Now officially in effect, U.S. citizens are banned from traveling to the avidly anti-American nation. Current U.S. travel passports are now invalid there, with few exceptions.

Certified journalists and some charitable organizations, such as the Red Cross, may still have permission to visit the country. There have been recent incidents, particularly the jailing and mistreatment of the American college student. The cruel act of sending him home to die should be warning enough for any sane senior traveler.

A Honolulu court ruled that was the amount of money the airline lost because of the guy’s allegedly drunken tirade. The scheduled non-stop flight from Hawaii to New York City was cancelled after he became violent and threatened other passengers.

So, senior flyers, let that be a lesson to you. Play it cool next time you have to pay an extra $50 to check your bag and another $100 in hidden taxes not mentioned in the advertised ticket price. Don’t go ranting and raving up and down the aisles.

Calmly pay that extra $500 to be upgraded from your cramped economy seat to almost comfy premium economy. And just sit there quietly while you drink the airline’s $10 soda while munching on the $50 sandwich.

Your travel4seniors.com editor’s camera recently captured these tragic scenes in West Hollywood CA. If your travels take you to Southern California, you’re sure to be confronted with this increasing street problem.

In downtown Los Angeles, there are many lines of sidewalk tent encampments, as well as individual homeless sites. In nearby areas, including Hollywood Boulevard and beach communities of Venice and Santa Monica, the same situation exists.

According to Reuters, North Korean tourist ads in Russia encourage visits to their wonderfully safe country. They extol the peaceful friendliness of the Communist nation’s people and cities, and compare them to the English capital city. 

Maybe the U.S. should respond: While most American cities are peaceful and safe, there are terrible dangers from evil street criminals. So Russian visitors should not visit crime-ridden Salt Lake City, poverty-stricken Beverly Hills nor hateful-faced Pennsylvania Dutch slums.

And, of course, the dying American college student tourist who was shipped home recently after two years of gentle North Korean prison hospitality, died of natural causes.