Photo of the Day – Matryoshka dolls

by Jeremy Kressmann on

For travelers, Russia is a country that is at once fascinating and baffling. An oft-cited metaphor for Russia’s many charms and mysteries is the Matryoshka doll, a typical wooden figurine pictured in today’s photo. At first glance, the Matryoshka appears to be a single doll, but when opened, reveals a series of ever-smaller figures inside. Adding to the mystery of today’s photo, taken by Flickr user Christian Carollo Photography, is the fact the photo wasn’t taken in Russia at all – the shot is actually from Philadelphia.

Have any great travel photos you’ve taken recently? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

Planes in Philadelphia and Newark being swept for suspicious materials

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Suspicious items have been found on cargo flights that landed in Newark, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania today. According to the Transportation Security Administration, the planes have been “moved to a remote location … out of an abundance of caution,” according to CNN.

The fire department’s hazardous materials units in Philadelphia responded to situations with two planes – one a UPS flight, the other a 757 with nobody on it. Officials say that the types of material that could be involved aren’t known.

My Fox New York adds:

Homeland Security officials said one of the crew on the cargo plane from Paris, France, landing at Philadelphia around 9 a.m. called authorities thinking a package aboard the plane could have a radioactive makeup, according to MyFoxPhilly.com.

According to My Fox New York, “There are unconfirmed reports that the Newark plane had arrived from Yemen.” Also, a plane bound from Chicago from Yemen was stopped in London when a bomb made from an ink toner cartridge was found.

In a statement, UPS said it’s cooperating with the investigation.

[photo credit: AP]

Philly no longer top spot for airline hotel hookers

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It’s not often a worker at the airport makes you feel good … and it seems like the party’s over for the good people passing through the City of Brotherly Love.

The police ended the fun by arresting nine people this week. They’re being called a “prostitution ring,” but that just seems so negative. Rather, they appear to me to be dedicated to putting smiles on faces in airport hotels.

When’s the last time you smiled in an airport?

So, while we know it’s an airport hotel, we don’t know which one is hooker-heaven: the police are holding back the details. For frequent business travelers, however, this shouldn’t pose a big problem: just stay at a different one on each trip through. Eventually, you’ll find someone to help you turn that frown upside down!

Can you identify a prostitute? USA Today wants to know! Head over to the original story and let them know if you’re savvy enough to pick up the key signs.

[photo by Rodrigo Favera via Flickr]

Philly TSA agent plays cruel drug baggie joke on traveler

by Scott Carmichael on

In what appears to be a daily report of the “dumbest TSA agent”, a story from Philadelphia airport will really have you fuming.

22 year old Rebecca Soloman was heading back to Detroit on January 5th, when she passed through the airport checkpoint. As her bag came out of the X-ray machine, a TSA agent motioned for her to come towards him. As she approached, he held up a small plastic bag containing white powder, and asked “where did you get it”?

Rebecca describes the next 20 seconds as the longest in her life. As she went through all the various terror scenarios in her mind, she held back her tears. It was then, that the TSA agent smiled and told her that he was “just kidding”.

Just kidding – a TSA agent makes you think he found drugs or explosives in your bag, and he was just kidding. Before you get as mad as I did reading the story, you’ll be happy to know that this guy is no longer employed by the TSA, though the agency would not say whether he was fired, or quit on his own.

Look – I understand that every organization in the world is going to be staffed by a small percentage of incompetent fools. But I just don’t get how so many of them ended up in charge of protecting our skies. From missing loaded guns to robbing us blind, the organization always manages to attract the worst of the worst.

A TSA spokesperson issued the following statement to Philly.com:

“The TSA views this employee’s behavior to be highly inappropriate and unprofessional. We can assure travelers this employee has been disciplined by TSA management at Philadelphia International Airport, and he has expressed remorse for his actions.”

Kudos to the agency for taking swift action against this employee. The quicker they get rid of people like this, the better.

Airline employee helps roommate get on plane strapped

by Tom Johansmeyer on

A US Airways employee had the brilliant idea of helping his roommate bring a concealed semiautomatic handgun onto a plane yesterday. On the bright side, this would have meant one less gun on the streets of Philly. Now, both have been charged by the FBI.

Roshid Milledge, a customer service agent, switched bags with passenger Damien Young at the gate, so Young could bring his unloaded weapon on board the plane. He was moving to Phoenix and asked Milledge about the rules for transporting firearms. Instead of following the rules (how boring …), the customer service rep decided to elevate how passengers are treated by airlines and carried the 9mm gun through an employee entrance, bypassing security.

Another passenger, however, saw that Milledge looked “fidgety.” It didn’t take long for the authorities to find Young, who was comfortably on the plane, and bring him back to the gate (after the plane had begun to taxi).

Now, both Milledge and Young are in federal custody, and according to the Associated Press, neither seemed to be represented by council (yeah … smart).

So, what about all those other passengers on board … you know, the folks who didn’t blow off the rules? They were delayed several hours.

Yet another delay caused by airline customer service …