Should Seniors Pay More For National Parks?

by Libby Zay on

Besides being able to snag early bird specials and senior discounts at museums, there isn’t exactly a laundry list of tangible perks when it comes to aging. But one benefit – the ability to purchase a lifetime access pass to all U.S. national parks for just $10 – might soon go away.

CNN is reporting Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat, questioned whether or not aging Americans could afford upping the economical, one-time fee during a House Oversight hearing on forced cuts at parks, museums and archives. According to the news outlet, the National Park Service is currently facing a $153 million budget gap, and simply doubling the price of a senior pass could potentially gain the agency $10 million per year. It’s only a fraction of the amount of money needed, but it’s a start.

Currently, adults under the age of 62 can purchase a multiple-park pass for $80, but it only lasts a year. At $10 for life, the senior pass gets older people into all 391 national parks, monuments, battlefields, military or historical parks, seashores, recreation areas, rivers and trails. So what do you think? Will hiking up the fee really cause dissension amongst retirees, or could it be a simple, affordable way to get more money flowing into national parks? Weigh in below.

[Photo credit: Jkinsocal / Wikimedia Commons]

CNN Contributor Doesn’t Welcome Blades On Board Planes

by Libby Zay on

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently announced less restrictive rules for carrying knives on planes, a move CNN opinion columnist Bob Greene calls “insane” and “dimwitted.”

In early March, the TSA declared it would soon allow knives with blades shorter than 2.36 inches in length, and no wider than a half-inch, to be carried onto flights. The green-lighted knives cannot have a molded grip or a blade that is fixed or locked into place, meaning pocket knives are pretty much the only exception. Although, as Greene explains, there has been push back from members of Congress and aircraft crew members, the TSA has shown no sign of rescinding the decision, which should go into effect on April 25.In a press luncheon late last month, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano explained the reasoning behind the new policy: “We’re trying to prevent a bomb from getting on a plane. And if you are talking about a small knife, there are already things on a plane that somebody can convert into a small, sharp object.”

But Greene clearly disagrees, writing there is still a whole lot of risk involved in allowing knives on planes, and pointing out it was blades–not bombs–that allowed terrorists to take over planes on 9/11. However, he fails to note the many ways air travel has changed since the attacks, both at the airport and on the plane, including the creation of the TSA, increased screening processes, fortified aircraft doors and trained air marshals, not to mention a motivated passenger base willing to fight back. He also doesn’t mention that box cutters, the weapon used in the 9/11 attacks, will not be permitted to be carried on planes when the new rules go into effect later this month.

Greene’s other argument is that the move won’t speed up airport screening. He envisions TSA officers holding up the line to pull out rulers and ensure blades are falling under the 2.36 inch mark. But since small pocket knives are pretty much the only tools that will be allowed on planes, it seems pretty easy to quickly identify what is up to snuff and what’s not.

As someone who always carries a tiny Swiss Army Knife on my keychain, there’s been more than one occasion I’ve forgotten to leave it at home. I’ve had to forfeit two to airport security, and there’s been once or twice when I passed through the checkpoint with the tiny tool. It’s nice to see the TSA is implementing some concrete rules that conform to international standards, and I’ll be happy to soon travel with my knife (and screwdriver, and can opener and toothpick) in tow.

[Image credit: The Transportation Security Administration]

Mission To Mars Planned By Private Space Leaders

by Chris Owen on
When we last heard from Dennis Tito, it was when the New York-born American engineer was catching a $20 million ride on the International Space Station. That was in 2001 and he did so against the wishes of NASA, instead hitting up the Russian Federal Space Agency for the lift. Now, 20+ years later, Tito plans a trip to Mars in a venture that should make him the first human ever to walk on the red planet.

On what looks to be a 500-day round trip voyage to Mars, Tito’s newly formed Inspiration Mars Foundation teases “plans to take advantage of a unique window of opportunity to launch a historic journey to Mars and back in 501 days, starting in January 2018,” reports CNET.

Details are few right now but clarity will come next week during a press conference scheduled for February 27, 2013, at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C., moderated by CNN’s Miles O’Brien.

Speculation on how the flight will go includes wondering if an actual landing on Mars will occur or if the private mission will simply (as though this is simple in any way) be a fly-by. At nearly 70 years old by the time the proposed flight happens, time is of the essence for Tito.Also involved in the project is Paragon Space Development Corporation most recently involved with the life-support systems in the Red Bull Stratos Space Jumper, world’s-highest sky dive in 2012. That was nothing new for them either, as original members of the Biosphere 2 sealed dome life-support for the experiment of the early 1990s.

Add it all up and these private space leaders could very well pull it off. We’ll find out more details on the plan next week.

Want to know more about the idea of a mission to Mars? Check this video:



[Photo Credit – Flickr user Amitabh T]

Video: Naked Ham Man In Banned British Commercial

by Laurel Miller on

I knew it was going to be a good day when I woke up this morning, turned on the computer to browse the news on CNN.com, and came across a hot naked man singing to a ham sandwich.

Admittedly, such imagery isn’t to everyone’s taste (seriously? But there’s cured meat!). But that’s not why Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned this witty commercial for Richmond Ham. It got, uh, canned, for a failure to uphold truthful standards in advertising, by declaring itself “Britain’s only natural ham made with 100% natural ingredients.” The ham is actually made in Ireland.


Travel industry battered by world crises says CNN

by Kraig Becker on

A recent report from CNN says that the spate of world crises that have occurred in the first three months of the year has hit the travel industry especially hard. Natural disasters and political unrest have left many travelers rethinking their plans or cancelling trips altogether as they scramble to avoid a host of issues across the globe.

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan, coupled with fears of radiation and a potential nuclear meltdown in power plants there, has significantly reduced demand for travel to that country. It has gotten so bad that Delta Airlines has announced that they are cutting capacity to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport by as much as 20% through May, and suspending flights to another regional airport altogether.

Similarly, travel to Northern Africa and the Middle East has also dropped significantly as political upheaval has spread across that region. It hasn’t just been the airlines that have felt the pinch however, as disruption in travel to Bahrain, Tunisia, and most importantly Egypt, has put a dent in the cruise industry too. According to Carnival Cruise Lines more than 280 of their cruises have seen a change in their itineraries thanks to issues in the Middle East. They estimate a loss of $44 million so far, and the region hasn’t stabilized just yet.

The Middle East unrest has brought another unwelcome side effect to the travel industry as well. Any threat to the distribution of oil means an increase in prices, which is always passed on to the consumer. Soaring oil prices has led to an increase in the cost of airfares, and the dreaded term “fuel surcharge” has reared its ugly head once again too. With the busy summer travel season still ahead, it seems unlikely that oil prices will be coming down again anytime soon.

2011 is certainly off to a turbulent start. If the first few months are any indication, we could be in for one very memorable, but chaotic, year. Has any of the recent global calamities caused you to change your plans? Are you now going elsewhere because of recent events? Worse yet, have you canceled your plans to travel this year altogether?