Orange Force One has been grounded due to security concerns. Instead of Belgian Waffles and Trappist beer, we had to settle for soul food adobo.
I woke up today quite late to news of a thwarted plot to detonate bombs on UK airplanes. (Maybe I slept past the 7 am radio alarm because I thought this unsavoury news was just part of a bad dream.) This meant that I had to scuttle my weekend break which was supposed to be my last for this summer season. Me and the gang (HRO Karl Willem, PA Gromit) were supposed to go to Brussels then to Brugge by rail followed by a lazy cycle ride along the canals past the Dutch border to the fort city of Sluis before coming back down via the Flemish coast where I had hoped to cavort with the pretty people on the sand dunes while eating moules et frites. (Talangka at French fries, nevermind that the Belgians actually invented 'french' fries.)
BA cancelled all flights for the day and that will have a domino effect on flight skeds for the next couple of weeks or so until the extreme precautionary measures are lifted. So far, you can't have hand luggage but are given plastic bags to hold only your wallet and passport. Nothing on your pockets, no bottled drinks, nada, nyet. Everything else has to be checked-in. This is kinda annoying to me as I rarely ever have check-in luggage. Everything I need is packed with the atomic packing efficiency of a tin of sardines in a backpack that fits the overhead compartment. I do not want to waste time waiting at the luggage carousel upon arrival as I need all the extra time needed to clear my green and tattered Filipino passport past immigration at my destination. Also I like to be first in line and hold up the queue as border police scrutinise my third world bonafides.
As usual the Brits, and the Continentals, have shown remarkable patience, calm, and utter lack of paranoia as they let security services do their job and assess the threat. So far most of the 'explosive, blown out of proportion, quick to jump to conclusions' news have been from the American media as evidenced from the text I got from my dearest mother who was worried to bits. I told her to turn off CNN (or FOX news, eewww...but sadly we do get that beacon of the hawkish neo-cons in Baguio) and shift channels to NHK instead where those mind boggling Japanese reality shows can provide some relaxation. (Or maybe not.)
Just for the record, let me state that those who want to carry out any threat of mass murder (irregardless of who they are and what they think their cause is) are frigging IDIOTs. Having said that, I still hope that everyone who has been arrested so far on suspicion of plotting acts of terrorism have been accorded full legal protection. (No Guantanamo-style torture please.) If found guilty, then lock those bitches in the slammer. And give them a slap on the backside for ruining my summer plans.
Honestly, a terrorist threat alone cannot disrupt my travel plans. They never have. What I do hate is the long long airport delay as security checks are tightened. As someone who is used to checking-in 45 minutes before boarding, a cumulative 10 hour airport wait next to whining travellers and irritable children is not my cup of tea.
As part of the extreme precautionary steps, while the net tries to catch everyone complicit in this plot, firearms policemen have been deployed. Normally a bobby would just have a knife-proof vest, a handcuff, a bottle of mace, and a radio. Of course, there are some tough and dodgy areas but gun related violence (and the need to deploy firearms policemen) in England is rare and I hope it stays that way. ( Around 0.15 per 100,000 people gun related homicides per year for England compared to 3.6 per 100,000 in the USA).
I really could never understand the gun culture in the USA, and in my own beloved Philippines. Everyone including the blind barangay kupitan and his rabid mongrel guard dog has a gun of some sort. Of course someone will point out that 'there lots of guns on the streets and gun control is needed' or 'police need guns to intimidate/catch/shoot criminals' but then again nearly EVERY Swiss citizen has an assault rifle and a can of ammunition in the cupboard. I don't see them shooting people because their neighbour's yodeling upset their cows. On the other hand, I've seen the royal Swedish guards armed to the teeth like commandos but then again how many times have they felt really threatened? Perhaps to stave off boredom, I've seen policemen and soldiers sprinting across the Old Town of Stockholm trying to chase down an imaginary criminal.
Anyways, before this diary post degrades into a slippery slope of disjointed thoughts, I'm going to end it here - "Damn you unknown terrorist organisation for ruining my summer schedule!"