Sunday, December 16, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
civil disobedience German style
From Associated Press comes this tale of a German man who risked death rather than acquiesce to restrictive customs rules.
The 64-year-old man was switching planes on his way home to Dresden from a holiday in Egypt. He fell victim to new airport which rules prohibit passengers from carrying larger quantities of liquid onto planes within the EU, and he was told at a security check he would have to either throw out the bottle of vodka or pay a fee to have his carry-on bag checked as cargo.
Unimpressed with either choice, he decided on a third option. He chugged down the entire bottle there and then with inevitable results - he was soon unable to stand or otherwise function. A doctor determined he had possibly life-threatening alcohol poisoning, and packed him off to hospital. The unnamed man is expected to be released in a few days.
A herculean effort in the ongoing fight against the Nanny State.
The 64-year-old man was switching planes on his way home to Dresden from a holiday in Egypt. He fell victim to new airport which rules prohibit passengers from carrying larger quantities of liquid onto planes within the EU, and he was told at a security check he would have to either throw out the bottle of vodka or pay a fee to have his carry-on bag checked as cargo.
Unimpressed with either choice, he decided on a third option. He chugged down the entire bottle there and then with inevitable results - he was soon unable to stand or otherwise function. A doctor determined he had possibly life-threatening alcohol poisoning, and packed him off to hospital. The unnamed man is expected to be released in a few days.
A herculean effort in the ongoing fight against the Nanny State.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Merrion-Webster word of the year: w00t
w00t!
What?
"w00t" (spelt with two zeroes) is an exclamation of joy or excitement used by online gamers and hardcore Internet chat enthusiasts, which the Merriam-Webster dictionary says is the word that best sums up 2007.
The word took the Word of the Year prize in Merriam-Webster's annual poll of favorite new terms such as "facebook," a verb that means to look up someone's profile on the social networking site of the same name, and "blamestorm," to hold a meeting in order to find someone responsible for a problem,
W00t originated from a language called l33tspeak, or leetspeak after "elite", used by computer programmers in which letters are replaced by numbers. W00t was originally spelled as "w007," according to the the programming language's rules that uses the number "7" for the letter " t."
"It shows a really interesting thing that's going on in language. It's a term that's arrived only because we're now communicating electronically with each other," said Merriam-Webster's president John Morse.
Thats Morse code for: w00t the fuck?
What?
"w00t" (spelt with two zeroes) is an exclamation of joy or excitement used by online gamers and hardcore Internet chat enthusiasts, which the Merriam-Webster dictionary says is the word that best sums up 2007.
The word took the Word of the Year prize in Merriam-Webster's annual poll of favorite new terms such as "facebook," a verb that means to look up someone's profile on the social networking site of the same name, and "blamestorm," to hold a meeting in order to find someone responsible for a problem,
W00t originated from a language called l33tspeak, or leetspeak after "elite", used by computer programmers in which letters are replaced by numbers. W00t was originally spelled as "w007," according to the the programming language's rules that uses the number "7" for the letter " t."
"It shows a really interesting thing that's going on in language. It's a term that's arrived only because we're now communicating electronically with each other," said Merriam-Webster's president John Morse.
Thats Morse code for: w00t the fuck?
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Foot in Mouth: Plain English award
This award, which the Plain English Campaign first gave in 1993, is for a baffling comment by a public figure. The 2007 winner of this award is the former England football manager, Steve McClaren, for the following comment he made to Radio 5 Live.
“He (Wayne Rooney) is inexperienced, but he's experienced in terms of what he's been through.”
Previous winners:
2006
Naomi Campbell for "I love England, especially the food. There's nothing I like more than a lovely bowl of pasta."
2005
Rt Hon Rhodri Morgan AM, the First Minister for Wales, made this comment in a debate on policing: "The only thing which isn't up for grabs is no change and I think it's fair to say, it's all to play for, except for no change."
2004
Boris Johnson MP for his remark on the BBC news quiz programme, 'Have I Got News For You'. "I could not fail to disagree with you less."
