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POPSReplacing Highways with Parks Some cities are planning to tear down aging highways and replace them with parks. This strategy represents a continuing shift in the way public places are designed, particularly when it comes to park space and transportation. The idea is really to make cities more livable. On a similar note, we recently did a story on best cities for the outdoors which you can read here: http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/05/12/outdoors-health-cities-forbeslife-cx_rr_0512realestate.html
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POPSAfghanistan's First National Park How do you build a national park in a war-torn country? This story doesn't have all the answers but it starts an interesting conversation about why park space is important and how to develop a plan that doesn't impede locals from making a living off the land.
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POPSWorld's Greenest Museum It took 10 years to build and cost $500 million, but the California Academy of Sciences finally unveiled its new green home. The single building hosts a planetarium, natural history museum, aquarium and four-story rain forest. Some of the green components include floor to ceiling windows that provide natural lighting; a "living roof" with solar panels and native plants; and insulation made of recycled blue jeans.
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POPSMental Health to Improve After Obama Win? In a testament to how much people had invested in this election, I've seen a handful of articles in the past few days talking about how an Obama win will relieve or increase stress amongst Americans. A lot of the reporting is anecdotal, as is the case with this story, but I thought it was an interesting idea. Those who feel relieved are hoping to reestablish trust with leaders over the economy and also see an Obama win as opportunity to improve race relations. Do you feel less stressed out now that the presidential election has been decided?
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POPSArtificial Sand Dune to House New Museum According to this blog post on Gizmodo, the new Museum of Modern Arab Art in Doha, Qatar is being built in an artificial 350,000 square foot sand dune. It won't be completed until 2011, but in the meantime take a look at the mock-up.
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POPSWorst Airline Ever This is at least according to airline industry guru Joe Brancatelli. He has a throrough breakdown of everything United Airlines has done wrong for the past 30 years. He has heated criticism for a lot of their failures, but one in particular seems to rankle him the most: executives getting rich off of the company's shares while employees and customers suffer. While we rarely think of the business aspect of flying, it's probably not a bad idea these days to consider which airline you'd rather have in business -- as consumers, that is.
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POPSMost Endangered Historic Sites in the U.S. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has released its annual list of the most endangered sites. Included are former tenements in New York's Lower East Side and the elementary school in Topeka, Kansas that led to the Supreme Court decision Brown vs. Board of Education. Are there endangered historic sites in your town, city or state?
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POPSMost Ethical Destinations? Worried about your travel footprint? Want to support tourism in a developing country but don't want to support bad environmental practices or human rights abuses? Check out this list of "most ethical destinations" compiled by ethicaltraveler.org.
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POPSTourism in Iraq It's hard to believe, but there is limited tourism in Iraq. As this story points out, most of the tourists come from Iran to see Iraq's holy sites. Even more interesting is the report that the Pentagon is backing a five-year plan to build luxury hotels and shopping malls in Baghdad for the price of $5 billion. What do you think about this? Is it premature or overly-optimistic planning? Should local shopkeepers and merchants get consideration as well?
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POPSWhat's Causing the Drop-Off in Travel to China? As this article points out, new visa restrictions, the tension over Tibet, the Sichaun province earthquake and rising inflation are discouraging travelers from visiting China. Given all of these conditions, would you travel to China?
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POPSHotels without Casinos in Vegas? The San Francisco Chronicle has picked up on a growing trend in Las Vegas: more sophisticated hotels. In a reversal of development strategy, some hotels are foregoing the gaudy casino in exchange for more upscale environs. Which hotel would you rather stay with?
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POPSObama Faces Competition for Health Care Plan The big news in health care policy this morning is that Senator Max Baucus has debuted a new plan that's similar to Obama's in many ways with one major exception: it requires everyone to buy insurance. This will no doubt rankle those on the right who loathe the idea. It'll be interesting to see which other members of Congress roll out plans in the coming weeks and months. To read Baucus' plan, follow this link: http://finance.senate.gov/healthreform2009/finalwhitepaper.pdf
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POPSAirport Screeners Swiping Your Stuff? According to this blogger, the Transportation Security Administration has a little stealing situation on their hands. What are they allegedly taking? Everything from an engagement ring to cash to designer eyewear to electronics. How can you safeguard your belongings? Elliot's recommendations include leaving valuables at home or taking them with you on the plane instead of putting them into a checked bag.
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POPSTough Economic Times? Become an Egg Donor According to this Wall Street Journal article, some fertility clinics are seeing an increase in the number of women who want to donate their eggs or become a surrogate for couples who cannot conceive. The president of an agency in Chicago says past increases have also correlated with the employment rate.
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POPSWell-Traveled Leaders More Qualified? This op-ed ran in the Los Angeles Times last week, but it only just came to my attention. The author makes the argument that presidents and vice presidents should be required to travel abroad before being elected to office. Regardless of your political views, do you think travel should be an important qualification for a president?
