Menu Decoders - Budget Travel

Menu Decoders - Budget Travel: "Don't know tourte from tartine, or harira from harissa? Before your next trip, print out one of these handy decoders with translations of food terms and popular dishes." Menu decoder BARCELONA • Eat Like a Local: Barcelona www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/misc/0709_BarcelonaDecoder/barcelona_menu_decoder.pdf FRANCE • Picky and Proud of It: Paris's Top Baguettes http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/misc/0806_FranceDecoder/france_menu_decoder.pdf MOROCCO • My Marrakech Is Better Than Yours www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/misc/0804_MoroccoDecoder/morocco_menu_decoder.pdf PORTUGAL • Alentejo, Portugal: The Next Tuscany? http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/misc/0802_PortugalDecoder/portugal_menu_decoder.pdf PRAGUE • Eat Like a Local: Prague http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/images/0604_prague.pdf CHINA http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/misc/0808_ChinaDecoder/index.html Do it yourself travel to China http://current.newsweek.com/budgettravel/2008/04/china_doityourself_travel.html?wpisrc=newsletter To get the language 'cheat sheets' go to the link under each country above. For more information about eating 'like a local' go to Budget Travel at: www.budgettravel.com/bt-dyn/content/article/2008/06/16/AR2008061601101.html?wpisrc=newsletter

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The lowdown on U.S. passport cards - This Just In - Budget Travel

The lowdown on U.S. passport cards

Posted by: Danielle Lipp, Budget Travel Newsletter, Friday, Jul 25, 2008, 9:06 AM

The new passport card (Courtesy The Department of State)

This month the government began to produce U.S. passport cards—a cheaper, easier-to-carry alternative to traditional passports. Each passport card fits in a wallet and typically costs only $45, versus $100 for a passport. (Both are valid for a decade; prices and rules vary for citizens under 16 years old.)

Whoa, back up a sec! I've forgotten the rules for traveling in and out of the country. Give me a quick update. Until recently, your needed a driver's license and birth certificate to return home after sea and land travel. Now you have an additional option, called a passport card. Starting June 1, 2009, you'll be required to carry a passport or passport card to return home after sea and land travel (with some exceptions).

Do passport cards work the same way as traditional passports? No. Cheaper passport cards can only be used for land and sea travel between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean. For any air travel outside of the U.S., you need a traditional passport. Plus only traditional passports can be marked with cool stamps from around the world.

I'm confused. Why would I bother with a passport card when a traditional passport covers both land/sea travel and air travel? Think of passport cards as similar to—though not exactly like—the EZ Pass electronic toll collection system that's popular on Northeast toll roads. Border officers can access photographs and biographical information on your passport card from 20 feet away because each card contains a radio frequency identification chip. Officers pull up your info on their electronic devices before you reach them, speeding up the process. Your traditional passport can't do that.

Hmm.... Can anyone read my passport card and learn my private info? For people who may have concerns about privacy, "there's no danger of any personal information being transmitted from the chip on the card, because there is no information on the card," says Steve Royster, spokesman for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the State Department. "Instead, all the chip has is an ID number that will be used to link the card to a secure government database that's accessed as someone drives toward the border." And for added security, each card comes with a protective sleeve that acts as a shield to prevent any kind of transmission.

So which should I get: a passport or a passport card? Do you frequently cross either the Mexican or Canadian border by car? Get a passport card. It will speed your processing at the border.

Plan to fly outside of the U.S.? You need a traditional passport.

Taking a cruise? Ask your cruise line what identification you will need. Some cruise lines have identification requirements that are tighter than the State Department's.

What's the best option for a child? If you don't expect that your child will take an international flight in the next five years—a passport card is best. It costs $35 for kids under age 16, versus $85 for a traditional passport.

