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AROUND THE WORLD IN 43 DAYS

My nostalagic Tuesday posting today will be on one of my most memorable trips I took a dozen years ago.  However, first, a few news items of the day, with some editorializing by yours truly.

Continuing on what is becoming a series started a few days ago about the demise of Republicans, the fight you see in the House of Representatives regarding shutting down the government to embarrass President Joe Biden, keep in mind that this is a civil war, and has nothing to do with Democrats.  Read this.

  • You of course know that our Federal government does not operate like we do.  They have something called a fiscal year, which begins on October 1.
  • Thus, Congress needs to pass a spending bill to keep the government operating by the end of September.
  • The Senate seems inclined to do so.
  • The House has a civil war.
  • While pundits approach this subject with alarm, do not fret, the fact of the matter is that Congress has shut down the government 21 times since 1976, usually for only a day, but 21 days in the 1995-6 fiscal years and 35 days only four years ago.

About the war in Ukraine, both Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to the UN General Assembly today.  

  • Biden's talk was as would be expected, but seemed to focus more on global climate warming than anything else.
  • Zelensky was a lot more emotional about the horror of Putin.  
    • Essentially, he said that Russia is weaponizing the environment, food, energy and children in their genocide strategy. 
    • Can you believe that Russia has kidnapped 300,000 or so Ukrainian children, shipped them out of the country and are indoctrinating them?  Did you know this?
    • Most important of all, he said this is not just their war, but a fight to save freedom and democracy for the World.
  • While Zelensky is absolutely right, a recent CNN poll indicated that 55% of Americans say the U.S. Congress should NOT authorize additional funding to support Ukraine.  While somewhat obsolete today, they probably don't know about that graphic to the right, and would be even more opposed if they did.
    • 71% of Republicans are against new funding, while 62% of Democrats support more funding.
    • A key factor is that 56% of Independents are against new funding.
  • Here is another poll of the Ukraine War.
  • There is a general sense that Vladimir Putin will prolong this war at least until Donald Trump gets elected our next president.  Putin will do everything to insure for this outcome.  Trump's efforts to destroy Democracy knows no bounds.

So on to one of my global adventures, and for the record, I am not in this photo dropping any ashes.  My guide regularly takes this shot of visitors at the Taj Mahal.  On 3October 2011 I said:

Today I begin my final ash scattering journey.  I'll be stopping through Bangkok, Tokyo, Zurich, Amsterdam, Stockholm, London, Sao Paulo, Rio, Buenos Aires, Lima, Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Las Vegas, Reno, and San Francisco.

In reverse chronological order, here was my itinerary (just click on any title to read the entire blog that day--the ones in red will be more interesting):

I only took 43 days to do all that.  

  • I mentioned that the crew of Ferdinand Magellan completed this global journey in 37 months.
  • Three Douglas World Cruiser biplanes in 1924 took 175 days.
  • The German Graf Zeppelin, a dirigible, dropped that to only 21 days in 1929.
  • In 1933, American Wiley Post took less than 8 days, solo, in a Lockheed Vega.  That's him with his plane.  90 years ago.
  • In my first circumnavigation, my wife and I flew west on Pan Am Flight 1.  That was at least 40 years ago, and I forgot how long we took.

I picked this around the world topic because yesterday I sketched out another one we will be taking in the spring of 2024.  That graphic to the left shows Oceania's Around the World in 180 Days cruise, for only $47,599 in the cheapest cabin.  Ours is now 68 days long and a lot cheaper.  Always west, but specifically to focus on cherry blossoms in Japan, a European tulip river cruise and the the Queen Mary from Southampton to Brooklyn.  It was in 2012 that I went global specifically for sakura and tulips, but more, taking 37 days.  Want to join us in 2024?  Let me know.

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