Disabled Veteran Accuses Airline Of Animal Cruelty And Verbal Abuse

by Jessica Festa on



Paws and Stripes founder and disabled veteran Jim Staneck had a very disturbing experience with United Airlines in Virgina’s Dulles International Airport. According to Staneck, not only did staff ask him if he was “retarded,” they also kicked his service dog, Sarge.

The incident occurred during a hectic time, when there were a lot of flight cancellations and delays. After spending 48 hours in the airport, Staneck approached a United Airlines’ staff member to ask for help. The veteran suffers from a brain injury that makes it difficult for him to concentrate under stress, and was having trouble understanding the new itinerary.

“He said, ‘Just read it,’ and I said, ‘Sir I can’t read it,’ and he said, ‘What are you retarded?'” Staneck recalls. “Prior to this I told him I have a brain injury and PTSD, I’m a disabled vet, this is my second night here; I need help.”

To hear Staneck’s side of the story live, check out the video above. It’s also worthwhile to go through the comments left under the video on Life With Dogs, as it appears many are trying to rally a ban of United Airlines until all guilty parties are fired.

What do you think?

Video Of The Day: Ramadan Iftar Feast, Olympics Edition

by Meg Nesterov on


Tomorrow, July 20, thousands of Muslims will wake up around the world and begin a month-long fast for the occasion of Ramadan. From sunrise to sunset, they will abstain from eating, drinking, and smoking, while breaking the fast with lively Ramadan iftar feasts at night. This year is special as it will coincide with the London Olympics, and UK mosques will be welcoming people from all over the world from every faith (or lack there of) to join in the celebratory feasts. If you are visiting London, you can learn more about the Ramadan holy month or join an iftar. You can visit www.iftar2012.com for more information.

If you’d like to share your travel photos or videos with us, add them to the Gadling Flickr pool or post a link below.

Video: Bhutanese Refugees In The US

by Elizabeth Seward on

When people are forced to flee their native countries, they become refugees. This concept seems simple, but it’s not one with which most citizens of the U.S. are familiar. This video on Bhutanese refugees originally ran on The Seattle Channel’s program, City Stream. The video follows in the footsteps of one Bhutanese family that was forced out of Bhutan at gunpoint 18 years ago. The family lived in Nepal in a refugee camp before being welcomed into Seattle. As the number of Bhutanese immigrants is rising in the U.S., this video offers important insight.

Zach Anner And Reddit Launch New Online Travel Show: ‘Riding Shotgun’

by Grant Martin on

Remember Zach Anner, the funny guy with cerebral palsy that launched a travel show on Oprah’s Network last year? Our friend and Internet metagod Alexis Ohanian reached out yesterday to let us know that they’re moving the show to the Internet in a new series called “Riding Shotgun.”

Funded by Mr. Ohanian’s uncorporation Breadpig (they’re also behind the xkcd book and sell awsomesauce), Riding Shotgun will cull all of its ideas from reddit, where users will be able to vote on destinations as well as activities in each spot. The show will visit eight of the top voted destinations, and right now Montreal, New Orleans, Denver and San Francisco are all in a heated battle for the top spot.

The result will be a multimedia mixture of user-submitted videos, maps and a full YouTube series. In their words:

Think Anthony Bourdain, but instead of a crotchety indifference to everything, we’ll have a crotchety exuberance for everything with more fun, more wigs and more wheelchairs.

We can’t wait for the result. Check out the show’s details over on Mr. Anner’s site or vote on destinations over on reddit.

Video: Babongo Funeral

by Elizabeth Seward on


The Babongo people, or Bongo people, in Gabon, lead fascinating lives that are wildly different from the lives many of us lead in Western civilization. The Babongo funeral is an example of this. When BBC’s Bruce Parry went to Gabon to explore, a woman and a baby died in the village he was visiting shortly after his arrival. He and his crew (one member of which was Jonathan Clay, who hosts the above video on his Vimeo account) accepted an invitation to stay and decided to film the funeral festivities. Beginning with abundant grief, the village dismisses the spirits of the dead with drumming, dancing and other rituals. This short clip from BBC’s “Tribe” is distressing and informative. After all, how we honor our dead reflects how we define ourselves.