Rapid Travel Chai

News:

• The Miracle of Minneapolis (The Atlantic). I did not know this about my hometown.
• Tibetan mastiffs abandoned as fad comes to an end in China (Shanghaiist). I had a bullmastiff in high school, this really stings.
• Putin Proposes Amnesty That Could Free Every 10th Prisoner in Russia (The Moscow Times). Desperation rising?
• Owner of a Credit Card Processor Is Setting a New Minimum Wage: $70,000 a Year (NYT). A living wage, how novel.
• Long-lost film documents resistance (China Daily) and T.H. Tsien, 105, Dies; Scholar of Chinese Books Rescued 30,000 of Them (NYT). Courage.
• The forgotten peoples of Vietnam’s Wars (China Policy Institute Blog via @drunkengrass). Sent to me as I hiked Hamburger Hill.
• Body of Buddhist monk remains in excellent condition 17 years after death, opened to public (Shanghaiist). Long tradition of self-mummifaction by Buddhist monks at end of life.
• A New Phase in Anti-Obama Attacks (NYT) and A rising insurrection against Obama (The Washington Post). I don’t understand the incredibly vehement, wounded attacks and why so many people wish failure even at the expense of the country.
• A Crash Course in Armenian History (NYT). Spot on, every encounter in Armenia points out some element of history.
• Displaced in the D.R. (Harper’s Magazine). Sad state of affairs for now stateless people.

Travel:

• Do You Need To Obtain an International Driving Permit?, How To Prep for a Road Trip Abroad, and The Best One-Way Car Rental Discount Codes (all from Map Happy). Great resources.
• A (Shameless) Way to Charge Your Devices While Traveling (Efficient Asian Man). Clever.
• Korean Parents Buying $700 Backpacks for Kids (koreaBANG) and Korea Turns Back Chinese Tourists For Not Enough Luggage (chinaSMACK). Check out duty-free pickup for the Chinese airlines at Incheon or Jeju airports.
• Are Selfies Changing Why We Travel? (One Mile at a Time). I find selfies deplorable.
• 100 Things I Learned From My Recent Trip to Havana Cuba (Points Summary). Exhaustive list.
• Shenzhen imposes once-a-week limit on cross-border visits to Hong Kong by permanent residents (South China Morning Post). How to get the milk powder across now?
• Alaska flight turns around after ‘banging’ reveals trapped ramp agent (ATWOnline). He fell asleep.
• Milan Expo 2015: Where to Eat, Play and Stay (The Points Guy). Wasn’t aware of the expo until I flew Alitalia last fall.
• Is Indonesia really adding to their Visa-free list or not? (Tagging Miles). Cannot get their act together, so many tourists waste so much time at Indonesia’s horrendous visa on arrival facilities.
• Gogo connectivity should get faster, but it may not be cheaper (Runway Girl). And really expensive when buying in-flight. $39.95 for a transcon!
• Air New Zealand to land in Houston beginning December 2015 (Travel Daily News). And still not going to have award space.