The US$20 can also be folded (like an accordion) to show the word "OSAMA" or (twice over Andrew Jackson's eyes) an erupting volcano. And the words "Novus Ordo Seclorum" under the pyramid on a US$1 bill are believed by some to translate into the words "New World Order."
Jim Hagdorn at the Bureau of Printing and Engraving has heard them all and fields questions with a voice hovering between fatigue and exasperation.
"People at the Bureau take great pride in their work and are very proud of the way the White House looks on the US$20 bill," Hagedorn said last week. "We feel really bad that this is being used to highlight the tragedy."
For Berlet its mostly amusing.
"Give me enough beer and I'll show you Donald Duck being sworn in as president on the dollar," he said.
"The point is you can do this all day and you can take any denomination and come up with pretty much whatever you want."
But for every self-styled realist who perceives the image as silly, there is someone else who isn't quite sure. Just ask Darrell Andersen, who bought lunch at D'Angelo's this week, about the same time Tobasky was patronizing the Dunkin Donuts next door.
"I think the government knew the attacks were coming, no doubt," Andersen said after he was shown the bill. "I think they know a lot things they don't tell us."
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