2003
Former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for comments in a press briefing. "Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don't know we don't know."
2002
Actor Richard Gere who said: "I know who I am. No one else knows who I am. If I was a giraffe and somebody said I was a snake, I'd think 'No, actually I am a giraffe.''
2001
Artist Tracey Emin, who explained "When it comes to words I have a uniqueness that I find almost impossible in terms of art - and it's my words that actually make my art quite unique."
2000
Hollywood star Alicia Silverstone for her comments quoted in the Sunday Telegraph.
"I think that [the film] 'Clueless' was very deep. I think it was deep in the way that it was very light. I think lightness has to come from a very deep place if it's true lightness."
1999
Former England manager Glenn Hoddle. When asked by Trevor McDonald to explain his controversial comments on people with disabilities, he said:
"I do not believe that. At this moment in time, if that changes in years to come I don't know, but what happens here today and changes as we go along that is part of life's learning and part of your inner beliefs. But at this moment in time I did not say them things and at the end of the day I want to put that on record because it has hurt people."
1998
Cardiff MP Rhodri Morgan. In an interview with BBC Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman he was asked if he would like to be the labour leader of the new Welsh Assembly. Rhodri replied "Does a one-legged duck swim in circles?" After a long puzzled pause Jeremy asked Rhodri if that was Welsh for yes!
1997
Nick Underwood of Teletubbies Marketing explained that "in life, there are all colours and the Teletubbies are a reflection of that. There are no nationalities in the Teletubbies - they are techno-babies, but they are supposed to reflect life in that sense."
1995-1996
No winner.
1994
Dr Gordon Brown MP for his 'New Economics' speech. He covered "ideas which stress the growing importance of international co-operation and new theories of economic sovereignty across a wide range of areas, macro-economics, trade, the environment, the growth of post neo-classical endogenous growth theory and the symbiotic relationships between government and investment in people and infrastructures - a new understanding of how labour markets really work and constructive debate over the meaning and implications of competitiveness at the level of individuals, the firm or the nation and the role of government in fashioning modern industrial policies which focus on nurturing competitiveness."
1993
Former England cricket boss, Ted Dexter desperately tried to explain away another England defeat at the hands of the Australians by saying "Maybe we are in the wrong sign. Maybe Venus is in the wrong juxtaposition with something else. I don't know."
(Although there was no Foot in Mouth award in 1991, they made a special mention of a quote by United States Vice President Dan Quayle.)
"We offer the party as a big tent. How we do that (recognise the big tent philosophy) with the platform, the preamble to the platform or whatnot, that remains to be seen. But that message will have to be articulated with great clarity."
“He (Wayne Rooney) is inexperienced, but he's experienced in terms of what he's been through.”
Previous winners:
2006
Naomi Campbell for "I love England, especially the food. There's nothing I like more than a lovely bowl of pasta."
2005
Rt Hon Rhodri Morgan AM, the First Minister for Wales, made this comment in a debate on policing: "The only thing which isn't up for grabs is no change and I think it's fair to say, it's all to play for, except for no change."
2004
Boris Johnson MP for his remark on the BBC news quiz programme, 'Have I Got News For You'. "I could not fail to disagree with you less."
2003
Former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for comments in a press briefing. "Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don't know we don't know."
2002
Actor Richard Gere who said: "I know who I am. No one else knows who I am. If I was a giraffe and somebody said I was a snake, I'd think 'No, actually I am a giraffe.''
2001
Artist Tracey Emin, who explained "When it comes to words I have a uniqueness that I find almost impossible in terms of art - and it's my words that actually make my art quite unique."
2000
Hollywood star Alicia Silverstone for her comments quoted in the Sunday Telegraph.
"I think that [the film] 'Clueless' was very deep. I think it was deep in the way that it was very light. I think lightness has to come from a very deep place if it's true lightness."
