On film, many a desert island castaway has put a message in a bottle and cast it out to sea, hoping it would someday reach land.
Expedition Sets Sail to the Great Plastic Vortex
Tag Archives: beach
License Plate Scanners: Fighting Crime or Invading Privacy?
If you are behind the wheel of your car, someone may be on to you. More and more cities are equipping patrolmen, toll booths and even access roads with computer sidekicks that can keep track of vehicle movements; but by doing so, they are not only changing the face of 21st century law enforcement but sparking debate over privacy issues
Slum tourism: Visitors see the ‘real’ Jakarta
Hidden in the alleyways behind Jakarta’s fancy malls and in between the high-rise apartment buildings is what Ronny Poluan, a former film maker, calls the "real Jakarta." It is not far from the glitz and glam that dominates the capital’s skyline, yet it is a side of the city that few foreigners ever see. “I want them to (have an) authentic view,” Poluan, who runs “Jakarta Hidden Tours,” said as he took a group of Australians through the winding maze of a central Jakarta slum.
Looking for a clean beach? Consult the stars
Going to the beach has become a lot like looking for hotel accommodations: If it has a one-star ranking, you know you’re in for nothing but trouble.
French Women Say Non To Topless Sunbathing and Other Nudity
For decades, the French have relished any opportunity to mock Americans for their supposed childish Yankee puritainisme when it comes to matters of sex. These days, though, France is experiencing its own blush of youthful prudishness as an entire generation of younger French women say “non, merci” to the summer tradition of topless sun bathing.
Darkness falls in Asia during total eclipse, luring masses
The longest solar eclipse of the century cast a wide shadow for several minutes over Asia and the Pacific Ocean Wednesday, luring throngs of people outside to watch the celestial spectacle. Day turned into night
10 Questions for Anthony Bourdain
He has eaten seal eyes in the Arctic and cobras in Vietnam. The outspoken chef has a new book based on his adventure-travel eating show No Reservations.
A deadly plane crash, an amazing adventure
Norman Ollestad remembers the tree limb. He was 11 years old, riding in a Cessna in a blizzard through California’s San Gabriel Mountains in 1979, on his way to pick up a trophy he won in a skiing competition.
Florida’s Property Taxes Go Wacky in Housing Slump
In Palm Beach County, Fla., buyers who find fire-sale bargains at foreclosed home auctions — picking up, say, $400,000 houses for $100,000 or less — are also realizing they’re required in many cases to pay the same property taxes, as if the homes were still valued at $400,000. In Miami-Dade County to the south, where one in four homeowners are 30 days or more behind in their mortgage payments, residents are bracing for what Mayor Carlos Alvarez says could be an imminent property tax hike to fill an almost $400 million budget hole — a move that veteran Miami realtors like Alex Shay insist would set recovery back.
Judge seeks $170B in forfeitures from Madoff, who awaits sentence
As prosecutors asked to jail Bernard Madoff for 150 years, a U.S. District Court judge Friday entered a preliminary order calling on the convicted Ponzi schemer to forfeit more than $170 billion in assets, prosecutors announced. Madoff’s wife, Ruth, will be allowed to keep $2.5 million in funds “in settlement of the claims she would have otherwise brought against the property,” acting U.S.