BIOMETRIC TRACKING

21 MAY 2013:  Foreigners leaving the US through any of the countries 30 busiest airports would undergo mandatory fingerprinting under an amendment added Monday to a sweeping new  immigration bill. Read more...

CALIFORNIA DREAMING

21 MAY 2013: Things I can’t live without – Hollywood movies, sun, sand and more Hollywood movies. California’s proven itself in the past on all three but can it pass the smell test these days? Is it still all that dreamy? Read more...

BACK TO THE FUTURE

21 MAY 2013: Currently known more for its river cruises, Viking Cruises announced last week  that it was launching a new cruise line for ocean-going trips beginning with the Viking Star.  The first voyages in 2015 will be to Scandinavia, the Baltic region and the Mediterranean. Read more...

NOT EVEN ONE

21 MAY 2013:  Australians are ticked off and I would venture to say they have every reason to be. Despite over 40,000 entries from Australian residents, not one has been selected as a finalist for the six top jobs in the 'Best Jobs in the World' competition Read more...

BURN

21 MAY 2013:  According to a consumer watchdog group new sunscreen labels on store shelves that are designed to make the products more effective and easier to use, continue to carry SPF ratings that some experts consider misleading and potentially dangerous. Read more...

TIP THE SCALES

21 MAY 2013: We like knowing that airlines have strict regulations to adhere to. Glad to know someone is measuring aircraft weight and centres of gravity. As long as folks are following a formula to determine the weight of a plane, its fuel and cargo, it’s all good to us.  But when an airline puts a weigh scale in front of a passenger? Well, all of a sudden our weight becomes personal. Read more...

PARADES OF FOOD

21 MAY 2013: In many parts of the world, people think a rodizio refers to a Brazilian style steakhouse. Not in Brazil. In that country a rodizio is a style of eatery. Perhaps more accurately an excess style of eating. Read more...

HOW DID THAT HAPPEN

17 MAY 2013: According to a watchdog investigation, mistakes and a lack of communication by US authorities allowed terrorists to board flights,.  The report uncovered glaring security problems that allowed terrorists who had been given new identities in the witness protection programme after cooperating with US prosecutors, to board commercial flights in the US. Read more...

AIRLINES LOVE MAKING RULES

17 MAY 2013:  Do senior airline executives really sit and think up this stuff, or do they just find some bureaucracy drenched minion and put them in charge of making up inane rules.  American Airlines now has a new category of "board first" passengers.  People carrying just a personal item that fits under the seat - no rolling suitcases - will scoot ahead of the line before most other passengers. Read more...

CIAO. ADIEU. GOODBYE.

17 MAY 2013:  First Carnival pulled its ships out of Europe in 2014, now just days later, Regent Seven Seas will follow suit, cancelling over 20 Mediterranean cruises in late 2014, replacing them with itineraries in the Americas, South Pacific, Middle East, and South Africa. Read more...

LAW AND ORDER STAR JOINS NEW TEAM

17 MAY 2017:  Television and film star, Tamara Tunie has partnered with the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) as the celebrity spokesperson for the CTO’s 40th celebration of Caribbean Week in New York. Read more...

HUMOUR FALLS FLAT

17 MAY 2013:  We really have become a humourless, literal, politically-correct-at all costs, society.  The Advertising Standards Authority has ordered Thomas Cook to withdraw a television advert after receiving 118 complaints about it. Read more...

TRAVELLING THE WORLD FOR COMIC RELIEF

17 MAY 2013: On my first trip to New York City, sometime in the early 1980’s I walked into an art gallery that featured a display of Disney cartoons in the front window.  There was a great piece that featured Bugs Bunny lounging by the side of a road and munching a carrot, while on the road Elmer Fudd chased Daffy Duck and Wile E. Coyote chased the Roadrunner. Read more...