Giant snails seized at Dulles Airport
Sometimes those agricultural inspectors and the cute sniffing dogs do the right thing and earn their keep. Over Labor Day weekend, they discovered a stash of giant snails as someone tried to bring them into the country. I guess if they got eaten there wouldn’t have been a problem, if the hapless escargot enthusiast let one of them go, it could have led to more bad “Attack of the Giant Snails” movies.
In an unrelated story published six years ago, the West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture explained that the eight-inch creature can carry parasites that cause meningitis in people, and it is a voracious eater that could wreak havoc on the state’s gardens and other vegetation if the species became widespread. Their attributes probably haven’t changed much.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents say a traveler arriving from the West African nation tried to bring in 14 Giant African Land Snails with him. Each of the slimy creatures was about the size of a child’s fist.
The snails, originally from East Africa, are believed to be one of the world’s worst invasive species because they can severely damage crops.
The snails can grow to be nearly 8 inches long and 4 inches tall. They are illegal in the United States. Agriculture officials believe they may have been brought to the U.S. to be eaten.
Minnesota county votes out hotels with adult movies
In a move to send a message to the porn industry, a small Minnesota county just issued new travel regulations that forbid any of its employees from staying in hotels that offer porn on their in-room entertainment units. They call it a “clean hotel” policy. And who wouldn’t want to stay in a clean hotel.
“I think it just sends a message that no this it’s OK,” Commissioner Mena R. Kaehler told ABC News. “The way you send a message to businesses is through their bottom dollar.”
Kaehler said hotels offer often violent porn that can lead to sexual assaults.
“It just desensitizes people,” she said. “This [new rule] is just a small step in getting the conversation started.”
Passengers claim that they are being forced to go through whole-body scanners
It’s not bad enough that the TSA has admitted that they are now using “enhanced pat-downs” or euphemistically speaking “European pat-downs.” Now, according to New York Times reports, passengers are not even being given the choice of virtual strip search or rough pat-cowns.
Mr. Kimball said passengers can choose not to go through the scanner and opt for the metal detector and a pat down instead, information that is also on the T.S.A.’s Web site. But the message travelers are getting at the airport isn’t that clear.
“It definitely didn’t feel optional at all,” said Drew Hjelm, an Army veteran who recently encountered the X-ray machine at O’Hare Airport in Chicago. After asking to go through the metal detector, being turned down and even speaking with a supervisor, he was given other choices.
“The officer said, either you go through the body scanner or you leave the airport or we’re going to call the police and they’re going to come and arrest you,” Mr. Hjelm said. “After I went through the body scanner, they still patted my pants down.”
Since other passengers have said they weren’t given a choice, or were subjected to an aggressive pat down if they declined to be X-rayed, the Electronic Privacy Information Center has created an online form for travelers to report problems.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
