I am re-starting a quick, Monday to Friday current
events blog. This is, in part, because I am starting work on my Master of
Journalism thesis and I am trying to use July and August to transition from my
head being completely in The Flying Banzini to my head being 50% in my thesis
and classes.
Very quick thoughts, Monday to Friday, drawn from the
day’s news.
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From CBC.ca
A WestJet flight from Vancouver to Toronto was diverted to Calgary last
night after yet another threat.
It was the third "hoax" involving a bomb scare and the
fourth threat overall against the airline in the past five days.
"Yes, we've been hit
again," said WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer.
This story illustrates one of the question which is at the core of my
journalism thesis: How great is the risk of domestic terrorism here in Canada?
I am assuming that all four of these Westjet hoaxes are perpetuated by
the same person. I am also assuming that they were easy to pull off. A single
phone call? These assumptions could be wrong but will do for now. Occam’s
Razor.
This means that a single person armed with a telephone has caused
thousands of dollars in expense to a Canadian airline. Hundreds of hours of
inconvenience to people – and the associated costs there too. Injuries to at
least six (evacuating a plane in Winnipeg). Hours and hours of work by police
and intelligence agencies. And … well, a lot of hassle and expense for a lot of
people.
Here is the important part – it was very easy to do. At least, I think
it was. It may not be easy to avoid getting caught (this remains to be seen).
But it was very easy to cause a giant mess with no budget and no real skills.
At the core of my thesis is this question: Why doesn’t this sort of
thing happen a lot more than it does?
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