Travel Bugs Released!

My main activity this rainy day was to release four new travel bugs. It will be interesting to see how far they make it and where they go in their travels.

Please visit their websites and join the fun of watching their travels:

Haji
Buzz
Gerry
Froggy

Bon Voyage TB's!

Hidden Curriculum

Here's an excerpt from a paper I had to write today for grad school on hidden curriculum. I thought this topic was sort of interesting, hence the sharing: Note: the formatting gets lost when I transfer it to my blog, apologies in advance)

In A Sociology of Educating, Meighan (1981) defines hidden curriculum as “taught by the school, not by any teacher… something is coming across to the pupils which may never be spoken…. They are picking up an approach to living and an attitude to learning.” (p. 314) In Themes and Perspectives Haralambos (1991) defines hidden curriculum as consisting “of those things pupils learn through the experience of attending school rather than the stated education objectives of such institutions.” (p. 267) The hidden curriculum includes values such as where formal education takes place, who participates in it, what the relationship between participants are, how success and failure are measured, and the overall purpose of education (Meighan, 1981). These values are translated into norms that condition the behavior of participants in the educational process. Meighan claims that students and teachers in a classroom are “haunted” by ghosts of things like the designers of the school, textbook writers, employer demands, and the creators and maintainers of language and jargon. Is a classroom institutional and sterile or warm and inviting? Are textbooks biased? Are employer expectations in line with what is best for students? Does the language used hold meaning for students? In The Hidden Curriculum of Higher Education, Eric Margolis notes that hidden curricula may be only partially hidden; some of us may be aware of them and may be participants in their hiding. “Curricula can be hidden by a general social agreement not to see.” (p.2) He makes a delightful analogy between the fairy tale “The Emperor Has No Clothes” and hidden curriculum. The emperor and his subjects were all socialized to believe that he had on clothes even though their eyes told them otherwise. None of them wanted to be taken for fools by pointing out that they could not see what everyone else seemed to see. Finally, it was an unsocialized child who pointed out to everyone that the emperor was in fact naked. What is being taught in our schools that we are socialized not to see?

Triple Filter Test

The Triple Filter Test

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem.

One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"

"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."

"Triple filter?"

"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and..."

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"

"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

This is why Socrates was a great philosopher & held in such high esteem. If we are able to protect our friends and those we love in this manner, we cannot be influenced by outsiders in having bad notions about them.

Friend's Letter

I know this lady and I find her totally above reproach. I just wanted to share her story. Warning: It is a pretty upsetting story. Garage Sale is over, made about $100. Thanks Derek and Heather for all the assistance and the driveway, etc.

Marzieh wrote:


                   IN THE NAME OF ALLAH


Assalamu Alaikum to all of my brothers and sisters,


Insha’Allah everyone is doing well. I am writing this email to inform everyone of an incident which happened to my family and I.  I want everyone to know and understand well, the result of this “New World Order” which has taken over in the United States and the rest of the world. Some of you, who I am writing this letter to, know me and some of you do not, so I will take time to explain a few background issues.  For those of you, who already know me, please bare with me as I elaborate on a few points.

My name is Marzieh Hashemi and I was born and reared in the United States. I am a Muslim convert who married an Iranian national 23 years ago.  I lived in Iran for over 10 years and in August of 2001, my husband was killed in an accident. A year later, my children and I returned to the United States.  Upon my return, I started working for a Muslim brother in Denver. I started working with him in October of 2002 until the present.  I just wanted you to have a brief idea of the “players” involved in this very bizarre story.

On Thursday, June 10, 2004, at approximately 7:08 a.m., there was a loud banging on my door, and yelling for me to open the door. They said that it was the police and the F.B.I.
I hurriedly grabbed for my scarf and proceeded to go downstairs in my home.  What I saw was so unbelievable! My 20 year old son and his 23 year old cousin had their hands up. There were F.B.I. agents streaming into my house with guns drawn.  They were yelling for everyone to put up their hands.  I kept demanding to know what this was all about. They told me that they would let me know, as soon as they “secured the area”. There were about 15 agents who came into my place, searching every room and at the same time they asked me if we had any drugs or weapons, at which I smirked and told them of course not. The agents then demanded that all of my family sit in one section of the house.

