Only one outfield?...

It begins...footy is back. How to get a draw at Old Trafford - Reading managed it even with a man down for the last twenty minutes; what a fantastic photograph from the first half (Piggy in the Middle?) but doesn't it show there must be at least 8 Manchester United outfield players unmarked? Way to defend Reading! All that effort and all Rooney got was a broken foot.

Only one outfield?...

It begins...footy is back. How to get a draw at Old Trafford - Reading managed it even with a man down for the last twenty minutes; what a fantastic photograph from the first half (Piggy in the Middle?) but doesn't it show there must be at least 8 Manchester United outfield players unmarked? Way to defend Reading! All that effort and all Rooney got was a broken foot.

Onomatomanic outrecuidance...

onomatomania n. - preoccupation with words and names
outrecuidance n. - egomania; gross conceit
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More naming-nonsense from idiot parents. Reuters reports, from Wellington, New Zealand that a couple want to call their newborn son Superman BUT only because their chosen name of 4Real has been rejected by the government registry,

"The Wheatons decided on the name after seeing the baby for the first time in an ultrasound scan and realizing their baby was for real."

Now on the face of it that's not too bad because names are made up every day and I've certainly heard a lot worse; in fact they could have called the baby Possibly-an-accident, Scan-looks-all-fuzzy or Where's-its-head...but the problem is they wanted to shorten it to 4Real i.e. with a number...the next even bigger problem is that just because they're not allowed to use a number they now say they'll name their son Superman...so a life of being bullied could await the child just because of his parents stupid and stubborn conceit. "You're being a bit harsh" I hear you say...well I'm not: despite the name Superman they will continue to call their son 4Real; Pat Wheaton, the father, said he may appeal against the decision through the courts, but whatever happens he won't be budged on his choice. "No matter what, its going to stay 4Real,"... ..."I'm certainly not a quitter." No, I'm sure you're not but you sound like an arsehole.

Perhaps they should read about how names affect the child's development, education and job prospects. A couple of years ago a book called Freakonomics was published, written by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner; with the byline "A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" (they also have a Freakonomics blog on the New York Times). The book is very good and a fun read but the point is one of the chapters deals with naming children, "A Roshanda by Any Other Name - How do babies with super-black names fare?" quoted here on Slate.com...it's one part of much interesting and wierd content but it is relevant to the Wheaton's and Superman: amongst other things it descibes two brothers with the names Winner and Loser; 'these days Loser and Winner barely speak'. Loser Lane went to prep school on a scholarship, graduated from college and joined the New York Police Department, he is known as Lou (nice!); Winner Lane has more than "30 arrests for burglary, domestic violence, trespassing, resisting arrest, and other mayhem." Seems the father (for it was he) mixed up in the names or maybe the names themselves drove Loser to better things and caused Winner's downfall...perhaps Pat Wheaton should reconsider before giving his son a handicap even before the child has taken his first breath.
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In case you've ever wondered where some of the strange sounding/looking words I use in the post titles come from then go to the Luciferous Logolepsy "Dragging obscure words into the light of day"

Onomatomanic outrecuidance...

onomatomania n. - preoccupation with words and names
outrecuidance n. - egomania; gross conceit
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More naming-nonsense from idiot parents. Reuters reports, from Wellington, New Zealand that a couple want to call their newborn son Superman BUT only because their chosen name of 4Real has been rejected by the government registry,

"The Wheatons decided on the name after seeing the baby for the first time in an ultrasound scan and realizing their baby was for real."

Now on the face of it that's not too bad because names are made up every day and I've certainly heard a lot worse; in fact they could have called the baby Possibly-an-accident, Scan-looks-all-fuzzy or Where's-its-head...but the problem is they wanted to shorten it to 4Real i.e. with a number...the next even bigger problem is that just because they're not allowed to use a number they now say they'll name their son Superman...so a life of being bullied could await the child just because of his parents stupid and stubborn conceit. "You're being a bit harsh" I hear you say...well I'm not: despite the name Superman they will continue to call their son 4Real; Pat Wheaton, the father, said he may appeal against the decision through the courts, but whatever happens he won't be budged on his choice. "No matter what, its going to stay 4Real,"... ..."I'm certainly not a quitter." No, I'm sure you're not but you sound like an arsehole.

