Hungarian railways MAV will operate a special nostalgia train next year to link Krakow, Prague, Berlin, Gdansk and Istanbul, a company official said on Wednesday.
The Danube Express will include four luxurious sleeper carriages, MAV Nosztalgia director Andras Szentey said. A test run of the service is currently under way and has already attracted much success, he added.
The company will modernise its Candle Light Express service, which operates on special occasions, including Valentine's Day, Szentey said.
MAV Nosztalgia operates around 150 services yearly, including short excursion trains to domestic tourist destinations such as the Danube Bend and international luxury services to Europe. The company transports more than 10,000 passengers yearly.
Bridges for Obama: American supporters of Sen. Barack Obama have been staging rallies abroad at world-famous bridges to show support for the Democratic presidential candidate and his pledge to span old political divisions.
The Obama Song (World of Friends): Japan-based American musical artists created and performed this song to celebrate Sen. Obama's historic candidacy and to inspire us all to change the world. Hungary is here as well as Democrats Abroad from a number of countries. It gives me chills to see the support and love.Pin It Now!
Someone posted this comment "Good information, you know who is the new owner of the Ferihegy Airport? I've heard some rumors, but not sure." Here is your answer. The responsibility for managing and operating Budapest Airport lies with the airport company Budapest Airport Zrt. Budapest Airport Zrt. is a company run as a public-private partnership, with the Hungarian State holding 25 percent of its shares plus one vote. Since June 2007, the remaining 75 percent minus one vote are in the hands of the German company HOCHTIEF AirPort, one of the world’s biggest and private and independent airport managers, and three financial investors: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Montreal, GIC Special Investments, Singapore, and KfW IPEX-Bank, Frankfurt.Owners of Budapest Airport Zrt.:HOCHTIEF AirPort 37,25%Malton Investment Pte Ltd. 13,625%Caisse de depot et placement du Québec (CDP) 13,625%Aero Investment S.á.r.l. 7,5%KfW IPEX-Bank 3%Hungarian State: 25.0% + 1 voteTotal: 100,00%
The citizens of seven countries, including Hungary, will no longer need visas to travel to the United States starting on November 17, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff said in Prague on Monday.
The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and South Korea will be joining the U.S. visa waiver programme which currently has 27 members, mainly in Western Europe, Chertoff said.
During the initial period, travellers will need to possess a biometric passport for visa-free travel to the U.S., Chertoff added.
Although good news for Hungarians, many have shared with me that they have concerns about their countrymen abusing their status and having the no Visa rule revoked. Time will tell.
The National Bank has received some 200,000 votes for the Chain Bridge to appear on the tails side of the new Ft 200 coin. About half of the votes cast were for the bridge, which appeared on a shortlist of five symbols.The coin will replace the 200 Forint bill in 2009.
Icelandic-owned Sterling Airlines to File for Bankruptcy
Icelandic-owned low-cost carrier, said it will file for bankruptcy on Wednesday. The airline, which was trying to raise financial support for a restructuring program amid losses, collapsed following the Icelandic financial system meltdown that started last month.The bankruptcy announcement has resulted in the immediate grounding of all its planes, putting its customers in difficulties, especially those who have bought tickets from the company Web site. Sterling said it would not be able to refund such customers, or do anything for those who are availing its services.This is more bad news for Budapest as this was a budget airline from and to here.
MYTH BUSTER: ABSENTEE VOTINGDid you know some people believe that if they cast a vote by absentee ballot or by mail that it won't be counted on Election Day? Some believe those votes won't be counted at all unless the election is close. FALSE! Early votes, absentee ballots and vote-by-mail ballots sent in BEFORE Election Day are the first ones counted as soon as the polls close. These are the results announced by the media right away. Don't be afraid to vote by absentee ballot.
It was announced today that the weekly number of flights to Hamburg, Munich, Stockholm, Timisoara and Stuttgart has been raised considerably for the winter schedule.
The Lithuanian flyLAL, a new airline company will be using Ferihegy Airport operating non-stop flights to Vilnius.
Wizz announced a new route from Budapest to Treviso in Italy with two flights a week.
The Hungarian airline, Malev will start 14 regular flights a week to Cluj in western Romania.
