Tag: Regrettable Acts

Speed Bump #3,248

Grammar Nazism

At Insty’s place, I saw this:

…and I was irritated by the non-clarity of the post.

There’s always an issue when using numerical values when writing.  You can write “Ninety-nine out of a hundred people think that George Soros is an evil cunt” — which is acceptable — or “99 out of 100 people think that George Soros is an evil cunt” which is equally so.  One can argue that the latter usage is more effective in that the scale is better described, and that is generally true when using large numbers, e.g.

“The chances of that cunt George Soros being hit by a meteorite while crossing Sunset Boulevard on any given Thursday are 1 in 174 trillion” works better than “one in one hundred and seventy-four trillion” (too many words, albeit expressing the same distressingly-small likelihood).

However, in the above Twatter post, the writer should not have used the numeral in his sign-off sentence, because there’s another “1” preceding it — referring to the other cunt, Nancy Pelosi — and the sentence as written causes a mental speed bump because in actual fact it is Pelosi (#1) who has changed her position / sold out on the tariff issue.  (Trump (#4) has never changed his position on tariffs:  he’s been arguing in their favor since about the 1990s, long before he  became a politician.)

“Only one hasn’t sold out” would have been the proper way to write it.

Disappointed!

Train Smash Women

Well, I have to say that so far this year’s Grand National (or “Tanned National” someone called it, because of all the Trumpian fake tannery) at Liverpool’s Aintree track has been pretty much a bust for us Train Smash Women-watchers.  I mean, it just looks like they’re not really trying very hard:

Of course, there have been some close calls:

…and one or two near-misses [sic]

…but let’s hope that things improve as the event progresses, so to speak.

Travel Insanity

Psychos, Travels

I know that flying on commercial airlines can drive one crazy, but this is outstanding:

Naked woman stabbed people with pencil after screaming ‘I speak all languages’ in airport

A completely naked woman allegedly stabbed two people, ran through a busy airport screaming, “I speak all languages”, broke monitors and threw beverages all over the place in a bizarre rampage. A disturbing two-minute clip of the deranged woman disrupting Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on March 14 was shared widely on social media.

The police were called for a welfare check on a woman who had suffered a “manic episode” that led to her allegedly stabbing two people with a pencil and biting a restaurant manager trying to subdue her. The traveller reportedly stabbed the restaurant manager in the face and head with his own pencil and also bit his right forearm.

The woman was covered in blood, according to an eye-witness, which was later confirmed to not be her own by medics. When the police managed to restrain her, a police report says she “wanted to be with the flowers” and was “in a forest”.

Gotta say, if you want all that then DFW is definitely not the place for you.

I’m going to bet that her little episode came from trying to make some kind of change to her Qantas ticket — that would make even me do all that.

Or else she’s just a Spirit Airlines Platinum-level customer.

Woke Bollocks

Seen On Campus

Back when I were a callow young student of some fifty-seven summers, I was approached by a professor who wanted to chat with me about the paper I’d just submitted.

He/She* told me that I would have got an A+ for the paper, except that I’d committed the unpardonable offense of using B.C. and A.D. therein instead of (the stupid and unnecessary) B.C.E. and C.E.  All I had to do was re-submit the paper with the terms changed, and I’d get my A+.

“What if I refuse to do that?”  I asked.
“Then you’ll get a C,”  was the response.
“Then give me the C,” was my response.  “And then I’m going to appeal the grade, loudly, especially after you’ve just told me that my work is of A+ standard.”
“You’re refusing to change it?”
“Yes.  And I’m expecting to see an A+ for it, too.”
“Why don’t you just change the terms?”

So I launched into an explanation that was more or less the same as the one that David Marcus published here., stressing, though even an atheist myself, I had to acknowledge the role of the Judeo-Christian influence on our history and culture.  At the end of it, the professor seemed somewhat stunned by what I’d just said.  And I happened to know that this professor, unusually, was actually quite conservative, just by observing the general tenor and terminology used in the lectures.

I ended up getting an A+ for the (unchanged) paper, and for all the rest of the papers** and exams in that professor’s course.

A small victory, perhaps, but for me an important one.

*used not because of their “chosen pronouns”, but because I prefer to keep their identity anonymous.

**For one paper, I got a 100% grade, because my argument was not only irrefutable, but the professor admitted later that it had caused them to rethink their whole position on the topic.  Under those circumstances, clearly, the “BC/BCE” silliness was irrelevant.

Not Here

Housekeeping

As a rule I don’t do pranks or practical jokes of any kind, so you won’t find any April Fool’s Day bullshit on this website today.

Instead, here’s a pic of a beautiful car:


1953 Aston Martin  DB4-2  DB2-4 (FFS) Spyder, by Bertone

…and a beautiful gun:


Uberti 1890 Police Model

…and lastly:


Serena Autieri

Yeah, they’re all about Italy.

Thatisall.

Sick Of The Exaggeration

Lies and Untruths, Numbers & Statistics

From Stephen Green (and a veritable host of others):

“The Democrats have a destructive addiction to the 20% side of a whole host of 80/20 issues.”

I can’t remember who first uttered the “80/20 issues” trope, but I’ll bet it was a Democrat like James Carville or Bill Maher.

With all things, scale matters.

Are you telling me that 20% of voters — that’s one in every five voters — supports:

  • men competing in women’s sports
  • gender-reversal surgery on minor children without parental notification (let alone consent)
  • not expelling criminal illegal aliens
  • not ending the flood of illegal immigrants who draw money from public health- and education services, at the expense of U.S. citizens
  • deficit spending and a ballooning national debt
  • a voting system that enables voter fraud and crooked elections (in guess who’s favor)
  • Hamas-sponsored riots and
  • anti-Semitic attacks on Jews in college campuses
  • eco-terrorism and obstructive demonstrations
  • violent demonstrations against public officials (e.g. Supreme Court justices) who dare to oppose their agenda
  • waste, abuse and outright fraud in the federal government budget
  • sending foreign aid money — by the billion — to sponsor overt anti-American activities abroad
  • siphoning “foreign aid” money — by the tens of millions — to line the pockets of executives running Washington D.C. non-profit organizations
  • a military weakened by woke DEI policies and regulations
  • a foreign policy that supports enemies of the U.S. (e.g. Iran) rather than chastises them
  • over-regulation of industry which chokes off economic progress
  • schools which have failed our children, and the government department that is responsible for that failure
  • a mandate that all cars sold in the U.S. be EVs, by 2030 — i.e. five years’ time — with no supporting infrastructure to sustain them
  • [insert your favorite issues here]

Seriously?  One in every five voters supports all the above?

Let me tell you right now:  it’s not 20%, but more like 5%.  In other words, the Democrats are supporting splinter issues that may find favor with only five in every hundred U.S. citizens — and even 5% may be too high.

So let’s quit this exaggeration of their support, please.  Most of their positions are deeply unpopular with almost all voters, and an “80/20” apportionment gives a misleading impression.  Numbers matter, so let’s start using the more-correct one.

Speaking of numbers, here’s a recent poll highlight:

When asked in an open-ended question to name the Democratic leader they feel “best reflects the core values” of the party, “10% of Democratic-aligned adults name New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 9% former vice president Kamala Harris, 8% Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and 6% House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Another 4% each name former president Barack Obama and Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, with Schumer joining a handful of others at 2%.”

When AOC is your standard-bearer (and the rest are equally dire)…