Perhaps they should read about how names affect the child's development, education and job prospects. A couple of years ago a book called Freakonomics was published, written by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner; with the byline "A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" (they also have a Freakonomics blog on the New York Times). The book is very good and a fun read but the point is one of the chapters deals with naming children, "A Roshanda by Any Other Name - How do babies with super-black names fare?" quoted here on Slate.com...it's one part of much interesting and wierd content but it is relevant to the Wheaton's and Superman: amongst other things it descibes two brothers with the names Winner and Loser; 'these days Loser and Winner barely speak'. Loser Lane went to prep school on a scholarship, graduated from college and joined the New York Police Department, he is known as Lou (nice!); Winner Lane has more than "30 arrests for burglary, domestic violence, trespassing, resisting arrest, and other mayhem." Seems the father (for it was he) mixed up in the names or maybe the names themselves drove Loser to better things and caused Winner's downfall...perhaps Pat Wheaton should reconsider before giving his son a handicap even before the child has taken his first breath.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In case you've ever wondered where some of the strange sounding/looking words I use in the post titles come from then go to the Luciferous Logolepsy "Dragging obscure words into the light of day"

Ominous and obvious...

No real surprise at the news that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has confirmed that he will be trying to change the law to allow him to remain in power indefinitely; most of the exact details have not been released yet but Don Hugo has confirmed what most of us expected - that he will be seeking to remain in power continuously. Now, on the face of it that's pretty bad BUT to put things in perspective this will only be done if he continues to win the support of the people i.e. elections and referenda. (Picture link)

As I say above...on the face of it...HOWEVER, one must remember that at present there is effectively no organised opposition party and pretty soon Venezuela is likely to have a single party, the Venezuelan United Socialist Party (Partido Socialista Unidos de Venezuela, PSUV), ...sounds fine but unfortunately this would be an amalgamation of 'the whole left', that is from centre liberal left right across to extreme left and communism. I don't think they have much choice and three of the various parties have "so far refused to dissolve their groups and they have expressed concerns that this new style of politics could lead to one way of thinking" (Yes..I think that's what Hugo wants!). Thing is, there are millions who have already signed up to be activists for the new party...yes, millions! "Six million people have volunteered to become activists. They have been formed into battalions"...that many in a country with a population of 26 million and whose voting population is about 18 million people...the maths is easy: 30% of the entire voting population are already/soon to be signed-up party activists!...can you see how easy winning elections is going to be?

That's not all...these 'battalions' will have their own 'security'; I have mentioned this before and it is worrying: Chavez wants a 1 million-strong civilian militia - citizen soldiers:

"...a 1 million-strong civilian militia for a "war of resistance" against the United States."... ..."and 150,000 have already joined, surpassing the regular military's force of 100,000. Now Venezuelans are also organizing neighborhood-based militia units for Chavez's Territorial Guard."

Now, as they keep saying, these armed militias are only to guard against a US invasion, right?

"We're not the police or the national guard, but if there is a coup or an effort to assassinate the comandante, we will go into the streets to defend the revolution,"

I'm not so sure: the opposition or anyone who even speaks out against Chavez is immediately hounded and insulted as being puppets of the 'evil empire', so if there is a sufficiently effective vocal or active opposition they will be treated as instruments of the US and it only needs one man to stifle that voice of opposition, actual invasion or not, ominously and obviously, the writing is on the wall:

"If Chávez wants us to react, we will."

Ominous and obvious...

No real surprise at the news that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has confirmed that he will be trying to change the law to allow him to remain in power indefinitely; most of the exact details have not been released yet but Don Hugo has confirmed what most of us expected - that he will be seeking to remain in power continuously. Now, on the face of it that's pretty bad BUT to put things in perspective this will only be done if he continues to win the support of the people i.e. elections and referenda. (Picture link)

As I say above...on the face of it...HOWEVER, one must remember that at present there is effectively no organised opposition party and pretty soon Venezuela is likely to have a single party, the Venezuelan United Socialist Party (Partido Socialista Unidos de Venezuela, PSUV), ...sounds fine but unfortunately this would be an amalgamation of 'the whole left', that is from centre liberal left right across to extreme left and communism. I don't think they have much choice and three of the various parties have "so far refused to dissolve their groups and they have expressed concerns that this new style of politics could lead to one way of thinking" (Yes..I think that's what Hugo wants!). Thing is, there are millions who have already signed up to be activists for the new party...yes, millions! "Six million people have volunteered to become activists. They have been formed into battalions"...that many in a country with a population of 26 million and whose voting population is about 18 million people...the maths is easy: 30% of the entire voting population are already/soon to be signed-up party activists!...can you see how easy winning elections is going to be?

That's not all...these 'battalions' will have their own 'security'; I have mentioned this before and it is worrying: Chavez wants a 1 million-strong civilian militia - citizen soldiers:

"...a 1 million-strong civilian militia for a "war of resistance" against the United States."... ..."and 150,000 have already joined, surpassing the regular military's force of 100,000. Now Venezuelans are also organizing neighborhood-based militia units for Chavez's Territorial Guard."

Now, as they keep saying, these armed militias are only to guard against a US invasion, right?

