THIS IS A TSA BOOTY CALL

ITEM: Last month someone tried and failed to assassinate a Saudi prince by exploding a bomb stuffed up his ass.

The good news [via Schneier]: as concealed suicide bombs go, an ass bomb is arguably ineffective for several reasons:

1) you can't stuff a lot of explosives into a body cavity
2) detonation is, um, problematic
3) the human body can stifle an explosion pretty effectively (think of someone throwing himself on a grenade to save his friends).

The bad news [via BoingBoing]: The fact that mixing liquids in everyday containers to make explosives onboard is also highly unlikely to work hasn't stopped the TSA from banning any kind of liquid unless it’s in very tiny containers.

So the next time you fly, bring an extra cushion and some personal lubricant*, is all I’m saying. At least until some bright spark invents the AssScan 3000.

“Yes sir, just sit in that chair right there. Please remove yr wallet, keys and jewelry and hold perfectly still.”

*NOTE: Be sure the lubricant is in a container no larger than 100ml.

Baby’s got back,

This is dF

LET’S ARGUE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE’S HEADGEAR

Over on BoingBoing, there’s an argument in progress about whether Muslim women who wear headscarves and burquas are oppressed. Guestblogger Aman Ali asked Mariam Sobh, editor in chief of Hijabtrendz, the original fashion beauty and entertainment blog for Muslim women, to weigh in, seeing as how she’s Muslim and a woman and all.

Here’s what she had to say:

Oppression is such a loaded word and it conjures up all sorts of negative images, but what people don't seem to want to understand is that Muslim women are just like any other woman. We come in all shapes and sizes, and all sorts of beliefs. You can't paint us all with the same brush.

... Why is it, that whenever it comes to people who prefer to live more conservatively everyone is up in arms? OH MY GOSH SHE'S COVERING HER CLEAVAGE! So what? Why do I have to share my goods with you? I choose who gets to see me and who doesn't. Is that what is so bothersome, that I actually have a choice? I'm seriously trying to figure this out.

It’s an interesting statement. Feminism has typically been split on the issue of women dressing sexy – either it’s a form of freedom and empowerment, or it’s playing into the hands of the sexist patriarchy. In either case, where do women who CHOOSE to dress modestly fit in? And why does choosing that for religious reasons turn it into a bigger deal than it is?

More to the point, is it really anyone’s f***ing business?

NOTE: There’s a whole religion tangent I could break off onto here, but won’t. For one thing, we’ll be here all day arguing about control vs choice. For another, I’m not an expert on Islam.

On the other hand, neither – I suspect – are many of the non-Muslims who tend to get upset over the headscarf/burqua question.

It’s probably just me. But assuming the argument is taking place outside of a theocratic context and within a society where yr free to choose yr religious beliefs and/or conduct therein, I can’t help seeing a basic disconnect when Subject A argues about what is or isn’t a valid personal choice for Subject B without being able to (1) see past the choice he/she personally would make, or (2) bring themselves to accept Subject B’s declaration that she chose of her own free will, especially when it’s of a religious nature.

Which is why I tend to see the headscarf/burqua debate as a failure of imagination on the part of critics who can’t imagine why any woman would choose to follow those rules, and thus conclude that they somehow must have been brainwashed or bullied into it.

I tend to reject that line because it’s pretty much the same argument the anti-porn crowd uses to explain how so many women end up in the porn business – which in turn allows them to dismiss the testimonies of women who joined the business voluntarily (as many of them do). I’ve heard the same argument applied to women in BDSM relationships – "she’s a victim, she couldn’t possibly want to be in what is clearly an abusive relationship, no matter what she says," etc.

How patronizing can you get?

But then I’m an old white guy who was raised Episcopalian and inadvertently converted to agnosticism by Mormons. So I would say that, wouldn’t I?

Keep yr head covered (wear yr hat),

This is dF

BUY MORE POPCORN OR DIE!

ITEM: A new study claims that subliminal advertising is most effective when the message being conveyed is negative, according to Professor Nilli Lavie from University College London.

In three experiments, participants were briefly shown masked words and asked to classify them as emotional or neutral:

The researchers found that the participants answered most accurately when responding to negative words, even when they believed they were merely guessing the answer.

Professor Lavie said: "We have shown that people can perceive the emotional value of subliminal messages and have demonstrated conclusively that people are much more attuned to negative words.

On the down side (or the bright side, depending on which side of the subliminal message yr on), there’s very little scientific evidence that subliminal messages actually work in the first place.

Not that that’s stopped people from trying it, much less freaking out about it.

FUN FACT: In the late 1950s, two men developed “Precon TV” technology to put subliminal ads in television broadcasts.



See the April 1958 issue of Popular Science for details.

Off-message,

This is dF