Despite the down economy, falling gas prices have driven consumers back to the sport utility vehicles they once gave the cold shoulder.

Workers at General Motor’s Arlington, Texas, SUV assembly plant began working overtime this month and are scheduled to remain on overtime for the rest of the year.

The plant, which employs 2,500 workers, is now the only GM factory building full-size sport utility vehicles like the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade.

Although sales of the vehicles are still down overall, they have rebounded in recent weeks as gas prices have fallen and cash-strapped automakers have slashed prices. The vehicles have proven to be a solid source of revenue for GM.

“We’re still on overtime,“ plant spokeswoman Wendi Sabo told The Dallas Morning News. “Nothing has changed.“

While that’s certainly good news for General Motors, as they’re in dire enough straits at the moment that they’ll be lucky to survive through next summer, it’s still a pretty disheartening thing to see happen. It just backs up my cynical side’s viewpoint that too many people are idiots. I’m not sure why gas prices are this low at the moment, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them rebound by the time next summer rolls around, if not sooner. A lot of people will be kicking themselves in the ass when that happens.

Federal airport screeners found two grenades in the luggage of a man set to board a JetBlue flight at New York’s Kennedy airport, according to MyFOXNY.com.

TSA specialists then determined that the explosives were inert and allowed the passenger to board the plane without ever informing police, the TV station’s Web site reported.

The TSA maintained that it’s up to their own personnel to determine when to call police, and said the agency was reprimanded for notifying authorities in a similar incident last month, MyFOXNY.com reported.

Seriously, who is the dumbass coming up with these rules? Regardless of if the grenades were inert, which scenario do you think would cause the most concern among passengers: The one where a guy stands up and threatens to trim the toenails of everyone on board the plane if they don’t do what he demands or the one where the guy stands up holding a couple of grenades that may or may not be real?

Is the TSA staffed entirely by people with the mental capacity of Cheez Whiz? Is there not one competent person amongst them that can see the difference in potential threat between hand grenades and bottles of shampoo? The first thing that needs to be done if Obama wins the election is a complete overhaul, or preferably a complete disassembly, of the TSA. At the very least they need to hire someone with more than a third grade education to come up with the rules about what can and can’t be carried onto a plane.

The research from Aston University in Birmingham shows the average vehicle has about 283 different types of bacteria inside of it in every square centimetre. And that’s not all. One of the worst offenders is the place you touch the most often - the gear shift. That was found to be home to about 356 different germs.

Even more alarming is your trunk, where some 850 bacteria were found to be happily going along for the ride. In one case, scientists also discovered traces of excrement there, noting it’s the same place where many people put their groceries after coming home from a shopping trip.

Not surprisingly, microbiologists determined those who transport kids and pets had the most germ filled cars.

“Whilst most of the bacteria we’ve found are unlikely to cause serious health problems, some cars, particularly those which regularly carry children and animals, play host to potentially harmful germs,“ notes Anthony Hilton, the University’s director of Biology and Biomedical Science.

Seriously, is this news to anyone with more than two functioning brain cells? Hey, didja know your car is full of bacteria that might make you sick and the problem is compounded if you have kids or pets? I did. In fact I thought the bacteria count sounded a little on the low side. I would’ve bet there’d be tons more than what they found.

This isn’t news, but that didn’t stop the reporter from getting a scary sounding quote out of it. Your car is going to kill you just by sitting inside it and especially if you eat or breathe inside it:

Another big problem: the dashboard, where many people put their food, as they eat on the run. Researchers found old hamburger wrappers, empty drink bottles, and even uneaten morsels in many of the cars, while their survey of more than 1,300 owners found most admitted their vehicles were littered with such debris.

That has Hilton worried. “People would be horrified at the thought of eating off their toilet seat,“ he warns. “But few realize eating off their car dashboard is just as likely to make them sick.“

If that still hasn’t made you paranoid about getting behind the wheel, consider this as winter approaches - turning on the heat could be blowing more microscopic beasties your way.

Older cars were found to harbour larger amounts of airborne bacteria and fungi whenever a driver turns on the fan. Scientists believe that’s because few people bother to replace their air filters as their vehicles age.

I love how they manage to work in a reference to eating off your toilet seat in there. They love mentioning toilet seats whenever they talk about bacteria, don’t they? If they can get a reference in then they know their work is done: “... and that’s why breathing air in your home is JUST AS BAD AS EATING OFF YOUR TOILET SEAT!!!“

Does it surprise anyone this study was done by the insurance companies to encourage folks to take better care of their cars? Not that that’s not a good suggestion, one I could stand to follow a bit myself, but there are better arguments to be made such as “a well maintained car has a higher resale value and fewer problems in the long run.“ But they decided to go with “YOUR CAR IS TOTALLY DISGUSTING AND WILL KILL YOU YOU PATHETIC SLOB!“ and I’m just not sure how that helps.

wcbstv.com - Fan Ejected From Yankee Stadium For Bathroom Break

During the patriotic 7th inning stretch at Yankee Stadium, nature called on Bradford Campeau-Laurion. When he tried to leave his seat during the traditional singing of God Bless America, however, he says he was stopped by a NYPD officer who said he’d have to wait until the song was done.

