Bologna Biscuits for Breakfast!

I work in a small town. Many people have not heard of it when I mention it by name, but when I tell them it’s near a well known airport, they immediately know the area. This place is far from metro-chic and if it were not for the prominent government contractor buildings and the hotel district, I would describe it as…how can I put it…a hick town. And let me be clear; not “hick” as in quaint, Mayberry-esque.

On one side of town there’s a High’s Dairy. I didn’t know High’s still existed. Last time I saw one was about 16 years ago and it was clearly a poor attempt at replicating the original. Think “8-12” – you know the fake 7-11 that sells everything from bread & milk to clothing items and cheap jewelry. But this High’s ain’t no throwback. It comes equipped with the hand dipped ice cream counter.



On the other side there’s a Hardee’s. HARDEE’S? Didn’t Roy Rogers buy them out, here in the North, and didn’t Roy Roger’s go out of business? I couldn’t get a picture of it (thanks to the cheap camera phone), but this one had a sign that said, “New Breakfast Item: Bologna Biscuit - $1.49”. I don’t know what’s worse; the fact that bologna biscuits are on the menu or the fact that they are $1.49. You can get a whole pack of meat bologna for like $ 0.99. You can get a Mc.Double for $1.00…meaning TWO patties. That price is ridiculous. I swear I’m not making this up.



I thought this kind of stuff only existed in the South. My bad, Maryland is technically “the South”, isn’t it?

Sleeping on the Job

Smuggling bomb parts through security at FEDERAL buildings, some of which included offices of the DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY should not be happening...AT ALL.

Bomb parts smuggled into 10 federal buildings during test

From the CNN article (bolded type added by me)...
In a videotape obtained by CNN, a covert GAO inspector places a bag containing bomb components on an X-ray machine conveyor belt and then walks through a magnetometer at an unidentified federal building. Unlike some covert tests that use simulated explosives, the GAO used actual bomb components in the test and publicly available information "to identify a type of device that a terrorist could use" to damage a building. Watch undercover agent smuggle bomb »

"The (improvised explosive device) was made up of two parts -- a liquid explosive and a low-yield detonator -- and included a variety of materials not typically brought into a federal facility by an employee or the public," the report says. Investigators obtained the components at local stores and over the Internet for less than $150, the report says.

And then this...
The GAO also released a photograph of a guard asleep at his post and detailed an instance in which a woman placed an infant in a carrier on an X-ray machine while retrieving identification. Because the guard was not paying attention and the machine's safety features had been disabled, the infant was sent through the X-ray machine, according to the report.

Jesus be a fence...the babies ain't even safe. Who doesn’t notice a baby, in a baby carrier, going through a X-ray machine? Obviously the guard didn’t notice, because he was napping, but what about the parent or the bystanders?

But wait, it gets worser and worser…

The Federal Protective Service (FPS) guard in the baby incident was dismissed but did sue the agency stating that FPS failed to provide X-ray training. And you know what? FPS lost because they couldn't prove the guard wrong.

So let me get this straight. You have an agency that employs guards whose main responsibility is to detect dangerous items by way of an x-ray machine and you don’t train them on the machine?

Sounds like more than one person was sleeping on the job, huh?

With love, Lisa