I've been mulling for a while the idea of doing a grand tour of the USA with my family, over a number of weeks (or months), staying over at kossacks' across the country, and visiting their favorite places all over the country.

This would not take place before next summer, or the following year, but I wanted to test the interest of kossacks for such an endeavor, and your willingness to offer me your hospitality for a day or more, given that I would not quite travel alone, bringing alone my wife and 3 kids (currently 9, 8 and 5), and that the whole trip would be liveblogged here on dKos, to see how long such a trip could be stretched.

so - take the poll, and tell me about the things worth visiting near your place!

update: title changed from Stop GOP Oil Mania:National Monument Designation Could Save Ecosystem

A coral ecosystem exists off the southeast coast that is roughly the size of the land area of South Carolina.  

Economically, that ecosystem:

1. Provides food for Millions of Americans

2. Protects our coasts from Hurricanes and Nor'easters(like a winter Hurricane)

3. Protects our ports like Savannah, Wilmington, Morehead City (supports a Marine base) and the nation's most important Hampton Roads where the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay guarding Norfolk Navy Yards, Portsmouth, Newport News and Baltimore.  (Newport News is where the large Navy ships are built like Air Craft carriers)

4. Provides Millions of jobs to American by providing fisheries, deep water ports (including the US Navy's biggest base), tourism nand forestry (much of the USA's pulp wood is grown in the coastal Southeast).

Why even worry about protecting something so important to the well being of the United States of America.  Surely NO USA CITIZEN would threaten such a valuable National Treasure.

In today's midday thread Kos highlighted the proposed "Disney tax" to be placed on visitors to the country:

Which brings me to one last point -- travel to the U.S. might be increased if this country wasn't acting paranoid, belligerent, and pretending to be under siege. The customs process for tourists is decidedly unpleasant, and no amount of Disney marketing will cover up that stink.

I have a personal example of how the US's security response to 911 has already alienated its supporters abroad.

Update:  The Harry Taylor For Congress website.   He states his positions on many issues.

Democrat Harry Taylor is challenging the Republican incumbent Sue Myrick in NC's 9th Congressional District.   In a move that threatens NC's coastal economic resources, Myrick is encouraging oil drilling off NC.

I really like this from Taylor:

"We have soldiers fighting and dying in Iraq, for oil," Taylor said. "If we truly want to support our troops, let's show them we're capable of sacrifice ... Let's change our wasteful behavior and make a real difference."

Charlotte Observer: Myrick plan won't cut gas prices.

City dwellers and rural citizens share something in common.

The other day atrios linked to this

Some suburbanites might not easily understand what has made John and Flossie Gallagher stay in their Harper Street rowhouse for more than 40 years. Or why 30-year resident Pat Hill spends a good part of her time tending the corner garden oasis she and other volunteers rescued from "dump" status.

They might understand why the Gallaghers and Hill have stuck it out, but it would be harder to comprehend why Suzi Nash or Kendra Gaeta or Matt Wanamaker or Evelyn Sheared - all of whom are young enough to be my children - would choose to live in a rowhouse neighborhood where nonresidents think it's OK to relieve themselves wherever they choose.

...

City living isn't easy. It never has been.

and atrios commented:

I think it's pretty easy. Obviously some neighborhoods are more problematic than others, but still.

former Mayor Marc Morial isn't happy with the management of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center here in New Orleans, because they've been downplaying the Morial name in recent promotions and other literature they generate.  

I haven't chatted with hizzoner in some time, so I thought I'd write him a letter...it's below the fold.

A lot of Kossacks will have occasion - for a rally, an academic degree, a conference or visiting friends - to visit Washington, DC.  I certainly hope that if you visit, you have a good time and that you use Metro whenever possible to get around.  The system, while not perfect, is excellent.  However, not everyone who uses Metro thinks it through, knows its peculiarities or limits or, frankly, ever thought to give a damn about it.  Commuters who need their paycheck think about it a LOT.

This is designed to help you a) get where you are going quickly and b) not foul up the commutes of people who work insane hours to feed their children, often commuting by three or more vehicles each way.  

My commute is 50 miles and my work day is 10 hours on the clock; that's 14.5 hours daily.  In my house of four, I am the sole paycheck.  If it appears that I have a nasty attitude about people who disrespect the system or wreck its efficiency with their misuse of the service, it's because two disabled children await me at the end of the day, and if you don't jam my tightly-scheduled commute or my job clock, I can both earn all of my pay and kiss my kids goodnight.  I am not unusual; the Metro has 250,000 "me's" on it daily.

Have a safe trip.