After about 15 minutes of this, they presented a search and seize warrant, stating that this was a case relating to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). For those of you not familiar with the United States, this is the federal tax body. I laughed when they told me this, being that my income is quite limited.  The IRS agent proceeded to asked me if I had any jewels, safety deposit boxes, boats, as well as land, houses, etc. I told him that I could barely afford the one home that I lived in and that they had more information then even I have about myself, so what was all this really about! This line of questioning went on for about 20 minutes. Let me add, that I did asked them during this time, if I could make a call and they answered that I could not make an outbound call nor could I answer any incoming calls.

After the IRS agent finished, the FBI agent continued. They said that they were working together in a task force.  He then began his line of questioning.  He started off by asking me what is my religion. Then he asked me if I am Shia or Sunni.  I told him that I thought this was supposedly related to the IRS and what difference does it make to the IRS my religious persuasion. He said that the FBI had decided that there was a lot of “misunderstanding” between the agency and Muslims and that they could actually “kill two birds with one stone” and try to clear up some of these misunderstanding.  I told him that I thought he was using a very “interesting” forum to attempt to clear up these “misunderstandings”.  He continued with his line of questioning for about 45 minutes. He asked me about leadership with the Sunnis and Shias and which was stronger.  He asked about Hamas, Hezbollah, suicide bombings, et cetera.  He also asked that if the United States went to war with Iran, which side would I be on!

Let me explain that while this questioning was going on, my family was sitting in that one corner of the house and were not allowed to move around.  Simultaneously with the questioning, the agents were going through every part of my home. They took any “suspicious” item that they found.  This includes my mortgage papers, bills, anything with “non-English” writings on it, such as my Quranic  c.d.’s, my children old Farsi notebooks, my daughter’s diary that she wrote in Farsi, and many other items for which I got a very generic inventory list from the agents when they were leaving.

This search and seize started at about 7:15 a.m. and ended at 3:30 p.m.! During this time, we were told after the initial questioning that we were free to leave. However if we left,  we could not return to our home until after they left the premises. We were “allowed” to use the rest room in our own home after getting permission and only one person could leave our “holding area” at a time.  By noon, my family was getting hungry and I did not have any quick snacks in the house. I asked them if I could cook something and they told me “no”. They did not want me boiling any water or anything! I asked them what I was suppose to do because my family was hungry and they weren’t allowing me to cook. They told me that I could leave and I reiterated that I would not leave my own house while they were in it. Finally I convinced my 20 year-old son to go and get us lunch, because he was getting less and less tolerant of the intrusion. I thought that it would be a good way of getting him out of the house.

The agent said that my son could leave and buy us lunch. He reiterated that when my son would return, he would not be allowed to come up to the door. He would have to stand at a distance from the front door, and an agent would go out and get the food from him, then my son should leave. This is what he did. Shortly after that, my 17 year-old daughter decided to leave and she did so. The rest of us stayed until the agents left at approximately 3:30 p.m.

I later found out from my youngest son, who is 10 years old that he woke up that Thursday morning with a gun pointing at him and an F.B.I. agent yelling at him to put his hands up and go downstairs. My son told me later that he thought the agent was going to kill him and he thought he had done something wrong.

I’ve told you all this story because I want everyone to be informed. The raid on my house took place simultaneously with two other Muslim families in Denver, Colorado. The two individuals from these two homes are my co-workers. Also the office where I work, was  raided at the same time.

My question is that if this is really a tax case, then why all the questions relating to my religious and political perspectives.  If this is really a tax case, I’d like to ask the federal government, how many agents with guns drawn, did they send to arrest Enron executives in their multimillion dollars fraud case! If this is really related to taxes, why didn’t they audit me!  If this is really related to taxes, why did they wake up my son with a gun pointed at him? Did they have any record of me being a dangerous person that they came to my house with guns drawn! By the way, what ever happened to the First Amendment and Miranda rights? Actually, while we are on the subject, “What happened to the United States of America”?

