Sideswipe: Airline powder blusher

Looking for a light meal? Photo / Supplied

The terrorists have won: Airline officials believe a suspicious substance found on a flight from Phoenix to Milwaukee that prompted a response from the Milwaukee Fire Department's hazardous materials unit is actually baby powder. The white powder was found on a fold-out change table in one of the Frontier airliner bathrooms. It appeared to be in a dotted pattern, there was a nappy in a waste bin and two infants on the flight,
a spokesman said.

Double standards on drink

Trade Me seems to have double standards when it comes to advertising alcohol, declares Ann. "I have a collectors' bottle of beer to mark the greatness of Stacey Jones' rugby league career. It is unopened, and when I put it on Trade Me, they pulled it because it was deemed to be selling alcohol. I checked their sites and found people selling aged whiskey and wine. Are they not considered alcoholic beverages?"

Lights at dusk widespread

Matt Hancock is amazed Jeremy suggests you don't turn your lights on at dusk. Here are a few quotes he found: Land Transport New Zealand: "You must turn on your vehicle's headlights from 30 minutes after sunset, until 30 minutes before sunrise" (this sounds like dusk to me). Canadian Highway Traffic Act: "Headlights must be on between the times of half an hour before sunset and half an hour after sunrise". West Australian government: "Headlights help other road users to see you - so turn them on (low beam) at dusk and dawn." Matt predicts that next, a reader will be telling us not to turn our wipers on in the rain as they make the windscreen all streaky, or that seat belts hurt their shoulder so let's not wear them.

Fuel-gobbling headlights

"I suspect that people who advocate driving all day with headlights on do not realise that headlights use fuel," writes Nick Bagnall. "Is it possible that someone could calculate how much more oil NZ would need to import if everybody used headlights all day? "

Greenpeace takes on Barbie

Greenpeace activists dressed as Ken dolls abseiled down the side of Mattel's headquarters yesterday to unfurl a banner saying Barbie packaging contributes to rainforest destruction. The massive sign on the building in El Segundo, outside Los Angeles, featured a frowning Ken declaring: "Barbie, it's over. I don't date girls that are into deforestation." Greenpeace said copies of the group's charges against Mattel had been distributed to its 1500 LA-area employees.