Is there any reason why someone might want to get a traditional passport and a passport card? Says the spokesman, Royster, "Some people like the convenience of having a reliable ID they can walk around with in their pocket or purse." When applying for a new job, a driver's license, a marriage certificate, or conducting financial transactions, you may need to show copies of your birth certificate. Now, instead, you can carry a passport card, which is valid in all states as a way to confirm your identity and citizenship. A tip: If you apply for both at the same time or if you already have a valid passport, you can get a passport card for an additional $20.

How do I get a passport card and/or a passport? If you don't already have a passport, you must apply in-person at a passport acceptance facility (such as a post office, library, or courthouse). To find one, search by zip code at iafdb.travel.state.gov. To learn how to apply, visit travel.state.gov. As a general rule, bring proof of identity and of U.S. citizenship along with two passport-ready photos.

If you already have a passport, you can apply by mail—the same way you would renew your passport. Note: Like a normal passport renewal, you'll have to send in two passport photos with the application, plus your current passport, which will be returned to you within about four weeks, regardless of when your passport card arrives.

Is it easier to get a passport card than a traditional passport? Alas, no. The application process for the cards is the same as it is for traditional passports. With both, if you're eligible to mail in the application, you'll save the potential hassle of waiting in line at the post office or courthouse. Royster says that the cards will eventually have the same turnaround time as traditional passports (currently, about four weeks).

But don't expect a four-week turnaround this summer: The State Department began accepting applications, first come, first served, for the cards in February and received more than 350,000 requests. It has mailed out 7,600 cards and expects to have the rest of the preorders sent out by the end of September.

If you applied for a passport card today, the earliest you could expect to receive one is after the initial 350,000 orders are filled.

Expedited service ($60 more plus delivery fees, for a two-week turnaround), like what’s currently offered for passports, will also eventually be available for the cards, but not until production catches up.

Anything else I should know? Travel from U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, doesn't require either a passport or a passport card.

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The Problem With a Small B and B

One thing that I hate about running a small B and B is when guests have to cancel at the last minute or just do not show up at all. Our no show rate is remarkably good considering. I think we have had three no-show guests in the years we have been running the place. All strangely enough have come from one booking agency. It happens to be the first agency we contracted with, but their referrals have gone down considerably over the years. Perhaps people are not traveling to Budapest from Europe as much as in the past? Today, we had to guests due to arrive for an eight night stay. They called from the Amsterdam airport to say that their passports were missing when they arrived from the train they were on. Without the passports, the airline would not let them fly. The guy sounded like he was practically in tears. He had sent a few e-mails telling us how excited they were to visit and on the phone, he said they found a jar of Skippy peanut butter. Based on his e-mails, we were looking forward to meeting them. So now we have a room open for eight unexpected nights. The chances of getting a last minute person are poor, but it happens. We will see.

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Ryanair Considers 'zero-bag' Flights

Ryanair considers 'zero-bag' flights to reduce fuel costs - Telegraph: "Ryanair considers 'zero-bag' flights to reduce fuel costs Budget airline Ryanair has responded to rising oil prices and nosediving profits with new cost-cutting proposals. By Oliver Smith Ryanair's annual profits have slumped by 85% Photo: EPA Ryanair is considering the introduction of a hand-luggage only rule on some future flights in a bid to cut costs. Any such proposal is likely to affect early morning and midweek departures which normally contain a high proportion of business travellers. “Should the idea be introduced, it will be confined to non-tourist routes and flights,” said Daniel de Carvalho, a spokesman for the budget airline. “It is part of our general policy to encourage passengers to travel with just hand luggage.” The plan will save the airline spending any money on airport baggage handlers and reduce the fuel bill by virtue of a lighter plane. Dublin-based Ryanair is also likely to become the first airline to introduce mobile phones onto its aircraft, with testing likely to begin next month, a move that will offer another source of revenue.