This can happen to anyone in the USA at anytime. This is the post 9/11 America This is the post Patriot Act America.  Is it a safer America!  Is it a more patriotic America! All I know is that each and every person in my home will never forget what happened to them. All I know is that a certain innocence was taken away from my 10 year old on 6/10/04 that I don’t think he will ever get back. My son really believes that he can be killed in his own house at any time.  He had always seen on television programs about the “bad guys”, the thieves, murderers and the dangerous elements of the society. He had never thought of the possibility that those who are suppose to “protect and serve”, could be more dangerous than any other element in the society!  But on June tenth, 2004, he got a crystal clear picture of what it is like being a Muslim in the United States. He’ll never forget this lesson and I am sure none of us will.  Welcome to the New World Order!

Dice

Some things I've been learning this week in my training. No, I'm not training to work at a casino or anything - it's statistics and math.

Crooked Dice


With so much money riding on the roll of a die it's no surprise that crooks try to influence the outcome.  Here you can learn all about the methods the cheats use to win your money...


Crooked dice are not a recent development. The Indian Hindu Sanskrit, Mahabbarata, the first documented reference to dice, mentions crooked dice and examples have been found in ancient sites in the Orient, South America and the Middle East.


Dice that are fair are known as straight or square dice, perfects or levels. Terms for crooked dice are numerous and there are a number of methods for gaffing dice. Crooked dice do not behave in the same manner on every throw but they do change the odds and so are known as percentage or P.C. dice.


A dice mechanic will substitute crooked or gaffed dice for the real ones and can quickly switch them back once they have gained their advantage. Slight of hand may be used or the switch will take place when the dice are out of sight.  Crooked gambling houses used to employ stickmen for Craps who would switch the dice when signalled. Today the major casinos are honest and have no reason too cheat. An expert switcher will almost be impossible to spot. If you suspect a switch has taken place then you could examine the dice yourself. Remember the dice you are playing with may not be the dice that started the game and cheats will switch the dice back and forth as it suits them. A cheat may even let another player take his crooked dice away, just writing his loss off as part of his scam. This means there could be crooked dice in circulation that no one is aware of.


Craps is where the money is so crooks and cheats target this game the most. Passers are crooked dice that favour passes and not the 7, or craps on the come out throw. Missouts are crooked dice that favour the 7 and not the points.


Loaded dice or weight will be heavier on one side. The extra weight may be lead, gold or platinum so it only takes a small amount to change the odds. The weight is often placed nearer one corner or edge rather than at the centre of one face. Transparent dice do not prevent loading because the actual spots can contain the weight. Check if the spots are deeper on some sides than others, although this is no guarantee because a well made gaffed dice will look straight and even. To test for loaded dice simply repeatedly drop the die in a glass of water. It should sink and if a particular number always faces up the die is loaded. The pivot test is one where you hold the die between your thumb and finger by diagonally opposite corners. If the die is loaded it will tend to turn downward as you lightly hold it.


Floats or floaters don't have extra weight added but weight taken away so they become lighter. They are hollow inside and the gap is placed off centre to bias the dice. They are known as floaters because they will often float, with the hollow side up, when placed in water.


Tapping dice or tappers are dice with a hollow dumb-bell shaped chamber inside. The hollow chamber is filled with mercury. When the mercury is in the end of the chamber near the centre of the die it is fair. But when the cheat wants the die to be biased he will tap the die so the mercury runs to the other end and weight one corner. Some tappers use the same principal but with a weight that slides up and down the chamber on a fine wire. These may have a ratchet mechanism to hold it in place until the die is tapped and may have a rubber bumper to prevent any noise. Obviously these dice must be opaque. Tappers are not used often because of their unreliability. To test for these, tap the die on all it's corners and use the loaded die tests.


Shapes are dice that are not true cubes. Shapes may be convex or concave on some sides or edges or a side may have been shaved down.


Bevels are shapes with one or more convex sides. These dice will be more likely to roll off the convex sides and on to a flat one.


Suction dice have a concave side which can create a slight vacuum when rolled on a hard flat surface. On a rough surface the dice tend to stop on the concave side when a flat side would keep on rolling. These dice favour the opposite side of the concave one.


Trip dice have edge work and flat sides. Dice are manufactured with different types of edge. There are different ways to machine the edge of a die and if all the edges are machined the same way the die is fair. Trip dice will have differing edges. They tend to wear after use and need to be replaced by the cheat quite often.