McCain Campaign Violated McCain-Feingold law with Palin Clothing Purchasesby Steven Leser www.opednews.comIn what has to be one of the most embarrassing turn of events for the McCain campaign thus far, it appears that in purchasing $150,000 worth of clothes for Sarah Palin and her family, McCain and his campaign and/or the RNC have violated the 2002 McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act. A link to the entire text of the law and the relevant text are below. Only a lawyer would know for sure if this constitutes a breach of the law but the spirit of the law was definitely broken by the RNC, Palin and the McCain campaign:http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h107-2356SEC. 313. USE OF CONTRIBUTED AMOUNTS FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.(a) PERMITTED USES-(b) PROHIBITED USE-(1) IN GENERAL- A contribution or donation described in subsection (a) shall not be converted by any person to personal use.(2) CONVERSION- For the purposes of paragraph (1), a contribution or donation shall be considered to be converted to personal use if the contribution or amount is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense of a person that would exist irrespective of the candidate's election campaign or individual's duties as a holder of Federal office, including--(A) a home mortgage, rent, or utility payment;(B) a clothing purchase;(C) a noncampaign-related automobile expense;(D) a country club membership;(E) a vacation or other noncampaign-related trip;(F) a household food item;(G) a tuition payment;(H) admission to a sporting event, concert, theater, or other form of entertainment not associated with an election campaign; and(I) dues, fees, and other payments to a health club or recreational facility.'.Sec. 323'(a) NATIONAL COMMITTEES-'(1) IN GENERAL- A national committee of a political party (including a national congressional campaign committee of a political party) may not solicit, receive, or direct to another person a contribution, donation, or transfer of funds or any other thing of value, or spend any funds, that are not subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements of this Act.'(2) APPLICABILITY- The prohibition established by paragraph (1) applies to any such national committee, any officer or agent acting on behalf of such a national committee, and any entity that is directly or indirectly established, financed, maintained, or controlled by such a national committee.----------------------------------------------------This puts McCain and his campaign squarely in the realm of slapstick comedy. Does anyone still think he has the managerial and leadership skills to be President? His first major decision was choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate, the most unqualified person on a major national ticket in over 100 years, now his campaign violates a campaign finance reform law that he himself wrote. It's hard to demonstrate incompetence any better than that. He makes Inspector Clousseau, Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello seem adroit by comparison.Will McCain and the RNC now stop whining about the money Obama has been able to raise? If they can afford to spend $150,000 on Palin's clothes, they obviously are not hurting for money. What does this say about the campaign's attempts to reach out to the 'Joe the Plumbers' and 'Joe Sixpacks' and 'Hockey moms' out there? Do those types of people spend $150,000 on clothes from Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue? To think that Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and various other denizens of the Conservative Right went ballistic over a $400 haircut for John Edwards. Edwards' expenditures are minor league compared to the McCain-Shoppin' ticket. You betcha!McCain is now in the unenviable position of trying to convince the American people that he should be the Chief Law Enforcement official of the land when he doesn't even obey the laws that he crafted. If he were waging an issue based campaign and not hurling false accusations at Obama as fast as he could shovel, one would almost feel sorry for him. McCain had it right when he suspended his campaign a few weeks ago, but the reasons and duration were wrong. He should suspend it permanently because he clearly does not have the judgment or skills for the job.Steven Leser specializes in Politics, Science & Health, and Entertainment topics. He has held positions within the Democratic Party including District Chair and Public Relations Chair within county organizations. Steven Leser writes for www.opednews.com, an internet only media site that has grown to become one of the highest traffic news sites in America, reaching more traffic, according to alexa.com, than all but the thirty largest daily newspapers in the US. Mr. Leser is one of the 500+ liberal pundits who, each month, are published in what has become one of the top five Liberal/progressive media sites in the US."
For those not in the know, David Brooks is a conservative Op-Ed columnist for the NY Times.
David Brooks: Sarah Palin "Represents A Fatal Cancer To The Republican Party":
"[Sarah Palin] represents a fatal cancer to the Republican party. When I first started in journalism, I worked at the National Review for Bill Buckley. And Buckley famously said he'd rather be ruled by the first 2,000 names in the Boston phone book than by the Harvard faculty. But he didn't think those were the only two options. He thought it was important to have people on the conservative side who celebrated ideas, who celebrated learning. And his whole life was based on that, and that was also true for a lot of the other conservatives in the Reagan era. Reagan had an immense faith in the power of ideas. But there has been a counter, more populist tradition, which is not only to scorn liberal ideas but to scorn ideas entirely. And I'm afraid that Sarah Palin has those prejudices. I think President Bush has those prejudices."
I get dozens of e-mails from readers of my book. I been trying to be humble by not posting them here, but this one drove me over the edge.
"Also, I have practically memorized Ryan's Frommer's Guide and would very much like to talk to Ryan if he is at the B&B at that time! I believe I will stay there only if Ryan is avaiable! I will return to Budapest, so there will be other opportunities to try the B&B...."Regards, David
European airlines: slowdown is reducing passengers
The Associated Press
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
BRUSSELS, Belgium: Europe's major airlines said Wednesday that the economic slowdown cut passenger numbers in September and they don't expect a turnaround in the near future.
