TSA misses another “forgotten” loaded gun

by Scott Carmichael on

Apparently all the security equipment in the world can’t fix stupidity and poor screening. A transfer passenger was arrested at Tokyo’s Narita airport last week when security staff found a loaded gun and ammo in his carry-on luggage.

The man was on his way from Dallas to Bangkok, passing through Narita.

The passenger told local authorities that he “forgot” he was still carrying his gun. This obviously means someone at Dallas Airport screwed up.

I’m not entirely sure how a gun and ammo don’t show up on the X-Ray screen. Airport security is supposed to be in place to prevent terrorists and stupid people from bringing a gun on our flights.

Japanese gun laws are extremely strict, and it would not surprise me if the passenger will spend a couple of weeks in a Japanese jail while the police investigate the matter. I’m sure they’ll be sending a nastygram to their US counterparts, politely requesting that they pay a little more attention to guns and a little less attention to bottles of water.

(Photo from Flickr/CC Kevitivity)

Amtrak to become gun-friendly?

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Thanks to a Senate vote on Wednesday, Amtrak is a step closer to becoming the nation’s gun-friendly travel alternative. The proposal was approved by a vote of 68 to 30 and would allow passengers to take firearms with them on trains – as long as they declare that they are doing so. The firearms also have to be unloaded and locked in a container.

Of course, Amtrak is, so to speak, being held at gunpoint on this bill. If it does not change its gun policy, the railroad would lose its $1.6 billion government subsidy, thanks to some wheeling and dealing by Mississippi’s Senator Roger Wicker.

The current policy, which prohibits travel with weapons, was implemented following the terror attacks on Madrid‘s passenger trains in 2004. Wicker cites the importance of second amendment rights in pushing for the change in policy.

Opponents of the bill say that it would be too costly to allow firearms on trains, particularly since Amtrak doesn’t have the security measures and equipment in place to manage the change. Putting it into place would be too expensive.

A House version of the bill, which passed, doesn’t include the gun measures, and the two proposals have yet to be reconciled.

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Amster-done? Visit a castle

by Sean McLachlan on

In my last Amster-done? post I talked about taking a day trip to the beautiful city of Delft. Today I’m featuring two medieval castles far from the noise and pungent smells of Amsterdam, but still less than an hour away by public transport.

Muider Castle, known to the locals as Muiderslot, is a twenty minute bus ride from Amsterdam’s Amstel station. Get off at the stop for Muiden and take a short walk through a park, then the village of Muiden, and along a harbor where you’ll see the castle in the distance.

It’s a pretty sight. This castle was founded around the year 1285 to protect Muiden harbor. It was expanded over the years and now appears much as it did when major building was completed in 1450. There’s a peaceful garden off to one side, and an open area where falconry demonstrations are held. If you’ve never seen a falcon doing its stuff, this alone is enough to make you glad you came. These regal birds are amazingly quick and well-trained, and can pluck a bit of meat out of their trainer’s hand while swooping past at blinding speed.

The interior of the castle is made up like it was in the olden days, with chambers for the lord and lady, an armoury for the soldiers, a creepy dungeon for people who use their cell phones in restaurants, and even some primitive privies. The privies are noticeably lacking in the dungeon. Serves them right.

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The Castle de Haar (Kasteel de Haar in Dutch) is another fine relic of the bad old days. If you don’t have a car, the easiest way to get there is to take a train or bus to Utrecht Centraal Station and then take bus 127 in the direction of Breukelen/Kockengen to the “Brink” stop at Haarzuilens. It’s only a 15 minute walk at that point.

This is one of the most attractive castles I’ve seen in Europe. It was built sometime before 1391 and expanded in the following century before falling into disrepair. A massive restoration project of the castle and nearby town brought it back to its former glory. Around the castle is a large baroque garden filled with flowers and dotted with ponds, perfect for snuggling with that special travel companion.

Both of these castles make for a fun, easy day trip from Amsterdam, and their close enough that you can be back in time for the nightlife.

Do you have a favorite day trip from Amsterdam? Post a comment!

Outsiders not welcome at Chinese spy museum

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Foreigners keep out!

Committed to preserving national secrets, the new Jiangsu National Security Education Museum in Nanjing is only open to Chinese citizens. So, if you want to see guns embedded in lipstick, maps hidden in decks of cards and other accoutrements of the spy trade (or, “tradecraft,” as spies over here call it), you have to have the right passport.

Most of the items on display are well past their “use by” dates. Guns disguised as fountain pens and pipes, a bugged calculator and instructions for wiretapping can be found … some of which date back to the communist fight against the nationalists in 1927.

Even though some of these tools and methods are dated, the government likes to keep a leash on its secrets, so the best you’ll get is a second-hand account from a loose-lipped local. A spokesman for the spy museum said to The Associated Press, “We don’t want such sensitive spy information to be exposed to foreigners, so they are not allowed to enter.” Most of the prospective guests turned away, though, understand the reasoning.

Desperate to get a look? You can usually get in if you have “Chinese features” and look “clean.”

Nail a hog from on high

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Mertzon, TX is taking hunting to a new level. If law proposed by Rep. Sid Miller is passed, you’ll be able to jump on a helicopter and take pot shots at wild hogs … if you have a permit.

Lock and load! Grab a rifle or shotgun, set the rotors in motion.

These hogs have been causing plenty of property damage across Texas. Not only are they tearing up crops on farms, they’re now uprooting golf course turf and disrupting the lives of suburban Texans. An estimated 2 million wild hogs cause $52 million in crop damage, so there is a serious side to this story.

If the new law can make it through the legislature, it will be the first of its kind in the United States. A handful of other states (such as Alaska) do allow aerial hunting, but only to keep predators, like wolves, at bay. Pigs, it seems, don’t have any natural predators. They can even kick some coyote ass.

So, death will have to come from above. A lot of people are doing this.

Lat year, 1,100 hog-killing permits were issued, up from 201 in 2000. If Texans can start busting caps from on high, the number could go higher. Of course, there’s always someone with a gripe. Jay Smith, owner of Smith Helicopters in Cotulla, TX, says, “If they’re going to open up to where you can do this and anybody who’s got a helicopter can go off to an old boy’s place and hunt, that’s going to be bad.” Hell, the rancher’s dog might get iced!

Fortunately, Rep. Miller has promised that the hunting would be closely regulated (bound to piss off the gun nuts), though he hasn’t put together many of the details yet.

Once the wrinkles are ironed out, book that trip to Texas. You’ve always wanted to go, and now you have the perfect reason: hittin’ hogs from a helicopter!

[Via Pocono Record, photo via Beard Papa]