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POPSShould You Travel to Repressive Countries? Using this summer's Olympics in China as a prime example, this article raises an interesting question: does traveling to a repressive country further embolden a government or increase an exchange of ideas that may one day lead to a freer society? What do you think?
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POPSGoogle Maps the Flu No doubt you've already seen this story online, but since I have a keen interest in using technology to map or graph one or more trends in a predictive or user-friendly way, I wanted to share this story about Google's Flu Trends. The web tool allows users to track flu-related searches by state to see if the flu is on the rise locally. Though this tool is in its initial stages, the idea behind it has been validated by another study showing that internet searches may correlate with flu outbreaks. Check it out here: http://www.google.org/flutrends/
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POPSKidnappings, Riots Mar Tourism Efforts in Haiti When I wrote about the world's most dangerous destination in January (see here: http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/16/travel-world-dangerous-forbeslife-cx_rr_0117travel.html) I received a lot of criticism from Haitians who felt the news about their country was always bad. This story looks at efforts to turn Haiti into a tourist destination, including expanded cruise service and improved access to historic sites. Political instability has since interrupted those efforts, but organizers are hopeful that the situation will get better. The key thing here is that Haiti is missing out on a billion dollar industry as a result. How can they turn things around?
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POPSHow to Skip the Airport Security Line There's an easy solution to the problem of long security lines: pay to join a shorter queue. I've clipped about this before, but this author raises some interesting points about "registered traveler" programs. For a $100 fee and a $28 TSA background check, these programs give frequent travelers a fingerprint or iris image that allows you to join an expedited security line. The author argues that, "What looks to one person like flexibility looks to another like bribing your way through the system." What do you think?
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POPSBreakthrough in Flood Tolerant Rice Those of you concerned about genetically-modified food will find this story interesting. After 13 years of research, a UC Davis scientist was able to isolate a gene in rice that is responsible for flood tolerance. Using a technique known as "precision breeding", researchers were able to create new varieties of flood-tolerant rice without using genetic modification. This announcement comes at the same time the GAO released a report on genetically-modified food in the US, which found that "unauthorized releases" of GE crops have occurred and will happen in the future. Both of these stories address an increasingly important topic: food security and food safety. You can read the GAO report here: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0960.pdf.
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POPSWorld's Best Chinese Food In preparation for the summer Olympics, or just to inspire a night out in Chinatown, check out this partial list of the best food in Beijing.
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POPSSaudi Arabia "Sleeping Giant" Tourist Destination I clipped a story yesterday about efforts to turn Haiti into a tourist destination. This story is about what's happening in Saudi Arabia. The situations are completely different in both countries, but what's interesting about Saudi Arabia is how they will attract Western tourists while communicating clearly about expectations, particularly where cultural customs are concerned. Would you go to Saudi Arabia?
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POPSSurgeons Twitter from the Operating Room The surgeons at Henry Ford Hospital are Twittering again from the operating room. This time it's during a robotic-assisted hysterectomy. When I asked the hospital's manager of web services why they were using the technology -- which broadcasts short messages to a web audience in real time -- he said they hope to inform the public about new procedures and treatment options. You can follow along by going to twitter.com and searching for HenryFordNews. Do you think that's an effective way to inform the public?
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POPSWould You Feed a Customer at a Hunger Cafe? This story is about cafes in India that serve the hungry for very low prices. The catch is that they have to sit outside and wait for someone to donate money for their meal. I've clipped it because I thought it was a very interesting window into Indian culture. And if travel is about anything, it's about exposure to culture. I also think that when we travel it's important to be aware of different cultural practices when it comes to things like charity. Do you think you'd be more prone to donate money to people sitting in front of a hunger cafe while traveling as opposed to someone who was walking the streets asking for money?
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POPSThe Cost of an Organic Thanksgiving There's no conclusive evidence to support the idea that organic food is healthier for you than non-organic alternatives. But if you were thinking of choosing organic for this Thanksgiving, take a look at the breakdown of costs, courtesy of SmartMoney.com (and the Well blog at NYT.com).
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POPSWhen Forced to Sleep at the Airport I've been writing about flying lately and this latest story about more travelers being forced to sleep in the airport doesn't surprise me. The article offers a few good tips, but I think the bottom line is that American airports are ill-equipped to assist passengers forced to stay overnight. And airport staff are often less than sympathetic. For more background on the situation, check out two of our latest stories: World's 10 Best Airports (http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/2008/07/14/airports-best-world-forbeslife-cx_rr_0714travel.html) and the Summer Flying Survival Guide (http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/03/summer-travel-survival-forbeslife-cx_rr_0703travel.html).
