Airline passengers worried about new security scanners filming their privates now have a way out: anti-radiation underwear.
The undies, sold by Colorado company Rocky Flats Gear, feature cute fig-leaf patterns over the sensitive area, with the leaves made out of material promising to “block natural and man-made radiation”.
That would stop harmful rays of any kind, but more to the point, the technology “insures privacy of medical and body scanner images”.
The Transportation Security Administration has come under growing pressure over new scanners that show the naked contours of passengers. Passengers refusing to submit to the scan face a detailed manual search, likened by opponents to sexual groping. (AFP)
‘Back in the USSR’ ball
The Kremlin is planning a New Year’s ball under the theme of Back in the USSR that will feature a spoof double of ex-Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.
The eye-catching plan, outlined in detail on the official website for state expenditure, is for New Year celebrations at a sanatorium that is part of the Kremlin administration.
According to the detailed description of the expenditure posted on the website, 350 people are being invited to the party at the Klyazma sanatorium, which is part of the New Gorki leisure complex outside Moscow.
The highlight promises to be a “show number” with a “Brezhnev double”, reminding guests of the dour leader who ruled the Soviet Union in the so-called period of stagnation in the 1970s and early 80s. (AFP)
Reunited... after 50 years
A pensioner described his surprise when he bumped into his sister – who he had not seen for nearly 50 years.
Roger Mason had lost contact with his sister Joan when he joined the army and went off to fight in Malaya in 1962.
But when Mr Mason, 68, went to a war medals presentation for the Malaya conflict in Portsmouth, Hampshire, his sister spotted him and they were reunited for the first time in almost half a century. (PA)
Bus stop blunder
The Highway Code fails to tell drivers not to park in bus stops, civil servants discovered when researching a parliamentary question.
Government whip Earl Attlee said the error, spotted by Department for Transport officials, would be corrected next time the guide for road users is published.
Answering questions in the House of Lords about cars parking in bus lanes causing problems for the disabled, he admitted that “in the research process it was discovered that there is an error in rule 240 of the Highway Code that doesn’t list bus stop clearways as somewhere you must not stop”. (PA)
‘Wise’ men in cars
Top Gear’s trio of presenters will follow in the tracks of the original three wise men in a Christmas special that sees them drive through Iraq.
They will drive open-top sports cars through southern Turkey and Syria on their way to Bethlehem in the festive challenge.
The show’s stars regularly take part in epic long-distance journeys with previous episodes seeing them race each other across the Arctic, through Vietnam and Bolivia. (PA)
Gory gift store
A Los Angeles County coroner is planning to boost sales from its gift store which is sited next to the morgue.
A previous management audit recommended he contract an outside firm to market merchandise which includes water bottles marked “bodily fluids,” and beach towels featuring the symbol of a chalk body outline.
A spokesman said retail sales were not part of the department’s mission, but added the gifts had sales potential in the city’s tourist areas. (PA)
Gay market
Two undertakers in Cologne are marketing coffins specifically aimed at the gay market.
Their first effort is decorated with naked, muscular men.
“We believe you should be able to have a coffin that lets you embark on your last journey in a way that reflects how you lived your life,” undertaker Thomas Brandl said. (PA)
Ahmadinejad’s charity auction
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to auction off his 1977 Peugeot 504, a key plank of his populist image, to raise money for charity, state TV reported yesterday.
The money earned from the sale at international auction will be given to the Mehr housing project, a network of cooperatives that provides affordable housing for low-income families, the television’s website said. (AFP)