Alitalia, Spanair and Icelandair were worst hit as the number of people flying on member airlines dropped 1.1 percent compared with the previous year, the Association of European Airlines said.
The group said this was the first time in 25 years that the economy caused traffic to fall and came after three months of slow growth over the summer.
With worse still to come as European economies slide close to recession, AEA's secretary general Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus said passenger numbers "cannot be expected to recover in the immediate future."
He blamed a "toxic combination" of a slowing economy, declining business and consumer confidence and high inflation driven by higher oil prices — even though they have come down from recent record levels.
Flights within European countries fell sharply, down 12 percent, while lucrative trans-Atlantic flights between Europe and North America did not grow at all. Only flights from Europe to the Middle East and to the South Atlantic grew — neither of them major markets.
Italy's flagship carrier Alitalia, which went bankrupt in August, saw the worst drop in passenger numbers, down 25 percent from a year ago.
Spanish airline Spanair was down 21 percent as the bursting of a housing bubble saw the country's economy slow sharply.
Another troubled nation's airline, Icelandair, flew 12.8 percent fewer people than it did in September 2007 as the banking crisis saw Iceland itself teeter on the brink of bankruptcy.
But Europe's biggest airlines fared better. Germany's Lufthansa — which flew nearly 5 million people last month — saw numbers grow 4.2 percent. Near rival Air France saw an 0.2 percent drop in traffic while British Airways saw a larger 5.1 percent decline.
The AEA represents 35 European airlines, mostly national flag carriers, that carry 380 million people every year. It does not count passenger numbers on budget airlines such as Ryanair or chartered vacation flights.
ROLLING STONE: IT'S ALREADY STOLENInvestigation by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Greg Palast <http://www.gregpalast.com/> released todayDon't worry about Mickey Mouse or ACORN stealing the election. According to an investigative report out today in Rolling Stone magazine, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Greg Palast, after a year-long investigation, reveal a systematic program of "GOP vote tampering" on a massive scale.- Republican Secretaries of State of swing-state Colorado have quietly purged one in six names from their voter rolls.Over several months, the GOP politicos in Colorado stonewalled every attempt by Rolling Stone to get an answer to the massive purge - ten times the average state's rate of removal.- While Obama dreams of riding to the White House on a wave of new voters, more then 2.7 million have had their registrations REJECTED under new procedures signed into law by George Bush.Kennedy, a voting rights lawyer, charges this is a resurgence of 'Jim Crow' tactics to wrongly block Black and Hispanic voters.- A fired US prosecutor levels new charges - accusing leaders of his own party, Republicans, with criminal acts in an attempt to block legal voters as "fraudulent."- Digging through government records, the Kennedy-Palast team discovered that, in 2004, a GOP scheme called "caging" ultimately took away the rights of 1.1 million voters. The Rolling Stone duo predict that, this November 4, it will be far worse.There's more:- Since the last presidential race, "States used dubious 'list management' rules to scrub at least 10 million voters from their rolls."Among those was Paul Maez of Las Vegas, New Mexico - a victim of an unreported but devastating purge of voters in that state that left as many as one in nine Democrats without a vote. For Maez, the state's purging his registration was particularly shocking - he's the countyelections supervisor.The Kennedy-Palast revelations go far beyond the sum of questionably purged voters recently reported by the New York Times."Republican operatives - the party's elite commandos of bare-knuckle politics," report Kennedy and Palast, under the cover of fighting fraudulent voting, are "systematically disenfranchis[ing] Democrats."
The investigators level a deadly serious charge:
"If Democrats are to win the 2008 election, they must not simply beat McCain at the polls - they must beat him by a margin that exceeds the level of GOP vote tampering."
Block the Vote by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. & Greg Palast in the current issue (#1064) of Rolling Stone. [Media enquiries - Dave Falkenstein, Sunshine Sachs & Assoc, via interviews@....]
Note - Kennedy and Palast are releasing, simultaneously with the Rolling Stone investigative report what they call, the vote-theft 'antidote': a 24-page full-color comic book, Steal Back Your
Vote <http://www.stealbackyourvote.org/> , which can be downloaded or obtained in print from their non-partisan website, StealBackYourVote.org <http://www.stealbackyourvote.org/>
For updates and video reports, go to <http://www.rollingstone.com/>
<http://www.rollingstone.com/issue1064> RollingStone.com
<http://www.rollingstone.com/issue1064> , www.GregPalast.com
<http://www.gregpalast.com/> and StealBackYourVote.org
<http://stealbackyourvote.org/> .
Ron came across this blog entry. The entry alone has received 1,724 responses. Jealous as I am, it deserves more media attention, so here is the story. The link is at the end, but the title below is hyperlinked also.