“I then said to him, ‘I don’t care about God Bless America. I just need to use the bathroom.‘ As soon as I said that, he immediately pinned my arm behind my back,“ Campeau-Laurion told CBS 2.

The 29-year-old says two officers pinned both of his arms behind his back and ejected him from the stadium.

“He shoved me out the front gate and told me get out of their country if I didn’t like it,“ he said.

Apparently the New York Yankees have some sort of rule mandating that fans aren’t allowed to leave their seats during the playing of God Bless America and it’s enforced by the ushers, stadium security, and the NYPD. Needless to say, this is absolutely ridiculous and the fan has contacted the local ACLU to look into a lawsuit. Meanwhile the Yankees are saying this is a police matter and what is the response of the cops? They’ve opted to lie about it:

“The officers observed a male standing on his seat, cursing, using inappropriate language and acting in a disorderly manner while reeking of alcohol, and decided to eject him rather than subject others to his offensive behavior.

Campeau-Laurion was at the game with a Yankees season ticket holder who couldn’t believe the cops allegations.

“That’s ridiculous,“ said the fan, who asked not to be identified. “That’s completely false.“

Seems to be a matter of policy with some police departments these days to make shit up when they’re caught doing something they shouldn’t.

Hat tip to God is for Suckers.

Anti-war protesters put a cap on their second day of rallies and marches during the Democratic National Convention Monday with a decidedly unconventional stop outside the Denver Mint. The event, which was organized by umbrella protest group Recreate 68, drew a small crowd of about 50 people armed with “magic mojo” they hoped would enable them to levitate the Mint building to shake out its loose change using nothing but the collective power of their minds.

Turns out, it was just wishful thinking.

Well duh. “Magic mojo” is just as effective as the “power of prayer.“ That is to say, it isn’t effective at all. Not that they didn’t give it a good try:

When asked if he thought the crowd would actually be able to levitate the Mint, protester Jeff Burk answered “with any luck.”

Recreate 68 gathered the group on the outskirts of the Mint facing a cordon of riot police. Group co-founder Mark Cohen, wearing a red velvet wizard costume, began a chant of “Peace, Love and Justice,” interspersed with cries of “Peace, shalom.” A man calling himself the Yippie Pie Man, who has attended every Recreate 68 protest so far, used a megaphone to lead the crowd in the chants and also to appeal to bystanders.

“Don’t be a spectator,” he implored, “join the spectacle!”

For those more interested in a concrete reason to try raising the Mint and liberating it of its change, others in the group were happy to provide a few.

“We need to free the $50 million (inside the Mint) for the people who are starving, we need this money, we need to distribute this wealth,” shouted Kenneth Sanchez, who stood at the front of the protest group, wearing a red bandanna around his face.

Recreate 68 even threw plastic quarters into the crowd, perhaps hoping to preempt the real money that they soon hoped would be covering the block.

“Take money from the war, give it back to the poor,” shouted the crowd, joining hands to form a small half circle that spilled out into the street.

While I agree with the sentiment that the war is a huge waste of money that could be better spent on social projects, this sort of silliness isn’t going to accomplish much outside of getting people, like me, to laugh at them.

And when you think about it seriously it’s probably best for these idiots that this stunt didn’t work. Could you imagine what would happen if a bunch of yahoos managed to literally levitate a Federal Mint and shake it till all the money fell out? Do they really think they’d be allowed to scoop it all up and give it to the poor? No, they’d be shot with tranquillizer darts and carted off to either rot in prison or some government lab for experimentation. There’s no way in hell people with that kind of power would be allowed to roam free. You think the Bush Administration doesn’t respect your rights now, just wait until you demonstrate a real paranormal ability. Fortunately for these nutcases such abilities only exist in comics and movies.

The true power of peace and love, alas, is in giving people the warm fuzzies which will sometimes make them act a little more decently towards one another. That’s about it, though sometimes that’s enough and still worth striving for. If we could manage that much then levitating Federal Mints wouldn’t be necessary.

The American flag has many labels: Stars and stripes. Old Glory. And sometimes, made in China.

Congress can’t halt the flow of Chinese-made flags, but lawmakers can try to control where they are flown. The House declared Monday that any flag flown on federal property should be made in the U.S.A.