Cut-edge dice are trip dice that have an edge shaved at an angle of 45 degrees while the others may be at 60 degrees which effects the roll.


Raised-edge dice are trip dice with a lip on some sides. These sides have more surface area and also grip when rolled on cloth.


Dice with razor-edge work have different edges. Dice can be razor edged on some sides and turned or rounded on others so the die will roll off the rounded edges and grip on flat ones.


Split-edge or Saw-tooth edge work is serrating some edges of the dice with tiny cuts. The idea is these edges will grip. The bias is hard to ascertain and these dice are said to be worthless to a cheat.  


  


Bricks or flats are shapes that have one side shaved down so the four adjoining sides are made smaller and have less surface area. The shaved side and its opposite face will be the more likely outcome. Six-ace flats will favour the 1 and 6 sides and work against the shooter in a game of Craps. Flat passers are a pair of dice cut down to favour 3-4 and 6-1 so totals of 4, 5, 9 and 10 occur more often (point numbers in Craps). Barred dice is another term used for these.


Bevels can be held together or pressed on to a flat surface. If they rock back and forth you know the die's face is convex. Try running your finger over the sides of the die feeling for lips or edges. Remember to check all sides of a die to determine if it is a shape. There are devices used by casinos called micrometers that measure the sides of dice extremely accurately. Sometimes shapes and loaded dice are combined, with both defects so minute that spotting them is difficult. Different methods of shaping and gaffing dice can also be combined to produce such things as razor edge convexes, bevelled suction shapes, etc.  An obviously mis-shaped or loaded die is said to have very strong work that won't pass in fast company.




Raised spots are supposed to cause the dice to roll off that side. The spots aren't finished properly and these are used by amateur cheats. They can be easily felt and are not as effective as other crooked dice.




Capped dice are shaved down on some sides and then have the material replaced by a layer of material that matches in look but differs in elasticity. The dice tend to bounce off these sides and settle on one not doctored. The join should be invisible all though wear and heat may show it up after time. Use your finger nail or something sharp to feel the resiliency of all sides. Liquid capping is the painting of dice with a solution that dries to get the same effect. This isn't worth doing because the substance becomes sticky in players hands and picks up dirt.




You will often see dice players blowing on the dice for good luck. Another way to cheat is to paint sides of the dice with a clear sticky substance which can be activated by the moisture in the cheats breath causing the dice to have a tendency to stick to the throwing surface.


Slick dice are polished on some sides while the other sides are roughened. This is supposed to make the dice slide to a stop on the smooth side and roll off a rough one. This bias is negligible but is hard to spot because even straight dice can become rough after a lot of use.




Bristles are dice gaffed with a pin. The pin is inserted into the centre spot of the 5 side, only slightly protruding, and will hold if rolled on a cloth or baize surface. They are known as bristles because pig or horse bristles were used. It is an extremely old method of gaffing dice. Outmoded and not used by professional cheats because of the likely hood of being discovered.




Mis-spotted dice with duplicate numbers on opposing faces are called tops and bottoms. Other terms for these dice are tops, mis-spots, horses or tees (T's). A gamblers term for these is busters. These can easily be identified simply by examining all the faces of the die. Remember all opposing sides must add up to 7. These dice are not as instantly recognisable as you may think because only three sides of a die are visible at any one time.


Double number dice have two sides of the same number, double deuces will have two 2 spots and no 5. A pair of dice with duplicate sides of 1, 5, 6 and 3, 4, 5 will never produce a total of 2, 3, 7 or 12, the only numbers that can lose in Craps. High-low splitters are marked twice with 1, 2, 3 on one die and 4, 5, 6 on the other. These produce a lot of 7's and a crooked house would switch them in when some one has made a heavy bet on the field in a Craps game. Door pops are a pair of dice that only ever come up 7 or 11. One die is spotted with 6's and 2's the other is all 5's on every side and only a complete idiot would fall for these. Games that require high numbers to win, like Backgammon or High Dice, can be played with high number dice that have two 4's, 5's and 6's. Low number dice have two 1s, 2s and 3s.




