Silly Little Country

Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me

... what red meant!?
This is annoying - I am almost through my life and never understood this.
Meanwhile SillyWife is going out in red jeans!
My guess on the general point of this post - the BRits will wake up. They are not quite there yet but they will be.
We need the same awakening and will achieve it. Though likely after I die.

Labels: stupidity

posted by Alan Adamson @ 3:26 PM 0 comments

Protectionist Immiseration Alert

And so it begins.

After a Navy official spotted Canadian pipe fittings in a construction project at Camp Pendleton, Calif., they were hauled out of the ground and replaced with American versions. In recent weeks, other Canadian manufacturers doing business with U.S. state and local governments say they have been besieged with requests to sign affidavits pledging that they will only supply materials made in the USA.
Outrage spread in Canada, with the Toronto Star last week bemoaning "a plague of protectionist measures in the U.S." and Canadian companies openly fretting about having to shift jobs to the United States to meet made-in-the-USA requirements. This week, the Canadians fired back. A number of Ontario towns, with a collective population of nearly 500,000, retaliated with measures effectively barring U.S. companies from their municipal contracts -- the first shot in a larger campaign that could shut U.S. companies out of billions of dollars worth of Canadian projects.

I am impressed neither by the US action nor the Canadian response, even in that context.
Moreover the US provisions are so fatuously written (why does this not surprise me) that utterly perverse behaviors are arising.

"You need to tell me how inhibiting business between two companies located one mile apart is going to save American jobs," said Bob Miller, Duferco Farrell's executive vice president. "I've got 600 United Steel Workers out there who are going to lose their jobs because of this. And you tell me this is good for America?"

Even worse, we are not finished. This is just the very beginning.

Last week, Obama unveiled a series of proposals aimed at increasing taxes by nearly $200 billion over the next decade on U.S. companies doing business abroad. At a White House event, Obama said the measures were designed to "close corporate loopholes" that permit companies to "pay lower taxes if you create a job in Bangalore, India, than if you create one in Buffalo, N.Y."

This is one sorry direction, and it's another example of Obama's ignorance of history and economics, as well as Congress,. Of course it might be great politics because nobody will recognize the bad economic impact (the seen and the not-seen).
h/t Phil Miller

Labels: Obama, stupidity

posted by Alan Adamson @ 11:31 AM 0 comments

More Attractive Cafeterias, but Just in Case ...let's have a Jail

Driving home this morning a CBC News item caught my ear, with the headline being more or less that the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) was planning to make its school cafeterias more attractive to students. But then it veered oddly into the TDSB also planning to make it compulsory for students to stay in school over lunch. So I thought what gives? Why jail them if the cafeteria is more attractive?
Fortunately CBC Online has an article on this that does not spin it so dishonestly. (A theme I have noted that the quality of items in CBC Online reports are far superior in general to the version that gets broadcast.)
The "attractive" spin appears fairly late in the article:

Coteau said middle school cafeterias can't offer great food choices because so few kids stay at school for lunch.
He envisions healthy menu choices that make kids actually want to eat at school.

Now Coteau's notion that his idea of healthy menu choices matches what kids want to eat in school seems at best a somewhat fond one, whatever his notions are.
At least this article opens with the right emphasis:

The Toronto District School Board is considering a controversial proposal designed to get students to eat healthier foods.
A task force on nutrition has recommended keeping middle school students on school grounds at lunch hour to prevent kids from buying junk food.

Hmm, jail the kids and create a captive market for the school cafeteria and expect it therefore to produce a varied, broad, and attractive menu of healthy options that will cause young 'uns to swear off junk food. Sure. Brilliant idea.

Labels: cafeterias, jails, stupidity, TDSB

posted by Alan Adamson @ 10:58 AM 0 comments

This ought to be Funny

But of course it is not, though it bespeaks incredible ignorance, or a will to mislead, on the part of the headline writer.
The headline:

Hamas threatens attacks on Israeli civilians

The article is full of the usual nonsensical bluster and not really worth reading.
h/t SnoopytheGoon

Labels: press, stupidity

posted by Alan Adamson @ 7:34 AM 1 comments

Are they stupid or just wilfully ignorant?

