or even stay in Canada if possible), then have her come back for the interview and entry into the USA. Looking at K1K3.com..... South Africa may have held the record for the quickest visa turnover. Of course, the big issue is that Canada probably would not let her into the country as merely a US Citizen Fiancee. Of course, an option would be to apply for a student visa in Canada (which might be easier than getting one in the USA). If there is a question about wanting to immigrate to Canada.... Nope, engaged to a US Citizen Then, there would be no change of status or anything from a Student to a spouse. Of course, there would be virtually no benefit of starting something that would take 6 months to implement. Anyway, just an idea. ----- Clifford -------

I am sure that all realtionships feel the stress of seperation..... Once, I was told by someone at the INS that "seperation makes the heart grow fonder"...... Obviously she had never been forced to live apart from her significant other for a year or more. Yes, I like how Don put it..... Every Day is One Day Closer to Getting the Visa...... I check the Moscow interview schedule at least twice a day... Yet, somehow, I've already lost hope that the inteview date will be scheduled before my 1 year anniversary of waiting for the application at the beginning of next month..... That is just to get on the schedule for an interview 2 months further in the future. ----- Clifford -----

John, Do you need the $10,000+ in the USA now? Does your wife have family in China that she might want to help out in the future? Visit in the future? If you don't need the money now, and she has several close family members, then you might want to setup a bank account in China for her with a "trustworthy" parent or relative cosigning. You would be able to use that money for any needs that you might have in China. And, the money would be hers should something ever come between the two of you. Of course, then you would also be able to bring the money into the USA a little at a time (of course, you will be asked about foreign investments on your taxes). I know that Russia has very strict regulations about taking money out of the country. I think they limit each person to about $1500..... Does China have similar regulations? ----- Clifford -----

Don, I am at least convinced that by doing a "full" load of clothes in the washing machine is more efficient than doing it by hand (1/4 - 1/2 cup of soap for the entire load, good ringing, only 2 rinses). Whenever I've ever washed clothes by hand, the cottons always seemed to need at least 4 rinses, and I could never get them rung out as well as the washing machine does. Perhaps what you need to do is to go shopping for Christmas.... 2 weeks of undies minimum..... 3 days just doesn't cut it. Also pick up a few extra outfits. ----- Clifford -----