Marc Ambinder had the original story that flightaware was showing a flight from Midway to New Castle, DE

I have to say that when I hear statements like "stupid fucking Americans" or "you Americans are so stupid" or "how stupid can Americans be" or any other similar statement it really bugs me.  Why does it bug me?  I guess that is because I am an American and I don't consider myself to be stupid but  I work internationally and unfortunately I hear things like this with some frequency and it got me thinking as to why people think Americans are stupid.

I believe that Americans are perceived as being stupid for more reasons than I can address, but what I can do is offer up my observations as to why we as Americans can come off as being stupid.  My only hope is that I can communicate what's in my head in a manner that doesn't come off as being...dumb:)  

So, you're a retired brigadier general in the Air National Guard, and even certified to carry a pistol as a pilot of a commercial airliner, under the program designed to provide last-chance security against terrorists seizing control of a jet.  What does the TSA do?  Put you on the terror watch list, of course:

So - here is the lovely story of my recent trip out of LAX.

I swear, I don't know how much longer I will be willing to fly into the US.

Since I am not a fan of the Olympics and being terribly tired of Edwards diaries and nervous as hell about the Russia/Georgia conflict ...

I needed a diversion as I count down the clock (less than 3 hours now) to my 49th birthday and instead of thinking about what a crotchety "old man" I have become or dwelling on all of my mistakes and misfortunes, I have been pondering about all of my travels and excellent road trips that I have taken in my near 5 decades of life.

Tomorrow morning, Saturday, 9:45, my eleven year old daughter and I will board AMTRAK's Coast Starlight at King Street Station in Seattle. At 9:00 PM Sunday night (assuming the train is on-time) we'll arrive at Union Station in downtown LA.

After spending the night in Chinatown, we'll head back to Union Station to catch a morning coach to Longbeach (San Pedro), where we will join up with my wife and son aboard the 2700 passenger "Monarch of the Seas" for a four day cruise to Mexico.

Five gold stars for the loser-est story of the night!  Meanwhile, chingchongchinaman (3cman) has left the care and feeding of this series to me!  

Also please share summer travels, bizarre restaurants, or toys!  

My husband is a travel addict and we frequently travel as a family also.  Sometimes even on a per-diem.  We have eaten at some lovely restaurants in Santa Fe, Austin, Oceanside, and Anaheim.  

Please join me for a tour of one of the restaurants we enjoyed during our 8 weeks of summer travel from hell.  

If you're like most everyone else I know, gas prices are taking a noticeable bite out of your wallet. Have you found yourself altering your old habits? I sure have!

No filling up the tank - just serious calculations on just how much to get to last til the next paycheck.

It looks like Americans' 4th Amendment rights stop at the border. The Washington Post's Ellen Nakashima has a report today that a wide range of electronic devices may be seized by customs and immigration, searched, kept indefinitely, and shared with other government agencies.

UPDATE II: in the comments Woody points out that there will be an important interview sometime after 8PM on CNN
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today Bush signed the 5 year reauthorization bill for global HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria programs.

As the Washington Post reported:

It overturns an HIV travel and immigration ban that was in place since 1992.

Senator Kerry was largely responsible for getting this amendment added to the Senate version of the bill before it left the Foreign Relations Committee, and so, THANK YOU Kerry. Apparently, it's up to the President to actually implement this change though.

over the jump I wanna mention some of the problems with the global health bill and mention some resources for people to engage in domestic AIDS activism.

Update 8/1/2008: Problem solved! Talked with NYC Board of Elections office yesterday morning. They had the correct ballot forwarding information in their computer records. So, in October they will forward my ballot for the presidential general election to my mom's house, and all is fine. I'm grateful to the competent and patient woman who works the phone there.

Below is the diary from before the problem was solved. Hopefully, in the future, someone doing a Kos search on a similar issue will find it useful.
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I need help! I'm about to leave for 6 months backpack traveling, and it looks like voting isn't going to be as simple as it appeared earlier. I need advice.