Quote:
I attended the Welcome Home rally for Sarah Palin this morning. Hooo. It was an experience. About a thousand (maybe) hard-core Palin supporters showed up to hear her speak at the new Dena’ina Convention Center in downtown Anchorage.
After shaking it off with a good double shot of espresso, and a brisk walk back to my car, it was time to head to the Alaska Women Reject Palin rally. It was to be held outside on the lawn in front of the Loussac Library in midtown Anchorage. Home made signs were encouraged, and the idea was to make a statement that Sarah Palin does not speak for all Alaska women, or men. I had no idea what to expect.
The rally was organized by a small group of women, talking over coffee. It made me wonder what other things have started with small groups of women talking over coffee. It’s probably an impressive list. These women hatched the plan, printed up flyers, posted them around town, and sent notices to local media outlets. One of those media outlets was KBYR radio, home of Eddie Burke, a long-time uber-conservative Anchorage talk show host. Turns out that Eddie Burke not only announced the rally, but called the people who planned to attend the rally “a bunch of socialist baby-killing maggots”, and read the home phone numbers of the organizers aloud over the air, urging listeners to call and tell them what they thought. The women, of course, received many nasty, harassing and threatening messages.
So, as I jettisoned myself from the jaws of the ‘Drill Baby Drill’ crowd and toward the mystery rally at the library, I felt a bit apprehensive. I’d been disappointed before by the turnout at other rallies. Basically, in Anchorage, if you can get 25 people to show up at an event, it’s a success. So, I thought to myself, if we can actually get 100 people there that aren’t sent by Eddie Burke, we’ll be doing good. A real statement will have been made. I confess, I still had a mental image of 15 demonstrators surrounded by hundreds of menacing “socialist baby-killing maggot” haters.
It’s a good thing I wasn’t tailgating when I saw the crowd in front of the library or I would have ended up in somebody’s trunk. When I got there, about 20 minutes early, the line of sign wavers stretched the full length of the library grounds, along the edge of the road, 6 or 7 people deep! I could hardly find a place to park. I nabbed one of the last spots in the library lot, and as I got out of the car and started walking, people seemed to join in from every direction, carrying signs.
Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn’t honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn’t happen here.
Then, the infamous Eddie Burke showed up. He tried to talk to the media, and was instantly surrounded by a group of 20 people who started shouting O-BA-MA so loud he couldn’t be heard. Then passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the Obama chant, while the crowd cheered, hooted and waved their signs high.
So, if you’ve been doing the math… Yes. The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin’s rally that got all the national media coverage! So take heart, sit back, and enjoy the photo gallery. Feel free to spread the pictures around (links are appreciated) to anyone who needs to know that Sarah Palin most definitely does not speak for all Alaskans. The citizens of Alaska, who know her best, have things to say. Unquote
"Discount airline Wizz Air will launch new flights from Budapest from April 2009, CEO József Váradi has announced. According to napi.hu, four weekly flights will be operated to Madrid, three to Barcelona, and two to Naples and Oslo.The new flights were made possible by an agreement between Wizz Air and Ferihegy airport operator Budapest Airport, which resulted in considerably lower expenses for the airline. One change which is a consequence of lowered expenses is that passengers are no longer transported between the terminal and the aircraft by buses, but they have to walk the distance."
Bush drops visa restrictions for Hungarians - Caboodle.hu: "US President George W. Bush on Friday announced in the Rose Garden of the White House that the US is extending visa exemption to citizens of seven more countries: Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and South Korea, provided that they have purple passports, containing biometric data that cannot be forged.Bush did not set a start date for the scheme but it is thought that by Christmas travellers from the seven said countries will no longer need US visas, and will only have to fill in an electronic questionnaire.Foreign Minister Kinga Göncz who watched the announcement at a video conference at the US embassy in Budapest in the presence of ambassador April H. Foley and Justice and Law Enforcement Minister Tibor Draskovics said the news represented 'the cutting of the final piece of the iron curtain.'Foley said since she arrived in Budapest it had been her main goal to ensure that Hungary join the visa-waiver scheme. US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff will visit Hungary on October 28, Népszabadság reported on Saturday."