Electric dice are metallic on one side or have metal slugs in the spots on one side.  These are used with an electromagnet under the playing surface. Greedy Chuck-A-Luck operators sometimes use them under the counter or chuck cage and special Craps tables were manufactured to incorporate the magnet. Electric dice are not as commonly used as they once were due to the fact that many dice players carried a magnet to test for them. If a die sticks to a magnet then without doubt it is crooked. Gambling venues that use electromagnets are known as juice joints or wire joints. These are not strictly speaking percentage dice because when the magnet is on the outcome is certain.






Crooked dice may be unconventionally spotted so a cheat can differentiate between them and a set of straight dice when switching them back and forth from a game.  


If playing dice for money you should play with transparent dice to reduce the chances of using crooked ones. Casinos always use these dice and today's major casinos are respectable, professional operations and have no need to cheat. Don't play with strangers but rather stick to a friendly game with people you know well and trust. Should you ever find that you are in a crooked dice game the best advice is to cut your losses and take no further part. Even if you are positive the game is rigged the situation could rapidly turn ugly if you were to accuse some one.
Casinos don't take any chances when it comes to profit so they don't use just any dice when thousands of dollars are riding on a roll.


Casino dice are called perfect or precision dice because of the way they are made. They are as close to being perfect true cubes as possible, measured to within a fraction of a millimetre, manufactured so each die has an absolutely equal chance of landing on any one of its six faces.


Casino dice are specially hand made to within a tolerance of 0.0005 of an inch. The spots are drilled and filled with material that is equal in weight to the material removed. Usually sides are flush and edges sharp.  They are predominantly transparent red but can come in other colours like green, purple or blue.  Spots are usually solid but a number of different designs can be found.


     


It is believed all casino dice should have the same conventional arrangement of faces and spots.  They're right handed so that if the 1-spot is face up and the 2-spot is turned to face the left then the 3-spot is to the right of it with all opposing sides adding up to 7.  If the 1 spot is face up then the 3-spot runs diagonally up from the left and the 2-spot runs diagonally down from the left.  A different orientation of the spots is sometimes used on crooked dice (made to look like casino dice) so a cheat can differentiate them from a set of straight dice.  


Since the 1970's, and the move to corporate owned casinos, it has become more and more common for casino dice to have serial numbers printed on them. The number is 3 or 4 numeric digits, possibly with letters and dashes, usually printed on the 6-spot but can be found on any face except the 1-spot. This number denotes the issue and is used to prevent them being switched for crooked dice. Another security check sometimes used is having key letters printed on the underneath of spots which can only be viewed by looking through the transparent die.  The casino's name, sometimes location, and/or logo will often be printed on the dice too using a metallic foil.  The 1-spot usually bares the casino's name while the 2-spot may have the logo.


             


The most common size today is 3/4 inch but the size can vary with 5/8 inch and 11/16 inch the next most common sizes.


Casino dice were made of cellulose nitrate, starting around the 1920s, but sometime around the 1950s the manufacturers switched to cellulose acetate which is more durable. Very old casino dice have often started to crystallise and will have turned yellowish around the edges. This crystallisation is caused by age and exposure to moisture and ultra-violet light.  A completely crystallised die will disintegrate if pressure is applied.


Casino dice can be readily bought. However many cheap casino dice are in fact rejects that haven't met the manufacturers standards or used dice that have been cancelled by their casino. Both rejects and used dice will have been defaced in some way.


Manufacturers call rejects culls. These are factory marked with a hot pin in the centre of the 4-spot or hot stamped with a number of 'X' or star symbols or just simply stamped with the word "VOID".  Some manufacturers stamp a gold "O" onto the four spot.


            


Used dice may be bought as souvenirs from many casinos although some refuse to let them go. When a die is taken out of play it will be cancelled. It could be that a hole is drilled through it or a crescent or circle is pressed into one side with a vice.  Sometimes a gold bar is hot stamped on the six-spot.  A sharp pointed metal scribe is often used to press a small shallow mark into a face.  Some older dice were scratched or had a date or initials marked on them.  By state law Atlantic City casinos must drill all the way through their used dice. 


       


If you want true perfect dice then pay the extra for a stick. A stick is a number of dice that are still in their sealed pack as delivered by the manufacturer.




