Pretty standard anti-bomb drill in DC. They do that, remove parked cars and trashcans, and seal up all the manhole covers for the inauguration parade…
War on terror is over…
Terrorists win…
“The Club” for mailboxes!
I was going to say, I doubt they made it just for the Pope, but something they use for any large events. I bet they do something similar for marathons etc.
I’m curious what they affix to the street-side chute for in-car use. Or do they even have those anymore?
and juuust to be safe:
Oh well, I was gonna mail in my tithe, but I guess I’ll just keep the money now…
I’m quite sure all popes are known for stealing metal, but because of diplomatic immunity it’s not possible to get them legally. The only way to protect state property is to spot-weld the covers in place.
And I can totally prove this:
A gentleman known as Benedict XVI visited some towns a few years ago - and state officials hectically acted.
Erfurt:
Freiburg:
And look at this fine specimen: I’m convinced his jewellery are stolen and recasted manhole covers:
Pretty sure this isn’t to prevent theft, and more about preventing surprise Ninja Turtle attacks.
They did this in Durham (UK) when the queen visited in (I think) 1999. Quite a few of them still have the seals on.
Popsicles? What am I missing here?
I didn’t see any on the mailboxes on my walk down 7th this morning, but then, we don’t really have very many mailboxes up here these days.
While browsing the manhole cover category on Commons I found this one. Maybe covers are itself dangerous predators feeding on celebrities and politicians?
I think this is in reference to his holiness’s penchant for ice cream. I swear that I heard this on the news Wednesday morning as I was getting ready for work. I loved the Fiat, but I really don’t care that Pope Frank has a sweet tooth.
Can we wreak some havoc by stealing the seals?
This was SOP before the so called war on terror, and is actually fairly sane security practice. Acting like there’s a threat around every corner and pretending like you can predict what the next attack will be if you just collect enough information, are more in line with the insanity that comes with the war on terror.
I think a more likely source is literally off the dead bodies of Jews. The Vatican graciously accepted lots of gold, jewelry and art from the Nazis back in the day and hasn’t bothered to return any of the spoils of war back to survivors. It’s very christian of them, isn’t it?
