What some may be calling a prank and others a dangerous and terrifying action, Alif Chowdhury ripped off his backpack and yelled “It’s Time To Die” at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport at about 9:30 p.m. Monday. The boy was taken into custody by police and is now having a psychiatric evaluation.  

Authorities say the 16-year-old boy (Alif Chowdhury) from Garden City, Long Island was with his father (Ehsan Chowdhury) waiting outside a terminal prior to their flight to J-F-K Airport.

Passers-by became suspicious of the youth’s behavior and alerted airport police. The teen — who was dressed in a white robe-like garment — became agitated while officers questioned his father. Officials say he said he wasn’t afraid to die and tried to pull something out of his backpack.

The officers subdued the youth, who was carrying cell phones in the backpack but nothing dangerous. The teen was taken to a Buffalo hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. via WSTM Television.

Looks like rapper DMX decided to cause trouble on a flight between New York and London and ended up arrested when the flight landed at Heathrow International Airport.

Police arrested rap star DMX after he refused to put on a seat belt and became abusive on a flight from New York to London, authorities said Monday.
The rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, received a caution and was released after his American Airlines flight landed at Heathrow Airport on Saturday, police said on condition of anonymity in line with departmental policy.
A caution means a person has accepted responsibility for the offense, and a record will be made.
The artist has had brushes with the authorities in the past. via AccessAtlanta.

Historic Jamestown in coastal Virginia is celebrating their 400th anniversary with the opening of its  newest attraction, the Jamestown Archaearium. The archaearium will showcase the findings of the world-renowned archaeological discoveries at the first permanent English settlement in the New World and the birthplace of America.

Developed by APVA Preservation Virginia, the innovative $4.9 million facility opens Saturday, May 13, on the 399th anniversary of Jamestown. Elizabeth Kostelny, executive director of APVA Preservation Virginia, said the Archaearium (pronounced ark – ee – air – ee – um) links history, archaeology and a sense of place to tell the story of Jamestown from 1607 to 1699. “Every American should visit here. This is where our nation began,” she said.

The Archaearium and the archaeological research are the APVA Preservation Virginia’s signature contributions to Jamestown’s 400th anniversary in 2007. The Archaearium is also the centerpiece of the overall $63 million master plan, created in partnership with the National Park Service, for new interpretive experiences and that will open at Historic Jamestowne during the next year including a new visitor center that will tell the history of Jamestown and the Indian, European and African peoples who lived there. Plans also include a riverside restaurant, enhanced visitor transportation opportunities and outdoor exhibits.

Official Jamestown Settlement Website.

If you see someone with their dog or pet on your next flight or at your favorite restaurant do not be surprised. The person is probably not pulling a fast one. They are using a new provision in federal policy that allows emotional support pets on flights or in restaurants, and their is nothing the companies can do to stop this. So if you think cell phones are annoying, wait till you are seated next to a person with a yappy dog for a 4 hour cross country flight.

Health care professionals have recommended animals for psychological or emotional support for more than two decades, based on research showing many benefits, including longer lives and less stress for pet owners.
But recently a number of New York restaurateurs have noticed a surge in the number of diners seeking to bring dogs inside for emotional support, where previously restaurants had accommodated only dogs for the blind.
“I had never heard of emotional support animals before,” said Steve Hanson, an owner of 12 restaurants including Blue Fin and Blue Water Grill in Manhattan. “And now all of a sudden in the last several months, we’re hearing this.”
The increasing appearance of pets whose owners say they are needed for emotional support in restaurants — as well as on airplanes, in offices and even in health spas — goes back, according to those who train such animals, to a 2003 ruling by the Department of Transportation. It clarified policies regarding disabled passengers on airplanes, stating for the first time that animals used to aid people with emotional ailments like depression or anxiety should be given the same access and privileges as animals helping people with physical disabilities like blindness or deafness. via New York Times.

Traveling in Maine is probably not a great idea 9 months of the year, but during the summer months it can be a great place to visit. As opposed to staying on the coast, a great alternative is staying off the coast on a mini cruise ship.  The three diminutive ships of American Cruise Lines – American Eagle, American Spirit, and American Glory — carry no more than 100 passengers apiece. They poke along the Atlantic coast, slipping into historic, sleepy ports and letting passengers explore the quirks of these salty towns.

The Cruises visit some of the seaside towns of Maine showing the beautiful coastline during its travels.

