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Well, here is a new jet that will inspire many young American children to become fighter pilots.  The F-35A Lightning II jet fighter is an awesome fighter that will serve the US Air Force in 2011, Navy (2016) and Marine Corps(2014) in the future.  Many European countries, Australia and Singapore will also purchase the F-35.  Hence, this puppy can fly on normal runways (Air Force), take off from any location without a runway (Marine Corps) and land on carriers (Marine Corps and Navy).

Two F-35s Thundering Together for the First Time - Gizmodo

Read more here -> http://gizmodo.com/5541045/two-f+35s-thundering-together-for-the-first-time

I know many of us have seen this image many times the past 8 years.  As an American, I do not view the work like this nor do many of my fellow American friends.  Yet, maybe there is some truth to the image…

The World according to Americans

Well, here is another update in regard to my work permit application.  Last week the Department of Labor (DoLISA) refused to accept my “consularized” notarized degree.  Though the process was legal in Vietnam and they admitted it, they still could not accept it and they had a valid reason.  It seems that recently some Americans, Brits, and Aussies were able to get their “fake” degrees consularized which made them “legal”.

Essentially, a consularized degree is when you get a document notarized by a ‘recognized’ government body in your country.  In the US, this usually means there is a notarized stamp and a gold seal on the document.  According to Vietnamese law, you can take this to the US Consulate, or your embassy of choice, attach an affidavit certifying it is a true copy and then submit it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs  (MFA).  Note, the affidavit will say, in bold letters, that the US Consulate will not accept responsibility for the document.  The MFA ‘will’ accept this document, translate it, attach another seal and it is “legal” but because of the previous statement from the US Consulate, DoLISA will not accept it.

Hence you are left no choice but to authenticate your diploma.  In short you must:

1. Get your university to notarize your degree, it cannot be an apostille (electronic seal) since Vietnam is not a member of the Hague convention.  The notarization process will start at the County-level (about $1 per document in Indiana) and then to the Secretary of State level (free).  Be sure to include a FedEx airbill and envelope.  This process can take about 5-7 business days depending on your state.  One to two days if you hand carry it.  You will need to send a personal check to pay for the fees.
2. The “notarized” degree will then need to be sent to the US Department of State in Washington, DC.  This costs about $8 per document.  The process takes 5-8 business days.  You can find more information at this web address: http://www.state.gov/m/a/auth/.  Many people skip this process but legally, you MUST get your diploma authenticated by the US State Sept. for it to be legal.  In the future, DoLISA “could” refuse diplomas that were not authenticated here even IF the Vietnam Embassy or Consulate legalizes them.  You can send a personal check to pay the fees.
3. Finally you must send your diploma to either the Vietnam Embassy or Consulate.  Today the Embassy told me it will cost about $50 to “legalize” the diploma and $20 to expedite it.  Just mail them to the Vietnam Embassy, 1233 20^th St NW, suite 400, Washington DC 20036, or Consulate, Suite 430, 1700 California, San Francisco, California.  Be sure to include a FedEx airbill and envelope so they can return it to you when completed.  The Vietnam Embassy recommends you keep the tracking number as well.  I will send a money order since both the Embassy and Consulate will not accept personal checks I am told.  I heard this process takes about 7 business days but if you expedite it, it should be faster.

Thus, the whole authenticating process, including shipping time, is roughly 3-4 weeks if you live in Vietnam.  It is actually not as painful as I thought.  Just time consuming the first time around (yes, you will have to do this again yearly since the validity of the legalized diploma is about 6 months).  Vietnamese who studied overseas will have to go through the same authentication process in the near future as well.  Some Vietnamese companies are noticing an increasing number of Vietnamese “claiming” they studied an earned a degree when they did not (this happens in Vietnam as well).

A final note, I do not recommend using a service to handle your work permit.  They CANNOT do anything special for you.  In fact, from experience, you will have to be with your service agent throughout the process so essentially you are just paying a “high” fee to have somebody walk with you.  Just find a friend or trust your HR manager to take care of the process.  It is cheaper this way in the long run.  If you need help, then use a “trusted” Vietnamese lawyer for “advice” only.

As of now, my diploma is in Wash., DC, getting authenticated.  I hope to send it to the Vietnamese Consulate later next week but my process is almost over.

Gerald Celente on RT giving his views of Wall Street and Ledman’s hiding billions of dollars before the financial crisis:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CFvEmyY8Uc[/youtube]

Hard to believe it has been one week since I last posted.  The last week has a lot of meaning for me.

The US Marine Corp‘s birthday was on Nov. 10th followed by Veteran’s Day (Nov. 11th) and the day I entered Marine Corps boot camp (Nov. 13th).  Do not forget, I was discharged on Oct. 21st a couple weeks before.  This year a lot of memories of the Corps came back.  I think it was primary spurred by my return to the weight room.  I want to get in the same physical condition as I was in the Marines.  My 30 minutes – 2 hour per day workouts are showing some results, I have lost about  6 kilos (13 pounds) in the last 3 weeks.  I got another 8 kilos (18 pounds) to go and I think I will reach it in about two months.

The drama with EVN still continues.  Last Thursday they came to my house, unannounced and turned off my electricity.  They did not even ring my bell before.  The bill for the last two months, even the one in question, was paid but EVN refused to send somebody out to turn it back on at my house.  They wanted some “coffee” money to turn it back on.  This is one of the most corrupt companies in Vietnam and I plan to continue to fight them.  A consumer protection agency will help me, a friend will set up an appointment for me.

Facebook is blocked again by both Viettel and FPT.  You can still view Facebook with VNPT and the mobile phone carriers.  This is a huge response to this by the Vietnamese Internet users, they are passing around DNSs to get past the newly dubbed “Great Firewall of Vietnam”.  OpenDNS will become popular with Internet users in Vietnam in the next coming weeks.  Twitter, and some fear, LinkedIn, may be next.

Lastly, some of you may be surprised, I am using Windows again.  I fell in love with Windows 7 last Saturday.  It is amazing.  It is one of the best Desktop Experiences I have had in a long time.  Microsoft listened to their customers.  Even Linux users, such as myself, like it.  If Microsoft plays it’s cards right, Windows 7 will be a “Linux Desktop Killer”.  One question I would like answered, though, is how much open source code went into Windows 7.  I suspect a lot.

Well, time for my evening workout now…