Planning ahead, here are some changes in travel for 2009. Some only apply to US citizens, but some to others as well.Currently: ALL PERSONS traveling by air outside of the United States are required to present a passport or other valid travel document to enter or re-enter the United States.2009: On June 1, 2009, the U.S. government will implement the full requirements of the land and sea phase of WHTI. The proposed rules require most U.S. citizens entering the United States at sea or land ports of entry to have a passport, passport card, or WHTI-compliant document. Note: The passport requirement does NOT apply to U.S. citizens traveling to or returning directly from a U.S. territory.EU Airlines: The European Parliament approved a “transparency” law mandating that airfares have to include all taxes, fees and charges added to the basic ticket price and known at the time of publication. It should take effect either later this year or at the beginning of 2009. This is meant to avoid unpleasant surprises when shopping around for a ticket within Europe or to Europe. Under the rule, airfare or air rate, taxes, airport charges and other charges, surcharges or fees, such as those related to security or fuel, have to be included in the price of the ticket.Visas going to the US: The Department of Homeland Security’s new Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) will become mandatory on January 12, 2009. It’s a fully-automated, electronic system for screening passengers before they begin travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program. Currently, 27 countries' citizens can travel to the US for 90 days without a Visa for tourism, but not business or work.If you need a passport, apply early. Due to the backlog, delays can be months long.
The following is from Mother Jones online. Isn't it nice to see that we Americans are so transparent, even our Halloween purchases reflect our political leaning?"According to Fortune magazine, more than one Halloween mask retailer has claimed they can correctly predict who will win the White House. Spirit Halloween, the largest seasonal Halloween vendor in the US, says Bush outsold Kerry two to one in 2004, Gore sold 14 percent fewer masks in 2000, and Clinton masks won with 71 percent in 1996.
We decided to update Fortune's presidential mask findings for 2008 thus far; here's what we found.
At Buycostumes.com, which tracks the sales of its paper masks, Obama is currently ahead 54 to 46 percent against McCain, though Sarah Palin masks are outselling Joe Biden masks three to one. Buycostumes.com's poll page has a US map with state breakdowns, including a few noteworthy results: Texas and Mississippi have gone blue this year, while Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine favor Republican masks. The erratic results suggest that some are buying masks to support while others to mock the candidates, though in the past, total sales—regardless of motive—have predicted the winning candidate.
Over at Amazon.com a running tally updates each hour with the latest sales of vinyl and paper masks. Obama's ahead there, too, though his mask is slightly cheaper: $12.90 versus $12.95 for McCain.
Overall this year, Obama is ahead, with 66 percent of national sales. His mask has hefty margins in all of the swing states, though McCain's is close in Delaware, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
But nothing is set in stone: Most costume sales are made in the last two weeks before the holiday. Can your Halloween garb affect the election? Notes Buycostumes.com, "This poll can be bought!'"
—Brittney Andres
As you can see here, both candidates are a Head, so no clear winner.
Reader comment from Jutka:
I'm still thinking about your point, but then my brother drinks his one bottle of beer in the evenings watching his nightly tv show.
Ron came across this web site at the Economist magazine site called "Global Electoral College: What if the whole world could vote". Quite interesting take on our politics from a global perspective. http://www.economist.com/vote2008/index.cfm
In this intense presidential campaign, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have talked about many issues. But as air travel gets more crowded, delayed and expensive, roads and bridges crumble, and fewer foreign travelers decide to brave our strict security procedures to enter the U.S., the two candidates have said very little about issues affecting travelers and the travel industry.
In tough economic times, travel industry issues are very relevant to Americans' pocketbooks. According to the Travel Industry Association, travel and tourism is a $1.6 trillion industry generating $110 billion in tax revenue a year. The industry employed 7.5 million people in 2006, and that's not counting all of the folks who work at stores, restaurants and other venues patronized by both travelers and locals.
We emailed each campaign twice with a list of questions; both declined to respond. We won't take it personally. The Travel Industry Association has also tried to ask the candidates what they're going to do for travelers, and they seem to have been ignored, too.
We've marshaled the candidates' position statements, press and third-party reports to try to suss out what the candidates think about our struggling airlines, our broken-down railways, our crumbling roads and the inbound travel industry.
Air Travel
Airlines are merging. Flight delays are rampant. Airfares are going up, and people are getting stuck on the tarmac for hours at a time. What do Obama and McCain think?
Obama's transportation position paper blames "a record number of flight delays" on "an outdated air-traffic control system and overscheduling at airports already operating at full capacity ... Moreover, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has failed to work well with our nation's air traffic controllers, neglecting to treat them with the respect they deserve. Obama will work with Congress to modernize the nation's air traffic control system and he will direct the new FAA Administrator to work cooperatively with the frontline air traffic controllers to restore morale and improve working conditions and operations at the agency." According to Popular MechanicsObama favors hiring more air traffic controllers.
If you read between the lines of a highly polemic AFL-CIO page on McCain's aviation policies you'll find that McCain is interested in privatizing or contracting out air traffic control. He's for allowing foreign airlines to compete on U.S. routes, and for more foreign investment in the U.S. airline industry. The AFL-CIO opposes these things, but needless to say, many other people support these ideas.
Neither candidate has stepped forward for travelers on "passenger rights" issues, including regulating whether airlines should provide comfort or compensation to passengers affected by delays and cancellations.
