All stories about "From The Mailbag"

This week, Stuart Emmrich, the travel editor at The New York Times, is fielding questions from readers for the paper's popular "Talk to the Newsroom" feature. My favorite part of the interview is when two readers call the Travel section out for being completely focused on high-end crap that no normal person can afford. Another highlight is when Cole Couture, a questioner who claims to work in the airline industry, takes Mr. Emmrich to task for the frequent errors in the flight information at the end of destination articles. Mr. Emmrich is forced to admit that his section is rife with "recurring mistakes" of this sort. Ouch. But Emmrich's interview really didn't address any of the issues that I have with the Times travel section, so I've written him a letter of my own and posted it here.

A while back, I wrote about the go-go bar scene in Hong Kong's Wan Chai red light district. These palaces of neon and sex are seen by the locals as tourist traps rather than reliable places to score. After I published the post, I heard from a blogger named "Spike." His site, Spike In Hong Kong, chronicled his journeys through Hong Kong's underbelly. The blog's gone now, but Spike sent me some of the information from his archives describing exactly what happens inside these gaudy brothels -- and also information on the more hidden "freelance" hooker scene in Wan Chai. After the jump, hear an expert's view of the Hong Kong sex scene. (photo)

It's not often that we get direct responses to our rare product reviews from the company in question. Rarer still are responses from the products themselves. As an indulgence for foolish germaphobes, the disposable antimacassar known as the Travekleen must provide hours of OCD fun. But if you're foolish enough to dismiss this item as pointless, as we once did, then you'll get taken to school -- hygiene style.