“Should our commercial testing prove successful, it will be rolled out onto our entire fleet, providing substantial revenue,” said Mr de Carvalho. Ryanair recently announced that its annual after-tax profits had plummeted by 85 per cent to 21 million euros, largely due to the price of oil. The carrier has also said it will temporarily stop flying to seven airports this winter, including Basel, Budapest, Palma and Valencia.

The airline has opened discussions with each of the 147 airports it uses, in an effort to negotiate better deals, while new fast-drop kiosks are due to be installed at Stansted and Dublin in October. Ryanair has also been approached over contracts at new airports, where other carriers have cut their routes.

The soaring cost of oil has seen dozens of airlines announce cutback in their services. EasyJet cut 12 per cent of its capacity at Stansted airport last week, while BA are expected to deliver cuts to its timetables. Other airlines have used less conventional methods to reduce fuel bills, including the removal of on-board magazine racks and ovens.

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Sziget Festival to Add "high culture" to Program

Having seen this amazing performance in Vietnam this year, it is a "must see" for those coming to the festival.

The Sziget Festival, a week-long musical extravaganza on Budapest's Obuda Island, will offer 35 theatre and ballet performances while Hungarian museums will sponsor 12 events, the festival's media chief told MTI on Friday.

The theatre events will include performances by Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, Stockholm 59 Degrees North and Hofesh Shechter. They will be performed on five different stages during the festival, to run between August 13 and 17, Viktoria Veto said.

A special treat for theater fans might be a performance by the Vietnamese National Water Puppet Theater with its unique visual effects and unusual figures.

Museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, the National Gallery, the National Museum and other large public collections, will have an opportunity to offer their own programs at the festival for the first time ever.

Similarly to earlier years, the literary events will serve to complement the festival's main profile which is music for the younger set.

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Ryanair Cuts Budapest in November-December

Ryanair to suspend Budapest service in November-December

By: All Hungary News

2008-07-18 15:24

Ryanair has cancelled all of its 180 flights to and from Budapest during November and December, claiming that, due to the high fees charged at Ferhihegy Airport, it is more economical for the company to stay away from the Hungarian capital, writes index.hu.

According to the Irish budget airline, Ferihegy is one of the most expensive airports in Europe, a factor that gains in importance as turnover drops in the low season. The company says Hungary will lose 27,000 tourists and an income of €6 million during the two month "boycott" of the airport.

Domokos Szollár, a spokesman for Budapest Airport Zrt., which manages Ferihegy, denied Ryanair's claim of excessive costs, pointing out that the airline, which began serving Budapest less than a year ago, has enjoyed a break given to all carriers early in their presence at the airport.

He also said that Ryanair sent the same letter threatening a shutdown to every airport it flies to, demanding the right to use them for free - adding that the company probably called each of them "Europe's most expensive airport."

Szollár said that the fees at Ferihegy are 40% lower than those of the Vienna airport, 8% lower than those of the Warsaw airport and 1% lower than those in Prague.

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Massage

Having been a small business owner in the past, I always appreciated when someone shone the spotlight on my work and what I had achieved. It is with great pleasure that I reciprocate for others who provide services that are far beyond those of their profession.

I have commented on the exemplary services I have received from Gabor Pal, the massage therapist with physical therapy training, in the past. If it were not for him, I may still have a crippling back problem that the medical doctor here referred me back to the US, the chiropractor only made worse, and time did not heal. Gabor's patience, training, and healing hands cured the problem over time. Little by little, the pain went away and the range of motion returned to the point where I am as fully capable now as I was prior to the problem.

With sincere gratitude, I have added a page to our website and created a "Comments" page from those who I have referred to him, who were gracious enough to send me feedback. You can view it at www.budabab.com/gabor_pal.htm (or just click on the title of this post "Massage" to be redirected). His contact information is also there. He is now on the right hand side of the this blog also.

Besides being an excellent therapist, he is an old soul with a gift. If you should visit him, please do send me feedback so I can add it to the comments page.

