Date: March 17, 2014 at 12:02:53 AM PDT
Subject: Sunday Rant – 1114
PN:
Rant Worthy-ness
I mostly mind my own business. Any given day, I see a large number of websites, and a myriad of side bars, pop-ups, ads, cons, schemes, and “chameleons”. Today, some of my valuable time (can’t never be replaced) was spent because I got sucked in. I’m pissed at chameleons. Don’t know what that is? I’ve co-opted that word to describe a sleazy ad campaign that looks, sounds, and feels like a news item until you click to start, or click to see, or click to link. Then, you get a “professional voice” babbling bullshit for so long you fear succumbing to “Stockholm Syndrome” while you become increasingly agitated waiting to learn the “Five Signs You Have Cancer”, or “Ten Food Items to Avoid”, or “Four Government Programs to Reduce Taxes”. I clicked on one cleverly designed frame this morning. It was in a row of news items, it was worded like a news item, and the picture looked news-worthy. After a short interval (say 2 seconds?) I realized it to be what it is – a chameleon ad masquerading as a news story. One rainy day a few whiles ago, I tried to wait a similar ad out; my intention was to sit patiently and listen until the ad was finished. The subject was health. I couldn’t do it. After 10 minutes of the narrator wandering in circles of half-baked logic, homilies, unsubstantiated quotes, I was hopelessly disoriented and uninformed. I never did find out the “Six Food Items to Avoid”. As a person allergic to garlic, I thought identifying these six would arm me against potential, unintentional, “foodicidal” behavior. No joy. I’ll never know who these enemies to health are because the SOB doing the talking never showed his face, and wouldn’t spit out the names of those six murderous bastard food items.
These nasty ads are more nefarious than unsolicited phone promotions in that you share the blame for clicking on the item in the first place. Their camouflage doesn’t trip me up often, but when it does…… well, picture Donald Duck having a tantrum. Better yet, here he is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x39-AgyU3Xg
Why the rant? Once again my tender and innocent trust has been broken by language.
Misusing words needn’t be a capital offense. Conversely, what is a proper penalty?
A few cartoons highlighting language use, good and bad –
What IS a bucket list, anyway?
I can’t decide if I’m a grammar Nazi or a pedant….. or some combo of same. When I’ve decided, there won’t be a lynching or impeachment. Just a simple sentence.
CANADA
Good Canada
Next week Stephen Harper will visit the Ukraine. Specifically, he is the first G7 leader to announce he will meet with the new government and state Canada’s solidarity and concern for the Ukrainian people:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/03/14/stephen-harper-travelling-to-ukraine-on-march-22/
He is becoming a stronger and more distinguished world leader with every twist and turn of world events. Bravo Mr. Harper!
Bad CHRC – Good Ezra and Mark
The Canadian Human Rights Commission is another government program that might have had a reason to be, but no longer does. It is a mockery of “justice” which feeds off discrimination and bias. Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn discuss the latest convolutions of the CHRC, and the status of freedom of speech and liberty in today’s world:
http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/3341116428001
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Bureaucratic Bungling
What happens when “state-ism” is voted into office and bureaucracy runs rampant? Remember, EVERY government department / division / entity has as it’s number one objective the procurement of additional employees and the expansion if budget. THE ORIGINAL PURPOSE BECOMES SECONDARY. Overbearing regulatory activity causes idiocy like the following:
As the article maintains, this is not isolated. Here’s another of a couple that built a pond on their property and the EPA is threatening to sue them $75,000 USD A DAY!!!!!:
These fine folks grew a vegetable garden on their property. The city is threatening fines if they don’t dig it out:
http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/family-forced-dig-vegetable-garden-face-fines-172600905.html
Here is a story of an 81 year old woman who was jailed for feeding crows in her back yard:
You can find these stories all day long. I am a small government limited regulation free enterprise liberty seeking freedom loving (when you can make it) man. That doesn’t mean I don’t want any government or no regulation. It does mean that local provincial and federal government is the lesser of evils, and they are in place not to govern me but to serve. The above examples are excesses carried out by over zealous politically motivated departments which have lost track of what is their function.