 




 

Plannings

Nothing exciting today, really. The nieces and nephew came over again and we did some more caching and they fought about playing computer games on my computer. "It's my turn. Help me! Don't help me! He got to play longer than me! She won't get off and it's my turn now!. I never win. I didn't lose yet so I should get to keep playing." And so on and so on and so on....

Hiker Sam was dropped off at a bug depot because the kids wanted to send him on his way, and he's already been picked up by folks on their way to Idaho and Montana. Yesterday's blog has a link to his webpage if you want to track his travels. I got some travel bug ID's in the mail today so I can make my own travel bugs - four of them. So one day soon, hopefully, I'll get my own travellers ready to hit the road on an adventure.

Derek and Heather and I are planning a garage sale theoretically for next weekend at his house (gets more street traffic than mine). Looking forward to it - I think it could be fun, but it is a bit stressful trying to set something up so it goes well. Then I think another weekend we need to do the Renaissance Festival thing again. :) Mom and I go every year, usually.

Other plannings, trying to work out plans for a vacation for mom and dad that I get to tag along with them on. Probably Four Corners as that has been one of our favorite areas in previous trips, but we'll see. And, my union is gearing up for a trip to a conference in Copper Mountain the last week of July. I enjoy fully-paid conferences via CSEA (the union). Sure, we do lots of work but it is neat to go other places. Last summer, I went to the NEA Representative Assembly in New Orleans for the union. What a great trip! New Orleans is a unique city and even though most of the days were busy with meetings, what I was able to see in New Orleans was amazing. I took the late-night Vampire tour in the French Quarter (we stayed on the edge of the French Quarter on Canal and Chartier). Toured a plantation home. Toured the above-ground graveyards, etc. Ate lots of VERY good food. Then, later that summer when I watched Runaway Jury, almost every scene in the movie that took place on a street somewhere, I could say, "I've been there, I saw that!" Even the restaurants, not the one the jury ate at, I think, but the one where the girl meets Gene Hackman and another one that John Cusack runs through quickly - Court of the Seven Sisters - we ate at those restaurants. That was cool, because rarely do I see a movie that I've actually personally seen the places in it.

Eight Things to Learn

I saw this on a list somewhere and liked it so I thought I would share it here. Allah = God, FYI.

Eight Things to Learn


One time a scholar asked one of his students, "You have spent a long time with me, what have you learned?

He said I learned eight things:

First, I looked to the creation. Everyone has a loved one. When he goes to the grave, he leaves his loved one. Therefore, I made my loved one my good deeds; that way, they will be with me in the grave.

Second, I looked to the verse, 'But as for him who feared to stand before his Lord and restrained his soul from lust,' and, therefore, I struggled against my desires so I could stay obeying Allah.

Third, I saw that if anyone has something with him that is worth something, he will protect it. Then I thought about the verse, 'That which you have is wasted away; and that which is with Allah remains,' therefore, everything worth something with me I devoted to Him so it would be with Him for me.

Fourth, I saw the people seeking wealth, honor and positions and it was not worth anything to me. Then I thought about Allah's words, 'Lo, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most aware of Allah,' so I did my best to become aware of Allah in order to nobility in his sight.

Fifth, I saw the people being jealous towards each other and I looked at the verse, 'We have apportioned among them their livelihood in the life of the world,' so I left jealousy.

Sixth, I saw the people having enmity and I thought about the verse, 'Lo, the devil is an enemy for you, so take him as an enemy,' so I left enmity and I took the Satan as my only enemy.

Seventh, I saw them debasing themselves in search of sustenance and I thought about the verse, 'And there is not a beast in the earth but the sustenance thereof depends on Allah,' so I kept myself busy with my responsibilities toward Him and I left my property with Him.

Eighth, I found them relying on their business, buildings and health and I thought about the verse, 'And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, He will suffice him,' therefore, I put my trust only on Allah.

The States I've visited

create your own visited states map

Got the idea from Sister Scorpion. I didn't count a few where I was there very briefly while on the way to somewhere else, like half a day in Washington State (Seattle), and an airport in Chicago, IL. Others where I was there only a day or two but they were the primary destination I went ahead and included.