Welcome To New York & Sorry About The Police Chase

I just can’t decide which is my favorite headline regarding the French tourists who got lured into an unlicensed van at JFK and ended up in wild ride as the driver tried to elude a police chase.

New York Daily News: French tourists get ride of their lives from renegade livery driver

or

WPIX-TV: Illegal Airport Van Take French Tourists on Hell Ride

S.C. Governor Was On The Appalachian Trail, No Wait Argentina

Is the governor of South Carolina working his way alphabetically through one of those books about all the places you should visit before you die? Because his staff said he was on the Appalachian Trail, but he apparently was in Argentina, The State newspaper reports.

If he goes to Aruba next, my theory will be confirmed.

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High Hopes For White House Lu’au

Every year the husband and I tidy up the crapshack and throw a Mardi Gras party. We mean well but, despite the beads and king cake, I’m sure the event would make any self-respecting resident of New Orleans cringe.

Not so the lu’au planned this week for the south lawn of the White House. The event, featuring six fire-knife dancers, “could provide a shot in the arm for Hawai’i tourism,” the Honolulu Advertiser declares, hopefully. 

Fire-knife dancers, eh? Maybe we’ll get a float next year …

Whose Flight Was 3407?

In news stories about the crash of a commuter turboprop into a house outside Buffalo, N.Y., in February, the flight has been referred to alternately as Colgan Air Flight 3407, Continental Airlines Flight 3407 and Continental Connection Flight 3407.

This underscores the confusion about who is responsible for flights flown by regional airlines under contract to major carriers. Continental sold tickets for the flight and its name was painted on the aircraft. But the plane belonged to Colgan Air, a subsidiary of Pinnacle Airways, which also employed the pilots.

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Fake Photos Circulating After Air France Crash

Somebody who needs a punch in the head is e-mailing around photos and Powerpoint presentations that purport to show Air France Flight 447 just before and after it crashed into the Atlantic on June 1. The images are fakes and the emails contain malicious code, reports The  Aviation Herald.

When A Cruise Ship Is Not A Cruise Ship

News reports tell us that a huge melee broke out around the gangway of a cruise ship in Seattle around 1:30 Sunday morning and that 12 people have gone overboard from cruise ships this year.

But neither of these stories is entirely correct unless you have a very broad notion of what a cruise ship is.

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TSA Accused Of ‘Mission Creep’

The Transportation Security Administration , which has been known to release a video of a confrontation with a passenger to refute claims of harassment, isn’t sounding too good in a recording made by a man being questioned at the St. Louis airport. I guess turnabout is fair play.

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New Photo Galleries: Turkey & Costa Rica

I recently posted photo galleries from Turkey and Costa Rica. Have a look:

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

Rio Celeste, Costa Rica

Luxury LimoLiner Bus Comes To Hartford

LimoLiner buses with wide seats, wi-fi, food service and an attendant are now serving Hartford, a fact I discovered from a huge billboard on I-84. (So much for my exclusive sources.)

The bus goes to Boston and New York, with a stop in Framingham, Mass. Fares to Boston are selling for $39 one way and $78 round trip. Fares to New York are $49 each way and $98 round trip.

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Men Ask For Men-Only Train Cars

by Pat Rioux via Flickr

Some men in Tokyo are asking for men-only cars on Tokyo commuter trains, Reuters reports.