MWN- Intensely stupid edition

If you are ready to shake your head violently, as I descend into the deepest halls of stupidity- the news pages.


Level one (Not necessarily in order of stupidity): What could possibly go wrong  with a self-driving car


Well, how about a car is spotted in Redwood CA with a sleeping driver at 3:37 in the morning?  That car, a Tesla Model S, is SUPPOSED to- according to a tweet by Elon Musk- " if there’s no driver input, is to slow gradually to a stop & turn on hazard lights. Tesla service then contacts the owner".  However, it either was getting dreamtime input or ignoring the default, because it kept on going, even after the CHP ran lights and sirens at it in an attempt to wake the driver.  The cops did manage to stop it, by using its safety protocol- AKA they got in front of it and gradually slowed until it had to stop.  But what made this TRULY memorable...

 With some difficulty, police roused the driver, who was identified as Los Altos Planning Commission chair Alexander Samek, and drove him and the Tesla to a nearby gas station where he failed a field sobriety test. Samek was booked on a DUI and released later in the day.


So I don't think Los Altos is getting a lot of top-flight planning out of their chair...


Level Two : Wow, Kid Rock was right...

This is a lesson that some extreme liberals can be counted on to act with class and dignity (at least for short bursts) and some... welll.... what follows is clips from a segment on the view, purporting to honor deceased President George HW Bush...


“This president that we have now is trying to unravel everything that [Bush] did and Obama did,” (the ever bitchin' Joy) Behar said. “If I ever become a one-issue voter, it will be about pollution and the greenhouse effect.”

“I don’t want to talk about Trump… we’re honoring a great president,” ( The ever-outnumbered Meghan) McCain said.
“Excuse me,” Behar snapped back. “Excuse me a second... I want to talk about the differences.”
McCain then said she wasn’t interested in Behar’s one-issue voter feelings when “a president just passed.”
Behar responded, “I don’t care what you’re interested in, I’m talking.”
“I don’t care what you’re interested in, either,” McCain shouted before  (The ever goofy Whoopi) Goldberg quickly tossed it to a commercial break. Behar and McCain appeared to continue the feud as the camera pulled back prior to the commercial. 

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“God forbid you say something a little bit wrong you’re racist, homophobic, Islamophobic… people need to calm down, a get a little less politically correct, and, I would say love everybody. Except I’d say screw that Joy Behar bitch, everybody but that.”-Kid Rock.

I'll just leave that there.


Level three: If we don't arrest, they won't beat...


This story really had me shaking my head- and not in a funny way.  From the Moscow Times:

In  (January) 2017, Vladimir Putin signed a law that scrapped prison sentences for first-time abusers whose beatings result in “minor harm,” such as small abrasions, bruises and superficial wounds. 


In the vernacular, this is allowing a "gateway" crime- by making the first hit not seem so serious.  For example:

Some social media users made light of the law. "Boxing in the kitchen is now legalised," one VKontakte post said.

And when you make something less serious, the usual consequences occur...


“Looking at statistics of appeals, we saw that after the law decriminalizing beatings was passed, the number of complaints on this issue increased significantly,” Moscow ombudswoman Tatyana Potyayeva was quoted as saying by state-run RIA Novosti news agency Monday.  (This was reported April 24th- keep that in mind.)


So let's take an ill-conceived law, watch the Law of Unintended Consequences reap its toll of victims- and then stir for SEVEN MONTHS, and you finally get...

“I believe that decriminalization was a mistake and we need to adopt a law to combat domestic abuse,” Russia's Human Rights Ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova said at a rights conference on Monday.

"Today, a person who is in the family space is not protected from family members who do harm unto them without it being considered a crime,” Moskalkova was cited as saying by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

Hey, good thinking...

Which is a lot like "dribbling down one's leg, because back in January 2017 when the law PASSED, she said...


"I am an advocate of the law on combating domestic violence, I support the ratification of the Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, but as for decriminalization of domestic violence, I would like to highlight that this issue is not properly understood by the public, because its legal formula is completely different," 


Wasn't understood by you and Vlad very well either, eh, Tatyana?




Level four: So like, if I gave you a traffic ticket, THAT would qualify...

I swear, this story makes me think there are NO intelligent legislatures out there.  From the BBC...


A legal loophole means a Utah man who allegedly battered a Latino father and son while shouting "I'm here to kill a Mexican" cannot be charged with a hate crime, say officials.

Alan Dale Covington, 50, is accused of brutally beating Jose Lopez, 51, and his son Luis, 18, with a metal bar.

Federal hate crime laws exist, but in Utah only non-serious assaults can be classified as hate crimes.


...(U)nder a much-debated Utah state law, only misdemeanour-level crimes can be charged as hate crimes, not more serious felony offences.

"Whether this was a hate crime or not is not even an issue for me to bring to the table - I don't have a statute that allows me to do it," Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill told the BBC.


"The state has abdicated its responsibility for the last 20 years - that's why there's never been a hate crime prosecuted at the state level."


Wow.   Just wow.


Now, I was going to shoot for Dante's seven levels- but I don't know that I can top these last four- and I KNOW I can't top the last one...


Level five:  Can I have another serving of something even dumber, please?


This one just seemed minor-league stupid to me, until I got to the end... so, from the BBC, the start...


Germany's Interior Ministry has said it regrets serving pork sausage at a conference on Islam in Berlin earlier this week.
The ministry said the food selection had been designed for the "diverse religious attendance" at the German Islam Conference in Berlin.

So, just to clarify, we are hosting an conference on Islam, but serving pork so that we are showing our diversity.  You realize, these are the same people who shot up Charlie Hedbo because they published cartoon drawings of Mohammed, right?   Anyway...

But it apologised "if individuals felt offended in their religious feelings".
The event was led by Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who in March said Islam "does not belong in Germany".


And you are allowing an event on Islam to be chaired and organized by someone who has made public "islamaphobe" comments.  Now, THERE'S a good choice.  But wait...

Most of the attendees at the Islam conference were Muslims, local media reported. Under Islamic law, Muslims are forbidden to eat pork.


But this was not JUST pork, either!  Scroll a little farther...

The type of sausage on offer was blutwurst - or "blood sausage" - which is made of ingredients including pig's blood, pork and bacon.

Even I know- though I checked just to be sure I am right- that Muslims cannot eat BLOOD.  Crap, I remember Dad making a mess of this every spring ( we called it blood pudding, and it was a fascinating process), and he wouldn't even let ME have any!