Teresa Nielsen Hayden observes:

One of the reasons I’ve never believed satanic ritual abuse narratives—the ones where the supposed victims are always being “groomed” (they always use that word) to become the high priest or priestess of the group—is that their stories are devoid of normal human complications. Nobody ever develops chest pains, and has to be gotten out of their ceremonial robes and rushed to an ER. Nothing funny ever happens. Nobody ever fluffs a complex ritual. The air conditioning never breaks down. There are no theological or procedural disputes, no arguments about bookkeeping, no rebellious music committees. Satanic covens are never incapacitated because the potato salad sat out too long before the pre-ceremony setup session potluck. But most tellingly of all, no satanic group is ever riven by dissension because a couple of its members have started selling Amway and they won’t shut up about it.

As I’ve read about gas/electric hybrid cars over the last couple of years, it’s stuck me that some of the energy- and emission-saving features that they tout aren’t specific to hybrids, specifically an engine that turns off when you stop and/or put the manual transmission in neutral.
In Switzerland, for example, the law says you must turn off your car’s motor at a stop light or when waiting for a train to cross. I’ve heard that is why European stoplights go red-YELLOW-green: to give motorists notice of impending green light so that they can start their engines.
This article, The Truth About Hybrids, addresses this issue:

[M]anufacturers try to…add to the hybrid’s headline-grabbing mileage figures by the extensive use of non-hybrid gas-saving technology. Engine shut-off at idle, electric power steering, harder and reduced rolling resistance tires (at the expense of comfort and traction), reduced option content, reduced engine performance, and, in the case of the Ford, a continuously variable transmission (CVT) all help raise the cars’ overall efficiency.
Of course, if gas mileage is the ultimate goal, all of these strategies could be applied to a ‘standard’ car. A non-hybrid model with the equivalent modifications would significantly narrow the mileage gap with its hybrid sibling. In fact, in normal use, the margin between truly comparable hybrid and non-hybrid cars could be less than 10%– hardly enough to justify the extra purchase price.

My conventional Corolla gets 30+ mpg in city driving and almost 40 mpg on road trips. Therefore, I’ve not been that impressed with the supposed mileage of hybrids. For all their technological advances, they only get a few more miles per gallon (and according to the article, actual mileage of hybrids is not as good as the EPA numbers). Add a few of those features to my car, and I’d be right up there, too.
Related rant: One of my pet peeves is people who leave their cars idling when they’re stopped somewhere: talking on their phone in a parking lot, running in to a store for a minute, etc. I can understand leaving the car running if you’re sitting in it in hot Texas weather. Otherwise, it’s just a big waste of fuel. This morning, I was sorely tempted to try to educate a fellow patron of my local bagel shop when she came out to get in her car that she’d left idling while getting her breakfast.

Here’s an excellent short essay in the New York Times (registration required) about why our current obsession with anti-bacterial products is pointless.

Where there is an irrational fear, there is a product-development team to fan it and feed it and exploit it. . . The makers of antibacterial products are fond of the word “germs.” It is purposefully vague. Do they mean bacteria? Viruses? Both? Neither? Because the idea is simply to connote contamination. These products are as much about cooties as they are about viruses or bacteria.

Wired has an interesting article on the decline of the power of brands. The whole article can be summarized in this great sentence:

If once upon a time customers married brands – people who drove Fords drove Fords their whole lives – today they’re more like serial monogamists who move on as soon as something sexier comes along.

In each image below, the figure on the left is the original 1997 action figure; the figure on the right is the later re-release. I’m sure that this comparison demonstrates some profound and tragic change in our society, but frankly, I’m not sure exactly what it is. (see originals).
 

They grow ’em big in New Zealand!

Researchers at the University of Minnesota filled a swimming pool with guar gum in order to find out whether people swim faster in water than they would in a higher viscosity liquid. The question has a long and interesting history, the results surprised me, and the story of their getting permission to conduct the experiment is humorous.

This is, at once, both cool and revolting:

Maggots aren’t high on most people’s favorite-animals list. But maggots–specifically, the larvae of the green blowfly, Phaenicia sericata–can be helpful for the very reason they horrify. By eating dead tissue at a patient’s wound site, maggots may help decrease the risk of post-operative infections, according to an article in the October 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

The St. Louis Business Journal has an otherwise long, boring article about Carl Z. Levin, a local business consultant who claims psychic abilities, and about how his clients have responded to the news of Levin’s claims.

But the article contains this great line from one client who terminated their business relationship with Levin:

Levin was disappointed by the termination, notification of which, Fleming said, was made by phone. “But if he is a psychic, he obviously didn’t see this scenario happening the way it did.”

I love this quote from a New York Post article about how poorly the delegates to the Republican National Convention in NYC are tipping:

Abraham Bolzman [concierge at the New York Hilton] was also perplexed by the prudence of his guests. “It’s just no tips at all,” he said.
“It’s strange. It’s not that they’re not friendly. They’re always saying ‘God bless you.’ I guess I’m used to something more tangible.” (emphasis added)