Southwest Airlines made headlines earlier this year for kicking overweight actor-director Kevin Smith off a flight because he took up more than one seat.Now we're hearing the airline recently removed a 5-foot-4, 110-pound Sacramento-area woman from a plane so a hefty passenger could have an extra seat.The incident happened last week on an early-evening Southwest flight from Las Vegas to Sacramento. The local woman was flying standby, paid full fare for the last available seat, got on board, stowed her bags and sat down - only to be told she would have to deplane immediately.The reason? A late-arriving passenger required two seats because of her girth. [...] Why the extra concern? The person requiring two seats was just 14 years old.
Southwest Airlines made headlines earlier this year for kicking overweight actor-director Kevin Smith off a flight because he took up more than one seat.
Now we're hearing the airline recently removed a 5-foot-4, 110-pound Sacramento-area woman from a plane so a hefty passenger could have an extra seat.
The incident happened last week on an early-evening Southwest flight from Las Vegas to Sacramento.
The local woman was flying standby, paid full fare for the last available seat, got on board, stowed her bags and sat down - only to be told she would have to deplane immediately.
The reason?
A late-arriving passenger required two seats because of her girth.
[...]
Why the extra concern? The person requiring two seats was just 14 years old.
But I also remember more than one restaurant getting noticeably worse after establishing itself. Maybe the pressures of profit-seeking will ruin any company's customer service... By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
A bear climbed into an empty car in the US state of Colorado, sounded the horn and sent the vehicle rolling down hill with the terrified animal still inside. The car's owner, 17-year-old Ben Story, took a snap of the panic-stricken bear as it demolished the inside of his vehicle in its bid to escape. Police in Larkspur, near Denver, eventually freed the animal by opening the door from a distance using a rope. It is believed the bear was attracted by a sandwich left on the back seat. Mr Story and his family were asleep when the bear opened the unlocked door of his 2008 Toyota Corolla in the early hours of the morning and climbed inside.
A bear climbed into an empty car in the US state of Colorado, sounded the horn and sent the vehicle rolling down hill with the terrified animal still inside.
The car's owner, 17-year-old Ben Story, took a snap of the panic-stricken bear as it demolished the inside of his vehicle in its bid to escape.
Police in Larkspur, near Denver, eventually freed the animal by opening the door from a distance using a rope.
It is believed the bear was attracted by a sandwich left on the back seat.
Mr Story and his family were asleep when the bear opened the unlocked door of his 2008 Toyota Corolla in the early hours of the morning and climbed inside.
Vladimir Putin has given a bizarre account of meeting with the Russia spies expelled from the US during a trip to a motorcyle convention designed to boost his flagging popularity. The Russian prime minister travelled to neighbouring Ukraine where he spent the day hanging out at a motorcycle convention with a group of Russian bikers called the "Night Wolves." At a meeting with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Mr Putin spoke at length, in often surprising terms, about the recent US-Russia spy scandal that ended in the biggest spy swap since the Cold War.
The Russian prime minister travelled to neighbouring Ukraine where he spent the day hanging out at a motorcycle convention with a group of Russian bikers called the "Night Wolves."
At a meeting with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Mr Putin spoke at length, in often surprising terms, about the recent US-Russia spy scandal that ended in the biggest spy swap since the Cold War.
Spaniard Alberto Contador (Astana) sealed his third Tour de France victory after finishing the race's last stage in Paris with a 39-second lead over Luxembourg's Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank). Briton Mark Cavendish (Columbia) won the 20th and final stage. AFP - Alberto Contador leaves Paris on Sunday with yet another Tour de France crown, and the same angelic smile that paints a picture of a no-frills cycling champion. Behind that facade is a rider who, like cancer survivor Lance Armstrong, has realised there are more painful things than suffering for long hours in the Alps and Pyrenees.
AFP - Alberto Contador leaves Paris on Sunday with yet another Tour de France crown, and the same angelic smile that paints a picture of a no-frills cycling champion.
Behind that facade is a rider who, like cancer survivor Lance Armstrong, has realised there are more painful things than suffering for long hours in the Alps and Pyrenees.
