Tammy Bruce: Travel Archives

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All This and Still No Sign of Bin Laden

Oh, the humanity!

Passenger's pepper spray discharges; 9 TSA screeners affected

At San Jose's airport today, a can of pepper spray discharged after it was removed from a passenger's bag, and nine security screeners were affected.

Two of the Transportation Security Administration screeners were taken to a hospital for treatment, while the other seven were examined and found to be OK, a TSA spokesman said. No passengers were affected, no flights were delayed and no one was arrested.

After all this, there are still conflicting reports on the gender of the passenger of had the pepper spray in the first place.

No wonder they need us to get naked now.

Posted by Tammy · June 16, 2008 10:00 AM · Permalink · Comments (3)
Incompetence | Moronic Convergence | Travel

Things to do in Vegas

A post by Maynard

With Tammy making plans to take the show down the road to Las Vegas and follow up on OJ's latest adventures, I'm wondering what recreations we can recommend to her. Other than the plentiful gambling and shopping and shows, of course. Here are a few eclectic notions:

Take a flight in a space plane. Zero G will take you up in a cavernous airplane, which will then do parabolic (free fall) maneuvers so you can experience a few minutes of weightlessness. It's unreasonably expensive ($3,675), but might be an interesting interlude for those with money to burn. The promotional videos show delighted people flying effortlessly through the air like birds, but I suspect the reality is less idyllic: More likely most will be flailing violently, and some will be screaming in terror, while others are puking their guts out. This little adventure is being marketed through Sharper Image.

("Weightlessness" sounds so graceful, but in fact the sensation is that of falling like a rock. It's like on a roller coaster where it goes straight down. Consider that the people on the space shuttle and the space station are subjected to this 24/7. It takes some getting used to.)

A "poor man's version" of the Zero-G thing might be a visit to the FlyAway. I tried this once, many years ago. You dress up in a baggy jumpsuit and stroll over a vertically-mounted aircraft propeller and try to do an impression of The Flying Nun. A cute notion, but it doesn't work very well. No wonder Sally Field morphed into a moonbat.

Ah! Now here's a "Tammy" thing! In Nevada, you can rent a machine gun! Lots of fun for tourists, especially from abroad where the citizens are treated even more like children than we are. Here's a video from one of various shooting ranges showing off their wares. (I know nothing about this particular store, so I'm not recommending it; I just found their video.)

Posted by Maynard · October 24, 2007 10:36 PM · Permalink · Comments (5)
Maynard Post | Tammy Notes | Travel

What is Burning Man?

**UPDATE: This post is originally from last year about this time, but with the 2007 Burning Man slated to start on the 27th, I thought this post from Maynard was worth sharing again.**

Maynard points out a fascinating and insanely escapist event

Every year, the week leading up to Labor Day is the occasion of the oddball Burning Man festival in the remote Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada. Here, for the week, something like 35,000 people will set up shop for total immersion into in an experiment in controlled anarchy. It's a temporary community of participatory art and/or psychodrama on a grand scale.

Burning Man started as a personal cathartic exercise in 1986, when a few friends built and burned an 8-foot tall wooden statue at Baker Beach in San Francisco. They liked it so much that they came back to do it again the following year, and it became an annual event. The size of both the crowd and the statue grew, resulting in relocation to rural Nevada in 1990.

The construction and incineration of the Man is the central theme of the week, but it's really not about him at all. The event is an exercise in imagination run wild, with the expectation that every attendee is a participant rather than an observer. There are almost no commercial transactions, and even bartering is discouraged; it's more like a huge pot luck picnic in which everyone brings something to the table. There is enough law enforcement to assure that a few basic rules are followed, but beyond that, pretty much anything goes. There are sights, sounds, food, drink, and just about any experience that can be made available. Then the week ends, the Man burns, and everyone cleans up and goes home.

No, I've never been there myself. I find the notion intimidating, going to a place where there is nowhere to hide. But it sounds completely fascinating as a brief, experimental escape from the framework that dominates our lives. Broadly speaking, I believe we require that our social structures be somewhat rigid, lest we descend into savagery (as in Lord of the Flies). But those who understand the necessity of rules in a civilized society can probably survive a week of this madness. Do we have any burners (as the attendees are called) in the audience? Anyone planning on going next week?

Burning Man has been the subject of a number of documentaries, such as Burning Man: The Burning Sensation and Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock and others. Visit their official web site or check out the Wikipedia entry for more information.