I think there are many good arguments against the Israeli attacks on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but it seems few of them are reflected in the many reports I have seen from the pro-Hamas demonstrations held around the world (I am sure the organizers have no wish to so characterize them so, but the evidence suggests otherwise).
For example:

That anyone living in the West could hold such a sign stuns me.
To cite Andrew Ian Dodge, from whose blog I stole this picture,

It would actually help if you realised that: 1. Hamas was elected to run Gaza 2. Hamas clearly states they hate all Jews and want to see Israel wiped of their face of the earth…its in their charter. 3. Hamas are not keen on gays (they kill them), have brought back cruxifiction and don’t like women much either.

Now if you want REAL willful ignorance, consider this one, from the Jawa Report:

I doubt they are stupid enough to plan to move to Palestine under Hamas real soon now.
h/t SnoopytheGoon on the above.
For a more reflective, and somewhat depressing look at similar points, one can hardly do better than Terry Glavin this morning,

So why does any of this matter, all this horror in such a tiny, faraway place? Because the sundering of the "left" unto barbarism and senility matters. Because Palestinians matter. Because Israelis matter. Because this little "war" is a much greater struggle than it appears.

"This is a war for the future of Islam," writes Bradley Burston. "Specifically, it is a war over the future of radical Islam, which for the past decade, has vigorously and skillfully labored to surpass settlements, Palestinian misrule, and a host of other factors to become the pre-eminent obstruction to peace in the Holy Land. "

It is also the pre-eminent obstruction to peace in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan, Somalia, and quite a few other places I could name.

Too bad the "anti-war" movement hasn't noticed.

Oddly enough, I am getting the feeling the Arab leadership is not so stupid as our Western left. Despite Israel's claims of limited goals, useful so as to control expectations and try to avoid having the whole effort labeled yet another failure, my own guess is that the real goal of the mission is to end Hamas' ruling role in Gaza, and that they have the tacit agreement of the major Arab countries, for the simple reason that those leaders have no wish to continue dealing with Hamas. What on earth becomes of governance in Gaza is hard to say but it is difficult to imagine it could be worse than what they have today. But heaven knows, I have been wrong before.

There is a funny irony - amidst all the demands that Israel engage in a dialogue, it seems to me that the only way to arrive at any sort of dialogue is to do just what Israel is doing - remove the Hamas leadership from the process. There is absolutely no way a guy like Rayyan could have engaged in a useful dialogue.

Labels: Gaza, left, stupidity

posted by Alan Adamson @ 7:10 AM 0 comments

And some Canadians support these Guys?

Ophelia notes one project of the charmers called the Taliban, and follows with even more. I am particularly impressed by the commitment to civil society.

You have until January 15 to stop sending your girls to schools. If you do not pay any heed to this warning, we will kill such girls," one official quoted the commander as saying. "We also warn schools not to enrol any female students; otherwise, their buildings will be blown up

The militants have also prohibited immunisation for children against polio – claiming that the UN-sponsored vaccination drive is aimed at causing sexual impotence – causing a sharp rise in cases of the disease.

This is of course made much easier for them by restrictions put on their troops by many of the NATO nations. And it appears that a substantial part of Canada's "left" believe that we should simply pack up and leave the place to the Taliban. The abandonment of key principles of the left in history should be a sad embarrassment. Of course, the NDP will say they want to "negotiate" with the Taliban. What exactly do they think there is to negotiate? It would seem rather like negotiating with John Gotti. I deeply hope we do not end up with the appalling planned coalition.
I do hope Barack Obama carries out his promise to beef up the effort in Afghanistan.
As Ophelia says, Allah the merciful indeed.

Labels: Afghanistan, Layton, NDP, stupidity, Taliban

posted by Alan Adamson @ 11:05 AM 0 comments

The Lovely Che

A pretty good film narrated on image of the revolting icon , the "king of marketing", by Nick Gillespie: you see see it here.

Labels: che, stupidity

posted by Alan Adamson @ 3:54 AM 0 comments

Scoundrels

Arnold Kling's observations here are quite likely to have applicability far beyond New Jersey.

I sympathize profoundly with this bit:

I am convinced that those of us who save for our own retirement are going to be taxed to pay for other people's defined-benefit plans. For some reason, this crime bothers me even more than most other government crimes.