We've had a lot of football fans down here lately.  Last week, it was the folks from University of Georgia and University of Hawaii, whose teams played in the Sugar Bowl.  It's New Orleans' turn for the BCS Championship this year, so this weekend, visitors who support Ohio State have been overwhelmed by locals and visitors alike who support the hometown heroes, the Tigers of Louisiana State University.  For the visitors staying in downtown or French Quarter hotels, there's not much evidence that anything as cataclysmic as the storm happened here.  Those who walk up Canal St. to Claiborne Ave. will see the old green Texaco building, with all its blown-out windows, or maybe they'll look back a block and see the empty housing project that's slated for demolition.  For most of the folks cruising the Quarter, the only Hurricane they'll encounter is in a big green cup from Pat O'Brien's.

This is the side of the Janus we show to the public.

>

We're not all the way to this point yet, but it's the ultimate goal of rebuilding the St. Charles line--the terminal at S. Carrollton and S. Claiborne Avenues.  This 1958 photo, from the collection of Mr. Irwin From, shows Perley A. Thomas streetcars 967 and 908 at the end of the line, ready to begin the inbound run, and 927 is approaching the terminal, concluding her outbound run.

I thought I would post an updated rerun of something I posted this summer of my experience as a tourist this summer on a cruise ship, being forced to leave the ship in Italy for medical care.

A quick update: Although all of my out-of-pocket expenses were supposed to be reimbursed, we fought the healthcare company for three months to get that reimbursement, because, we were denied three times. They said finally, that we had sent our forms to the wrong department each time. Actually, it seemed to us that they were playing a war of attrition. Finally we were reimbursed for about 2/3rds of the cost, the amount we paid out of pocket in Italy was not reimbursed.

I also want to say that my experience may have been atypical, as cruise ship's have agents in each port that help deal with these situations, although after putting us in a taxi, we didn't see the agent again.

As if the US tourism industry hasn't had enough problems lately, we now have another pathetic and frightening story out of NYC this weekend.

(clicky on image for larger version)

Perley A. Thomas streetcar 932 (left), outbound towards the cemeteries, is about to pass 952 (right), which is inbound to the French Market terminal at Esplanade and the river, on a sunny afternoon at Canal Street and St. Charles Avenue.

We are at the height of the tourist season in the Washington DC Metro... it's a time when Americans (and people from all over the world) visit the Capital to see what our history is all about. It's a time of the year that visiting the Smithsonian or the National Gallery brings immense parking problems for locals like me who look for a space along the National Mall that isn't taken up by buses and cars with plates from every state in the union.

Today, the European Tribune had its millionth visitor. While dKos does that in two days rather than two years, it's still a nice number for us.

A kind visitor has proposed on this occasion that we change the motto of the site to "ET: still an absurdly high signal-to-noise ratio." All I can say is- come and check it out by yourself. Get informed every day, help us take on the powerful, see how we create new narratives and fiercely tackle urban legends. And that's just for one day.

In Florida, my home state, the combination of rising property insurance premiums and property tax increases is driving the state legislature towards draconian changes in the tax system. The major target is property taxes which are the only source of revenue for local school funding requirements and the major source of revenue for local governments. The state legislature's well intended efforts to provide much needed relief to property owners are about to have some very severe unintended consequences for the quality of life here in Florida.

Caught squarely in the headlights of those unintended consequences are the arts and art education. The arts are always high on the list of the first place to cut funding in times like these. Follow me below the fold to examine why this is precisely the wrong place to start cutting.

Cross Posted from Florida Kossacks

I once wrote a diary asking which was the worst state in the union. I thought about flipping that around with this diary, and asking about which is the best state to live in, but I thought it might be too limiting. So instead, I thought I would open it up to anywhere in the world your heart may desire. If tomorrow you won the lottery, money was no object & you could live anywhere you wanted, where would you choose? Would it be where you are now or on some beach in Fiji.

As with the "worst states" diary, some possible criteria to use in making a choice......

• The People & Culture
• Elected officials, Government & Policies
• Cost & Standard Of Living
• Weather & Geography

Washington D.C., the city we all love/hate, is looking for a new tourism slogan:

Seattle has a new tag line: "metronatural." And Little Rock has recently begun calling itself "The Rock."

Now the District is looking for its own catchy way to describe and define the city and lure more tourists to town. Tourism officials are hiring marketers, conducting surveys and convening focus groups in search of a few words or images that capture Washington's essence.

I think we, the DailyKos community, are more than up to the task of assisting the fine folks at the DC Tourism Board.

You know a country is in serious trouble when its citizens can’t get out of it.  

You know a country is in trouble when a government’s bureaucracy is so cumbersome that it not only inconveniences its citizens but also its visitors.  

And you know a country is in real danger when its tourist industry declines 17% since 2001 when the rest of the world is setting tourism records.  

And you know you have a real perception problem when an industry lobbyist group,  Discover America Partnership, finds survey results that show the United States scoring more than twice as badly as the Middle East in terms of "travel friendliness."