Rail Travel
Bring up the subject of Amtrak, and you'll find some of the starkest differences in the candidates' positions.
McCain has been one of Amtrak's greatest opponents for years. He has opposed increasing Amtrak funding and referred to Amtrak as a symbol of government waste, according to the Boston Globe. “Amtrak should be restructured to eliminate its reliance on the American taxpayers and to allow for its privatization," he said in 2002, according to a Brookings Institution report from August 25.
Obama says he is "a strong supporter of federal financial support for Amtrak. Obama believes we need to reform Amtrak to improve accountability. As president, Barack Obama will continue to fight for Amtrak funding and reform so that individuals, families and businesses throughout the country have safe and reliable transportation options. Barack Obama supports development of high-speed rail networks across the country. Providing passengers with safe high-speed rail will have significant environmental and metropolitan planning advantages and help diversify our nation's transportation infrastructure. Our domestic rail freight capacity must also be strengthened because our demand for rail transportation has never been greater, leaving many key transportation hubs stretched to capacity."
Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, is known as "Amtrak Joe" for his daily commute between Washington, D.C. and Delaware on Amtrak and his staunch support for increased funding for passenger rail.
Road Travel
For John McCain, energy policy and infrastructure policy are inseparable. "The nation cannot reduce its dependency on oil unless we change how we power our transportation sector," his Web site says.
McCain will offer a $5,000 tax credit for anyone who buys a zero-emission car; a $300 million prize for developing a viable electric car; a "rapid and complete" switch to "flex-fuel" ethanol-compatible vehicles; and enforcing mileage standards on carmakers.
McCain opposes a larger federal role in the transportation sector, according to the Brookings Institution.
Obama wants to increase those fuel-efficiency standards by 4 percent each year, provide a $7,000 tax credit for buying plug-in hybrid cars, and mandate that all new cars be "flex-fuel." In his transportation plan, he also discusses investing heavily in roads, highways and bridges with a "National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank" that will finance projects to the tune of $60 billion over 10 years.
Inbound Tourism
Even as tourism to the US declines, the two candidates have been totally silent on issues affecting the huge inbound tourism industry. As Arthur Frommer recounts here on our site, "While other foreign countries are enjoying regular and substantial increases in their incoming tourism, the U.S.A. is welcoming fewer tourists in 2008 than visited our country in 2000. Recently, a Senior Vice President of the Travel Industry Association testified before a congressional committee that the shortfall in incoming foreign tourism had cost America "46 million visitors, $140 billion in lost visitor spending, $23 billion in lost tax revenueÂ… and 340,000 jobs."
The Travel Industry Association tried to get answers from the candidates, but got nothing.
"We have confidence that both could be leaders in striking the best balance between security and travel facilitation, but to date neither campaign has addressed travel issues in-depth," TIA senior vice president Geoff Freeman said diplomatically via e-mail.
McCain has stayed mum on the issue of declining tourism to the U.S. On his Web site, he says he wants to "continue implementation of the US-VISIT comprehensive visitor security program." US-VISIT is an umbrella term for a bunch of controversial border security measures including fingerprinting visitors both as they enter and as they leave the country.
I have often told people I would not drive here if I were paid to do so and not as a taxi driver either. This sign says it all.On the left: Liquor store. On the right: Driving school. Any questions? Before I get comments, yes, Hungary has a zero tolerance law. And your point is?
I received this note and pictures from Ivan and Jennifer. The subject line of the e-mail was "Enjoying our trip - Thanks for your help". The rest of the e-mail was"Picture 1: Holy Trinity Square
Picture 2: Orthodox Kazinczy Synagogue - The gate through the courtyard next to the Synagogue was closed and locked even though the sign said it was suppose to be open until 2300hrs. The other side of the courtyard was open when we went around. My wife had me pose being angry with the book because the courtyard gate was not open and we had to take a detour.
Ivan with with Jennifer"
You have to admit, they do have great taste in travel guides.
Seriously, the title of this blog post is either an oxymoron or a bit of jest on my part. You decide for yourself. However, my fellow human beings regardless of your country of origin, we have this nasty habit of believing what we read, hear, or just know in our hearts. Checking out the facts and fallacies is often ignored whether it is due to lack of interest, time, or resources. Yet, the next time the subject arises, we add our 2 cents, 2 forints, 2 pence, or whatever to the conversation as if we were aware of the facts of the matter.
To aid those who want to know more of the Truth with a capital T, I have here the link to the facts of who lied and who told the Truth at the Vice Presidential debate. Now it is up to you! I was going to put it here, but it was way too long, but here is a summary.
Biden and Palin debated, and both mangled some facts.
