Cleveland Plain-Dealer:
Publishers put a lot of thought into designing the covers of books sold at airports. Tailored for an abbreviated shop time.
NY Times Travel:
36 Hours in Liverpool, England. What was that Bangles song? “I’m going down to Liverpool and do nothing ...”
Publisher’s Weekly:
New York Approves Libel Tourism Bill.
NY Times Business:
Good news, though ... As Gas Costs Soar, Buyers Flock to Small Cars. The Fit’s a particularly practical car (room + economy).
CNN:
Planes slow down to save fuel. I wonder if there’s a comprehensive mpg list for aircraft?
Later: AskMeFi had a thread on efficiency of commercial airliners.
Times Literary Supplement.UK:
Whatever happened to Old Europe?
SF New Mexican/AP:
Reno, Nevada is being rocked and rolled by an increasing frequency of earthquakes. “What they can’t say [scientists] is whether the hundreds of temblors that have rattled the area for two months — the largest a magnitude 4.7 Friday night — are subsiding or a prelude to bigger things to come.”
Bloomberg:
De Beers Finds Shipwreck, Treasure From Columbus Era. Off Namibia. Brings thoughts of Prince Henry the Navigator to mind.
Times Online.UK:
France celebrates their ... lemons.
Times Online.UK:
Summer hiking in the Alps. “At some point in the past 40 years, something happened to the Alps. They became unfashionable in summer. While you can’t move for folk on the slopes in winter, most of us wouldn’t be seen dead on an Alp once the temperature rises above zero.”
The Economist:
Gulf economies look at how to spend all the oil revenue. US concern in the ‘70’s, was how much armament they were purchasing. No such concern mentioned here.
NY Times World Business:
“Experts expect prices above $4 a gallon this summer, and one analyst recently predicted that gasoline could reach $7 in the next four years.” Let’s hope that one analyst is over-generous in his theorizing.
NY Times Dining & WIne:
Smuggled grapes! Adulterated wine! Catastrophe!
The Daily Star.LB:
The colossi of Amenhotep III will stand again.
NY Times Travel:
Practical Traveler: Even a Weak Dollar Can Be Stretched. I’d say, get walking and plan to hostel.
NY Times Business:
Did Ending Regulation Help Fliers? “That airline’s evolution is what some experts point to as the best proof of why deregulation, for all its troubles, ultimately is better than a regulated environment.” Given the recent disclosures of unsafe aircraft, I’d hardly say this was proof of the benefits of deregulation. It points to dangerous cost-cutting to maintain profit margin - and hinting at collusion with the regulatory agencies overseeing them. I still don’t understand why the FAA let SW slip by on inspections, when they’re so draconian with private pilots. There’s a big question mark there, that the media seems to be ignorant of.
NY Times:
Prairie Birds Flirt, and a Town Livens Up.
NY Times Travel:
Flight Chaos Shows Passengers Have Few Rights. I don’t know if the service is still as good as it was in the early ‘90’s, but spending a little more per year for an Amex Platinum card (~$400), I could call one Amex travel representative who would do all the calling and legwork for me, presenting me with a ‘travel solution’ inside of an hour. If I had to travel a great deal again, I’d upgrade to that level of card.
NY Times Travel:
The Marquesas: Where Many Ended Their Search for Paradise. Oh yes.
NY Times Travel:
“A good pub is a ready-made party, a home away from home, a club anyone can join.”
NY Times:
Fear and flying. “The F.A.A. has been deferring in frightening ways to the airlines on safety inspections. The industry inspects itself, reporting its own safety lapses to ward off fines. The agency audits the companies’ paperwork, a task that has grown more complicated as airlines cut costs by outsourcing maintenance. The airlines were allowed to undercut audits they did not like by requesting reviews by upper-level federal managers who often seemed ready to ignore or forgive almost anything.” The commercial airlines, even before the Reagan years, got by on a wink and a nod from the FAA ... just a whole lot less frequently.
Here’s an example of the bulldozing general aviation gets. They’re not the cause, but they’re sure being made to pay for it. [clarification: ‘general aviation’ = private pilots, not commercial pilots]
CNN Travel:
Motorcycling to Alaska: 15 days, 5,000 miles. Once upon a time, you needed an offroad bike to do it.
NY Mag:
The New York Canon: Art. How many black togs have marked the NY artists ...
The Economist:
Renewable energy: German lessons.