"We're not the police or the national guard, but if there is a coup or an effort to assassinate the comandante, we will go into the streets to defend the revolution,"

I'm not so sure: the opposition or anyone who even speaks out against Chavez is immediately hounded and insulted as being puppets of the 'evil empire', so if there is a sufficiently effective vocal or active opposition they will be treated as instruments of the US and it only needs one man to stifle that voice of opposition, actual invasion or not, ominously and obviously, the writing is on the wall:

"If Chávez wants us to react, we will."

Outbreak outburst...

Some things really scare me...silly things. Yesterday there was a possible outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease, today it was confirmed (DEFRA). Thank God that the lessons learnt - after the mistakes made...unnecessarily! - from the disaster in 2001 seem to have been put into practise.

"On the basis of the initial laboratory results Debby Reynolds, UK Chief Veterinary Officer has confirmed Foot and Mouth Disease. In accordance with the legislation and contingency planning arrangements all the cattle on the premises will be culled. A Protection Zone of three kilometres radius and a Surveillance Zone of 10 kilometres has been placed around the premises, and a GB wide national movement ban of all ruminants and pigs has been imposed."

The BBC reports that Gordon Brown is already involved; in the same report Tim Bonner, from the Countryside Alliance is reported as saying:

"Even the words 'foot-and-mouth' will send a chill through the spine of every farmer in the country. "We hope for a better response this time from the government - the last time it was chaos."

Now some of you may not agree but I do...100%, not only about the 'chill' and the chaos but also about the woeful response. I know it's not good blogging just to repeat the news but this is personal: the 2001 outbreak was part of a major change in my life; in many ways it formed part of the reason me and the ex Mrs. Ows got a divorce...however, that's a tale for telling another day.
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Update 4th August: This in addition to US and Japanese bans...
EU to Ban Live Animal Exports from UK - Spokesman, Source: Reuters (dated 04/08/2007)

BRUSSELS, Aug 4 (Reuters) - The European Commission will ban live animal exports from the United Kingdom, along with meat and dairy products only from the area of England affected by an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, the European Union executive body said on Saturday. "The European Commission will adopt an emergency measure on Monday that exports of all live animals, meat products and dairy products from the affected area will be banned," Commission spokesman Philip Tod said."All live animals from the rest of Britain, but not meat and dairy products, will also be banned for export. This measure does not affect Northern Ireland,"

Britain was moving rapidly to contain the outbreak of foot and mouth, a highly infectious disease that devastated farming six years ago, by isolating a farm west of London on Saturday.Ireland has said it was banning the import of meat and non pasteurised milk as well as livestock from Britain, a step it is allowed to take under EU rules until the bloc's executive takes its decision."Although the Commissiondeems additional measures unnecessary, any country is entitled to take emergency measures under EU rules until Monday,"

Outbreak outburst...

Some things really scare me...silly things. Yesterday there was a possible outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease, today it was confirmed (DEFRA). Thank God that the lessons learnt - after the mistakes made...unnecessarily! - from the disaster in 2001 seem to have been put into practise.

"On the basis of the initial laboratory results Debby Reynolds, UK Chief Veterinary Officer has confirmed Foot and Mouth Disease. In accordance with the legislation and contingency planning arrangements all the cattle on the premises will be culled. A Protection Zone of three kilometres radius and a Surveillance Zone of 10 kilometres has been placed around the premises, and a GB wide national movement ban of all ruminants and pigs has been imposed."

The BBC reports that Gordon Brown is already involved; in the same report Tim Bonner, from the Countryside Alliance is reported as saying:

"Even the words 'foot-and-mouth' will send a chill through the spine of every farmer in the country. "We hope for a better response this time from the government - the last time it was chaos."

Now some of you may not agree but I do...100%, not only about the 'chill' and the chaos but also about the woeful response. I know it's not good blogging just to repeat the news but this is personal: the 2001 outbreak was part of a major change in my life; in many ways it formed part of the reason me and the ex Mrs. Ows got a divorce...however, that's a tale for telling another day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update 4th August: This in addition to US and Japanese bans...
EU to Ban Live Animal Exports from UK - Spokesman, Source: Reuters (dated 04/08/2007)

BRUSSELS, Aug 4 (Reuters) - The European Commission will ban live animal exports from the United Kingdom, along with meat and dairy products only from the area of England affected by an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, the European Union executive body said on Saturday. "The European Commission will adopt an emergency measure on Monday that exports of all live animals, meat products and dairy products from the affected area will be banned," Commission spokesman Philip Tod said."All live animals from the rest of Britain, but not meat and dairy products, will also be banned for export. This measure does not affect Northern Ireland,"

Britain was moving rapidly to contain the outbreak of foot and mouth, a highly infectious disease that devastated farming six years ago, by isolating a farm west of London on Saturday.Ireland has said it was banning the import of meat and non pasteurised milk as well as livestock from Britain, a step it is allowed to take under EU rules until the bloc's executive takes its decision."Although the Commissiondeems additional measures unnecessary, any country is entitled to take emergency measures under EU rules until Monday,"