the Real Iran

The seeming populist revolt in Iran coincides almost perfectly with my reading of Rick Steve's new book Travel as a Political Act.

Rick, the guru of modern European travel on the cheap, advocates travel as a means to understand people and culture beyond political facades and stereotypes. The picture he paints in his chapter Mission: Understanding Iran is of an educated, sophisticated population navigating through political and religious turmoil.

Rick's insights on Iran come firsthand. In 2008 he traveled to Iran to shoot a documentary for PBS (available here with some audio issues). Rick's blog postings from his Iran trip are also very insightful.

Long Road from Atlanta

On Thursday Delta announced major cutbacks in flights from Atlanta and Cincinnati, including suspension of the Atlanta-to-Seoul and the coveted Atlanta-to-Shanghai direct flights.

Here are the details on the Atlanta international flight cuts (thanks to Flyer Talk):

• Atlanta-Seoul: indefinite suspension after Aug. 30

• Atlanta-Shanghai: indefinite suspension after Sept. 1

• Atlanta-Stockholm: seasonal suspension Sept. to March

• Atlanta-Prague: seasonal suspension October to March

• Atlanta-Moscow: seasonal suspension October to March

• Atlanta-Guayaquil, Ecuador: seasonal suspension mid-September to mid-December

• Atlanta-Nairobi, Kenya: suspended pending TSA approval

• Atlanta-Mumbai, India: moves to New York-JFK in October

Friday Fillers

Businessweek.com has an excellent slide show online that accompanies their recent feature on Wal-Mart under the leadership of new CEO Michael Duke. This is a great thumbnail history of Wal-Mart and its ascension.

Mathews Asia has uploaded the audio and Power Point slides from their recent round table on China’s Role in the Global Economy. This hour-long exchange is led by Jodi Borkowitz and offers some great insights into China's future. The Mathews team presents for the first twenty minutes of the event and the balance of the session is Q&A.