"In Europe, a summer to stay at home; Economic woes add frugality to vacation plans" by Angela Doland, Associated Press | August 9, 2008
PARIS - The European summer vacation just isn't what it used to be. With economies stagnating and inflation in the euro zone about 4 percent, people are cutting the length of their holiday stay, vacationing close by, and in some cases, just staying home.
Some European leaders have shown restraint so as not to shock their countrymen with scenes of living it up during the economic downturn. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown opted for a quiet holiday in the countryside.
I guess he didn't need much food, huh?
Yeah, real restrained is Gordo the Magnificent (waistline).
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, nicknamed the "bling-bling president" for his penchant for borrowing private jets and yachts, took an ordinary airline flight to his wife Carla's Mediterranean villa.
What was his carbon footprint on all that?
Meanwhile, some European travelers - those who can afford it - have taken advantage of the weak dollar and have headed to the United States.
In the Netherlands as of early July, trips within Europe and Asia were slightly down, but bookings to the United States were up 49 percent from a year ago, said AVNR, a travel agencies industry group. The theory is that, even if plane tickets are more expensive, people can stock up on inexpensive consumer goods once they arrive in the United States.
Translation: You are BECOMING a THIRD-WORLD NATION, America!!!!
You know, like Haiti and those other places!!!
While the economic downturn has put a crimp in Europeans' style, continental holidays are even tougher on visitors from North America.
Kayla Bowman, a 23-year-old from Vancouver, Canada, in Germany on the last leg of her round-the-world trip, says her journey has become increasingly tough as her currency weakened.
"It's pretty much doubling the cost of everything," said Bowman, who was saving money by couch-surfing, buying food at grocery stores and looking for work at bars or restaurants - though her dad bailed her out financially a few times, too.Nice way to spend a summer vacation in Europe, huh?
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Good thing that dollar is falling like snow(?), huh, 'murka?
"A busy season on the ski slopes; Falling snow and US dollar made last winter one to remember" by Nicole C. Wong, Globe Staff | August 9, 2008
The past year's fortuitously timed snowfalls and the falling value of the US dollar sent a record number of skiers and snowboarders down the country's crystalline slopes.
During the 2007-2008 winter season, ski areas nationwide enjoyed an estimated 60.5 million visits, 2.7 percent above the previous record, set in 2005-2006, according to a report from the National Ski Areas Association, a Lakewood, Colo.-based group for ski resort owners and operators. That's largely because snow fell early, plentifully, and repeatedly in almost all regions of the country, which allowed ski areas to stay open more days.
Yeah, it was a brutal winter around here, and yet the MSM never stops flogging the dead horse of global warming!!
And if anything contradicts their bullshit, it's hidden!!!!
Northeast slopes received 28 percent more snow than in the prior year, enabling them to operate their chair lifts 12 percent more days and contributing to a 21 percent uptick in visits. Vermont's Okemo Mountain Resort said it did even better with a 25 percent jolt in visits last winter, beating its 2002-2003 record season by 6 percent.
The region welcomed 65 inches of snow through December - reversing the misery that befell these ski areas when an unusually low 17 inches drifted down by the same time the year before.
When they were howling global warming, global warming!!!!
It is August here now, and the nights are getting chilly!
How many 100-degree days we have this year? NOT MANY if any!
Favorable exchange rates offered to foreigners also drew 28 percent more international visitors across the country compared to the prior winter. However, despite the Northeast's proximity to Canada and Europe, its proportion of passport-carrying visitors simply held steady. And the proportion of the region's visitors hailing from Canada has actually been declining over the past four years, "a potentially worrisome trend" that may largely be due to more stringent US entry requirements, the report states.
Yeah, how about KNOCKING OFF the FALSE FASCISM based on that damn 9/11 LIE, huh?
It's HURTING OUR BUSINESSES OUT HERE!!!!!
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