We Detect A Cover-Up

Your Lightning Round editor-in-chief enjoys flying. He enjoys it even more given how sparsely he has the opportunity to head into the clouds. Heck, he even enjoys the SkyMall catalog. So that leaves us puzzled at why skimpy outfits are so much of a distraction when there's so much going on out the window.

UNFRIENDLY SKIES. Two women now say Southwest airlines forced them to adjust their attire, both of them flying through Tucson at one point.

From the AP:

Setara Qassim said a flight attendant confronted her during the trip from Tucson to Burbank, Calif., and asked whether she had a sweater to go over her green halter-style dress.

Qassim, 21, told KNBC-TV in Los Angeles that she was forced to wrap a blanket around herself for the rest of the flight. She complained that if Southwest wants passengers to dress a certain way, it should publish a dress code.

This follows the case of Kyla Ebbert, who says a Southwest employee confronted her about her clothes. She was forced to pull her skirt lower and her top higher.

AP writer David Koenig adds some interesting irony:

Southwest — which dressed its stewardesses in hot pants and called itself "the love airline" back in the 1970s — relies on employees to decide whether a passenger's attire may offend other customers, [spokesman Chris] Mainz said.

You have to wonder what they would say about a lad in a three-cornered hat. But seriously, your Lightning Round editor recalls a flight to St. Louis from Texas a few years back around Christmas time, where a man walked on and off the plane wearing a dalmatian costume. No one confronted him to my knowledge, leaving him free to fly, spots and all.

Lynda White, who teaches etiquette classes and calls herself "The First Lady of Manners," said many young people have gotten lax on what to wear and how to act — possibly influenced by Hollywood stars.

She recommends "business-casual" outfits for the plane because you might be seated next to a potential employer or business contact.

But what if you're seated next to a guy in a dog suit?

GONE. You serve your country in Iraq. You lay your life on the line. You come home, safe and alive, expecting to find your stuff where you left it. But somebody's sold it all.

That's why an Air Force sergeant stationed near Las Vegas is suing PODS storage. It mistakenly auctioned off his storage bin.

From KVVU-TV:

Years of military decorations that are gone, that are irreplaceable," [Sgt.] Bradley [Behling] said. "You can't get those back. Pictures of my kids, high school diplomas, and coin collection I collected as a kid until then -- I can't afford to replace them now."

PODS tried to settle with Sgt. Behling. They didn't say for how much, but it's a smart bet it was a lot less than the $64,000 Behling claimed after he itemized his possessions.

"We have questioned that because of the size of the container, not the content in it," Kevin Downs, a company manager, said. "It's not very feasible to fit that much cubic feet of items that he listed."

Downs said the company's insurance needs more proof to validate such a large payoff.

"We've asked Bradley to furnish us receipts, he's unable to do so," he said. "He said he had to go out to re-purchase items. We've asked him to provide us with those receipts, he's been unable to do so."

PODS wants paperwork. Fair enough. But Sgt. Behling says they were in the pod. And a question bugs us -- if PODS auctioned his stuff off, didn't somebody keep track of what was sold? Or was it just hocked out like a garage sale, cast to the public with no traceability?

So much for supporting the troops...

HEAD CASE. A study from a New York University professor says conservatives' and liberals' brains work differently.

From the Chicago Tribune:

In a study likely to raise the hackles of some conservatives, psychologist David Amodio and others found that a specific region of the brain's cortex is more sensitive in people who consider themselves liberals than in self-declared conservatives.

The brain region in question helps people shift gears when their usual response would be inappropriate, supporting the notion that liberals are more flexible in their thinking.

Already, you can hear the conservatives grumbling and snarling. But wait, let's look at the other side of the aisle:

Linda Skitka, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said it's possible that Amodio's liberals appeared more flexible than his conservatives because the population was skewed.

"We're not a very liberal country," she said. "We're more likely to find extreme conservatives in the U.S. than extreme liberals."

Skitka said there's ample evidence that ideologues on the far left can also be uptight.

"Extreme conservatives could be really rigid," she said. "Moderates should be pretty flexible. But if we go all the way to the left, they may look a lot like the extreme right -- rigid in their ideas."

Rigidly liberal? Behold the birth of a new oxymoron. Righties, please control your snickering. Please.

GREENHOUSE GAS. It's interesting to watch activists occasionally eat their own, or their neighbors, or Al Gore. And eating is exactly the problem here. PETA is going after the former veep.

From the Telegraph:

Citing United Nations research that the meat industry is worse for the environment than driving and flying, animal rights groups are directing a campaign at the former American vice-president's diet.

When he delivers a lecture on global warming in Denver next month, protesters will display billboards bearing a cartoon image of Mr Gore eating a drumstick and the message: "Too chicken to go vegetarian? Meat is the No 1 cause of global warming".

We at your Lightning Round note that PETA has stunk as a credible protest group for the last few years and is showing no signs of improvement. But still, it's interesting to watch.

GET 'EM YOUNG. Starbucks says it doesn't market to kids. And yet, too many kids are coming in with the grown-ups for them to ignore.

From MSNBC.com:

But [Starbucks spokesman Brandon] Borrman said Seattle-based Starbucks is considering whether to add new drinks or drink sizes that better meet the needs of kids or teens.

Right now, it only lists limited kids’ items, such as milk and hot chocolate, in a smaller size, while teenagers have the choice of adult-sized, and often heavily caffeinated, beverages. A 16-ounce Caramel Frappucino coffee drink, for example, has nearly three times the caffeine as a 12-ounce can of regular Coke or Pepsi.

We've warned you about sugar and kids. No need to add to the problem.

THE GAME WHERE NOBODY CAME. If the Washington Nationals played the Florida Marlins, and nobody saw it, did it really happen? We have our doubts after a Wednesday game where only a few hundred people dotted Dolphin Stadium in Miami.

From the Washington Post:

"It looked, actually, like an extended spring game," Nationals Manager Manny Acta said about the crowd at the stadium, which seats 75,000 fans for football games. "It was so sad, but we still got to play the game."

But given the basement status of both teams and the sparse attendance, you wonder whether somebody would've rather said to the crowds, "Hey, let's skip the game and hit the bar already!"