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POPSPost Your Health Care Grievances Here Health care reform is a top priority for many Americans and President-elect Obama's transition team has harnessed that interest and put it online in the form of blogs, videos, comments and word clouds. At Change.gov, as this Washington Post story describes, everyday citizens can post comments about their health care experiences. They can also watch videos of former Senator Tom Daschle (point person and potential HHS appointee) discuss those comments. The site's web team has put together a smart "word cloud" which allows you to see which terms are most frequently used in the comments. You can see that here: http://change.gov/page/-/images/wc_healthcare_full.PNG.
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POPSBudget Airlines Bad for the Environment? Low-cost airlines in Europe have encouraged more people to fly in recent years, but this also means an increase in total CO2 emissions from the European Union. Do you think this is a problem that needs addressing?
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POPSWhere to Live to Live the Longest Sardinia and Japan are two of the countries where certain groups of people live the longest. Author Dan Buettner tries to figure out their secrets for "happy old age" in a new book. He has some interesting findings. What I'd like to know is if you've traveled to a place where you thought life would be paradise. My vote goes to Dingle, Ireland.
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POPSFarewell to Coney Island's Astroland Coney Island's Astroland, one of the city's historic (and affordable) attractions, was shut down yesterday. It meant different things to different people and this story brings that out well.
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POPSHow Much is a Kidney Worth? This doctor uses the recent divorce case between a man and his wife, to whom he donated a kidney and now wants it back (or $1.5 million), to broach the topic of money and medicine. I didn't feel like the question posed -- has money clouded our vision in medicine? -- was entirely answered, but I'm hoping you'll have some thoughts. If so, please add comments below.
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POPSAirlines Get Creative in Cutting Costs One analyst in this article even jokes that airlines may start charging passengers by their weight. For now, airlines are doing things like flying slower and washing planes more frequently to save on very expensive fuel.
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POPSThe $200 White House Vegetable Garden The Obamas are planting a vegetable garden on the White House lawn in an effort to publicize healthy eating. The seeds and mulch will cost $200 and they'll be able to harvest spinach, chard, collards and cilantro, among other things. Do you think this will educate the public about more healthful options or go largely unnoticed?
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POPSThe New Yorker's Summer Staycation I've been hearing about staycations all summer long. As a rule, I've been trying to avoid the very trendy word. But this tongue-in-cheek story about regular New Yorkers enjoying their staycation is the perfect read for a Friday afternoon right before a holiday weekend marking the end of summer.
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POPSThe Big Three Bailout and Health Care Wondering how much the Big Three are paying in health care costs? This post by a blogger at the think tank New America Foundation has some details, and a link to a CNN video on the subject. Bottom line? GM pays about $1,500 for health care per vehicle.
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POPSShould Farm Animals Receive Antibiotics? Here's a controversial issue for you: as resistance to antibiotics grow (see MRSA), should we stop giving antibiotics to farm animals as a prophylactic measure? That's the subject of a new bill proposed by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D) and Sen. Kennedy. Opponents of the bill argue that without antibiotics, industrially raised farm animals will be more likely to get sick, thus raising the price of meat. They also argue that there's no conclusive evidence that antibiotics in farm animals is causing widespread resistance. New York Times columnist Nick Kristof recently wrote a compelling op-ed about this very subject here: http://tinyurl.com/bc82va. What do you think?
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POPSLong Term Air Travel Forecast Not Good If the forecasting in this article is correct, potential travelers should try to snatch up plane tickets for trips in the next six months sooner than later. Airlines are raising prices and cutting capacity to cover the cost of more expensive jet fuel. Some industry watchers have been critical of the fare hikes (see Joe Sharkey) but that won't change the reality: there will be fewer flights, particularly from regional airports, and they will be pricier.
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POPSDo You Find This Ad Offensive? There's a big story on the intersection of social media and health today. Unlike some of its competitors, Johnson & Johnson has been experimenting with advertising directly to consumers with Facebook applications and YouTube videos. But a video ad promoting Motrin for moms who carry their babies in slings sparked an uproar from connected consumers. I'm curious to know what you think --- is this video really offensive? It's clipped above.
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POPSBlogging to Save Africa's Wildlife When tourism in Kenya declined sharply earlier this year (see my 2/29 clip), it threatened not only the livelihood of locals, but also the country's wildlife. As this story points out, when tourism declined, the Mara Conservancy had to scrape together funds to pay rangers responsible for keeping animals safe from poachers. An entrepreneurial ranger did his best soliciting donations via his blog, Twitter and Flicker. Now he's helping other rangers adopt the same approach. See his website here: http://maratriangle.wildlifedirect.org/.
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POPSImage of the Day As the blog Jaunted points out, one of the great reasons to travel is to see something unusual or unexpected. The above image is just one example of quirky public art created by an artist in France. Check out the full gallery here: http://www.filthyluker.deviantart.com/gallery/
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