Monday, October 11, 2010

The "DOH" factor

There are stories that I love to hear, but I'm not really sure why. It could be that I find immeasurable humor in human attempts at brilliance (only to be highlighted forever as 'the stupid mistake that caused more harm than good'). We can refer to this as the "DOH" factor.

One of my favorites is about Greenpeace and the "saving" of the baby seals. Now, it's not funny that the baby seals were being killed for their pelts. It is funny, though, that the 'savior' side of Greenpeace came up with the BRILLIANT idea of spray painting the animals a neon green color to ruin the coat and keep poachers from killing them. Here's the tee-hee: baby seals have white fur so they can blend in with their natural environment (keeping them safe from their natural predators). The green highlighted them so the natural predators were able to better see them! Brilliant, Greenpeace, brilliant!

I just read this one and love it too! I had no idea...Thank you Merriam Webster!
In 1898, the German pharmaceutical company Bayer began marketing heroin – whose name comes from the German word heroisch, meaning "powerful."

The product was marketed as a cough remedy made from a supposedly non-addictive morphine derivative. It was also used as a cure for morphine addiction – which unfortunately caused large numbers of users to become heroin addicts.

In part because of the growing population of "junkies" (a term that may derive from the fact that some supported their addictions by selling scrap metal), Bayer eventually ceased production and lost its trademark.

In 1914, American officials began regulating opiates, including the generic, powdered version of heroin.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Say what you mean

Ok, look... I know I take things literally - too literally sometimes. But, there's got to be a point when it is not about me being too picky. Someone has to step up and identify the egregious errors made in our common lives.

Sign on Clairmont: "Support Breast Cancer" - really? do we need to support Cancer of any type? I know attention spans are short - especially when people are driving, but let's just try to get it right.

Sign in a field on the way to Louisville, KY: "Used cows for sale" - at the risk of taking this one too far, let me just say - I'm not sure what constitutes the difference between a "new" and a "used" cow. But, frankly, I'm not willing to pursue that one to find out. At any rate, can we please get some clarity or mo(ooo)ve the sign? (sorry, had to do it)