There is the desire dating back to the 1960s to use Pakistan as balance against India, with which China has a major border dispute and that China regards as a potential rival.
After the user enters the desired dates and cities, farechase.com searches travel sites -- currently 22 for air fares, 11 for hotels and 6 for car rentals, including lowestfare.com, expedia.com, placestostay.com, Continental Airlines and United.
Several VA schedulers have told investigators that agency staffers were "gaming the system" by making it appear that appointments set for weeks or months in the future were "desired dates" requested by veterans.
They were recording the next available appointment date as the patient's desired appointment date.
Reservations must be made through the Web site, exactly one month before the desired date.
It's easy enough to ask for starting and ending locations and for the desired date of travel.
After noting the desired date and time and the number of diners in the party, the operator promises to call back within 30 minutes.
It also provides tables that allow the user to work out the position of a planet from theory for any desired date.
"We expect that an increasing percentage of consumers will want to order online directly from the factory, get exactly what they want and get it on the desired date," said Ronald Zarrella, General Motors' president for North American operations.
Tee times for the course are also available through an automated phone system, but chances of getting them seem slimmer than a Lotto ticket, even for those who speed dial when they become available: exactly 7 p.m., seven days before the desired date.
