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Strategies & Market Trends : Strictly: Drilling II -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frank Pembleton who wrote (3911)	11/13/2001 8:26:57 PM
From: gold$10k	Respond to of 36161

Frank, I get all of that kind of stuff for the U.S. markets for free from Datek. It would be nice to have real-time quotes for the Canadian side, but I'm not willing to pay for it. BTW, if you hadn't realized it, Canada Stockwatch shows real-time "Most Recent Trades" if you enter just a single stock ticker, but the bid and ask are delayed 20 minutes. Regards, vt

To: Frank Pembleton who wrote (3911)	11/13/2001 11:04:17 PM
From: isopatch	Respond to of 36161

<Is Enough Being Done to Protect Our Ports? Kevin Curran Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2001 You see them stacked like Lego bricks at docks or transported two by two in long trains, but each of the more than 18 million containers that enter U.S. ports every year could be carrying the next weapon to be used by terrorists. Customs inspectors admit they open and search less than 2% of those containers after their arrival in ports such as New York and Los Angeles. A Newsweek study found America’s seaports, "represent a gaping national security hole." Among the recommendations for improving port security: Inspectors need to be re-trained to look for biological or chemical weapons Installing x-ray scanners that can see into densely packed containers Upgrading software that could review details of shipments and find missing or suspicious data Improving screening and identification of port personnel Making those changes will be neither easy nor cheap. Stepped-up security after the Sept. 11th attacks is costing the Customs Service $5.5 million in overtime every week. Each of the upgraded scanners requires a $10 million investment. The job will not get any easier over time. The number of containers entering the U.S. is expected to double by 2020. Congress is considering a package of loan guarantees, agency coordination and national standards to help improve port security. American Association of Port Authorities president Kurt Nagle admitted his group fought a similar proposal last year. This year, he said, "it’s a different story." Changing the focus of port inspections will not be easy. Kenneth Hawkes, a Miami maritime lawyer, said customs agents have been, "looking for bales of marijuana and bricks of cocaine." High-tech searching is hard to find on the docks. The Customs Service has less than 100 x-ray scanners, most of them on the Mexican border looking for drugs or illegal immigrants. There are only a few dozen looking into ship-borne containers. The new scanners can see, "everything from false compartments down to the buttons on a remote control, " according to John Moore of Bio-Imaging Research. Moore said the machines could be programmed to locate explosive or nuclear materials. The other major obstacle to searching containers is time. The new machines take one minute to scan each container, but thousands of them move through ports every day. Coast Guard Commander Stephen Flynn said scanning all of the containers, "would mean gridlock at the borders and the end of trade." Several software companies have developed programs that could help limit the number of containers requiring a thorough search. Customs inspectors already have access to intelligence data and shipping paperwork before ships dock. These programs could look at the shipper, carrier and inventory to spot potential problems. While airport workers must pass background checks and truck drivers are federally licensed, no such standard security is in place at the waterfront. Kenneth Hawkes said installing a personnel identification system could vastly improve security over the current system with guards who are, "half asleep and poorly paid." Improving port security can also protect the U.S. against a severe economic impact. 95% of international trade comes through more than 300 coastal and inland ports. Those containers carry more than $1 trillion in imported goods into the country each year. Upgrading security could thwart terrorists who choose to smuggle weapons in containers or attack the ports.>