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It's that time of year when people start getting nutty about whether or not to call Christmas trees "holiday trees" so that nobody gets offended. The federal government is so confused about what to do that it calls the National Christmas Tree both a Christmas tree and a holiday tree on the government Web cam site.

They call Christmas trees "holiday trees" in places like Westchester, N.Y. and Flint, Mich.  In Boston, the mayor calls it a Christmas tree, but the city government still calls the city's Christmas tree a "holiday tree."

It would be fun -- Wouldn't it? -- to ask every mayor who lights a "holiday tree" this weekend if they think they are lighting a "Christmas tree." Watch them swallow their tongues while answering that one!

The Detroit News has a story about a subdivision that is trying to force a family to get a plastic baby Jesus off their lawn or face a fine of $25 to $100 a week. Homeowners associations often have more power to control our lives than elected governments do.

Sharp Objects Back on Planes

The Washington Post says that today, the Transportation Security Administration will announce that passengers will soon be allowed to carry scissors under four inches long and tools shorter than seven inches onto airplanes. If you want to buy back all of that stuff that TSA took from you, here is a link.

The Post reported that flight attendants are not happy about the change in rules.

TSA officials now want airport screeners to spend more of their time looking for improvised explosive devices rather than sharp objects.

The TSA's internal studies show that carry-on-item screeners spend half of their screening time searching for cigarette lighters, a recently banned item, and that they open one out of every four bags to remove a pair of scissors, according to sources briefed by the agency. Officials believe that other security measures now in place, such as hardened cockpit doors, would prevent a terrorist from commandeering an aircraft with box cutters or scissors.

However, many flight attendants do not believe sharp objects should be allowed on board. They argue that even though such items would not enable another Sept. 11, 2001-style hijacking, the items could be used as weapons against passengers or flight-crew members. "TSA needs to take a moment to reflect on why they were created in the first place -- after the world had seen how ordinary household items could create such devastation," said Corey Caldwell, spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants, which has more than 46,000 members. "When weapons are allowed back on board an aircraft, the pilots will be able to land the plane safety but the aisles will be running with blood."

"Aisles running with blood." Now there is a marketing image that should help the already-bankrupt airlines. 

Usually, luxury car sales are more invincible to the slings and arrows of the economy. But AdAge says the top-dollar nameplates are in a slump.

Platinum, Gold, Copper

I have said before that these metals prices are getting interesting. Platinum hit nearly $1,000 per ounce this week. It was the highest price paid for the metal in 26 years. Gold touched the $500 mark and copper prices continue to soar. Industry uses a lot of metal. Platinum is used in computer hard discs and LCD panels. The automotive industry uses platinum to filter exhaust fumes. Reuters said:

The rising price of platinum, used to filter engine exhausts, threatens to squeeze already thin margins of U.S. automakers and may prompt them to increase use of cheaper palladium.

Higher platinum prices come at a time when General Motors and Ford Motor Co. are struggling with soaring health care and raw material costs and declines in U.S. market share.

Platinum and its sister metal palladium are used in catalytic converters to filter out carbon monoxide and harmful particles from tailpipe emissions.     

As I passed along in a previous Al's Morning Meeting, the construction industry uses a lot of copper wire. Just look at this list from the Copper Development Association about how copper is widely used in so many ways:

• Architecture
• Automotive
• Electrical
• Building Wire
• Energy Efficiency
• Power Quality
• Tube
• Pipe & Fittings
• Fuel Gas
• Industrial
• Marine
• Machined Products
• Telecommunications
• Copper Compounds
  

Here are some big users/manufacturers in the world of copper, a list that might help you to localize the story.

Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible.