U.S. man tries, fails to get arrested for travel to Cuba

by Katie Hammel on

I’ve always dreamed of going to Cuba, but fears of hefty fines and prison time have so far kept me from doing so. As it turns out, maybe I shouldn’t have been worried. Mytchell Mora, a U.S. citizen, has been to Cuba four times in the last tens years and hasn’t managed to get in any trouble – despite his best efforts.

Mora actually wants to get arrested for violating the United States’ ban on travel to Cuba (which was reduced slightly by President Obama to allow restricted travel by those with family in Cuba) as a way of protesting a policy he thinks discriminates against non-Cuban Americans and unfairly punishes the Cuban people.

Mora flew to Cuba in 1999 and 2000, after which he received a letter from the U.S. Treasury Department asking why he went to Cuba and how much he spent, and threatening fines or jail time if he failed to respond. Mora sent back a letter saying he chose to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights (you know, the old “right to remain silent”) and never heard from the government about the matter again. In 2002 he made another trip to Cuba. He was stopped by customs officials at the airport when he returned and was questioned and released again.

On Friday, Mora returned from his most recent trip with a suitcase full of Cuban souvenirs. Mora says that when he told U.S. authorities that he was coming from Cuba, a supervisor was called over. The supervisor typed some info in a computer, but ultimately let Mora go with little hassle. According to an AP article, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said their officers won’t detain U.S. citizens returning from Cuba, but will report them to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Mora is hoping that they do report him, and that this time he is charged with the crime. He hopes to bring the case to court, to challenge the Cuba travel ban and have it lifted.

I thought I’d have to wait until then to visit Cuba but now, I’m not so sure I do.

Dim Sum Dialogues : Top 10 Facts About Hong Kong

by Stephen Greenwood on

Before I start to dig deeper and bring you the best of what Hong Kong has to offer, I think it’s appropriate to share some of the most essential pieces of information that I’ve discovered about the territory in my past few months here.

1. The name Hong Kong is a phonetic rendering of a Cantonese name meaning “fragrant harbour”.

2. With a population of 7 million people but land area of only 1,108 km, Hong Kong is the 4th most densely populated territory in the world.

3. In 1997, Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. The territory was a colony of the United Kingdom from 1842 until 1997, when it was handed back to the Chinese government.

4. All land in Hong Kong is owned by the government, and leased to private users for periods of 50 years (before the 1997 handover, lease terms were 75, 99, or 999 years). New real estate is being reclaimed from the harbor for commercial development.

5. The average work week is 47 hours.

6. Hong Kong has no sales tax and offers extremely low corporate and income tax, making it a favorable location for businesses to operate. The government is able to maintain income through its real estate leases.

7. Hong Kong is the world’s eleventh largest trading entity, with many of the exports consisting of products made outside of the territory and distributed from Hong Kong.

8. Hong Kong is home to a highly developed network of transport – buses, ferries, railways, a tramway system and rapid transit system. Over 90% of all daily travels in the city are on public transport – the highest in the world.

9. As of 2006, there are 114 countries that maintain consulates in Hong Kong, more than any other city in the world.

10. Architect Tao Ho designed Hong Kong’s flag as part of a post-colonial contest. He used juxtaposition of red and white on the flag to symbolises the “one country two systems” political principle applied to the region. The stylised rendering of the Bauhinia blakeana flower, a flower discovered in Hong Kong, is meant to serve as a harmonising symbol for this dichotomy.

Thailand’s Political, Tourist Woes Continue

by Josh Lew on

Southeast Asia’s top tourist destination can’t seem to break out of its slump. Supporters of two major political parties have been clashing in the streets. Former PM Samak Sundaravej was forced from office following scandals and protests. Now, just two weeks into his run as prime minister, Somchai Wangsawat, Samak’s replacement, is under investigation for breaking the government rules about owning shares in companies that do business with the government (it’s an obvious conflict of interest). If charged, he could be tossed out of the government.

While other nations in the region seek to bolster their position as economic players and tourist destinations, Thailand is hurting. The recent riots led to a spate of cancellations. Tourist numbers for the country that once dominated Southeast Asia’s vacation trade are down. And those who are looking for any sign that things are going to get better are only able to find evidence of a worsening situation. Thailand has always bounced back from political woes before. However, with other regional player like Vietnam gaining steam, would-be tourists have other options these days. Why opt for uncertainty when there are other viable destinations out there?

Somalia most corrupt nation — Denmark the least

by Grant Martin on

Transparency international released their annual numbers on corruption around the world, and would you believe it, Denmark edged Zimbabwe out by 165 places to clinch the number one spot.

Each year the organization dedicated to fighting corruption compiles data from a variety of sources to publish this list as a means to raise public awareness and point to the rampant corruption around the globe. Despite the ongoing failures on Wall Street and among the upper ranks in the financial sector, this year the United states is ranked at number 18, surprisingly just above Japan. The five least countries in ascending order were:

  • Denmark
  • Sweden
  • New Zealand
  • Singapore
  • Finland

while the lowest in descending order were:

  • Afghanistan
  • Haiti
  • Iraq
  • Myanmar
  • Somalia

Incidentally, the most corrupt countries are also those with the least stable governments, poorest infrastructures and poorest economies. Funny how those things go hand in hand, isn’t it?

You can check out the wealth of statistics and better explanations of the system over at transparency.org, including a dandy corruption map and complete list of nations and their ranks.

Where have U.S. presidents traveled and a personal sighting

by Jamie Rhein on

The latest Concierge.com has an interesting slide show accompanied by text that covers various travel habits and destinations of American presidents through history. For example, Abraham Lincoln never left the United States, and Teddy Roosevelt is the first president to have traveled overseas while in office. Air travel had nothing to do with the amount, it seems. For example, check out Thomas Jefferson. He was an international traveling man for sure.

Browsing through the slides and texts is a bit of a history lesson, along with a glance at how presidents are tourists like the rest of us–except for the Secret Service. If you’ve ever seen a U.S. president in person, you’ve noticed the folks in suits.

The folks in suits is what tipped me of that I was about to get a presidential sighting when I was in Poland years ago. The first Bush–George Herbert Walker was in Warsaw at the same time. I was initially tipped off to some important happening by the American flags festooning the light posts of the street where we happened to be walking.

“Look at all those flags,” we said. “What’s that about?” The large parked cars with American diplomat license plates were another clue. “Hmmm, that’s interesting.”

“Isn’t President Bush on a world tour?” someone in my group asked. The dark suited men carrying walkie talkies and wearing sunglasses cinched it. We’d hang out with the rest of the commoners to see what came next.

Regardless of ones politics, there is something exciting about the hoopla that surrounds a presidential visit, particularly if you happen to be at a place where you didn’t expect a sighting. We might have been heading off for a bite to eat or to a museum. I can’t remember. As the years pass, the experience I remember most about the visit to Warsaw was that slice of time.

Before the motorcade approached, minutes after we stopped, the energy in the air crackled. People in the crowd craned their necks and stood on tip-toes, stretching for a glimpse. As the car road by and turned into the fortress of some official goverment type building, there was a flurry of waves and shouts in Polish.

My view of President George Bush, the elder, version and his wife Barbara was from a distance, but I could see both of them waving through the car window’s glass for a few seconds before they disappeared behind a gate and we continued on to wherever we were heading.

The photo is of President Dwight Eisenhower’s motorcade in Kabul. [Flickr/ Library of Congress via pingnews.]