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Travel Tip: It Is a Terrific Time to Teach Abroad

This article came through the online newsletter Edutopia supported by the George Lucas Foundation. I have added it here to the blog, because I get innumerable requests for information about teaching abroad. This is an excellent resource article and the newsletter, though free, is chock full of good articles. "Edutopia" Travel Tip: It Is a Terrific Time to Teach Abroad: July 11, 2008 This is a guest posting from my friend and colleague David Carpenter, who is working abroad as an instructional technologist in Asia. Read his other posts, 'An Instructional Technologist Muses on Lessons Learned: The Peaks and Pitfalls of Discovery Learning [1]' and 'Building Blocks for Technology Integration: A Strategy for Success [2].' Chris mentioned that it might be helpful to bring an international perspective to whatever I planned to write about for this post. I teach at Hsinchu International School [3], in Taiwan, so I thought that maybe I should write about what it means to be an international educator and then move on to a technology topic. Why does someone become an international educator? My wife Margaret and I are now in our sixth country. Our boys were born in Saudi Arabia and Panama, and they are growing up in international schools with children from all over the world. We love the learning that goes with living in different cultures. The travel opportunities we can organize for school holidays take us to dynamic cities and historical locations as well as very relaxing beaches. We cannot think of a better educational experience for our children, as they have fantastic, flexible, and dedicated teachers in small-class"

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Politics.Hu: Judge overrules earlier decision that egg throwing is a civil right

Politics.Hu: Judge overrules earlier decision that egg throwing is a civil right: July 15, 2008, 10:56 CET Judge overrules earlier decision that egg throwing is a civil right By Hungary Around the Clock Municipal Court criminal section head István Kónya stressed on Monday that no court has ever ruled that egg throwing is protected by the right of freedom of expression. Kónya said it is out of the question that throwing eggs is permitted. He told Magyar Hírlap that an earlier ruling in spring 2007 - when police and the prosecutor's office jointly issued a position paper that throwing eggs does not endanger health and therefore is protected by the right of freedom of expression - applied to those specific anti-hooliganism proceedings. Kónya added that 16 criminal cases are in process against the anti-gay demonstrators of July 5."

