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***TW – Extreme Incompetence ***
The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority are on eternally vigilant for dread items such as this:
or this:
Obviously items depicted above are a clear and present danger to yourself, your fellow passengers, the airplane, and Western Civilization(!). Trying to get either types of these items past airport security gets you this:
YOU SHALL NOT PASS !!!
Recently though, at the Edmonton International Airport someone decided to bring another item in carry on luggage. It looked like this:
This is the security photo from the Edmonton Airport. Observe cylindrical object on left.
Let’s get another view of said item.
Hmmm. Smells like a pipe bomb to me.
Our intrepid CATSA security screeners responded like this:
CATSA AGENT – Lol Whut? It’s only a pipe bomb. Carry on with your flight sir, oh AND DID YOU WANT YOUR PIPE BOMB BACK?
Thankfully, the passenger in question, did not want his pipe bomb back and insisted, to the properly mollified airport screeners, that the pipe bomb should remain in the hands of airport security. Our watchful guardians then sat on the pipe bomb for four days before they notified the police (RCMP).
This story broke and everyone who has heard it since has been like this:
WHAT THE F*CK?
I have nothing really more to say on the subject as my mind is blown. If you’d like the full story, please see these three CBC articles linked below detailing how a dude brought a pipe bomb to the Edmonton Airport, got caught in airport security, had security GIVE THE PIPE BOMB BACK, and then have him insist they take it, and then board his flight despite having brought a bomb in his carry-on luggage.
I heard he had a great vacation.
Seeing that yellowish burning orb in the sky would be a nice change of pace right about now. :)
Lovely UofA Campus, featuring the roof of SUB and the Education Building in the distance.
Hello gentle readers. It is the holiday season and the Edmonton Food Bank needs our help. :)
Go to the CBC Turkey Drive to donate a bird for $25 dollars and feed a family this year, not much time is left as the drive is over at the end of the week, so go there now!
Happy Holidays everyone. :)
I wonder sometimes about the decision to stay in my lovely hometown of Edmonton with weather like this:
And frigid vehicles like this:
But then I remember I hate these, and then the winterwonderhell weather becomes much more tolerable –
I think Rick might have a point. What sort of person would continue to vote for Mayor with Mr.Ford’s reputation? It is quite beyond my reckoning.
Remembrance Day is a conflicted day for me, I have had the absolute luxury of never having to fight in an armed conflict and for that I am grateful.
Conversely, the application of military power is always the sign of the failure of the human spirit when we must resort to destroying nations and people for what is purported to be what is “right”. We must remember all of those who gave their lives and have had their lives taken from them. John Pilgers quote speaks to the merciless nature of war.
During World War One, 10% of all casualties were civilians.
During World War Two, the number of civilian deaths rose to 50%.
During the Vietnam War, 70% of all casualties were civilians.
In the war in Iraq, civilians account for up to 90% of all deaths.
Sobering figures to say the least.
Speaking of participating in Remembrance Day activities, I had a concert yesterday and my choir, called Soldiers Cry. It was special as Roland Majeau came to sing his song with us, he brought his guitar and accompanied us while he sang the solo line. The song is rhythmically very challenging. As you’re sitting there listening, clap your hands softly to find the pulse of the music. Notice that all the lyrics start when your hands are apart. This piece of music has syncopation in spades, making it just a bear to learn.
The second challenge for me is not to think of the damn video while singing, because becoming emotional/getting misty does bad things to your vocal instrument. :/
I’ll apologize now for the disjointed nature of this post. Days like today do much to stir the emotional pot as they raise many conflicting feelings about how we treat the past, and which parts we choose to focus on. Our history contains a staggering amount of violence , every day could be like November 11th for all the people who have unjustly lost their lives during conflict.
I hope that on days like today people understand, even for just a short while. the importance of history and how the past makes our future. Understanding what we have done, and why, is vital in constructing a coherent view of the world.
I’m not sure how many people really get the horror of war and the terrible price we all pay being party to it, but if Remembrance Day awakens a twinge of empathy, a stirring of consideration, even a feeling of “I don’t want that”, then days like this should be considered to valuable and worth continuing.
Update: The concert went very well, we played to a full house and managed to get an encore out of the proceedings. :)
I just learned the simple way of transferring photos from my phone to the blog. Here is one picture I took of a particularly nice tree framed from the stairwell of the where I work on campus.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
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