Category: Travel Page 16 of 29
I suspect at least a few readers would be interested in dropping by this:
National Geographic is selling truckloads and truckloads of books, maps, globes, toys, puzzles, travel accessories, clothing, luggage, gifts National Geographic magazine coversand more to its Holiday Warehouse Sale at the Washington DC Armory.
Expect discounts of at least 25% on just about everything that National Geographic sells, with some books and other products discounted up to 90%.
It’s happening today, tomorrow, and Sunday. More details at the linked DC Traveler site (which is worth a look around, itself).
Once upon a time, I was trying to gauge interest among a group of friends in splitting the cost of a newly-announced Eclipse 500 jet. Turns out that my earnestness was a little optimistic, but I still think that we’re likely to see both the production of a (relatively) affordable Eclipse 500-like jet and the development of an alternative to the big-jet spoke and hub travel system in the US. If this is an area that interests you, author James Fallows is your man. Start with this post at the Atlantic.
I had no idea that Berlin’s Tempelhof airport was closing. Last flight out is tonight. Kicking myself for never having made it there.
(Tempelhof was many things, including being the airport that made the Berlin Airlift possible.)
Late last week, I noted this great Jeffery Goldberg article demonstrating what a joke TSA security continues to be. Bruce Schneier was involved, and he points us to TSA head Kip Hawley’s response, noting:
Unfortunately, there’s not really anything to his response. It’s obvious he doesn’t want to admit that they’ve been checking ID’s all this time to no purpose whatsoever, so he just emits vague generalities like a frightened squid filling the water with ink. Yes, some of the stunts in article are silly (who cares if people fly with Hezbollah T-shirts?) so that gives him an opportunity to minimize the real issues.
Watch-lists and identity checks are important and effective security measures. We identify dozens of terrorist-related individuals a week and stop No-Flys regularly with our watch-list process.
It is simply impossible that the TSA catches dozens of terrorists every week. If it were true, the administration would be trumpeting this all over the press — it would be an amazing success story in their war on terrorism. But note that Hawley doesn’t exactly say that; he calls them “terrorist-related individuals.” Which means exactly what? People so dangerous they can’t be allowed to fly for any reason, yet so innocent they can’t be arrested — even under the provisions of the Patriot Act.
Ayup. Kip Hawley is still an idiot. When Obama and Congress are looking for budget fat to cut next year, they should start at the TSA.
So I’ve fallen off with the Friday notes the past couple of weeks, which means the inventory of things left unnoted is a bit of a mess. Thus the scattershot approach today:
I’m not really a fan of either journalist involved, but this Matt Taibbi-Byron York conversation about the origin of the financial crisis amused me greatly:
M.T.: No. That is what you call a figure of speech. I’m saying that you’re talking about individual homeowners defaulting. But these massive companies aren’t going under because of individual homeowner defaults. They’re going under because of the myriad derivatives trades that go on in connection with each piece of debt, whether it be a homeowner loan or a corporate bond. I’m still waiting to hear what your idea is of how these trades work. I’m guessing you’ve never even heard of them.
I mean really. You honestly think a company like AIG tanks because a bunch of minorities couldn’t pay off their mortgages?
B.Y.: When you refer to “Phil Gramm’s Commodities Future Modernization Act,” are you referring to S.3283, co-sponsored by Gramm, along with Senators Tom Harkin and Tim Johnson?
M.T.: In point of fact I’m talking about the 262-page amendment Gramm tacked on to that bill that deregulated the trade of credit default swaps.
Tick tick tick. Hilarious sitting here while you frantically search the Internet to learn about the cause of the financial crisis — in the middle of a live chat interview.
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I went through the Houlton, Maine border crossing to get to Canada last week. This is how the process went, as I pulled up in my car next to the booth:
Canada: Hi, folks. What’s the length and purpose of your trip to Canada?
Me: Just a bit of fun. Camping and cycling up around Cape Breton. For a week or so.
Canada: Do you know where you’re going?
Me: I hope so!
Canada:Â Okay, have a good trip.
Me: Thanks! [begins to release the break]
Canada: Oh, wait – you don’t have any weapons or firearms, do you?
Me: Nope! Bye! [and I drive away]
And this? This is what folks heading into the US at that same crossing have to deal with on the American side:
Keene Valley resident Jerilea Zempel was detained at the U.S. border this summer because she had a drawing of a sport-utility vehicle in her sketchbook.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers told Zempel they suspected her of copyright infringement.
She was released after more than an hour in custody at the Houlton, Maine, port of entry from New Brunswick, Canada.
Her release came only after she persuaded border guards she was an artist doing a project that involved a crocheted SUV as a statement against America’s dependence on oil and love for big vehicles.
You have to click through to see the “industrial spy” level drawing.
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This dKos post reminds us of something we need to be aware of when considering traditional media characterizations of the state of the presidential race:
Every state in which McCain has a lead, even if it’s just 2.2%, is a “leaning Republican”. Every state in which Obama has the lead, even if it’s over 10 percent, is a “battleground”.
[ . . . ]
They are invested in the horserace for ratings purposes, and they are certainly fearful of being accused of pro-Obama bias. So instead of providing an accurate picture for their readers, they misinform them.
I mean, Washington Post really thinks New Jersey is a battleground state? Really?
Yup.
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Who didn’t get that “I bet this is a crock of shit” feeling when McCain trotted out the Joe the Plumber claims at the debate? And if you didn’t get it at that moment, I sure hope it came when he was interviewed the next morning. In any event, yes, it’s pretty much as fraudulent as you thought it was.
Semi-related: a well-written response to all the idiots who hopped on the “spread the wealth” line around and yelled “socialism!”
Jeffery Goldberg has spent the past couple of years demonstrating (for himself, apparently) what an utter joke the TSA’s system has become. And I’m not just talking about simple little things – like the small blade I usually carry, or the fact that I’ve decided to just leave the liquids in my bag – but things that would make even me think there might be an actual threat:
During one secondary inspection, at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, I was wearing under my shirt a spectacular, only-in-America device called a “Beerbelly,†a neoprene sling that holds a polyurethane bladder and drinking tube. The Beerbelly, designed originally to sneak alcohol—up to 80 ounces—into football games, can quite obviously be used to sneak up to 80 ounces of liquid through airport security. (The company that manufactures the Beerbelly also makes something called a “Winerack,†a bra that holds up to 25 ounces of booze and is recommended, according to the company’s Web site, for PTA meetings.) My Beerbelly, which fit comfortably over my beer belly, contained two cans’ worth of Bud Light at the time of the inspection. It went undetected. The eight-ounce bottle of water in my carry-on bag, however, was seized by the federal government.
If the Presidential candidates are looking for a budget to cut? Start at the TSA. I don’t need someone spending this amount of money to simply (try to) make me feel better.
A week and (almost) 3,000 miles later, I’m back from Cape Breton, with a few detours through other bits of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Maine. A rather wonderful area of the world. Even with all the driving involved, I’m quite glad I did it. Pictures and more, later. First, I have to process both the fantastic news of another victory for good, and then the apparent open adoption of bloodlust as a motivator at McCain-Palin rallies.
(It was figured that this trip also allows me to say that I’ve now travelled every single mile of I-95, from Houlton, Maine to Miami, Florida. Just because.)