AP has a story about the conservative Christian group, American Family Association, who has begun a new boycott of Ford Motor Co. because Ford promises to give up to $1,000 to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination for every Jaguar and Land Rover it sells. This is the same group that just ended their unsuccessful boycott of Disney. Here’s to similar effectiveness.

An article on CNN.com describes a judge in Kentucky who is offering “alternative sentencing,” to repeat drug and alcohol offenders: church. Apparently “worship services” are a good substitute for addictive, mind-numbing substances.

A ringtone based on Axel F topped the British music charts this week. In other news, the seas have turned to blood.

A famous California governor dispatched a road crew to a residential street in San Jose to create a pothole, which he later turned up and filled, grinning for news cameras and declaring his willingness to increase funding for transportation projects. The Potemkin pothole was later sealed by a roadcrew with a gigantic roller truck. Article at SFGate.

above: Don’t let Gollum on the plane!

The privacy watchdog group, Department of Homeland Security, is preparing to install specialized X-ray machines at airports that can see through clothing, but stop at the skin. From the NYT (via CNET) article:

“Well, you’ll see basically everything,” said Bill Scannell, a privacy advocate and technology consultant. “It shows nipples. It shows the clear outline of genitals.”

At least there’s sure to be an influx of new applicants for airport screener jobs. What’s worse, it’s not 100% effective. A securty expert said:

Thwarting body-scanning technology would be simple, he argues. Because of concerns about radiation, body scanners are designed not to penetrate the skin. All that’s needed is someone heavily overweight to go through the system, he said. I won’t quote him directly on the details; suffice it to say he posits that a weapon or explosives pack could be tucked into flabby body folds that won’t be penetrated by the scanner.

By extension, screeners will be on the lookout for Dolly Parton hiding two Uzis. Oh, and the name of the company that makes these X-ray devices, “Rapiscan” (pronunciation of the first syllable is ambiguous). Oh, and the name of these X-ray devices, and I’m not kidding, “backscatters”.

Someone scanned a book from 1952 called, How to Perform Strong Man Stunts. This is the kind of thing you could buy from the end pages of comic books. This throwback has the best intro:

One of the truest statements ever made is, “All the World Loves a Strong Man.” Every man, woman and child admires strength, and there is not a man who does not crave it. To be stronger than your friends is to be looked upon as a natural leader, and an invincible defender. Strength is the biggest hallmark of manhood. It demonstrates true he-man masculinity.

I’ve posted before (1, 2) about the $25 million Creation Museum set to open near Cincinnati, Ohio. Yesterday’s Cincinnati Enquirer has a long profile of founder Ken Ham. In the article, Jerry Falwell says that Ham is “the most informed creationist in America” and that the museum is “going to be a mini-Disney World.” From the Enquirer article, here are a few of Ham’s beliefs:

• Earth is about 6,000 years old, a figure arrived at by tracing the biblical genealogies, and not 4.5 billion years, as mainstream scientists say.
• The Grand Canyon was formed not by erosion over millions of years, but by floodwaters in a matter of days or weeks.
• Dinosaurs and man once co-existed (see above photo), and dozens of the creatures – including T-rex – were passengers on the ark built by Noah, who was a real man, not a myth.

The US Department of Health and Human Services has given over $1M to Silver Ring Thing, a faith-based that distributes “abstinence rings” to teenagers, as part of a government initiative to expand abstinence-only sex education. From the BBC article:

…official rings are inscribed with verses from the Bible, 1 Thessalonians 4, 3-4, reading: “God wants you to be holy, so you should keep clear of all sexual sin. Then each of you will control your body and live in holiness and honour.”

The church/state separation issues and health issues here are obvious and horrible. But aside from that, I’m curious how it plays out with dating among teens.
My speculation is that it’s a boon for punani-seeking teenage guys. First, it lets them quickly identify those that won’t give it up. Already, that saves them much time, effort, sexual frustration, and money. Second, wearing the ring becomes a valuable tool to pass off his hormone-induced advances as platonic intent. Previously this was accomplished by the guy pretending to be gay. Conclusion: more cooch will be gotten.