Posted by Maynard · August 25, 2007 05:02 PM · Permalink · Comments (12)
Cultural Commentary | Maynard Post | Social Commentary | Travel

Our State Department At Work

Instead of helping to plan the attack on the preeminent terrorist nation in the world that has been murdering our soldiers for years, the State Department instead wants to help you with your travel plans. It's a really great idea, too, let's just ignore that, when it comes to recent events, it's just about 4 years too late.

US warns against travel to Iran

WASHINGTON - The United States warned U.S. citizens on Thursday against traveling to Iran, accusing Islamic authorities there of a "disturbing pattern" of harassment after the detention of a fourth Iranian-American for alleged espionage.

"American citizens may be subject to harassment or arrest while traveling or residing in Iran," the State Department said after confirming that Ali Shakeri, a peace activist from Irvine, Calif., who has been missing in Iran for more than two weeks, is being held at a notorious prison in Tehran along with three other people.

Gee, thanks Condi, what would we do without you? Oh yeah, we'd probably have a foreign policy that doesn't allow tyrants to prevail. Now could you put your time and energy into, let's say, defeating the enemy as opposed to warning us about where we can't go because of the cowardice of the Bush Admn? We'd appreciate that.

UPDATE:

Well, the State Department made another shocking announcement. Apparently, it would be scary to travel to Venezuela, too.

U.S. warns travel to Venezuela could be risky

Posted by Tammy · May 31, 2007 06:57 PM · Permalink · Comments (0)
Fed Incompetence | Politics | Travel | Tyrants | War on Radical Islam

The Saudis Are Winking At You

And they want you to come over. They want more visitors. You see, it's been tough because even though they're the nation that harbors the strain of Islam that is hacking up the world like a cancer, they've maintained one of the strictest closed borders in the world, and they're feeling the pinch. This is in itself odd considering the problem is not with who wants to get into Saudi Arabia, it's the terrorist scum that gets out.

At any rate, the Saudis now want more tourism. And boy, they sure know how to attract the ladies.

Islam at heart of Saudi Arabia's tourism drive

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest shrines, hopes it can use its religious heritage to pull in not just pilgrims but tourists too, without compromising its way of life.

Officials are confident they can attract hundreds of thousands of high-end holidaymakers to visit the conservative Muslim country. And the holy city of Mecca, with its key Islamic sites and ancient markets, is central to the plan...But make no mistake: alcohol will remain banned, women will have to cover from head to toe and Muslims alone can set foot in the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

"We are shooting for high-end individuals, there won't be any mass tourism here. We target people who like Saudi Arabia for what it is, people who will like the experience and hopefully come back again and again," said SCT spokesman Majid al-Shiddi...

Oh, I see. They only want men who will enjoy being part of the backward misogynist hub of Islamist terrorism, who prefer to see women covered in a potato sack. Heck, you can even stroll around the Chopping Center, where poor souls get various body parts lopped off if they offend Allah. Sounds too good to be true. And speaking of losing body parts, if you're an American you might even get the unique chance of finding out personally what it's like to have a caveman take a saw to you. Not even Club Med offers that!

"We have a lot to offer non-Muslim tourists. Scuba-diving, a diversified landscape, the hospitality and historic sites. There are more than 6,300 heritage sites," Shiddi told Reuters.

Well now, golly gee, in the "pro" column they do have scuba diving! Oh great, now I have to decide--and it's so difficult--Hawaii or Terrorist Pit with Diving. Terrorist Pit with Diving or Hawaii...Hmmm...

You know, I'm gonna have to get back to you on that one.

Posted by Tammy · October 30, 2006 10:00 PM · Permalink · Comments (7)
Travel | Tyrants | War on Radical Islam

The Perfect Saturday Dancing Video

Brought to my attention this morning by PJM, here is a guy named Matt and video of him dancing around the world. I know we have mostly bad news days, which blogs make sure you're aware of, which is why I do my best here at Tammy Blog to mix it up a little. As PJM notes, this video is indeed the perfect antidote for what usually afflicts us.

Where the Hell is Matt?: Matt Dancing

Once he makes you happy with the dance, make sure you visit the rest of his site, too.

Posted by Tammy · June 24, 2006 10:47 AM · Permalink · Comments (4) · TrackBack (0)
Good News | Travel

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