Palin mistakenly claimed that troop levels in Iraq had returned to “pre-surge” levels. Levels are gradually coming down but current plans would have levels higher than pre-surge numbers through early next year, at least.
Palin repeated a false claim that Obama once voted in favor of higher taxes on “families” making as little as $42,000 a year. He did not. The budget bill in question called for an increase only on singles making that amount, but a family of four would not have been affected unless they made at least $90,000 a year.
Biden wrongly claimed that McCain “voted the exact same way” as Obama on the budget bill that contained an increase on singles making as little as $42,000 a year. McCain voted against it. Biden was referring to an amendment that didn't address taxes at that income level.
Palin claimed McCain’s health care plan would be “budget neutral,” costing the government nothing. Independent budget experts estimate McCain's plan would cost tens of billions each year, though details are too fuzzy to allow for exact estimates.
Biden wrongly claimed that McCain had said "he wouldn't even sit down" with the government of Spain. Actually, McCain didn't reject a meeting, but simply refused to commit himself one way or the other during an interview.
Palin wrongly claimed that “millions of small businesses” would see tax increases under Obama’s tax proposals. At most, several hundred thousand business owners would see increases.
Christopher Elliott, the travel writer had this petition in his newsletter. It is the American version of what Europe has done already. They made airfares transparent. You no longer have to wait until the last page to see that the 1 Euro airfare you thought was such a bargain comes with 168 Euros worth of taxes besides in hidden charges. Now someone is trying to do the same in the US with a petition. You can sign the petition here, but you need a US address.http://citizenspeak.org/node/1351
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- At the Hard Rock Café on Thursday, it was clear who won Palin Bingo.
Young voters play Palin Bingo during the vice presidential debate on Thursday in Atlanta, Georgia.
The game was the focus of a group of four friends, all in their 20s and early 30s, as they put Xs in boxes containing keywords they anticipated Gov. Sarah Palin might say during Thursday's vice presidential debate.
Words like: Special needs, Wasilla, maverick, Main Street, Washington outsider.
"Special needs ... I won bingo!" shouted Laura Butler, 30.
Satisfied with her win, and a full hour into the debate between Republican Palin and Democrat Sen. Joe Biden, she headed for the door.
"I thought it was entertaining and so, you know, it was fun," she said, a White Stripes song blaring in the background.
"I'm an [Sen. Barack] Obama supporter, and I couldn't see anything changing that," said Butler's 27-year-old friend Ryan Carrabine.
The event was sponsored by the nonpartisan organization Rock the Vote, which registered 1.9 million voters ages 18-25 this year. Tonight's debate was the only vice presidential debate scheduled before the November 4 election.
Half his bingo card filled, Daryll Cordeiro, 30, said he was unimpressed with both candidates' responses on nearly every topic from health care to Iraq. He said he'll probably vote for a third-party candidate. Watch how the debate left some young voters wanting more substance »
Many in the room couldn't point to specific issues they felt went unanswered. Rather, they said they wanted to be moved, they wanted to feel something. They wanted to see some genuine fire behind the podiums, not hear another campaign pitch.
"Biden's response to gay marriage was more PC because he was saying he didn't feel like it should be the government's choice and that it should be left up to the individual's choice," said Aaronica Merritt, 25.
She thought the debate was engaging, but said Palin is not ready for the White House.
"The only reason why she was prepared for this debate was because she had a script," she said. "I think that Biden made really good arguments about health care and about the war in Iraq by bringing up that McCain voted against funding the troops just as Obama did."
Merritt is torn because she is adamantly anti-abortion, which aligns with Palin and McCain's platform, but is for gay marriage, which attracts her to the Obama-Biden side.
This year will mark the first time she has voted in a presidential election, she said. Previous elections made her yawn, says Merritt.
"I just didn't think there was a strong enough difference between John Kerry and George Bush," Merritt said. "Now, there is a huge difference, and there's just a much higher degree of interest overall, and you feel energized. You feel like, for once, I'm being addressed; for once my generation might count for something when it comes to deciding who is our president."
Others were less impressed.
"I'm disgusted by the whole process because I don't see a difference between either of them: Obama, McCain, Palin or Biden," Cordeiro said. "[Biden and Palin] are agreeing on so much. You take tax reform, for instance. What did they say that was different, really? They aren't speaking to me. There's all this talk about change, change, change. It's all gimmicks."
But Georgia State University student Bryan Lariscy, who was leaning toward voting for Obama, said Palin did a great job taking on Biden.
"She took some cheap shots, but it worked for her, and I think she's doing really, really well," he said. "Biden is not doing so well. He's holding back way too much. He should be saying a lot more to her, taking her on more."
When Palin took a shot at the mainstream media, several in the crowd looked at each other and chuckled.