So it goes all week, as American Eagle threads its way among the many islands and lighthouses dotting the mid-Maine coast. The journey starts and ends on the Penobscot River in Bangor, pausing in Bar Harbor, Bucksport, Rockland, Camden, Castine and Belfast. The comfortable, if not luxurious, ship provides such low-key entertainment as kite-flying and cocktails on the open top deck. via CNN.com

Tachinomiya, or standing bars, are bars in Japan that offer low cost drinks but no seats. They are designed for a quick drink on your way home from work. An interesting concepts as they are becoming popular in Japan, but growing up in New York, Penn Station and Grand Central Stations were full of tachinomiya. They just were never called a fancy name beside bar.

IN Tokyo, where cafe floor space is at a premium, some bars are abolishing tables and chairs altogether and stacking customers vertically along a bar.
They are known as tachinomiya, or standing bars, and they are sweeping Tokyo. Their popularity is fueled by low prices and the opportunities they offer many young, shy Japanese to mix and mingle with whoever is standing next to them.
“It’s easy to go in, easy to go out,” said Sachiko Tabata, who was sipping and snacking with another young woman at a new bar in Shinbashi called Gohiikini, or Nice to Meet You (2-8-9 Shinbashi Minato-ku; 81-3-3502-3132; www.3cs.co.jp). Standing at one end of a polished wood bar, they were discussing their reactions to the movie “Sayuri,” known in the United States as “Memoirs of a Geisha.”
Generally found close to Tokyo’s major commuter rail stations and open from 4 . to 11 p.m., tachinomiya are ideal for an end-of-the-day stop. A visitor can sip a glass of imported wine, nibble on tapas and rub shoulders at the bar. Many of the tachinomiya are literally holes in the wall. But some, like Gohiikini, have Web sites with maps that can be printed out for an evening of hashigo or bar hopping. via the New York Times.

More on Tachinomiya from Japan Today

As many of us noticed, the threat of the strike by the pilots cost the airline millions of dollars per week. The end result of all this posturing, more damage to the airline and not much difference to the long term future.

Delta, which filed for bankruptcy protection in September, previously agreed to $1 billion in annual concessions, including a 32.5% wage cut, in a five-year deal in 2004. It then sought an additional $325 million in cuts from its nearly 6,000 pilots, who threatened to strike as an April 15 deadline for an agreement approached.
“Even the threat of a pilot strike was costing Delta millions of dollars per week in lost sales, as concerned passengers and shippers booked flights on other airlines,” Delta said in its filing, adding to its argument that the court should accept the pilot agreement. via USATODAY.com

The Monterrey region has seen a shift in what goes on with some of their tourist boating excursions. They originally were used for fishing trips, but most of the boats have been converted for whale watching cruises.

Four of these businesses are based in Monterey, on Fisherman’s Wharf, a quaint tourist magnet — Monterey Whale Watching, Chris’ Fishing Trips, Randy’s Fishing Trips and Monterey Bay Boat Charters. All have been in business for many decades, beginning life as sport-fishing charter operations. Fueled by growing environmental consciousness, films such as Free Willy and countless Discovery Channel documentaries, public interest has shifted from catching salmon and rockfish to oohing and aahing as giant whales spray spume into the foggy Monterey Bay sky. That, combined with ever more stringent Fish and Game Dept. regulations, turned the formerly gore-slick decks of boats with such macho names as Top Gun and Magnum Force into floating marine biology classrooms, complete with narration by trained naturalists. via Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal:.

An interesting article on how airfares are finally starting to rise and how quickly they can change at airports such as Raleigh Durham International Airport. The costs that the airlines are having to absorb need to be passed onto the consumers if the industry is going to be healthy. It just will take a little time for the passengers to recognize the necessity of it.

Increasing fuel costs and decreasing capacity at Raleigh-Durham International Airport are conspiring to create rising fare prices, according to federal statistics.
In fact, RDU posted the eighth highest percentage increase in fares in the latest Air Travel Price Index, which compared ticket price changes from the fourth quarter of 2004 to the fourth quarter of 2005 at the country’s top 85 airports. The index is compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
While helpful, the index doesn’t give a practical measure of what the change means in terms of actual dollars and cents. Aaron Taylor, vice president of airline consulting firm Eclat Consulting, puts the change in more tangible terms: RDU’s average, one-way fare for a 1,000-mile trip at the end of 2005 was $125, up 14 percent from a year earlier.
The rising cost of fuel, which carriers are trying to pass on to passengers, is one of the primary reasons for an increase in fares nationwide. U.S. passenger and cargo planes burned through 19.9 billion gallons of jet fuel in 2005. At that rate, a 1-cent increase in the price of a gallon of jet fuel adds $199 million in yearly fuel costs industry-wide, according to the Air Transport Association of America, a trade organization for airlines.

Airfares take off at RDU - Triangle Business Journal:.