Adult diaper check at the airport causes controversy

Click on this link to read a Slate article about an uproar the TSA caused at a Florida airport when it conducted a strip search of an elderly cancer patient who was wearing adult diapers. Does searching (removing?) such diapers address a reasonable security concern? Or is this an example of an overzealous policy that underestimates the potential embarrassment to citizens? Are undies to follow shoes as the next mandatory removal item?

DVRs turn out to be energy hogs

Like the traditional family hearth, home DVRs put out heat as their hard drives spin spin spin. But any appliance that generates heat also eats up electricity.

Click on this link to read a Sarasota Herald Tribune (6-26-11) article about the surprising energy consumption of DVRs. European countries have mandated that, in order to save energy, DVRs go into standby or deep sleep modes when not recording. But Americans are apparently too impatient to wait for their DVRs to come out of standby. Their DVRs stay on continually, even when not recording or playing back a program. The article reveals that DVRs can consume as much energy as a refrigerator. Do you believe the government should take action to reduce this needless use of electricity or it the responsibility of consumers to encourage manufacturers and cable providers to take this step?

Executive pay rise leads to income gaps in U.S.

Click on this link to read a Washington Post article (6-18-11) regarding the dramatic rise in the pay and perks of corporate executives. Do the pay inequities of corporations operate as an efficient incentive for economic growth and societal improvement, or do they indicate the failure of capitalism to justly distribute societal resources? Is there a cut-off point after which such pay scales cease to motivate beneficial change and simply become greed and plutocracy?

Are fathers essential?

Click on this link to read a Fathers Day column by Kathleen Parker (Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 6-19-11) that argues that fatherless families are not an adequate alternative to the traditional nuclear family.  How credible are the studies she cites to support this view?  Does she gloss over episodes of dysfunctionality in traditional families?

Facebook slip up leads to BIG birthday party

1,500 Crash Birthday Party After Facebook Slip Up

German teenager accidently invites entire Internet to her sweet sixteen.

By Stephen Spencer Davis | Posted Monday, Jun. 6, 2011, at 11:41 AM EDT

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A teenage girl in Germany went into hiding after she forgot to set her Facebook birthday invitation to private and accidentally invited the entire Internet.

The 16-year-old girl, identified only as Thessa in news reports, posted a birthday invitation to Facebook that was viewable by anyone with an Internet connection. After 15,000 people confirmed they were coming, Thessa’s parents canceled the party. They also notified police and hired private security to guard their home.

But that wasn’t enough to stop 1,500 people from showing up and having a good time. About 100 police were dispatched to control the crowd, who chanted “Thessa, celebrating a birthday is not a crime” and held up signs reading “Where is Thessa?”

(For the record, she was celebrating her birthday with her grandparents at “an undisclosed location,” according to the Associated Press.)

When the smoke cleared ­– seriously: firefighters extinguished two small fires – police spokesman Mirko Streiber declared the party “a hit.”

Perhaps you should think twice before inviting Streiber to your next get-together, if his idea of a hit includes 11 detained party-goers, one injured police officer, and “dozens of girls wearing flip-flops cut[ting] their feet on broken glass.”

As the New York Daily News points out, Thessa isn’t the first teen to have a party spin out of control after a Facebook slip-up. In 2010, more than 21,000 people confirmed they were attending a 14-year-old British girl’s birthday. Some of the confirmed attendees included fake accounts for Justin Bieber and Stephen Hawking.

This would have never happened if she'd made the same mistake on Myspace.

How much deregulation is good?

Click on this link to read a Sarasota Herald-Tribune article (6-5-11) about moves by Florida's governor, Rick Scott, to remove consumer protections from businesses such as telemarketers, auto mechanics, movers, travel agents, and other industries.  For example, Scott questions the value of the work of the Division of Standards that regulates carnival games, taxi meters, and weight scales.  Are his moves beneficial attempts to free up businesses from the labyrinthine network of codes and rules that add paperwork and cut into profits?  Or is he naive in trusting these businesses to police themselves, despite a notorious record for fraud that led to the codes being put in place?  Is Scott like a modern day Ayn Rand, striving to restore individual liberty from the oppressive weight of government control?  Or is inviting a return to Sinclair Lewis' The Jungle?

Ban on circumcision in SF contemplated

Click on this link to read a CNN piece (4-28-11) about a movement to legally ban male circumcision in San Francisco.  Advocates of the ban regard the practice as "male genital mutilation" while others believe it has religious importance and/or health benefits.

How to beat the tollbooth police

Click on this link to read a St. Pete Times article (6-2-11) about the tricks employed by motorists to pass undetected through tollbooths (without paying).

Test-tube burgers

Click on this link to read an abstract of a New Yorker article about research to grow meat-based foods in the laboratory. Is this the solution to eliminating farm animal cruelty?  Or is it yet another ominous step away from eating "natural" foods?

U.S. military develops toy-like small weapons

Click on this link to read an L.A. Times article (5-30-11) about mini-sized weaponry being developed by the U.S. military to cut costs and increase effectiveness.  What will the proliferation and increased use of such weapons mean for future forms of warfare (and, potentially, terrorism)?

Text your order to the waiter

Click on this link to read a Parade magazine article (5-1-11) about the new practice of texting one's order to waiter while sitting at a restaurant table.  Is this an advance in obtaining speedy service, or a further step towards the dehumanizing of a traditionally interpersonal experience?