Minister Departs CONUS

      Well, Sports fans, our world traveling Minister is currently airborne on a United Air Flt winging his merry way to East Asia(or Far East if one gives the term a bit of English).  He'll touch down in Taipei, then get a connection direct to Bangkok.  Of course, there will be a requisite lay-over: 6 hours, or 4, depending.   He'll find a bench or a curb at the airport.  He told the Mayor that authorities in Taipei require the airport to close-yes, to close, from about midnight to sun up.  Close, that is, for passengers in the airport terminal.  How ridiculous is that?  No doubt the locals want more rooms occupied in local hotels: the better to tax you and sell you stuff.
      Tomorrow, or Monday in East Asia, he'll board a flight to his final destination where he'll join a fellow traveler and they'll get a local hop to the southern beaches, actually, an offshore island resort.
After that, he'll play it by ear: on to Myanmar, maybe Cambodia, maybe Vietnam, and maybe even Laos..   He's been granted about 3 weeks to recharge his batteries before he heads back to Washington, DC where he'll begin a new career path.   More on that later.

       The Mayor had lunch with the Minister of Aviation yesterday who gave an update on the plane crash in Taiwan.  It seems, according to sources w/i the aviation community, that the pilot of the French-made aircraft cut power to the one engine that was keeping the plane in the air.   Looking at that photo that everybody has seen, the pilot is unable to control the stall that has gripped the entire aircraft.  At least there were a few survivors.