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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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POPSChina: bans free plastic bags China -- Effective June 1st, 2008, China shops and supermarkets ordered by government to begin charging for plastic bags. This is country - wide. China becomes world leader on this issue.
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POPSlost&found: laptops 600.000 laptops lost (forgotten or stolen at times) every year in american airports... 67% remain unclaimed!!! what a waste...
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POPSDitch the Hubs and Build More Regional Airports I'm convinced this is the only solution to airport congestion and delays. Regardless of technology, you can only squeeze a finite number of planes into the same airspace. More regionals also means I'm closer to home and my destination, plus a whole lot of time saved.
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POPSSenators Challenge Illegal Border Searches of US Citizens unconstitutional, arbitrary search and seizure at borders widespread. Homeland Security gets challenged again by the 4th amendment, and it does not take a lawyer to prove they are illegally searching (like they do in airports too, without challenge). Where are the republicans...are they against freedom? Is this America or the Soviet Union? This is proof that customs is indoctrinated into paranoia and therefore over-aggressive action. If you go to Canada they pull all your personal info up on a screen...the Canadian customs apparently link to IRS files and your drivers license info here in the States!
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POPSMexico Isn’t Feeling the U. S. Economic Slump
Bound to the United States by history, geography, immigration, trade and investment, Mexico’s fortunes have long been linked to the US. The U. S. housing industry, for example, which employs one in five Hispanic immigrants, is in a slump, resulting in a marked slowdown of remittances sent to Mexico. A prolonged U. S. downturn would undoubtedly hit Mexico hard. Still, the nation’s economy is holding up well. The Mexican bolsa (stock) index is up 14.5 percent so far this year. The peso is strong: At the first of the year, $1 could buy nearly 10.9 pesos; now $1 buys a little over 10.3 pesos. While Mexico still ships about 80 percent of its exports to the United States, its farmers and manufacturers are looking for new customers in Asia, Europe and the rest of Latin America. During the first quarter, Mexican exports to the U. S. grew slightly more than 16 percent, while shipments to the rest of the world grew at twice that pace, 32 percent. Exports to Europe grew by 56 percent.
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POPSChertoff Wants to Israelize US Airport Security Big Brother expansion while he signs an agreement with Israel (can he do that?) to "share technologies". Chertoff holds dual citizenship and is part of the neocon-Israeli fifth column revolutionizing America into a police state. I wonder how much the Israeli companies will profit from this "sharing". By the way, what threat of terrorism? The probabilities are microscopic in comparison to crime or traffic accidents, yet we bow to the most extreme and expensive measures, none of which would stop a real suicidal terrorist? Everyone is treated as suspicious, and we call it "freedom"? But don't worry, you will be treated as well as a Palestinian in your "homeland".
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POPSVilla rentals Florence At yourflorencevilla.com we specialise in villas near Florence apartments in Florence city centre, private villas and castles and other vacation rentals in the finest locations of Tuscany as well as charming holiday budget apartments in the city centre.
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POPSDisappearing Airline Service A number of things have happened recently in the airline industry that will affect travel for the foreseeable future. One of them is the elimination of service to small airports. As this article points out, airlines are responding to steep jet fuel prices by pulling out of small airports and cutting the number of scheduled flights. Have you seen this trend at your nearby airport yet?
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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?