"If it really mattered, if it was really close between Obama and McCain, I would go with Obama," Butler said, sipping a tall peach drink. "But that's not because I like him or that he speaks to me. He doesn't. They are all the same. But I don't like McCain. It's a matter, to me, of who you don't want."
The Rock the Vote event was intended to register new voters. But no one registered to vote during the debate, according to volunteer Demarcus Peters, and most of the tables cleared out before the debate was over.
Peters, 31, owns a nonprofit community development business in Atlanta.
"I think people in this room really cared what was going on in this debate," he said. "People were holding their breath waiting for Palin to make a big mistake. I think this event was fairly successful. But I could see the excitement here. No one can say that overall young people don't care what's going on."
My computer and I should have the best relationship ever. We spend more time together than a married couple who are partners in business with a home office. I do my best to treat it kindly. I show my appreciation for its many talents on a daily basis. Yet, like a spiteful friend, it turns on me on occasion; it really hurts when this happens. Yesterday was one of those times. We were working together seemingly without any qualms with each other, and then, it turned on me without warning. In the little tray at the bottom right hand side of the screen where the running programs are shown, a new little icon appeared. What caught my attention was the fact that it was flashing. It had the shape of a little computer with tiny yellow balls on either side. After I realized my buddy was not declaring its gender, I clicked on the icon for identification purposes. What I received in return was a message that is was trying to make contact with the IP host. For the last two weeks, I have been getting any annoying message on the Internet stating that my connection was reset by the host and I had to try again. This was consistent across platforms. The same issue arose with Firefox, IE 8, Outlook Express, and my Incredimailprogram, so I could presume that it was not software related. So, I had to break down and call my cable company to have it checked out.After listening to three minutes of instructions in Hungarian, I was finally informed that to speak to an English speaking operator, press 7. The last time I called it was 'press 8'. I think they change this periodically to confuse me. I pressed 7 and a lovely apologetic voice told me that all reps were busy and though my call was important, I could press 2 and leave a voice mail message and they would call me back. Being an untrusting soul with these promises, I waited...and waited...and waited. Five minutes later, I did get an actual person who asked for the usual information: my account number, the account name, the account address, my mother's maiden name, my place of birth, religious affiliation, political bent, phobias that have been cured and those that I still suffer from, and so forth. I really should record all of this information to do an instant playback whenever calling a company here to save my breath, but I never remember once off of the phone. The rep asked me to hold on while she checked my modem. I did and she did. She advised me that the modem was in perfect order, but there may be a problem with the IP, so she had to get someone from that department to check it. She asked for my phone number, the last bit of data not provide earlier so they could call me back after they checked it. When I asked how long this would take, claiming I did not want to be held hostage all day, she said within two hours. In the meanwhile, another glitch came about. The batteries in my cordless keyboard died. Now, I did have fair warning, since slamming a key ten times before getting any results is usually an indicator of something. Did I have spare batteries on hand? Nope! Ron was headed to the store, so this was put on the shopping list. Meanwhile, I tried every set of four AA batteries I could find fearful that the cable company would call back and need for me to navigate in the Network Connections or some such place. No batteries worked. One hour later, the phone rang; it was the cable company. Before the gentleman could say a word about do this or do that, I shared my dilemma. Although sympathetic, he said it did not matter since the IP was fine. It seems that it is my router that is causing the problems. They did not provide the router so it is my issue. Ugh! I hate having an issue.Ron returned with the batteries, so I thought I was set to go. The keyboard did not work. I repeatedly hit the reset button on the control and the back on the keyboard, but nothing happened. I uninstalled the software and reinstalled it. Nothing. Using the computer in the kitchen, I looked up troubleshooting for cordless keyboards. I had followed the instructions implicitly, yet still without positive results. By now, I was fuming. Buying a new keyboard was not on the agenda for the day. Ron had gone for a nap, so I decided to wait for him to get up to see if he wanted to go with me. Without a keyboard there are limited things you can do on a computer. I felt helpless and abandoned by my good friend. Pouting, I went to read the book I had started. After two chapters of being absorbed in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, I had an epiphany. The keyboard has a different antenna from the mouse. The reset button I had been hitting was the mouse reset. When I reset the correct antenna, the keyboard kicked into action.
I was born in Long Branch, NJ on the Jersey shore and lived there until I was a junior in high school. From there, I moved to New Lothrop, Michigan to finish my last two years of high school. I returned to Michigan for one disasterous semester of college, but moved to Florida. I have owned a restaurant in PA, drove taxi in Jamestown, NY, and lived in Philadelphia before CA. I have a BA in Psychology/Sociology from Thomas A. Edison State College, a MSW (Temple University), and my Ed.D. from the University of San Francisco.
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