1999
Former England manager Glenn Hoddle. When asked by Trevor McDonald to explain his controversial comments on people with disabilities, he said:
"I do not believe that. At this moment in time, if that changes in years to come I don't know, but what happens here today and changes as we go along that is part of life's learning and part of your inner beliefs. But at this moment in time I did not say them things and at the end of the day I want to put that on record because it has hurt people."
1998
Cardiff MP Rhodri Morgan. In an interview with BBC Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman he was asked if he would like to be the labour leader of the new Welsh Assembly. Rhodri replied "Does a one-legged duck swim in circles?" After a long puzzled pause Jeremy asked Rhodri if that was Welsh for yes!
1997
Nick Underwood of Teletubbies Marketing explained that "in life, there are all colours and the Teletubbies are a reflection of that. There are no nationalities in the Teletubbies - they are techno-babies, but they are supposed to reflect life in that sense."
1995-1996
No winner.
1994
Dr Gordon Brown MP for his 'New Economics' speech. He covered "ideas which stress the growing importance of international co-operation and new theories of economic sovereignty across a wide range of areas, macro-economics, trade, the environment, the growth of post neo-classical endogenous growth theory and the symbiotic relationships between government and investment in people and infrastructures - a new understanding of how labour markets really work and constructive debate over the meaning and implications of competitiveness at the level of individuals, the firm or the nation and the role of government in fashioning modern industrial policies which focus on nurturing competitiveness."
1993
Former England cricket boss, Ted Dexter desperately tried to explain away another England defeat at the hands of the Australians by saying "Maybe we are in the wrong sign. Maybe Venus is in the wrong juxtaposition with something else. I don't know."
(Although there was no Foot in Mouth award in 1991, they made a special mention of a quote by United States Vice President Dan Quayle.)
"We offer the party as a big tent. How we do that (recognise the big tent philosophy) with the platform, the preamble to the platform or whatnot, that remains to be seen. But that message will have to be articulated with great clarity."
Monday, December 10, 2007
Union Taff
With one British Labor MP calling for a redesigned UK flag to incorporate a Welsh motif, the best alternative Irish I's has seen is this:
Sunday, December 9, 2007
worst sick day excuses
I’m too drunk to drive to work.
I accidentally flushed my keys down the toilet.
I had to help deliver a baby on my way to work.
I accidentally drove through the automatic garage door before it opened.
My boyfriend’s snake got loose and I’m afraid to leave the bedroom until he gets home.
I’m too fat to get into my work pants.
God didn’t wake me.
I cut my fingernails too short, they’re bleeding and I have to go to the doctor.
The ghosts in my house kept me up all night.
I forgot I was getting married today.
My cow bit me.
My son accidentally fell asleep next to wet cement in our backyard. His foot fell in and we can’t get it out
I was watching a guy fixing a septic pump, fell in the hole and hurt myself
I was walking my dog and slipped on a toad in my driveway and hurt my back.
My house lock jammed and I'm locked in.
theres a rat out the back garden and my Mum is going mad, i need to stay at home and try to kill it
too windy. couldn't open my front door.
Fred Phelps is protesting outside my house and I can't get outta the driveway
I just realized I am supposed to be at work but I'm drunk.
I accidentally flushed my keys down the toilet.
I had to help deliver a baby on my way to work.
I accidentally drove through the automatic garage door before it opened.
My boyfriend’s snake got loose and I’m afraid to leave the bedroom until he gets home.
I’m too fat to get into my work pants.
God didn’t wake me.
I cut my fingernails too short, they’re bleeding and I have to go to the doctor.
The ghosts in my house kept me up all night.
I forgot I was getting married today.
My cow bit me.
My son accidentally fell asleep next to wet cement in our backyard. His foot fell in and we can’t get it out
I was watching a guy fixing a septic pump, fell in the hole and hurt myself
I was walking my dog and slipped on a toad in my driveway and hurt my back.
My house lock jammed and I'm locked in.
theres a rat out the back garden and my Mum is going mad, i need to stay at home and try to kill it
too windy. couldn't open my front door.
Fred Phelps is protesting outside my house and I can't get outta the driveway
I just realized I am supposed to be at work but I'm drunk.
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