Weirdness
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How does the West expect to win…
When we have judges like this
“The trouble is I don’t understand the language. I don’t really understand what a Web site is,” he told a London court during the trial of three men charged under anti-terrorism laws.
Prosecutor Mark Ellison briefly set aside his questioning to explain the terms “Web site” and “forum.” An exchange followed in which the 59-year-old judge acknowledged: “I haven’t quite grasped the concepts.”
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Interesting bits of knowledge
About evolution in this case
Since records on the subject began in the mid-1800s, the average breast size in the US has increased from a 32-B to the current average of 36-C. This may be a result of better nutrition, healthier lifestyle, or the result of the aforementioned sexual selection.
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Wednesday round up
- 5 Techniques for Enhancing Contrast in Digital Photos
- “Breeding dysentery in the ranks” – the best misuses of the English language in the Sopranos
- What journalists need to know about economics – quite good
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Reason #93,843 for private schools
This is quite weird
Teachers Stage Fake Gun Attack on Kids
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Staff members of an elementary school staged a fictitious gun attack on students during a class trip, telling them it was not a drill as the children cried and hid under tables.The mock attack Thursday night was intended as a learning experience and lasted five minutes during the weeklong trip to a state park, said Scales Elementary School Assistant Principal Don Bartch, who led the trip.
“We got together and discussed what we would have done in a real situation,” he said.
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The Japanese seem to be outdoing us in crazy
Check out the speech below. It takes a certain amount of gravitas to be against majority rule and run for office on the explicit platform of destroying the county, but you just can’t hold back street musicians.
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Crazy vegans and social evolution
This horrifying article appeared in today’s AJC
Vegan parents guilty in infant murder
6-week-old died of starvation after being fed diet of soy milk, apple juice
The parents of a baby that died of starvation after being fed a vegan diet have been found guilty of malice murder, felony murder and first degree cruelty to children.
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Prosecutors said it was a chilling case of murder by starvation, a painful and prolonged death. Attorneys representing Sanders and Thomas told jurors the first-time parents did the best they could while adhering to their vegan lifestyle. Vegans typically live free of animal products.It’s troubling in many ways; it raises the question of do we need an official (i.e. government) of raising children (no), and how could these two be so stupid as to not notice that their baby was shrinking?
The truly rare thing is how did these two avoid the self-appointed legions of women who see an infant as an invitation to ask the parents questions on every conceivable subject? It’s not like you have to seek out child-rearing advice when it comes flying out of the woodwork in public places. I imagine it’s decent advice too, just repetitive.
Perhaps it’s an evolved behavior. Post-partum depression being common a society with an army of cooing watchdogs is the first line of defense against neglect or abuse.
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It’s hard to sell domestic violence
While on my way to the Open Mic last night I passed a street performer/near vagrant. As I walked by I got the a pitch for money, with the memorable opening line of “Can you help me out man, I just did six months for domestic violence”. I gave him a dose of the evil eye (look at a spot an inch above his eyes, try it, it works) and he backed off rather quickly.
Why would he think that would be a good way to get money out of anyone? Then again, thinking probably isn’t a strong suit.
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The funniest thing I read today
It comes from the blog of Anderson Cooper, which graces us with
Cameras followed the governor as he shopped for groceries. All he had was $21.00 to spend on food for an entire week. That’s the average amount of money allotted to a food stamp recipient. He had to say “no” to organic bananas and Swiss cheese.
Does anyone expect food stamps to be more than just barely adequate (if that)? Is there anyone laboring under the idea that life on food stamps is an excess of luxury, filled with store bought organic foods?
One of the more annoying human tendencies is that everyone would think like we do if only they had access to the same collection of facts. Thomas Sowell put it best with
Facts do not ‘speak for themselves.’ They speak for or against competing theories. Facts divorced from theories or visions are mere isolated curiosities.
If you don’t convince someone of the flaw in the theory, all of the “awareness” in the world probably one reinforces one’s original worldview.
And on the awareness stunts, nothing beats death row inmates going on a hunger strike to protest conditions. How can anyone top that?
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Saturday rapid fire
- Thought crime in High School writing class –
Allen Lee, 18, faces two disorderly conduct charges over the creative-writing assignment, which he was given on Monday in English class at the northern Illinois school.
Students were told to “write whatever comes to your mind. Do not judge or censor what you are writing,” according to a copy of the assignment. This is the first salvo in the education establishments overreaction I suppose.
I wonder how far it will spread. It’s bad enough that 99% of corporate writing is so measured and passive it might as well be written in Latin, now it’s going to start even earlier.
- An interesting profile of international arms dealers. This one is worthy of a James Bond villain status.
- An Israeli newspaper ranks the US presidential candidates in terms of their willingness to defend Israel. Curiously lacking is the American counterpart to their prime ministers.
- Thought crime in High School writing class –
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The weird far right makes an appearance
We haven’t seen these people since the last administration
Six arrested in ‘militia’ weapons raids; nearby school shut
Federal and state agents arrested six men and seized an arsenal of homemade hand grenades and firearms in raids Thursday, including one that forced the shutdown of a school.The men, members of the self-styled “Alabama Free Militia,” had no apparent plans to use the weapons, but the leader was described as a federal fugitive, federal authorities said.