Rapid Travel Chai

Dateline: Jersey City, NJ.

Earlier this week I intended this week to lead with a mini-editorial on the need to stop the facile debates on is Islam a religion or peace or not. Whether divine-inspired or not, religion is one of the most effective constructs for humans to indoctrinate, motivate and manipulate to purse their desires for power, wealth, sex and all that makes us human, good and bad. Approaching human butchers as anything more than butchers leads to intellectual farce and tragic failure. The events in Paris have overtaken us and I will stop here to mourn the loss of those who were living as humans should.

News:

• The Eternal Return of the Christian Nation (Boston Review), examining efforts to make the US a Christian nation.
• The White Man in That Photo (Films for Action via TravelBloggerBuzz). The other guy in the iconic photo of the Black Power salute at the Mexico City Olympics.
• Human teeth find could rewrite mankind’s story (Shanghai Daily). Out of Africa much earlier.
• Nudes Are Old News at Playboy (NYT). The conflicted cultural legacy is worth examining now that it is sort-of safe for work.
• Russia’s Biggest Casino Opens in Far East (The Moscow Times). They didn’t expect the China corruption crackdown withering their customer base.
• Report: Kenyan Military ‘in Business’ With Al-Shabab (Foreign Policy). Hidden behind a security regime that requires planes from Somalia to land at an airfield on the Kenyan border for inspection prior to continuing in to Kenya.
• A 5,000-year-old tree changes sex (The Economist). Nature is incredible.
• Bruce B. Dayton, Minnesota Retailer and Arts Patron, Dies at 97 (NYT). Every swipe of my Target Debit REDcard gives 5% to my high school thanks to them.
• Sierra Leone is free of Ebola, 18 months and 11,000 deaths after outbreak (The Washington Post). Great news.

Comment:

• From ISIS to the Kurds to Erdogan: Why Turkey Is in Serious Trouble  (The Atlantic). Pre-election commentary. Fear mongering won the poll.
• How to Counter Rape During War (NYT). Important look into human behavior.
• Why is British political satire so much sharper than American political comedy? (The Washington Post). Amazon Prime, please bring back Yes, Minister.
• Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan: Hiding Cruel Policies Behind the Smiley Faces (Truthdig). Beware wolf grins and plastic smiles, though we always select such people to serve as our representatives on both sides of the aisle.
• Mizzou, Yale and Free Speech (NYT Nicholas Kristof) and A Crisis Our Universities Deserve (NYT Ross Douthat). A return to classical education and character development would be nice.
• More Than 21 Years Later, Washington Faces Another Problem From Hell (Foreign Policy) vs Burundi’s Crisis Is Political, Not Ethnic (Bloomberg View). Seeing a place I so happily visited teetering on the brink is sad and foreboding.

Travel:

• Exploring Salalah, Oman and the environs…with a sidetrip to Yemen! (Jason Around the World). He makes it to Yemen.
• China 72 Hour Visa Rules (China Law Blog). Everything in China gets unnecessarily complicated.
• Hong Kong Is Slowly Dimming Its Neon Glow (NYT). I shall see next week.
• 10 Tips for Visiting Cuba (Live and Let’s Fly). Yes, go now.
• 7 Ways to Travel Switzerland on a Budget (Nomadic Matt). My tip: don’t order the raclette, for $20+ you are getting a chunk of fried cheese.
• How to avoid looking like a jerk on international business trips (USA Today Road Warrior Voices). Basic advice.
• How To Get Travel Insurance Coverage When Traveling To Risky Locations (foXnoMad). I overlook the exclusions in my own coverage.
• A Chinese-American Revisits Her Dark Expat Experience in China (WSJ Expat). Very tough to be Chinese-American in China.
• Delta to end Dubai service; blames Gulf carriers (ATWOnline). Delta continues its comical campaign against the Gulf carriers.
• Why Do Airplane Windows Have Holes In Them? (Travel + Leisure). Huh.
• Tokyo’s famed Hotel Okura auctions furniture, memorabilia (The Japan Times). The petition to save the hotel was not successful.

Gear:

• Review: Is the AeroPress the Best Travel French Press? (Map Happy). My tea addiction is easier to manage on the road, other than flight attendants not likely to deal with my loose leaf tea in mugs.
• Add an External USB Screen to Your Laptop When Traveling (The Travel Insider). My rule is to never have a job that requires 2 monitors.
• A Word Of Caution For All Google Apps’ Users Who Travel! (Running with Miles). Google and VPNs don’t mix well.
• A New App Wants to Make Hotels a Hit in India (Bloomberg Business). With the Indian Rupee still so low versus the dollar, it is a great time to visit and stay at hotels luxurious beyond the price tag.