Rotundus.com

I love the title of this New York Times article, Sorry, Vegans: Brussels Sprouts Like to Live, Too:

... before we cede the entire moral penthouse to “committed vegetarians” and “strong ethical vegans,” we might consider that plants no more aspire to being stir-fried in a wok than a hog aspires to being peppercorn-studded in my Christmas clay pot. This is not meant as a trite argument or a chuckled aside. Plants are lively and seek to keep it that way. The more that scientists learn about the complexity of plants — their keen sensitivity to the environment, the speed with which they react to changes in the environment, and the extraordinary number of tricks that plants will rally to fight off attackers and solicit help from afar — the more impressed researchers become, and the less easily we can dismiss plants as so much fiberfill backdrop, passive sunlight collectors on which deer, antelope and vegans can conveniently graze.

“Plants are not static or silly,” said Monika Hilker of the Institute of Biology at the Free University of Berlin. “They respond to tactile cues, they recognize different wavelengths of light, they listen to chemical signals, they can even talk” through chemical signals. Touch, sight, hearing, speech. “These are sensory modalities and abilities we normally think of as only being in animals,” Dr. Hilker said.

Plants can’t run away from a threat but they can stand their ground. “They are very good at avoiding getting eaten,” said Linda Walling of the University of California, Riverside. “It’s an unusual situation where insects can overcome those defenses.” At the smallest nip to its leaves, specialized cells on the plant’s surface release chemicals to irritate the predator or sticky goo to entrap it. Genes in the plant’s DNA are activated to wage systemwide chemical warfare, the plant’s version of an immune response. We need terpenes, alkaloids, phenolics — let’s move.

... Just because we humans can’t hear them doesn’t mean plants don’t howl. Some of the compounds that plants generate in response to insect mastication — their feedback, you might say — are volatile chemicals that serve as cries for help. Such airborne alarm calls have been shown to attract both large predatory insects like dragon flies, which delight in caterpillar meat, and tiny parasitic insects, which can infect a caterpillar and destroy it from within.

Passengers stranded when modern-day trains fell victim to the freezing weather have been rescued by the crew of a steam engine.

About 100 passengers climbed aboard the first mainline steam locomotive to be built in Britain for almost half a century at London Victoria when electric trains were delayed.

The 1940s technology used to power Tornado, a £3million Peppercorn class A1 Pacific, was able to withstand the snow and ice that brought much of the South East to a standstill on Monday night.

The locomotive's 'Cathedrals Express' service was offering festive trips in the region when staff on board heard about the stranded passengers.

Source: The Daily Mail

Every passenger on flights to the United States will be subject to a secondary search at the gate area prior to boarding the aircraft -- which will include a physical pat-down search and a hand search of carry-on luggage

... "This includes 100 per cent physical search of person and 100 per cent physical search of carry-on baggage and personal items." WestJet Airlines Ltd., one of Canada's two major airlines, estimated the searches will take between five and seven minutes per person. The new rules will also limit the amount of carry-on baggage to one item per person travelling on flights from Canada to the United States. ... While Transport Canada said in a statement the heightened security measures would last for several days, WestJet was more specific, saying the rules were expected to last until Dec. 30.

... Air Canada said in a news release that new rules will further limit activities by passengers and crew while in U.S. airspace. "The final hour of flight customers must remain seated, will not be allowed to access carry-on baggage, or have personal belongings or other items on their laps," the country's largest air carrier said, citing new U.S. Transportation Security Administration policies.

- Excerpted from The National Post

The hand searching might make some sense, although it seems to be an obvious example of security theatre the way it's being implemented. (Why else would they only do this "enhanced search" for several days, ending before the end of the end-of-the-year travel peak?)

The in-flight restrictions on the other hand seem a little ridiculous. (Perhaps you should buy stock in/of Depends?)

The New York Times mentioned that this guy was an engineering student. The first thought that that brought to mind is that this guy must have been pretty incompetent in order to not succeed. As I previously noted, TSA itself noted that it's highly unlikely to get a bomb like that prepared in mid-air. Even if he did manage to explode something, would it be enough to actually cause the plane to crash? (A 737 was able to land safely after a large portion of the cabin roof ripped off mid-flight for example).

On the other hand, perhaps he did succeed? To quote one individual (reply #2): "I hate that one stupid moron is able to cause problems for everyone else travelling." Add up the cost of the new security measures both in direct monetary terms and in the indirect cost of traveller time - I'm guessing millions. Add in the fear that this seems to have created - and the attention drawn to this incident - and this seems to have been a "successful" act of terrorism. ... and it's the government that you have to thank for making it a "success".

I'm not a fan of traditional Christmas carols - I can only take so much of them before I'm once again tiredof them. But that doesn't mean that Christmas be music-free.

(HT: Justin Taylor)