Morons Of The Day

CNN reports:

A Maine couple’s attempt to make a political statement by rigging up a fake bomb in their checked luggage led to their arrest, officials said Thursday…Screeners also found a note that read, ‘To the uniformed puppet opening this bag – congratulations. You’ve just brought this once free nation one step closer to becoming a fascist police state,’ according to Transportation Security Administration spokesman Robert Johnson. The note was scribbled on one side of the cardboard torn from a box of Cracklin’ Oat Bran.

I think the Cracklin’ Oat Bran was just the touch of class needed to add some much-needed levity to the situation…

The Surreal Life

Because we haven’t had enough reality TV, here’s another crappy show. The Surreal Life is a new show on the WB that stars Corey Feldman, MC Hammer (now a preacher?), Emmanuel Lewis, Brande Roderick (from Baywatch Hawaii, apparently), Gabrielle Carteris, Vince Neil, and Jerri Manthey (Survivor II) as housemates. Hell, I guess it can’t be any worse than the Anna Nicole Smith Show, but that really isn’t saying a whole lot. The only thing going for this show that I can see is “the train-wreck appeal of ‘E! True Hollywood Story,’” as the article points out.

Beer Guts Are Genetic?

I’m not fat, I’m just Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme-enhanced! Italian researchers have found that beer guts are genetic, or at least people with a particular variant of a gene are twice as likely to develop a beer gut. Of course, this discovery does nothing to alleviate the Spare Tire problem in those affected, only highlighting the futility of fighting one’s genetic disposition. It’s enough to drive someone to drink… 😉

Conspiracy Theories

I’m not usually one to propagate wacky conspiracy theories, but this page listing the “10 Most Startling Speculations and ‘Conspiracy Theories’ About September 11 and America’s New War” is at the very least an interesting read, and at most a startling indictment. To his credit, the author of the page has a disclaimer which I will also throw out there: “Feel free to accept them as gospel, study them as symptoms of a traumatized culture, or scoff at them as anti-American propaganda.” These days, who knows; my guess is a little bit of everything…

SUV Owners Support Terrorism?

First we had the “What would Jesus drive?” campaign against SUVs, and now Ariana Huffington’s Detroit Group is running TV ads alleging that SUV owners are supporting terrorists. “Patterned after the commercials that try to discourage drug use by suggesting that profits from illegal drugs go to terrorists, the new commercials say that money for gas needed for S.U.V.’s goes to terrorists.”

While I once again agree with the goals of the campaign, this is also a bit much. There are many times when I get annoyed thinking about the fact that some people insist on buying expensive, gluttonous Mercedes and Cadillac SUVs that will never leave the pavement as a status symbol rather than for any real utilitarian purpose. And as recently as yesterday I went off on a rant about some people driving as if they own the road when they are in a big SUV or truck. Judging from the response in Metafilter’s discussion area, I’m not the only one. Still, I’m surprised at the audacity of this campaign in today’s hyper-sensitive PC climate. I guess I’m not the only one, as many TV stations are not airing them. I have yet to see any here in my area, although apparently they were aired over the weekend in the D.C. area (as well as New York, Los Angeles, and Detroit) during several news programs.