2013 › July

Measuring Bribery And Global Corruption

by Sean McLachlan on

Transparency International has released its Global Corruption Barometer for 2013, looking at the incidence and perception of corruption around the world.

In its most shocking results, the survey asked more than 114,000 people in 95 countries whether they had paid a bribe to a public servant (bureaucrat, police officer, etc.) in the past year. One in four said yes. Of course the percentage varied widely from country to country, with Finland, Denmark, Australia and Japan at only 1 percent and Sierra Leone coming out at 84 percent. Several populous countries such as China and Russia were not included in the survey.

Some of the results are unsettling. Seven percent of U.S. residents surveyed reported paying a bribe in the past year, and many highly touristed countries have high incidents of bribery. In India, 54 percent of those polled reported paying a bribe. The figure is 22 percent in Greece, 33 percent for Mexico, and 70 percent for Kenya.

Tourists are sheltered from much of this since they don’t deal with most bureaucracy. They’re not trying to open a business or get a land line hooked up, for instance. Sad to say, bribery is the only way to get these things done quickly in many countries.

Tourists do get asked for bribes, however. Personally, I’ve been asked for bribes on many occasions. As far as I can remember I’ve only paid bribes in Egypt, where I joined the ranks of 36 percent of Egyptians and paid a little baksheesh. I did it to get access to closed areas of ancient sites, and got the distinct impression that another bribe would have allowed me to take a few souvenirs home. That’s something I wouldn’t do. “Take only pictures, leave only footprints” applies to ancient temples too. I’ve heard many stories from other travelers of bribery to speed up visa applications or get into closed sites.

The fact that the incidence of bribery in the United States is so high for an established democracy didn’t come as a complete surprise. A friend of mine who used to organize block parties in Arizona regularly paid bribes to the city police in order not to get shut down for breaking the noise ordinance.

The BBC has posted an interesting interactive map from the data.

Have you ever paid a bribe while traveling? Take the poll, and share the dirty details in the comments section!

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Man Travels U.S. Handing Out $500 Tips

by Libby Zay on


In his will, Aaron Collins had a simple wish: to have his family leave “an awesome tip” for an unsuspecting server. “I’m not talking about 25%. I mean $500 for a [expletive deleted] pizza,” Collins wrote, according to his brother, Seth. Shortly after Aaron died, his family surprised a server in Lexington with just that. Seth posted a recording of the server’s reaction (above) to YouTube, and the heartwarming video quickly went viral.

People were so touched by Aaron’s request that the family soon found themselves with nearly $60,000 in donations. Seth knew he had to spread his brother’s wish further, and decided to travel to all 50 states so people across the nation could feel the effects of these random acts of kindness. Watch the first server to get a $500 tip above (the excitement starts at the minute mark), or visit Aaron’s Last Wish to see more lucky servers at the receiving end of this family’s generosity. It might just be the most heartwarming road trip ever imagined.

[via Gawker]

‘Living Rocks’ Could Be The Strangest Local Delicacy Ever (VIDEO)

by Libby Zay on


From the outside, it resembles a rock or coral. But on the inside, pyura chilensis is a gooey mass of blood red. This immobile, hermaphroditic sea creature survives on microorganisms and produces vanadium, a rare mineral also found in crude oil and tar sands. But despite safety concerns, it’s a delicacy on the coast of Peru and Chile.

Local fisherman search the coast for these sea squirts, as they are known in English, which can be found in large concentrations or alone (the latter is happening more, as Pyura banks are being heavily fished). At fish markets, they are typically cut open with a carpenter’s saw before the insides are scooped out.

Stéphane Batigne, Wikimedia Commons

Daring tourists should look for piure on South American menus. The creatures are served raw, in stews, over rice or fried. Here’s one marine biologist’s reaction to trying the food when she was in Chile:

We took a guest speaker, Kevin Lafferty from UC Santa Barbara, to eat lunch after his presentation.He told us that he wanted to try piure. People from the lab grimaced at the suggestion and recommended he get a half portion. … Then the waitress brought out this bowl of red lumps in a red broth. When I asked what it was, that’s when they told me it was sea squirt. I then told Kevin to go first. … He really disliked it, but actually I didn’t think it was that bad. It was true that it had a weird iodine flavor that I had never experienced before in my life.

That iodine-like flavor has been described as “bitter and “soapy,” with another visitor saying the famed South American cocktail, a Pisco Sour, “helps it go down.” Not sure if that sounds appetizing, but at least now we can argue it is possible to get blood from a stone.

[via Grist]

A Toy Tree In Brooklyn

by Elizabeth Seward on


When I caught a glimpse of this toy tree in Brooklyn, what surprised me most was that it didn’t surprise me. When you spend nearly a decade living in a city like New York, you begin to expect the unexpected, or rather, expect nothing and simultaneously categorize every possible crazy thing that might happen as expected. Toys aren’t the only things you’ll find hanging in Brooklyn and other boroughs of New York – shoes strewn across telephone wires are seen frequently. But no matter how unsurprised I was, this tree filled with toys is an extraordinary (and somewhat creepy) sight. And out of respect for the people who live near this tree, I’m not going to tell you where it is. I’m sure you’ll find it yourself if you ask around.

Country Star’s Boyhood Home Could Complete Southern Music Tourism Trifecta

by Libby Zay on

Johnny Cash’s boyhood home of Dyess, Arkansas is undergoing a $3.5 million makeover in an effort to lure tourists to the area. That means tourists can soon (ahem) walk the line(s) between Nashville, Memphis and Dyess on what could be the ultimate southern music trifecta. Okay, nobody will probably actually walk the distance between these three places, but it is kind of cool that resources will be in place so people can easily visit the homes of Elvis Presley, Taylor Swift and Johnny Cash — plus lots of other musicians, too — on their very own homes of the stars tour through the south.