The text detonated a vest bomb warn by the bomber while inside a safe hours, mere hours before the planned attack, The Leader-Post said.

[via Threat Level / Wired.com]

Behold the insight of Agent Smith (@TSAgov):

Your privacy is safe with us. We have Agent Grover monitoring the scanner images, and he’s legally blind. #tsa #tsagov

Do you have what it takes to be a TSA agent? Does the Constitution bring the words “everything’s negotiable” to mind? #tsa #tsagov

Your naked pictures are never saved. They’re only copied to what some refer to as the “spank bank.” #tsa #tsaorg

#randomlyselectedforadditionalscreening

As any male will vouch, the consequences are most painful, if not hazardous to one’s health. It is, of course, that “holy shit this hurts” look on the face that is an attacker’s objective. Cell phone cameras capturing that moment have now turned tapping into a competitive spectator sport on YouTube for middle and high school students.

The effects of ball tapping, particularly when frequent, are proving not only painful, but costly for some students. Today’s Al’s Morning Meeting features a collage of articles spotlighting a trend of ball tap injuries and reports among students.

The morning meeting is a newsletter for journalism-types on the hunt for story ideas. Expect to see this crop up in local and national coverage soon.

The post itself warrants reading, as it highlights WTHR-Indianapolis’ statewide school nurse survey in November.

School nurses from 163 Indiana schools participated in the anonymous survey, and 33% of those nurses said they’re aware of ball tapping happening at their school within the past twelve months.

The November story tells the story of a recent Indiana high school graduate who underwent urethra surgery after “undetected scar tissue sealed off his urinary tract.”

In Minnesota, damage was so severe doctors amputated a  14-year-old’s testicle after an attack.

Who would have thought masses of middle and high school boys would need to be told to keep their hands off each others’ junk?

No homo, little dudes.

At least one member of India’s government is concerned about unfettered population growth, and has announced that the best way to address the issue is to get more Indians to spend their evenings watching TV so that they’re “…too tired to make babies.”  Read more at CNN

But video can.

No confirmation just yet on any relations to Miss Teen South Carolina.

Motown is on the rocks these days financially but now you, yes you, can in fact commit a crime and never pay the time.  The city of Detroit is facing a deficit like never before and cutting anything and now everything including their courts.

“Low priority crimes like breaking and entering” may not be prosecuted and conviction rates will decline with the current forecasted cuts according to this article from The Detroit Free Press.

Ryanair, Europe’s largest low fares airline, today (22 Apr) announced that it will now consider how to charge a ‘fat tax’ after more than 30,000 passengers voted in favour of charging excess weight fees for very large passengers in an online vote over the past two weeks.

They are now asking passengers to vote once again on how best to implement such a charge.

1. Charge per kg over 130kg/20 stone (male) and 100kg/15 stone (female);
2. Charge per inch for every waist inch over 45 inch (male) and 40 inch (female);
3. Charge for every point in excess of 40 points on the Body Mass Index (+30 points is obese);
4. Charge for a second seat if passengers’ waist touches both armrests simultaneously.

Although this is more than likely just a big PR campaign, it would be interesting to see how they plan on fining passengers as they board.

Via Ryanair.com

Southwest Airlines and Sports Illustrated are promoting the latest issue of the infamous “Swimsuit Edition” with an advertisement that flies at 30,000 feet and 261 m.p.h. There’s more information on the airliner’s blog, Nuts About Southwest. See a full-plane image here.

Note the placement of the image (particularly, her “parts”) relative to the wing exit door.

Recall the Hudson River-bound U.S. Airways flight:

Oh, imagine the news coverage then.

But, as unique as LOST is, and there’s nothing really like it anywhere, time travel shows are a dime a dozen. Before LOST was ever an apple in J.J. Abrams eyes, Dr. Samuel Beckett was hopping through time and Gary Hobson was getting tomorrow’s newspaper today. After a 10 year break, time travel is back in prime time with LOST, Life on Mars, Heroes, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles and a new Dr. Who. The shows themselves, however, have achieved mixed success. Heroes time-traveling Hiro is a popular character, but his adventures through time have become a crutch the writers use to raise the stakes, Life on Mars is unwatched despite the lead-in from LOST, Terminator is teetering on the cusp of cancelation. So, is there any hope LOST can succeed where others have failed?

LOST has a few things on it’s side. First, it established itself as a character and mystery show very early on, and has maintained a loyal, if not devout fanbase. The producers has a finite end date for the program. They don’t have to worry about being renewed or ratings as much as telling a story. This will allow them to tell the story well, which, actually, will likely help the show keep the viewers it has.

But the biggest advantage LOST has is simple: it has not fallen into the trap of so many other time travel fiction falls into. It has not become obsessed with trying to change the future. Quantum Leap and Early Edition both used this as the main plot device: by using information they have in the future, you can fix a mistake. Both shows were modest hits, last five and four seasons respectively. Heroes, on the other hand, has already presented it’s audience with several alternate futures. LOST’s producers have promised that anything shown on the show actually happened, and that there is only one time line.

The first episode to feature time travel, “Flashes Before Your Eyes”, went one step further, establishing that you can not change the future or prevent someones death, because the universe has course-correction. And, in a recent episode, when a character was asked why he didn’t try to change his past and save himself from the pain, he retorts: “I needed that pain to get to where I am now.” I think that’s writer for ‘everyone does that and it’s not really interesting.’