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Hello and Good-bye

In our four plus years of running our B and B, we have never had an experience like this. A couple of days ago, we received a call from the BKV, next door. The BKV is the company that runs the whole of the transport system in the city. They had some people there who were looking for us, but could not find us. When I had them on the phone, the man said they had a booking with us for Saturday, but did not want to wander looking for us, so decided to 'check us' out ahead of time, but they could not find us. I gave them specific directions, including the bell to ring. The BKV employee came back on the phone, I gave them to her also and she offered to walk them next door. We are within spitting distance. They arrived, I told them over the intercom that the door has no sound, but to just push it open. Then, I explained, take the elevator to the fourth floor and I would meet them. I listened for the elevator, but did not hear, but went out to meet them and found they were climbing the stairs huffing and puffing. Being they were an older couple, I quickly, mentally reviewed my CPR skills. Thankfully, I did not have to depend on memory. The man greeted me with an angry recourse of not being able to find us after they walked back and forth past the building. Let me say, which I did not to them, the building is clearly marked with a building number unlike many in the city. It is difficult to miss if you are looking. The man's stream of complaints were that once they did find the building, they had no idea which buzzer to press. I cautiously stated that not only is the information on our website in multiple places, but I am compulsive about putting the information on e-mails confirming a reservation and all subsequent e-mails that transpire thereafter. The wife sheepishly confessed she never did print any of them out. When I asked why they did not take the elevator, thinking a fear of such apparatus, they shocked me with the statement that they could not find it. How does one miss passing a large shaft in the middle of the stairwell? Okay, perhaps you by-pass the door on the first little landing that is three steps from the foyer level, but once you have climbed the first flight of stairs with the open wire cage to your left, surely you must know there is an elevator there. My fellow Americans, you can really be stupid and cause me embarrassment in calling myself an American. It is intelligence like this that causes great fear for the upcoming elections. They finally get into the apartment; we offer them tea and they accept. I could tell immediately, I did not like the husband. He reminded me of a retired Marine Captain, sitting there smug and condescening, though he could not find an elevator in front of his nose. We were pleasant and jovial and just the day before, we had guests return to say hello and spend an hour with us before taking off, because they said they felt like our extended family. If so, this couple here were the dreaded in-laws like the move Meet the In-laws. The husband made me feel like I was in Guantanmo and he was cross examing me. They were staying at the Marriott currently since his company was footing the bill, but once they had to reach into their own pockets, they wanted something lower on the financial food chain. "So, our son and his new bride are coming tomorrow. We want them to have the best time since they were just married. What do you suggest they do?" My first thought was to respond that I needed to get my crystal ball out, but instead I asked what their interests were? From the look on his face, you would have thought I had said your son married a transsexual and they adopted a baby from Somalia. In reality, it seemed that he had never been introduced to his son and had no clue what his son enjoyed other than women. As difficult as it was, we made the best of a bad situation. The wife asked to use the bathroom, but I knew it was an opportunity to snoop around. It was so transparent. Ron offered to show her the rooms, since they booked both. When she returned, she was gracious, they stayed and talked for another thirty minutes or more and then left. Though we were dreading it, they were due this afternoon and all was ready for them. We had gone breakfast item shopping; the fridge was stocked. At 11:00 am today, the day they were due to arrive, the phone rings. It is the wife. She is calling to cancel the reservation. After thinking about it, the son and new wife will be honeymooning and since there is no a/c, they may be too hot. There is no a/c in any hotel under four stars and not all of them have it. The only sure bet is five stars and a fat nightly charge. She offered to give us some money for the late cancellation, which I should have accepted, but honestly, I was so flabberghasted, I said no. Really, I wanted her to feel guilty and not feel like she bought it off with money, but anyone who cannot find an elevator will not have the capacity to think beyond tomorrow. The reality in my own mind is that the husband did not feel comfortable with us, the wife found us and made the plans without an ounce of his input, which he probably did not offer, and then brow beat her for making a mistake in his judgment. She was the sacraficial lamb having to make the call to cancel. I have been mentally torn about this. Anger over the rudeness of a last minute cancellation when they were here 2 days ago, was the utmost viable emotion I was feeling. As I had told her, we denied many bookings that overlapped their time here and could have rebooked the room. GUILT, GUILT, or at least a feeble attempt. It was not the money as much as the principle of not telling us sooner, but waiting until that morning. I feel judged and took it personally, though honestly, I did not feel comfortable with them anyway. I can honestly say that in our years, we have been fortunate to have guests who we truly enjoyed. Some we have had more interaction with than others, but that is their choice; it is their vacation. However, we have never received more than outstanding complements on our home and hospitatlity. We received dozens and dozens of e-mails from former guests just giving us updates on their lives and wanting to stay in touch. The husband and wife that returned to say hello were here for four days before going to a Habitat for Humanity project for two weeks and returned to share their experiences. All in all, I should be thankful this couple and their son did not stay. It may have ruined a long streak of good luck and happy memories. I do hope that where they finally chose to stay, they were able to find the elevator.

