US TO CHARGE ENTRY FEE FOR TRAVELERS ENTERING COUNTRY

Travelers to the US will be asked to pay a $11 dollar fee to fund a program to boost tourism. And to help the economy.

This fee will apply to the US "visa waiver" program that is mostly used by tourists and short-stay business travellers from 34 countries.

Details of this fee appeared in the Travel Promotion Act, which Barak Obama signed into law last week.This plan is expected to raise about half the funds for a $220 million global "Come to America" campaign.Travellers requiring a visa waiver will still be expected to apply before their travel dates to avoid being stopped from entering the US.

The US has had fewer overseas travellers every year since 9/11. A bank has not yet been found to handle processing the fees. The campaign will be administered by a private sector committee which will be overseen by the Department of Commerce in accord with the departments of State and Homeland Security.

20010 CENSUS : HAS EVERYONE BEEN COUNTED ?

Some enumerators and supervisors have left their jobs at the census. They thought they were going to work about two or three months. What's going on ? Maybe the GOP were on to something when they raised a ruckus about the Obama Administration taking over the reins from the Department of Commerce.

How can they have possibly counted everyone in these towns ? I have never seen any enumerators in my town. And no one I know has seen a census worker. With the billions of dollars that were allotted to the census, what happened to it ? The census workers were on call and didn't work everyday. And for them to work only two weeks, it is a disgrace.

Genealogists and city governments depend on the accuracy of the census and I am wondering if this time around, things are kosher. Time will tell.