Just two days after the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks themselves, writer Michael Luongo's piece, “Ground Zero as Dark Tourist Site,” was honored with a gold medal in the Cultural Tourism category as part of the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers. Said the judges: On the edge of darkness is where Luongo masterfully informs us of what is rising from the ashes of our memories. He takes us to the Tribute WTC Visitor Center and offers glimpses into the National September 11 Memorial and Museum scheduled to open in 2012. How ... Read More
Is New Mexico Hoarding All the Good Chile, or Just Really Bad at Selling It?
August 15, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
New Mexico's semi-famous green chile harvest came early this year. It's now. Mass roasting of the smokey-yet-sweet-yet-piquant nightshade will make Albuquerque the best-smelling city in America for the rest of the summer. What this year's harvest won't do is make the chilis more of a national treasure. Oddly, New Mexico's singular crop has never earned the national fame that Maine lobsters, Idaho potatoes or Midwest sweetcorn enjoy, though anyone who tries them tends to find his or her life improved, in a minor but permanent way. Why is the green chile an American culinary footnote? We've ... Read More
9/11 Memorial: Ground Zero as Dark Tourist Site
September 5, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
New York's ground zero, where the World Trade Center's Twin Towers once stood, is a place of what was and what will be. Ten years after terrorists flew planes into the buildings, the memories of what had been are fading into the dust of time and new construction. Chaos mixes with normality, pilings are driven into the ground, steel clatters as new structures rise. Bicyclists whiz past briefcase-toting commuters, both groups oblivious to curious onlookers straining to see through slits in the construction fences. These are the ground zero pilgrims, numbering daily in the thousands, many ... Read More
Time for Robin Hood to Make a Comeback
March 11, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
What do you think of when you think of Nottingham? We know, we know — the shopping, the nightlife district, the ... um ... er ... oh, who are we kidding? We all think of Robin Hood, of course. But try telling that to the city leaders. Researchers from Nottingham University Business School surveyed nearly 400 visitors and locals on the question, "If I say 'Nottingham' to you, what immediately comes to mind?" Nearly one-third of respondents named the legendary archer and bandit; shopping came in second, followed by crime. (Apparently "stealing from the rich" really caught on in Nottingham, ... Read More
If Only Yosemite Were a Video Game
September 5, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
Edward Abbey, celebrated hardcore environmentalist and author, prophesied in the 1960s that population growth, the rise of motorized tourism (creating the reluctance of people to escape the comforts of their automobiles) and the ensuing roads and hotels would overrun the American wilderness. It turns out he was both wrong and right. U.S. national parks are threatened — but by a lack of attendance, not a surplus. This apparent disinterest in outdoor activities has occurred in tandem with greater interest in electronic entertainment. Has Mario trumped Thoreau? And what does that mean ... Read More
Who Are You and What Did You Eat?
February 25, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
One of the most schizophrenic aspects of American border policy since 9/11 is the way Washington treats its friends: "Welcome to America," the government all but literally says to people arriving from Europe. "Line Up Here for Secondary Inspection." The controversy over body scanners at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport last December — after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to destroy a plane with his undershorts — was just a powder flash in the ongoing struggle between the U.S. and Europe since 2001 over how to manage America's traditionally open borders. Individual acts of pressure to foist ... Read More
The ‘Art’ of Economic Planning
February 14, 2008 • By • Leave a Comment
Across the country, municipal, regional and state agencies are dropping old funding and administrative categories such as "arts and crafts" and replacing them with "creative industries" (tourism, books and museums). The same thing is happening in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Why? Such initiatives are responses to these locations recognizing that their economic future lies in finance capital, copyrights and patents rather than agriculture and manufacturing. The National Governors Association argues that "innovative commercial businesses, nonprofit institutions and independent ... Read More
