Posted 4:52 PM by Gene

Too hot for takeoff
A Southwest Airlines passenger is asked to fasten her seatbelt — and lengthen her skirt. » Too revealing?

I'm not clicking on the story because I don't want to endure a five-minute ad. More to the point, I don't want to endure more news hack CW, especially from Jerry "Sieg Heil!" Yang. I think I've consumed enough news to guess: evil old reactionary Southwest engages in tub-thumping prudery with a passenger. Perhaps. But I know enough of news hack CW to think the problem isn't with evil Southwests and skirts -- it's with cities like mine, with a murder everyday and an accompanying yawn for each one. When the news hacks create instant martyrs most likely they're not martyrs; what's more, they're likely ignoring the blossoming evil under their laptops.

Which brings up the Madeleine case. Assuming the Portuguese authorities know what they're doing (we wouldn't), that they'd consider her mother a suspect points to how easily crooks and frauds can gain sympathy with news hacks. The notion of a cute three-year-old girl gone missing is beyond pain, but as recent events showed, the notion of a mother killing her child is not beyond the pale.