“The popular Lonely Planet is taking some heat for their new Blue List book. The New York Post (Dec. 20, 2005) writes that the book contains “three pages of anti-American cliches, portraying us [citizens of the USA] all as obese, idiot war-mongers obsessed with dieting, nude vacations and raucous St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.” I suppose…

“Flags are 239 icons, in GIF and PNG formats, for pretty much every country in the world. Available for free use for any purpose.” Link: famfamfam.com

“FOR millions of travelers, credit card reward programs are the best way to score free airline tickets and hotel rooms. But with credit card issuers and travel companies ratcheting up the competition for customers in recent months – for instance, JetBlue recently rolled out a new card with American Express – how do you know…

“British low-cost airline easyJet’s passenger numbers in November rose 8.3 percent from a year ago to 2.3 million, the company said on Wednesday.” Link: airwise.com

“The Belgian judiciary has accused Irish budget airline Ryanair of forgery and fiscal fraud, it was revealed on Wednesday. Federal police in Charleroi have summoned two directors of the company, Michael Cawley and Bernard Berger, to answer questions about the allegations at the start of December.” Link: expatica.com

“Julian Nowill has thrown down the gauntlet to those of us with budgets too limited to tackle the great Paris / Dakar Rally. The Plymouth / Dakar Challenge has a few rules that will help to ensure that team budgets do not run too much a risk of financial peril.” Link: plymouth-banjul.co.uk

“Low-cost airline Ryanair is to change its policy on carrying blind and partially-sighted passengers following criticism for ejecting a group of blind travellers from a flight.” Link: turkishpress.com

“Yesterday Belgian workers started to assemble the thermo-dynamic hall for the 3rd German Festival of Ice Sculptures at L???¯?‚???‚?½beck’s Media Docks, an area where old harbour buildings have been renovated. The hall will accommodate ice sculptures on 1,200 square metres, which corresponds to a size of 30×40 metres.” Link: iceworld.de

“Hundreds of Ryanair pilots are set to cash in windfalls worth an average of ???€š?‚?£34,000 when the budget airline’s latest share-option scheme matures at the end of this month.” Link: independent.co.uk

“We searched Washington, D.C., for the ultimate value meal: great tasting, excellent service, unique atmosphere, and — hardest of all — close to the sites and attractions you want to see.”Link: cnn.com