Labels: government, pensions, stupidity

posted by Alan Adamson @ 11:36 PM 0 comments

NDP Policy

I don't expect much of the NDP in recent years - though once there was a little heft, and occasional attempts to understand policy implications. So it was hardly surprising to see this press release from the campaign back home.

Layton outlined five practical measures to stop hidden fees and help consumers:
* End hidden fees with laws requiring full disclosure of charges by banks, cell-phone operators, and other companies. Including the unfair practice of charging more for cell phone text messages.
* Ban ATM fees.
* Stop price gouging at the gas pumps.
* Put a cap on interest rates and fees charged by ‘fringe banks’.
* Cap the interest rates on credit cards.

I was readying to post on this topic but David Reevely beat me to it, with this excellent post, rather wittily (but also to the point) titled NDP will eliminate bank machines, gas stations, credit cards, Layton promises.

(BTW-I do like the idea of full disclosure.)

Labels: NDP, stupidity

posted by Alan Adamson @ 10:39 AM 1 comments

Do the Democrats recognize this Fatuous Blunder?

Glenn Reynolds summarizes it extremely well, synthesizing the efforts of many other bloggers.

Democrats make fun of McCain for not using e-mail. He's a stone-ager, unlike The One!

Oops - not so simple. He uses the Internet and e-mail for years, but the wounds from his POW captivity mean he cannot type well, so others do the typing.

If this is the Obama campaign hitting hard, God save them. The tragedy is that the killer is in Forbes years ago.

In certain ways, McCain was a natural Web candidate. Chairman of the Senate Telecommunications Subcommittee and regarded as the U.S. Senate's savviest technologist, McCain is an inveterate devotee of email. His nightly ritual is to read his email together with his wife, Cindy. The injuries he incurred as a Vietnam POW make it painful for McCain to type. Instead, he dictates responses that his wife types on a laptop. "She's a whiz on the keyboard, and I'm so laborious," McCain admits.

Labels: advertising, Barack Obama, McCain, stupidity

posted by Alan Adamson @ 7:14 AM 1 comments

Theere'll Always be an England

After leaving London and renting my car I became quite a radio listener and one of the stories dominating the airwaves in the first few days was the offensive from pedants against Tesco's express lane labeling - "10 Items or Less".
Tesco has caved and will now use the label "Up to 10 Items". I actually heard someone on the radio concerned that it was not clear from this whether the limit was 9 or 10 items.
Oh dear.
And of course, the Language Log team are all over this one - you can start here.
Like me, the Language Log guys lean away from prescriptive grammar (as the 'rules' are rarely followed in any universal way by good writers in the language).
SillyWife is a believer in maintaining the less/fewer distinction, and I can understand this as an investment in a hard lesson learning English as a second language. My host in Scotalnd was firm that 'less' was utterly wrong.
I could perhaps sign up or such a position if I knew of a single possible sentence disambiguated by using the distinction between the continuous and the discrete, which is what the prescriptivists seem to think makes the difference.

Labels: express lanes, pedantry, prescriptive grammar, stupidity, Tesco

posted by Alan Adamson @ 7:52 AM 0 comments

Silly Little City - Summer

This National Post editorial captures something about this city perfectly.

You get the sense that if it could, the city would call in the military to install giant umbrellas to guard us all from the sun's rays.
...
I am sweating ...[ed. expunged very local joke], berating myself for deciding to wear jeans and not shorts. Maybe the city should issue extreme pants alerts. Then again, most people seem to be wearing shorts, skirts or summer dresses. Most people have sense.
...
CP24 anchor Teresa Kruze says "it is dangerously hot out there." The temperature displayed in the weather box to her immediate right says it is 28C. Get ready give a high-pitched scream in horrified shock: It's July and the sun's out!
...
Inside Metro Hall, there is a sign directing visitors to the "emergency cooling centre," with letters in an appropriately frost-tipped font. Get ready for some sweet, sweet cooling action. I get a paper cup filled with room-temperature water. Besides two people ready to hand out water, I am the only person at the three tables at the cooling centre.

I work regularly with people who live in Southern California and Texas, and while it is true that sometimes we have somewhat annoying humidity that is less normal there, I tend to be somewhat embarrassed by our heat alerts.

Labels: heat, sill, stupidity, Toronto, y city

posted by Alan Adamson @ 6:11 PM 0 comments

Paul Wells finds the Human Story

... in this sad sequence.



