If I had a dollar for every absurd thing I have seen or heard this week, I would have… let’s see… 56$.
Still. If there are people from other Planets cruising our internet via a free wireless connection, I would just like to let them know…
…that we are not normally this kooky or illogical. Really.
But back to the silly files for a moment.
Dunkin’ Donuts has pulled an online advertisement featuring Rachael Ray after complaints that a fringed black-and-white scarf that the celebrity chef wore in the ad offers symbolic support for Muslim extremism and terrorism.
Uh-huh? Right. Critics, including right-wing want-to-be journalist Michelle Malkin who ejaculated: “The scarf wrapped around her looked like a kaffiyeh, the traditional Arab accessory.” Woo! Scary! Head-scarf! Obvious sign of terrorism, Woo!
A quick read of Michelle’s open comment system revealed that many readers thought she was out of her mind… as well as the readers that support her headline grabbing nonsense. I will add my sentiment to that list of comments, “Michelle, you are a dying breed of ignorant, fear-mongering web nobodies… enjoy your fleeting moments of whatever…”
In other news – Afraid of flying? Watch your facial expressions.
A prototype surveillance system being tested by the European Union would place cameras inside the back of every passenger seat to track the facial expressions of travelers and catch would-be terrorists and unruly fliers on the brink of “air rage.” link According to a report in New Scientist, the cameras would look for passengers sweating profusely or behaving in a nervous manner, but it would alert the crew only after detecting a combination of signs, rather than a single one.
Sweating. Nervous behavior. Gee. That describes, what, less than 1% of the flying population?
In an update to the Big Brother post: Lap-top, i-Pod, gadget searches to become routine in your daily air travels… There are numerous court challenges yet to be prepared and contemplated in Canada and the U.S.A. It seems our American constitution and Canadian charter of rights and freedoms still have some basic protective tenets built in – there has to be a reasonable expectation of privacy in your travels, there has to be a reasonable suspicion of guilt or potential guilt when fishing for data in your computer or personal electronic and ex-parte searches are still open to challenges, if not immediate in the airport objections to security staff rifling your stuff. Still, if you are an American returning to America or a Canadian transiting the American aviation infrastructure, there is a remote possibility that your laptop and all its contents will be confiscated – despite your protestations – with no promise of return.
If this upsets you, write your senator or member of parliament.
additional reading from the TSA themselves…