Obesity on airlines is becoming a big issue. Just a couple weeks ago a flight attendant was ruled too fat to fly, and of course the overweight passenger debate is always one that flares up people's opinions. There are two schools of thought. The first is from the view of the passenger stuck next to an overweight one who takes up more than their fair share of space; a lot of people believe that they should have to pay for a second seat. But the second opinion comes from overweight passengers themselves, who believe that they have a right to more space.

According to Reuters, today the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the direction of the latter, declaring that obese people have the right to two seats for the price of one on flights within Canada. The original decision had been made by the Canadian Transportation Authority, who claimed that people that are "functionally disabled by obesity" deserve to have two seats for one fare. The Canadian airlines went to appeal, but the high court declined to hear it, meaning that the decision now stands.

Do you think the official decision is a fair one?

If you ever saw the movie Airplane, the spoof on airplane disaster movies, you probably still laugh out loud thinking about it. Remember the scene when Julie Hagerty took over for the co-pilot but had to fight off the automatic co-pilot who was a blow-up doll? She was trying to help Striker (Robert Hays) land the plane.

That was a spoof.

In a real life story, a female flight attendant recently came to the assistance of a Boeing 767 commander after the co-pilot had a mental meltdown. On an Air Canada flight from Toronto to London's Heathrow, the co-pilot, who had shown up for the flight acting slightly flustered and on edge -- not his usual outgoing, chipper self -- lost most of his marbles over the Atlantic.

After the co-pilot became increasingly belligerent and erratic, and refused to move from his seat, the flight commander asked the crew to help remove the co-pilot from his seat.

Once the co-pilot was removed -- into the capable hands of doctors who happened to be on board -- the flight attendant took over the co-pilot's job. She had a commercial pilot's license, thus was a huge help to the commander. The flight was diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland where she helped land the plane. Upon arrival, the co-pilot spent 11 days in a mental hospital before being transported back to Canada.

Although this real-life drama happened this past January, the investigation has just been completed. The commander and flight attendant were found to be heroes, although that term wasn't used in the official report.

The official report is an interesting read about how decisions are made in the air to keep both passengers and crew safe. It's a PDF file and was sent along by Gadling's own Kent Wien who has the insider track to about everything.

When the nights are long and the weather is icky, you can make like a bear and tuck in until spring, or you can make the most of it and have fun with the cold weather. Maybe you've outgrown your sledding and snowman days, but you can still live it up in a real winter wonderland at Québec's Hôtel de Glace.

Open every year from January through March, this ice hotel is newly rebuilt every year with a new design, featuring sculpted archways and enchanting ice sculptures. There are 36 rooms and theme suites for overnight visitors, all featuring ice beds with heavy duty sleeping bags. Temperatures inside the hotel are steady between -3°C and -5°C, no matter what the weather is like outdoors. The hotel's information guide tells you everything you need to know about dressing for a trip like this.

You can tour the hotel without spending the night, or you can take advantage of the special packages the Hôtel de Glace offers -- they have special couples packages, a dogsledding adventure, and even several wedding packages.

Visit the Hôtel de Glace website between now and November 26th, and you can enter to win a free stay at the ice hotel.



All photos courtesy Hôtel de Glace and used by permission.

We live in an era of global brands. McDonald's, Starbucks, H&M, Coca Cola, Australia... Wait, what???

You read correctly, Australia recently won the top spot of the 2008 Country Brand Index. Nation branding, as it's officially referred to, is the theory and practice of measuring and building the reputations of countries; basically applying standard commercial brand management that you'd find with commodities and using it to analyzing everywhere from Austria to Zimbabwe.

The 2008 study conducted by Future Brand, a global brand consulting firm, used rankings from 30 different categories to come up with the final index. Among the categories were History, Standard of Living, Friendly Locals and Environmentalism. It's like a beauty pageant for countries, with the most well-rounded coming out on top. Here are the top ten:

1. Australia
2. Canada
3. USA
4. Italy
5. Switzerland
6. France
7. New Zealand
8. United Kingdom
9. Japan
10. Sweden

When you look at that list, referring to countries as specific brands starts to make a little sense. Don't we all have pretty concrete associations with France for example? Wine, croissants and cheese. And what about Sweden? Meatballs, moose and blondes. Looks like what we once referred to as stereotypes has a new name.

Kimpton, that hotel and restaurant group that's paying your baggage fees, has released their holiday beverages, calling them "Cocktails for a Cure." You can now donate to HIV and AIDS charities by getting sauced at Kimpton hotels and restaurants all across the U.S. and Canada.