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Lights, Action, Camera

We woke up this morning to find our whole street had been invaded and taken over like a coup. We are still not sure how they pulled it off, but both sides of the street were filled. Where the cars that were parked there originally disappeared to, still remains a mystery. Every available parcel of parking space was now accommodating a film crew bus. Well, not just any bus, these were more like stretch limousine buses with FILMBUSZ on the sides. Along side of them, there were a string of white station wagons double parked along side of them in addition to the same type of cars parked on the other side of the street. There was barely room for a Trabant to pass down the street without scraping its cheap paint job off of the sides. Film crews were running around the streets, but no cameras or theatrical lights were visible. Our guess is that they were filming in the Old Man's Pub, obviously over-kill for a beer commercial, but the reality eludes us. In other news, I have been finishing up my chapter for the Frommer's "Eastern Europe" book. The template they sent has been driving me crazy. They use Word 2000, while I am using Word 2007. It seems ironic that a company that size is using such outdated programs, but perhaps it is due to the number of countries they have to deal with. The template loads, but when I go to make changes, the whole thing changes into an alphabet soup of styles. Highlighting a section and clicking on this section only, did not seem to help. Hatefully, I had to send a whining note to my editor, the fourth editor at Frommer's I have worked with. She has been great, so this will work out.

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Some Shake up Travel News Does not Bode Well for Budget Travelers

The Wall Street Journal says the merger of Spanish budget airlines Vueling and Clickair might signal Europe's budget airline sector is headed for a shakeout.

Analysts say more consolidation -- or even closures -- may lie on the horizon as the finances of many budget airlines worsen, rattling investors.

In a report published in June, Citigroup said it expects "several budget airlines to fail this winter."

Global airlines have warned investment in new and more fuel-efficient aircraft could be pruned back after European lawmakers gave the go-ahead to a deal forcing the industry to start paying for greenhouse gas emissions in four years' time.

All flights to, from and within the European Union will be affected, regardless of the airline's nationality. Under the deal, airline emissions will be capped at 97 per cent of their average 2004-06 levels in the first year, falling to 95 per cent from 2013.

Carriers will receive 85 per cent of these emission allowances free in 2012, but have to buy permits for anything above that through the emissions trading scheme. Yesterday, airlines described the arrangements as "unacceptable" and some US carriers said a court case was likely.

While the idea of weighing airline passengers is strong on the 'fear, uncertainty and doubt' (FUD) factor and light on fact, the US Charleston Post and Courier reports an Indian court has ruled that Air India can ground overweight cabin crew members.

The Center for American Progress web site (www.americanprogress.org & www.americanprogress.org/> ) says while the primary vulnerabilities that enabled the New York, US September 11 hijackings to occur have been addressed, terrorists have gone 'back to the future' and are once again trying to smuggle bombs on board aircraft.

Calling for better freight screening, the site says only a modest percentage of (US) air cargo shipments are subject to targeted or random inspections despite the Transportation Security Administration's own assessment that a bomb smuggling attempt is very likely.

It also says while the rule that limits liquids that can be placed in carry-on luggage is a reasonable interim response to the 2006 British liquid bomb plot, checkpoint personnel cannot pull shampoo, toothpaste, and baby food from bags forever. -Jack Handley

Source: http://www.impactpub.com.au/micebtn/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2095&Itemid=50

