Travel

I am going to be taking a ten-day hiatus as I travel down south to Mexico to visit my girlfriend who is studying Spanish. Becky has been gone for 3 months and will not return to the states until September. That makes for a perfect excuse why I should visit Mexico now more than ever! Until mid-July folks!

Sean O’Neil over at Budget Travel has a great article on the information that Homeland Security keeps on file when you travel abroad.

Homeland Security has been keeping track of your itinerary ever since mid-90s but “has mandated that the commercial airlines deliver this information routinely and electronically” since 2002.

O’Neil reports:

“A passenger record typically includes the name of the person traveling, the name of the person who submitted the information while arranging the trip, and details about how the ticket was bought, according to documents published by the Department of Homeland Security. Records are made for citizens and non-citizens who cross our borders.”  Read More »

Exactly a year ago, I was settling back from a 2 month excursion around Europe with my girlfriend, Becky. It was our graduation treat for completing our University studies, plus we wanted to explore the world.

I remember Sue, Becky's mother, tell her that our relationship would be tested during that period. Tested was a vague way of describing it. It was more like getting to know the other person in as many different circumstances.

TIME has a great article on the subject. Judy McGuire entertains the idea that traveling is a couple's true test. I could not agree anymore. Traveling exposes one's vulnerabilities and strengths. It is quick window into a someone's personal traits ... the overt and covert ones.  Read More »

Iraq forces battle Basra militias - Heavy fighting has been raging in Basra as thousands of Iraqi troops battle Shia militias in the southern city. At least 30 people have died in the operation, which is being overseen in Basra by Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki, a day after he vowed to "re-impose law".

Supreme Court backs Texas in Houston murder case - President Bush overstepped his authority when he ordered a Texas court to reopen the case of a Mexican on death row for rape and murder in Houston, the Supreme Court said today. In a case that mixes presidential power, international relations and the death penalty, the court sided with Texas 6-3.

Hope and Fear for Zimbabwe Vote - Voters will go to the polls Saturday, with President Robert Mugabe, the iconic leader of a nation enduring catastrophic hardship, trying to retain the power he has held for 28 years. Here in Harare, there is the usual speculation about the political winds. In what provinces is the president’s party strong? Where is it weak? But the more frequent conjecture involves the mechanics of an outcome that is presumed to be rigged.

Appeals court overturns passenger rights law - A federal appeals court Tuesday struck down a state law requiring airlines to give food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers stuck in delayed planes, saying the measure was well-intentioned but stepped on federal authority.

McCain Warns Against Hasty Mortgage Bailout - Drawing a sharp distinction with the Democratic presidential candidates, Senator John McCain, warned Tuesday against hasty government action to solve the mortgage crisis, saying “it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers.”

Who gets rich off $3 gas - who doesn't - Motorists may fume when forking over $3 a gallon at the local service station, but as it turns out, your local filling spot makes chump change from a gallon of gas. So exactly who is getting rich? The guy running the service station makes just a few cents, while crude oil producers take the biggest chunk.

Violence in Tibet as Monks Clash With the Police - Violence erupted Friday morning in a busy market area of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, as Buddhist monks and other ethnic Tibetans brawled with Chinese security forces in bloody clashes.

U.S. Image Abroad Hard to Fix, Longtime Ally Says - Bernard Kouchner, the foreign minister of France and a longtime humanitarian, diplomatic and political activist, said this week that whoever succeeds President Bush might restore something of the United States’ battered image and standing overseas but that “the magic is over.”

EU-US agree on visa waiver talks - The EU and the US have agreed on a twin approach in their talks on doing away with visas for travel to the US. The US will negotiate with the 27-member bloc as a whole, but will also talk to individual countries.

Streak hits 21 with Lakers up next - Their run was in peril but they refused to let it end, driving themselves to a second-half comeback and an 89-80 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday night that pushed the Rockets' winning streak to 21 games, the second longest in NBA history.

Beijing rebuffs Olympics critics - China's foreign minister has strongly criticised "anti-China forces" he says are determined to politicise this year's Beijing Olympics. In recent weeks human rights groups and a number of Hollywood personalities, including Steven Spielberg, have stepped up criticism of China's record.

Spitzer Resigns, Citing Personal Failings - Gov. Eliot Spitzer, reeling from revelations that he had been a client of a prostitution ring, announced his resignation today, becoming the first governor of New York to be forced from office in nearly a century.

Leaving it all behind, to bike around the world - In 2002, at the ages of 62 and 48, Pat and Catherine Patterson decided to leave it all behind. They sold their real-estate business and their cars, gave their furniture to their children, and put their home up for rent. Strapping their remaining possessions to two bicycles, the couple set off to bike around the world.

Euro tops $1.55 for first time - The euro has set a new record high against the US dollar, passing $1.55 for the first time.

Study: 1 in 4 teen girls has an STD - A virus that causes cervical cancer is by far the most common sexually transmitted infection in teen girls aged 14 to 19, while the highest overall prevalence is among black girls -- nearly half the blacks studied had at least one STD. That rate compared with 20 percent among both whites and Mexican-American teens, the study from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.