What I find stunning is the audience vote. These are those oh-so-sophisticated Europeans, who sneer at American creationists (I do too, but I know the answer!).

Paul's pained by it.

Labels: Europe, moon, stupidity

posted by Alan Adamson @ 1:50 AM 0 comments

That Offensive Tayside Puppy

You have undoubtedly seen several news items or posts about the poor puppy but this is my favourite one, largely for MapMaster's excellent analysis in the last sentence.

One could throw a thousand stones or more in a crowd of Canadian Muslims before striking even just one who is outraged by a picture of a dog, but then our own diversity advisors and human rights commissions have only recently begun to prevail upon Muslims to posture for them.

Give people a job, however useless, and they will contrive to grow it.

Labels: dogs, muslim, offense, stupidity

posted by Alan Adamson @ 7:10 AM 0 comments

More Free Speech - Australian Version

Canada is not the only place with stupid initiatives.

Norm has the perfect post on the subject.

I quite like the T-shirt suggestions he points to in this article.

Labels: australia, Roman Catholics, stupidity

posted by Alan Adamson @ 4:44 PM 0 comments

Che!

A lovely small part of the Colombian rescue story was a key piece of the disguise the Colombian military used to fool the stupid FARC into thinking they themselves were sympathetic to the FARC - from Betancourt:

The pilots, she said, were posing as members of a relief organization, but "they were dressed like clowns," wearing Che Guevara shirts, so she assumed they were rebels.

Finally, a good use for the image of the murderous Guevara. And I love Betancourt's characterization of the significance of wearing a Che T-shirt. She should know.

(h/t Damian P.)

Labels: che, death cult, stupidity

posted by Alan Adamson @ 4:35 PM 0 comments

Ophelia Loses It (Rightly)

This is just fun (and also enraging - I do hate to think of the total waste of resources pissed away in such endeavours) from start to finish, for anyone who actually cares about what it takes to 'know' something.

Ophelia says, among much else (go read it):

Wordy, jargony, self-admiring, and - clueless. It apparently doesn't even know what 'interstices' means - it seems to think it's a more elegant version of 'intersections.' Anyway, what the hell would an intersection or an interstice 'of epistemology, methodology, metaphysics, ontology, and science and technology studies' be?

...

There's mainstream epistemology, and then there's Feminist Epistemology (except when there are Feminist Epistemologies). To put it another way, there's rational and then there's raving bat-loony. There's even a course in Feminist Theory: Epistemologies of Ignorance. It's about reading memoirs. They use the word 'Epistemologies' in the title so that it will sound more academic-like. Or something.

Labels: epistemology, feminism, stupidity

posted by Alan Adamson @ 4:31 PM 0 comments

More on Language Tools

OK, look, I have an excuse. I am sitting in Frankfurt Airport waiting for a flight. What else is there to do? Those Language Log guys have another tool problem to report. As they say, the result is 'Honest but unhelpful', at least for those who cannot read the Chinese.

Labels: stupidity, translation

posted by Alan Adamson @ 3:45 AM 0 comments

Oh Those Tools of Ours

This is too delicious for words.

I love the use of 'exuberant' below.

It's a bit ironic that a right-wing news site was the perpetrator of an exuberant search-and-replace, since this phenomenon is typically associated with journalistic PC-ism: everyone seems to know about the apocryphal case of a newspaper changing "back in the black" to "back in the African American." As I discussed in the post "Incorrections in the newsroom: Cupertino and beyond" last February, that all goes back to a practical joke at the Fresno Bee in 1990. In the February post I reproduce some real cases of search-and-replace run rampant, including the unfortunate Reuters report stating that "Queen Elizabeth has 10 times the lifespan of workers and lays up to 2,000 eggs a day."

UPDATE: Here's another honey.

Labels: search and replace, stupidity

posted by Alan Adamson @ 3:34 AM 0 comments

This Seems to me to be Ridiculous

Things are getting out of hand.

What did the complainants expect? Tea and crumpets?

"The reader or the listener or whatever has no feeling for the environment of the comedy show that is triple-X, edgiest-show-in-town, controversial and offensive, so when you walk in there you're making an agreement to be a party to this controversial show.

Labels: HRT, human rights, offence, stupidity

posted by Alan Adamson @ 7:49 AM 0 comments