“It’s not a major problem facing the nation,“ admitted Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif. “But it’s an irritant.“

It’s bad enough they’re wasting time on something this stupid, but it just had to be a Democrat that appears to be leading the charge. It probably doesn’t help that he’s the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee which pretty much means he has to demonstrate his knee-jerk patriotism on a regular basis or they’ll remove him for his position. Apparently Filner’s first plan was to pass legislation that would force the government to only purchase American-made American flags, but that ran into some trouble:

“But we were told that this mandatory stuff runs into trade agreements,“ the eight-term congressman said.

That is because the U.S. has gone to great pains to hammer out trade deals with other countries and can’t impose new limits after the fact.

His solution was a nonbinding “sense of Congress” resolution that cleared the House on Monday. It doesn’t have any teeth, he admitted, but it’s a start.

So not only is this nonsense stupid, but it’s also pointless and unenforceable making it a perfect 100 on the scale of time wasters. Though I can’t entirely fault Filner alone as it turns out various state governments have also been engaging in pointless displays of knee-jerk patriotism. Take for example this stunning law:

A new law in Minnesota says all flags sold in the state must be made in the U.S., with violations subject to a fine of up to $1,000 and jail time of up to 90 days. The industry says similar measures have cropped up in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida.

Got that? It’s now illegal in Minnesota to sell an American flag that wasn’t made in America. That’s just nuts. Not as nuts as people getting death threats over a Eucharist, but it’s well on the way there. Of course the folks who make American flags in America are just pleased as punch about all of this:

It’s not just the government — several retail chains have decided to buy American-made flags. Liberman’s company sells flags to Ace Hardware, Target and Lowe’s. But he’s had trouble selling flags to some retailers.

“Others have not had a problem selling flags saying they are made in China or made in Korea,“ he said. “We’re constantly trying to convince them there is a difference in quality and usability.“

I suppose I could see an argument over quality, but usability? As long as the damned thing hangs off a pole and flaps in the breeze what the hell else is there to use?

“The teacher looked and me and said: ‘We have to tell you something. The educational assistant who works with Victoria went to see a psychic last night, and the psychic asked the educational assistant at that particular time if she works with a little girl by the name of “V.“ And she said ‘yes, I do.‘ And she said, ‘well, you need to know that that child is being sexually abused by a man between the ages of 23 and 26.‘“

Victoria, who is non-verbal, had also been exhibiting sexualized behaviour in class, actions which are known to be typical of autistic behavior. (See other typical actions here) That lead authorities to suspect she had a bladder infection that may have somehow been related to the ‘attack.‘

Leduc was shaken by the idea. “It’s actually your worst nightmare your child being violated,“ she admits. “So for them to even suggest that, and that be my worst nightmare, it was horrific.“

But things got worse when school officials used the “evidence” and accepted the completely unsubstantiated word of the seer by reporting the case to Children’s Aid, which promptly opened a file on the family.

“They reported me to Children’s Aid,“ Leduc declares, still disbelieving. “Based on a psychic!“

It’s bad enough that the teacher’s aid was credulous enough to buy into this story, but the fact that everyone else bought into it enough to take it seriously is just amazing. They must have some very incompetent people running the Terry Fox Elementary school. A possibility backed up by the fact that Leduc had to take steps to safeguard her daughter after the school repeatedly “lost” her at various points. Steps that would, in fact, pay off in this new situation:

As a result, the already cash strapped mom had spent a considerable sum of money to not only have her child equipped with a GPS unit, but one that provided audio records of everything that was going on around her.

So she had non-stop taped proof that nothing untoward had ever happened to her daughter, and was aghast that the situation had gone this far. But under the Child and Family Services Act, anyone who works with children and has reasonable grounds to suspect a youngster is being harmed, must report it immediately - and the CAS has an obligation to follow up.

The key words above should be

reasonable grounds

and the word of a supposed “psychic” who claims to have gotten the knowledge through her extra sensory powers and not, say, as an eyewitness to the crime should never be considered reasonable grounds. Not only should the teacher’s aid be fired, assuming she’s not a volunteer, but probably the principal as well for letting this idiocy happen in the first place.

Do You Have Any Naked Pictures Of Your Mother? The TSA Does - The Consumerist

While it allows the security screeners — looking at the images in a separate room — to clearly see the passenger’s sexual organs as well as other details of their bodies, the passenger’s face is blurred, TSA said in a statement on its website.

The scan only takes seconds and is to replace the physical pat-downs of people that is currently widespread in airports.

TSA began introducing the body scanners in airports in April, first in the Phoenix, Arizona terminal.

The installation is picking up this month, with machines in place or planned for airports in Washington (Reagan National and Baltimore-Washington International), Dallas, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Miami and Detroit.

