Over The Years Of Chatting To American Friends,

and reading about travellers flying in America,

there is one constant thread that runs through their stories, the amount of time the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) takes to clear them as they board a plane, but looking at the TSA's record of recovering firearms in transit I can see why, a huge number of 2,212 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags in 2014, which marks a 22-percent increase from the year prior, here are the top ten airports at which the most offenders were caught:

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW): 120
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL): 109
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX): 78
George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH): 77
Denver International Airport (DEN): 70
William P. Hobby Airport (HOU): 50
Tampa International Airport (TPA): 49
Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL): 49
Nashville International Airport (BNA): 48
Orlando International Airport (MCO): 47

as the picture above illustrates that is 6 firearms intercepted every day, even more worryingly 83% were loaded! for more items like live hand grenades and stun guns amongst other items have a look here at the the TSA's interesting year-end review of the dangerous items seized on their blog, so next time you are queueing at a TSA checkpoint now you know why,

keeping to an American thread, it appears that snow is on the way for many and indeed may have already arrived for some, it is no surprise that some commentators are linking this blizzard to the record-setting storm of 1888, The Great Blizzard of 1888 paralysed the northeast U.S. up to 60 inches of snow fell on New England, with snowdrifts up to 50 feet, the trains couldn’t run, and many people were stuck in their homes for a week, the effects of the storm in the cities of New York and Boston spurred urban planners to start work on underground communication lines and subways, 

and whilst it may look pretty a blizzard like this is a killer, in the 1888 blizzard there were were 400 recorded deaths, so for everyone affected please be careful.