The beverages, created by their master mixologist Jacques Bezuidenhout, are:

• Rouge on the Rocks – Milagro Blanco Tequila, Grand Marnier, raspberries and mint
• Scarlet Night – Bacardi Rum, Campari and white peach puree
• Ruby Sparkle – Grey Goose Vodka, Grand Marnier, pomegranate juice and sparkling wine

Each costs $12, and every time you purchase one, $1 will be donated to one of the featured charities (listed after the jump). $1 doesn't sound like a lot to you? Better have five cocktails. Don't be stingy.

Kimpton's "Cocktails for a Cure" promotion is part of an annual Red Ribbon campaign. For more than two decades, Kimpton has assisted HIV and AIDS service organizations across North America through employee volunteerism, educational campaigns, corporate donations, and raising funds through special events.

Toronto Pearson International has announced that it is opening a lounge for all passengers. Before you start envisioning a scene similar to the chaotic free-for-all at the local buffet, you should know that entry is $35. Pretty steep for those who just want to hang out and see if they can snag a few peanuts off the bar.

What does the $35 get you? Lounge-users have access to wireless internet, printers, large flat-screen televisions and some quality food and drink. $35 might seem a bit steep, but not as expensive as upgrading to business-class or first-class just so you can spend your layover in the lounge. The lounge is in Pearson's Terminal 1, near the international pier.

Terminal 1 is actually one of the more pleasant places in the world to wait for a connecting flight. Travelers could easily chew up a couple of hours wandering between the numerous art installations and shops in the terminal.

Since Wednesdays are always long, thought I'd post this video of one of the longest footbridges in the world. Trust me, as someone who had to cross too many of these things mucking around in the Himalayans a couple months ago, I know these bridges are quite scary up close--especially when there's a strong wind and a pack of mules behind you waiting to cross.

More pics here.

While their neighbors to the south fret over their own upcoming trips to the polls, Canada got on with it and elected, or in many cases re-elected, its parliamentary leaders earlier this week. The results: the Conservative Party led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper won 16 more seats while their Liberal peers dropped 18 seats. However, the results are not enough to give Harper's party control of parliament. That means that they will have to form a minority parliament, relying on alliances with other, smaller parties to get things done.

Some of the other parliamentary players include the New Democratic Party (NDP), which earned 37 seats, and Bloc Québécois (BC), which now has 50 seats. The BC is a unique party because it seeks the Independence and sovereignty of Quebec Province and is not concerned very much with the rest of Canada. They gained two more seats in this election than they held beforehand. In the end, though, it seems that the elections did not alter the balance of power too much.

[Via CBC]

Highways are, of course, an essential part of our national transportation system. Trouble is, at least in urban areas, they seem to go right through the areas that you would rather not see them go through. For instance, Seattle's Puget Sound coastline. Now, I've been to Seattle, and while I was there, I stayed in a hotel about a block away from the bustling waterfront, busy shopping areas and active nightlife. The only thing between me and the sights was a giant, towering road known as the Alaskan Way Viaduct. It's elevated, so getting across it wasn't a problem. That's not the point. It's big - about five stories. It's loud. It's a mass of bright lights at night. And, if it weren't there, I would've be able to see across Puget Sound from my hotel room.

Thus, you can imagine my delight when I discovered that the Alaskan Way Viaduct is, in fact, number one on the Congress for the New Urbanism's "Freeways Without Futures" - a list of the top ten freeways in North America that we really could just do without. And they're not roads that people are just running around complaining about - these roads actually have pleasant, viable alternatives that would free up valuable urban real estate and drive economic growth. Check out the article for the full list of roads, and if you live in one of those areas, consider adding your voice to the growing number of people calling for reasonable alternatives.

(Via Wired Magazine)

When television reporters try for their moment of glory by standing outside in the midst of a hurricane, there is usually a palm tree being whipped by the wind in the background. Hurricanes are known mainly as a tropical phenomenon. But not always. Hurricane Kyle battered Nova Scotia yesterday. Meanwhile, the neighboring US state of Maine issued the first hurricane warning in 17 years. Winds of 96 miles per hour were reported when the category one storm made landfall.

While rare, hurricanes in Canada are not unheard of. Hurricane Juan caused two fatalities when it hit Canada's Atlantic coast 5 years ago. No deaths have been reported during Kyle. However, trees and power lines were downed.

The worst-ever storm to hit Canada was Hurricane Hazel, which killed 85 people in 1954 and left large parts of Toronto flooded. Kyle is the 6th hurricane and 11th tropical storm of the season. Storms this year have been particularly bad for Caribbean nations.