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So Many Truths Said in Jest

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Fourth of July

Fourth of July is a major holiday in the US, not that everyone is remember the true meaning of the original event, but rather the day off from work, the barbecues, fireworks, and some other celebration activity. When we lived in Modesto, CA, there was not much to celebrate. It was basically a normal day, not having been invited to any parties, but none of our friends were having any to invite us to. In the evening, we would drive to the parking garage downtown and watch the fireworks from roof level. They lasted maybe twenty minutes, were less than spectacular and then we went home again. With all that excitement left behind, it was an easy adjustment to living in Hungary where the fourth of July is just a date on the calendar and nothing more. However, everyone and their last three generations of relatives find it necessary to send me Happy 4th of July greetings. People who ignore me on Thanksgiving, Christmas, or my birthday spring out of the ground like it was groundhog day to send me their best wishes for a happy holiday. Normally, I would be appreciative of being remembered; however, let's use some common sense here. Why would you ask me what I intended to do today, when you know for a fact that I have lived in Central Europe for almost seven years? To add to the frustration, what really irks me is the sub-text to these messages. "Remember our troops who are keeping America safe". The fact that they buy into all of the fear factor spread by government propaganda that we are there for American freedom, scares me to the point of wanting to get in their face, shake them silly and scream into their face "Wake up and use the brain you God gave you." The lack of critical thinking is beyond my comprehension. Now I must admit, my ability to look at all sub-text of an issue had greatly increased since living abroad, but I still read the papers, watched the news, and looked for other sources of information other than what was being fed to me by the media. There are ten corporations that own all of the major print and news media in the US. Can we say 'control'? Can we say "filtered"? But, alas, their lives are too busy to dig deeper than the front page of the local paper, or the five minutes of TV news at 6 and 11 pm, so this is what they have to base an opinion on. What I have confronted with friends, acquaintances, and others is that when you offer them the sources of alternative information for making sound judgments, it forces them into one of three choices. Some are honest enough, but incredibly naive by saying "It really does not affect my life at all" or "I know I should do something about it, but I just don't have the time" or the third and most rarely chosen response "Wow, I didn't know that, but now I will do something positive about it." I was sharing this with an old friend in the literal sense. He is over 80 years old and I have known him for about forty years. Although he took it more personally than I had intended, I will have to check my e-mail to him again, he did shoot back an angered response. He fought in WWII; he knows what the troops are going through; he writes to Congress people to make his voice heard since he can no longer go out to demonstrate (not that there are any demonstrations to join anyway). He accused me of playing the "holier than thou" card and maybe I did come off as doing that. However, I hit a cord, made him think and even if my thoughts do not apply to him, perhaps, he will share them with someone who needs to hear them. Since the age of the Internet, he has become a great communicator, unlike the years that lapsed because we depended on the snail mail system. But again, we are discussing apples and oranges here. WW I and WWII are the apples where as Vietnam, Desert Storm, and Iraq are the oranges. There are vast differences in the wars. The current war we are in was without the blessings of our allies, and the few who decided to help us, did so reluctantly and withdrew their troops as soon as was feasible like unwilling guests at a dinner party who left early, but showed up for appearances sake. We were lied to by our top elected officials and they continued to lie to justify their motives. They then continually use the fear factor to keep the populace in pumped up with apprehension of what will happen if we leave. What we are not being told often enough is that the Armed Forces are continually reducing their qualifications for recruits because they need bodies to fight. The recruiters are slinking their way through ghettos and slums, looking for desperate people who have no other choices in life due to a lack of education, racial discrimination, or poverty, making the option of a military career look appealing. When these people return, if they return in one physical piece, the heroes welcome lasts a day at the most, then the infrastructure for helping them succeed fails them. The ones that were not harmed physically are still impacted mentally, but who is there to aid them? The VA hospitals are under funded and overwhelmed. The public may be sympathetic, but no corporation will offer them a job based on sympathy. Rather than support our troops, which to me is airy language just to make those saying it feel better, we need to support our young people so they don't feel a need to be an Armed Forces member in order to achieve a living.

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Funny Brits

I have noticed for years that Brits make statements or answer questions with questions. I was in the used English bookstore, Red Bus and overheard this interaction while looking over titles. There was another man looking at the shelves next to me when a younger man walked in who he knew. The younger man had his arm in a cast and sling. Older man: Duncan, what happened to you? Younger man: I fell off of my bike and broke my arm, didn't I? Older man: I did not know, I wasn't with you at the time now was I? Younger man: Well, it was bloody scary going over handle bar in a busy street, now wasn't it? Older man: I am not much help in emergencies, because I panic, don't I? Younger man: Well I bloody well better go, hadn't I? Older man: I don't know what your plans are for today, do I then? Younger man: The only reason I popped in was because I wanted to say hello to you when I saw you standing here, didn't I? Older man: Well that was jolly good of you, wasn't it? Younger man: Yes, it was, wasn't it? Older man: Well have a good day than, won't you? Younger man: Yes, I have some great fun scheduled with friends don't I then? And then he left, didn't he?

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