CHINA
What is China hiding? How can an economy grow at 8% year after year when other economies are stagnant or go bust? An interesting video essay by Robert Peston titled “How China Fooled the World”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW3h4wv8_ko#t=94
Bottom line? The Chinese are competing with the Americans for the largest, scariest, economy of debt the world has ever seen. If I was a betting man, I’d put my money on China to win this suicidal course of economic action. According to the information presented by Mr. Peston, the Chinese debt is doubling it’s GDP every year. The amounts are stupendous. The risk to the average Chinaman and their emerging middle class is very high. As one interviewee stated, the economic model must change (to a consumer oriented basis) and the political system must, by association, change too. Alas, the political system will not be changing…….
AVIATION INFORMATION
The disappearance of flight MH370 from the “friendly” skies of Malaysia has all the news feeds and main stream media frothing. According to the following, flight MH370 may become the 84th large aircraft to vanish without a trace since the second world war:
http://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2014-03-13/vanishing-planes-mapped-since-1948.html
A website that tracks aircraft in flight:
http://www.flightradar24.com/52.13,-106.67/7
With this technology available publicly (based on ACARS?), and the advanced avionics found in a Boeing 777 ( http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/03/14/290255899/boeing-777-pilots-its-not-easy-to-disable-onboard-communications ) the mystery of flight MH370 “disappearing” seems more likely due to human intervention as opposed to catastrophic failure of all systems. I and Joe suspect the bad people are acting out again, and they are working for Mohammed. Prove we’re wrong and we’ll apologize.
AUTOMOTIVE TREATS
Long ago and far away a friend (Bob T. in Cowgary) owned a ’67 Comet GT with a 390 cu. in. FE engine and a 4 speed. Always liked that year, but I thought the Ford Fairlane GT was better looking. Here’s a “door slammer” ’67 Fairlane that runs under 9 seconds in the quarter with a bored and stroked Windsor small block. Looks to be running a Lenco CS3 5 speed. Pretty car:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cjEbqrIVCQ
Port Alberni? I guess you could race between rain showers…..
POLITICS, POLITICIANS, WACKJOBBERY, HUMOROUS, STUPID (BUT AMUSING)
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AMAZING STUFF
GUNS, GUNNERS, GUNNERY
A great video of “Gnat Shooting”. Shooters try to hit a radio controlled airplane (gnat) that has target 0incendiaries under the wing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLLAKnVej9o#t=201
Great fun and great shotgun training for all. But wait! Why stop there? Here’s machine guns vs radio controlled airplane at the Big Sandy Shoot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR5BtXP0s0o
I gotta get a cannon. That looks like way too much fun…..
PHILOSOPHY, PHILOSOPHERS, SMART THINKING
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”-Ronald Reagan
RELIGION OF PEACE (ON US ALL)
SUNDAY SERMON
Today’s sermon from Daniel C. Dennett titled “What Should Replace Religion?”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5tGpMcFF7U
The gist of his presentation is non belief is growing faster than ANY religion. You needn’t condemn the traditions, rituals, and ceremony out of hand. Better to glean from “religion” those things that are done well and incorporate them into an enlightened future without the myths, guilt, condemnation, and elitism that accompany every known religion. A very rational and informed speech.
WEATHER
Fool that I am…… Thought we were out of the woods. A couple of days of sun and warmth makes me forget the nasties just finished. Then the damn snow and cold comes on again……
I get it. I’m in Canada and there is no Global Warming®. No need to rub it in…………..
This little graphic from early in the week tells a tale of rare but not unheard of weather –
It’s been a hard unforgiving winter for most of Canada’s population, and the population of the midwest and northeast United States. Only two more months to welcome climate change!
Joe (Impatient) Mekanic
p.s. Ramirez gets it right first time –
