eschipul / CC by 2.0

It takes a big man to admit he's made a mistake, and they don't come any bigger, at least in the travel world, than Arthur Frommer. In a blog post earlier this month, Frommer expressed regret for the times that he recommended SeaWorld in his popular travel guides:

Click here to read the letter that had such an impact on Frommer. And after you've visited his Web site to share some love, send an e-mail to SeaWorld and ask its officials if they're big enough to admit that they were wrong too.

Written by Alisa Mullins

Johnnie

Meet Johnnie, a badly injured black-capped chickadee who was at least lucky enough to be found by a compassionate Illinois family that called us for advice. This young bird had a broken back. PETA caseworkers guided the family through safely containing Johnnie and made sure that he was rushed to a veterinarian for assessment. Johnnie's injuries were terribly painful and debilitating, so the vet did right by him and quickly ended his suffering. Even though Johnnie couldn't be saved, the family could rest assured that they did the right thing by not hesitating to help an animal in need.

You'd have to have a heart of stone to see a struggling fledgling or other small animal and not want to help. Of course, in most cases, letting the animal's mother take care of business is exactly the right thing to do. If you see a bird or other small animal and wonder if he or she is in trouble, stand back, wait, and watch before doing anything. If the animal is alert, upright, and calm, then he or she is probably healthy and Mom is likely nearby. But if the animal is lethargic or has an obvious injury, like Johnnie, stay with the animal and call your local humane society, the SPCA, animal control, or a reputable wildlife rehabilitator for advice. If you still need help, call our emergency response team at 757-434-6285 pronto! (We are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.)

Other birds need your help right now, like the grackles who are frequently poisoned in Odessa, Texas.

Our emergency tips will give you everything you need to know about helping injured wildlife.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

I hate to "out" myself as a listener of Mancow's Morning Madhouse Show, but I actually caught him praising Frommer's Travel Guides this morning as his preferred companion while globe-trotting. Funny he should mention that, 'cause we love the folks at Frommer's too!

In a very progressive move, Frommer's Travel Guides is now advising readers not to support the horse-drawn carriage industry in New York City. In the New York Experiences to Avoid section of the 2008 Frommer's Guide to New York City, tourists are instead urged to "[p]ity those poor beasts of burden," who appear "so forlorn, as if [pulling carriages is] the last thing they want to do." The guide recommends pedicab rides to people who "want a slow, leisurely ride through Central Park, minus the ripe and frequent smell of horse poop ...."

While it is of course excellent that Frommer's is making this statement on behalf of horses in the city's carriage industry, I can't imagine that any reader of the guide—as a person with enough intellect to be literate—would find it too surprising that horses might not want to die in a car crash or, worse, spend a life in servitude to visiting yuppies. New York is famous for a host of other things—from window shopping to the good eats at Red Bamboo—so I don't think visitors will be at a loss if they can't spend a half-hour getting a buzz off the smell of feces.