I'll be voting from somewhere in Central America, as a New York city/state resident.
My problem: The NY City board of elections told me I was all set to vote from abroad, and it looks like they made a mistake!
I leave for Guatemala City, Guatemala on Sunday, 8/3/2008... and just received a 'transfer notice' from my NY City address that didn't get sent to the correct address they said they would send to! I won't be staying in any place very long, and have no fixed plans for country/village - things would be much easier otherwise.

Anybody need some Monday afternoon relief?  If so, please feel free to chime in.

I am planning a vacation to Vietnam this November, more than likely immediately following the election.  Looking for ideas on books and places to see and anything else that might be useful.  

I have the great privilege of Representing Illinois' 9th District in Congress.  The 9th District is one of the most diverse in the country, stretching along the Northern part of Chicago's lakefront, including my home of Evanston, and west through suburbs North of Chicago, like Skokie, Niles, and Hillary Clinton's hometown of Park Ridge.  The 9th district could serve as a microcosm of the UN, with new Americans and immigrants from all over the globe speaking many languages, and practicing many faiths.  

I'm also proud to say that the 9th District is "Solid Blue," going 68% for Both Gore and Kerry.   In the 2004 contest, my Campaign organization, working with the Kerry Travelers, a group of grassroots volunteers, worked to capitalize on all that Democratic energy in the district by organizing bus loads of volunteers to travel to nearby Wisconsin.  While Illinois was a relatively "Safe" state for John Kerry, the state of Wisconsin was a crucial battleground state, where more boots on the ground would could translate to a Kerry victory, and it did.

I need to buy a transatlantic roundtrip ticket.  I've stopped hyperventilating about the ticket prices being astronomical.  I feel reassured that I can check out the possible seating on Seatguru.com.  What freaks me out is not knowing whether or not I'm getting the best deal possible given my date restrictions and preferences.  I need Kossack input!

Well I do not know how long I will have to reply, but right now I'm in Georgia near the boarder staying at a hotel. We traveled nearly 800 miles in one day from Garland Texas to here. Before the trip we had worries about setting off my mother. You see my brother who we are going to visit is on the list to be deployed next.

My brother as I have mentioned has a 1 year old baby as of july 23th. That is the reason why we are traveling to visit because of my nephews birthday. My parents have been fighting because my mom does not like that my brother could be sent to Iraq we aren't for sure yet. Go figure CNN has something about the wiring on the bases there not being good.

When we got to our hotel we went to eat and the waitress that had ended up her husband is in the Marines. Apparently he is being shipped out soon as well. The funny thing although different bases they are stationed right now in the same state. She said that her husband has missed everything with their child.

I came back to my rented room in Heidelberg Sunday night (I occasionally work on-site for a German client). I went to say goodnight to my landlady and landlord, who were watching the news. I waited for a moment to break in, during which time my landlord paled a little. When I asked him what the matter was, he said that the news had just reported that some German economists were predicting that gas prices, currently around or just above 1,50 euro/liter (~$9.00/gallon), would rise to 3 euros/liter by Christmas. Hearing this, I felt a bit pale, too.

As the costs of fuel have soared, so has the cost of getting people and goods from point A to point B.  Airlines are feeling this squeeze, just like the rest of us, and they have taken to turning around and squeezing their customers for every dime they can.  Since many of us will be flying next week, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to discuss some tips for saving money and time when traveling.

I just returned from 4 days in West Virginia and Kentucky.  I threw my trusty and battered carry all into the back of the van, loaded my traveling companion (Mr. Nick, the Golden Bear, 110 pounds of shedding goofiness, who answers to a much more refined, "Nick") and headed down the road.

I spent much of World War II in the back seat of a Buick Roadmaster.  My father, who was charged with problem solving in the war effort, was sent thither and yon, often with short warning, and usually to places with limited access.  So he would pile us all in the car and off we would go.

Some of my earliest memories are of that brief flash of road, heading over the next mountain, several miles ahead.  I'm trained, and imbued, with wanderlust.  Jumping in the car and heading down the road is in my Top 5 list of favorite things to do.