Photo of the day: firecracker in Chennai, India

by Elizabeth Seward on


A friend of mine, Vishaka, was born and raised in in Chennai, India. She has now married another friend of mine, Keith, an American, and they live full-time in Indiana. But every so often, once or twice a year it seems, they make the trip back to Chennai to spend time with family and to keep their ties to Chennai’s culture tight.

This shot captures Vishaka setting off her first firecracker outside of her parents’ house in Chennai. The vibrant light is what I like most about this photo–especially with summer now in full-swing.

Have your own firecracker or summer shots to submit for Photo of the day? Upload them to the Gadling Flickr Pool so we can take a look.

Photo by: Keith Pennington

British man passes through U.S. TSA security checkpoint with bag full of fireworks

by Scott Carmichael on

When 29 year old Paul Jones celebrated the 4th of July in Kansas, he ended up with a large bag of unused fireworks. Instead of discarding them, he kept them in a bag and brought them home back to the United Kingdom. In doing so, he was able to keep them in his carry-on luggage, and even passed the bag of explosives through the Kansas airport x-ray machine, in plain sight of officers.

It wasn’t until he arrived back home that a customs official spotted the fireworks and questioned him. To make matters worse, he was even able to carry a lighter though the checkpoint, which would have obviously aided in setting them off on his flight.

The BBC contacted Continental Airlines, who pointed their fingers at the TSA, who were obviously “not available for comments.” According to Continental Airlines, “We warn customers on our website about hazardous materials which are prohibited on aircraft under federal law, and the list includes fireworks.” Well, I’m sure terrorists will read those warnings and leave their bombs at home next time they fly.

Without hand screening every single bag, the TSA will of course never catch 100% of hazardous materials passing the checkpoint, but to miss a bag filled with 200 firecrackers shows an amazing level of incompetence.

[Image from BBC News]