24 August 2009

Next Adventure - Commence!



Well now, it has been nearly a year since my hot feet hit the ground running and now it's time to change all that! I'll be leaving Friday for a four-month sojourn through Asia, Russia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East writing for travel publications about the sights and sounds of my journey. I've dotted the itinerary above. Here it is "itinerary" form:

August 28 - London to Hong Kong

August 29-September 15 - Hong Kong, Guilin, Shanghai and Beijing

September 15th-29th - Trans-Mongolian Railway including stops in: Ullanbaatar Mongolia, Irkutsk Russia and Yekaterinburg Russia.

September 29th-October 3rd - Moscow

October 4th-7th - St. Petersburg

Ocober7th to November 15th - Eastern Europe including Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece.

November 15th-22 - Egypt

November 22nd-December 2nd - Israel

December 2nd-December 6th - Jordan

December 7th-10th - Dubai

December11th-15th - Iceland

December 16th-22nd - England for graduation

December22nd - Return to the US of A with stops in LA, Vegas, Utah, Boston, NYC & DC.

February 7th - Depart for Australia

So that's my next four months! Tune in for all the gorgeous photos, videos, stories and happenings from the journey. It should be grand!

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Kyle Taylor

22 August 2009

CNN Clip Online!



Fortunately, CNN posted the live clip on their video archive, and I've embedded it here. Hope it works! Let me know what you think. It was a bit sporadic, but the final product seemed decent and hopefully it will encourage more support for Harvey!

If the above doesn't show up, click here to watch it on the CNN website!

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Kyle Taylor

20 August 2009

ON CNN LIVE Friday August 21st! Stream Online!



Just a quick update - CNN somehow stumbled across the Harvey story and asked me to be on CNN Live today, Friday, August 21st at:

3:30pm EST

12:30pm PST

8:30pm GMT

While I have no idea of when it will air when on the planet, the best thing to do is tune in online at: http://www/cnn.com/live/

Either type that in to your browser or just click here to go directly to it.

The background story is online as well! You can read it by clicking here.

10 August 2009

Berlin Pictures Up!


Packing now to head back to London and wanted to post the link to all the photos from my trip to Berlin! All the sites are listed in the album. Naturally, seeing the Berlin Wall (or what remains of it) was absolutely the highlight. So interesting!


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Kyle Taylor

07 August 2009

Summing It Up

Update: I found this article, which really sums up the reality of the changes being proposed. Read it. Commit it. Campaign on it.

P.S. I think we've reached an all-time low as a nation when people push their babies around in strollers carrying signs that say Obama is the next Hitler. Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh says Obama is ushering in a "new era of nazism." Give me a break. Oh yeah, it happened. Read it here!

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Kyle Taylor

This One Is Important


Ok, the jig is up. It's time to acknowledge that private health insurers are:

1. Making a fortune by betting they'll be able to deny us care. Simply put, they are for-profit companies, which means they exist to make money. How do they make the most money? By denying care. How is this a good way to ensure people get the care they need?

2. Spending our money to lobby the government in an effort to systematically destroy the Health Care debate. Nearly $100 million, actually. Do you want your health care provider to spend your money on lobbying, or on giving you health care?

3. NOT the best in the World. In fact, we're about 17th in the world and have the highest percentage of uninsured people of any developed country. That's embarrassing.

4. NOT efficient. 47 percent - YES FORTY SEVEN PERCENT - of their budget is spent on non-health-related budget items like computers, first-class airfare and, oh, lobbying the government. Compare that to the "dreaded" medicare and medicaid, which spends just 3% of their budget - YES THREE PERCENT - on non-health-related expenditures.

5. Unable to control costs. They've risen 70% in 8 years to an average of $9,000 for a family of 4. That is projected to increase to $25,000 for a family of four by 2020 while benefits decrease over the same period. Now, who's got $25,000 to shell out?

Quite honestly, I don't know why this is such a heated debate. Why not a government plan? If it's so bad then the private insurers will be fine. If it's so good then it will regulate the market and force companies to be more efficient and actually compete. My favorite argument against, however, is that a government plan will "kill private insurers." Mind you, this comes from the same people that go on and on about how the government can't run anything correctly and now here they are rambling on about how a government option will "destroy the private sector?" Get your story straight.

All I know is that the first question I have to ask when walking into a doctor's office is "how much is this going to cost?" Is that really the best approach to the health of a nation? Shouldn't I be asking, "how can I get better?"

These companies are NOT out for your best interests. Don't kid yourself into thinking they are. At the end of the day, the only one who gets hurt (or is unable to get better after being hurt) is you. Not those CEOS at the health insurance companies. They're doing just fine with their $100 million-a-year salaries.

So pay attention to the health care debate and put yourself first - not a health insurance company who makes a living out of denying you care.

Here's a story that highlights the incredible lobbying power of the Health Insurance Industry. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

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Kyle Taylor

03 August 2009

What A World


Just a really interesting short about our rapidly changing world. Hope you enjoy!

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Kyle Taylor