Archive for the ‘Idiocy’ Category
May 9th, 2010 | 
Author: If it’s a cheese sandwich and you’re a toddler attending nursery school in Pemberton (near Wigan, Lancashire), England, it had better have a slice of tomato or some lettuce in it. Otherwise, it will be confiscated it for being “unhealthy”.
No, I’m not being silly. The Times Online reports that staff at one nursery took away such a sandwich from a two-year-old pupil recently.
Wigan Council has since confirmed that the straight-up combination of cheese and bread contravenes its healthy eating guidelines — and fully supported the cheese-snatchers. “The centre has a list of recommended healthy food, according to national guidelines, which children are encouraged to eat,” said a spokesman. “A cheese sandwich would not feature on the list.”
What the heck is going on when something so benign as a plain cheese sandwich incurs the wrath of the food police? In a world where Coca-Cola sells 1.5 billion servings each and every day, they take away a kid’s sandwich because it doesn’t have any greenery on it?
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I’ve always been suspicious of the concept of buying carbon offsets. Something about the concept of paying someone to plant trees in Asia to make up for my overuse of fossil fuels just seemed too simple. It would be nice if it were true, but …
So, the headline in the Christian Science Monitor didn’t particularly come as a surprise: Buying carbon offsets may ease eco-guilt but not global warming.
An investigation by The Christian Science Monitor and the New England Center for Investigative Reporting has found that individuals and businesses who are feeding a $700 million global market in offsets are often buying vague promises instead of the reductions in greenhouse gases they expect.
They are buying into projects that are never completed, or paying for ones that would have been done anyhow, the investigation found. Their purchases are feeding middlemen and promoters seeking profits from green schemes that range from selling protection for existing trees to the promise of planting new ones that never thrive. In some cases, the offsets have consequences that their purchasers never foresaw, such as erecting windmills that force poor people off their farms.
Home Depot’s online site has some interesting deals on occasion. In fact, they have something called the “Hammer Drop”:
Every morning at 8:00 AM. EST we offer a great product at an even greater price – not available anywhere else on Homedepot.ca.
Each item is on sale for 1 day only – unless it sells out first!
This morning’s made me choke on my coffee:
Sounds like a slam-dunk, doesn’t it? In this age of rising xenophobia, closing borders and ultra-paranoia, it certainly was.
Canadian science fiction author Peter Watts had a run-in with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Port Huron, Michigan on December 8 last year. He was pulled over in something known as an exit search: he was being screened before leaving the US to come home to Toronto.
When the dust settled, Watts had been repeatedly punched and maced. By his account, “punched in the face, pepper-sprayed, shit-kicked, handcuffed, thrown wet and half-naked into a holding cell.”
Initially, one of the guards accused him of assault: trying to choke the guy. That was totally demolished in court. He was found guilty last week of “obstructing an officer”: Read the rest of this entry »
No, this is isn’t about a car. On the surface, product recalls are a good thing. It shows that the company has recognized a problem with a product and is pulling them all back in to fix or replace them.
This one has me shaking my head, though:
Name of Product: Gerber® Gator® Machete and Gator® Machete Jr.
Sometimes, I come across things online that make me flinch and regret clicking the link. Don’t believe me? Google “vajazzler”. Bleah.
Other times, I flinch and think “GAH! I must share that!” This for instance:
This guy fell backwards onto a cactus after a few drinks while playing a round of golf at a desert course. It took paramedics over three hours to remove the cactus before he could get into an ambulance and go to the hospital.