[...] “People have no idea how graphic the images are,“ Barry Steinhardt, director of the technology and liberty program at the American Civil Liberties Union, told AFP.

The ACLU said in a statement that passengers expecting privacy underneath their clothing “should not be required to display highly personal details of their bodies such as evidence of mastectomies, colostomy appliances, penile implants, catheter tubes and the size of their breasts or genitals as a pre-requisite to boarding a plane.“

Besides masking their faces, the TSA says on its website, the images made “will not be printed stored or transmitted.“

“Once the transportation security officer has viewed the image and resolved anomalies, the image is erased from the screen permanently. The officer is unable to print, export, store or transmit the image.“

Lara Uselding, a TSA spokeswoman, added that passengers are not obliged to accept the new machines.

“The passengers can choose between the body imaging and the pat-down,“ she told AFP.

Assuming we believe the TSA is telling the truth about the images existing only long enough for someone to get a good look at your goodies, and I’m not at all inclined to believe that’s true, this does nothing to stop someone with a camera phone, or just a camera, from taking pictures of the screen itself. And someone eventually will given the quality of some of the folks working as screeners for the TSA.

It’s isn’t so much a sense of vanity or modesty that makes me unwilling to have someone stare at my nekkid form on a screen so much as it being a matter of principle. There are plenty of people that I’ve shown my naked body to in a professional capacity that are probably wishing they could unsee what has been seen, but I shouldn’t have to be virtually disrobed, or groped as an alternative, just to travel someplace via airplane. The presumption shouldn’t be that I’m a terrorist without some reason to back it up.

This kind of shit, more than anything the terrorists will ever do, is what is going to cause more airlines to go belly up as people decide it’s just not worth the hassle. Especially after some idiot TSA screener decides to snap some pics and upload them to the Internet.

The folks at The Buzz Blog contacted Kmart about the pants and were told that the pants weren’t meant for abstinence:

A spokeswoman for Sears Holdings Corp., which owns Kmart, told The Buzz the pants have absolutely nothing to do with taking any kind of position, either way, on abstinence. “It was not associated with any group or any cause,“ said Amy Dimond. “It was just a graphic put on the pants.“

Piper & Blue, Kmart’s private label brand, designed the sweatpants as part of its summer collection that hit stores in late April.

Although the pants were not designed to make a statement, Dimond admitted that “there may be some (customers) who made the (abstinence association), but it was not the intention.“

Well, OK, except that the ad copy

right on the page selling the pants

says, and I quote, “Bold abstinence screen print”. I also found this customer review pretty damned amusing:

“i got these because i think the message is great and also the colors are great too but the elastic ankle cuffs are a little too small. now im worried that my chubby ankles and pro-abstinence stance are not compatible. would recommend to a friend that had smaller ankles, and also was not allergic to the yellow dye.“

Remember kids, if you have fat ankles they may be incompatible with a pro-abstinence stance. Try sitting instead. Preferably with your legs closed.

Honestly, I could give a shit if people want to sell pants with pro-abstinence messages on them. If nothing else it makes for a potentially delicious irony when some young woman wears them after getting pregnant because she didn’t bother to use any birth control. I just don’t understand why Kmart decided to offer pants with a pro-abstinence message and then felt they had to lie about it.

A Christian group based in San Diego found grounds for outrage over the new retro-style logo for Starbucks Coffee.

The Resistance says the new image “has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute,“ Mark Dice, founder of the group, said in a news release. “Need I say more? It’s extremely poor taste, and the company might as well call themselves Slutbucks.“

The group, which claims more than 3,000 members nationwide and has found a place on the fringe advancing various conspiracy theories, is calling for a national boycott of the coffee-selling giant.

Uh, dude, that’s a two-tailed mermaid and it’s actually toned down a bit from the original logo when the chain launched in 1971. In the original logo you can see her nipples! Oh how did we innocent young kids survive the 70’s with such smut gracing the cups of over-priced specialty coffee? Where were these nutcases in 1971?

What’s interesting to me is this entry over at Dead Programmer’s Cafe from back in June of 2005 that discusses the origin of the Starbucks logo. Which, as it turns out, is not an entirely original graphic but a slightly modified wood graving of a Melusine dating from the 15th or 16th century. That original graphic surely would have traumatized the good folks of “The Resistance” to the point of catatonia given that the tails on it were actual separate and looked much more leg-like.

For its part Starbucks appears to be ignoring these idiots, as they should, and they say that the retro logo will run on cups for a couple more weeks and then become the permanent logo for their Pike Place bags of coffee. I’m not a huge fan of Starbucks coffee, I like it but won’t go out of my way for it, but I do like how the company keeps managing to piss off Republicans and fringe Christian groups and refuses to back down or apologize for doing so.