From HKFP…
The Hong Kong government has given new identification numbers to lamp posts that inadvertently referenced the date of the Tiananmen crackdown, with the numbers “8964” and “6489” erased in favour of new codes.
Article includes a real, non-stock-photo, non-AI, pic of an actual worker spray-painting a new number on a tall item of street furniture in sunny downtown Tseung Kwan O.
Fortunately, only four-digit versions of the offending date are affected, otherwise every lamp post, vehicle, ID card, etc with the number 64 on them would get spray-painted, along with everyone born in 1960, the famous Beatles song, and those 1964 wines – notably Bordeaux from St Emilion or Pomerol.
And a man has been charged after a sports event in June when…
…officers witnessed someone who turned their back to the field and did not stand for the entirety of China’s national anthem. Local media reported at the time that some plainclothes police officers were observing spectators and filming them as the March of the Volunteers was played to the stadium.
A couple of little items from the weekend…
A paragraph from Carl Sagan in a 1995 book predicting today’s world of anti-science idiocy. It’s so prescient (as the poster puts it) that it could almost be a fake, except it’s in Sagan’s unmistakable voice.
The Economist interviews former US and foreign officials and passes on guidance on getting on with Donald Trump…
…the usual wisdom on how to handle Mr Trump could double up as advice on hosting a toddler’s birthday party, with its emphasis on lavish presents, easy-to-eat food and unlimited praise.
…Mr Trump admires ancient bloodlines…
…flattery can make Mr Trump receptive to a leader’s words, but only if he also thinks that leader strong.
…There is agreement that Mr Trump has a short attention span and does not read his briefings. He is a bully, arguing with the help of made-up facts and daring foreign leaders to contradict him. “Please don’t, don’t be patronising,” was the heartfelt advice that a senior American diplomat offered allied governments on handling Mr Trump, before a G7 summit.
Not just four-digit numbers. Caption under picture of lamp post 52314:
A lamp post in North Point that was numbered 38964, but has been re-labelled as 52314, shown on November 12, 2024.
Does anyone believe anything in The Economist anymore?
One may as well cite The New York Times or the BBC.
Seems like the oxygen thieves have nothing better to do than to relabel lamp posts. They should be swinging from them.
I see that the other two people arrested at the Iran game have yet to be charged. I suspect this is because, as was reported at the time, they merely turned their backs away from the pitch, and did not sit down. I remain of the view that this is not an offence under the legislation, which does not say anything about the way you should face when standing. I wonder whether the DoJ is wary of setting a precedent.
The usual farce ensued at last night’s game when the anthem played, with the Police filming the ultras in the East stand to ensure compliance and everyone doing as they liked (walking about, selling and buying food etc) completely unmolested on the west stand concourse, which is not monitored.
Today’s anti-science idiocy compounded: Trump is nominating anti-vaccine nutcase RFK Jr as Health Secretary. This is literally putting one of the lunatics in charge of the asylum.
Don’t forget Taylor Swifts album “1989 T.S.”
It is reported that a brand of instant coffee mixture
sold locally online contains the active ingredient of Viagra.
– Mary Melville’s post, November 1.
Coffee Special
I’ll have a coffee, please.
A single cup will buck me up.
How strange! I feel inside
A rising tide.
It warms within.
What did you add? I’ve never had
A daily coffee which inspires
Such hot desires.
I sip my brew, while thoughts
Of games in bed roll through my head.
I’m sure that every girl I see
Really likes me.
I invite you all.
Come along. I’m coffee-strong.
What marvellous things it makes me do!
Join the queue.
@Low Profile
Let’s give the lunatic a chance. He’s unlikely to do any worse than the sociopaths who are running the asylum now.
RFKJ: Other than being the son of someone that was assassinated, what worth is he and to the millions he will affect, that makes him uniquely qualified for anything other than scion?
@Low Profile masked up lining up for his/her/they/them 6th or 7th shot
@Wolfikeme–RFK will preside over the return of polio, smallpox, measles, diptheria, etc. Not to mention being utterly unprepared for the next pandemic. We’ll party like it’s 1899!
And what do pronouns have to do with anything? Oh, yeah, the woke mind virus. Seems like you’ve been vaccinated, and don’t get the irony.
Does this look like a worthy expenditure of your tax dollars:
On 15th Nov the FSD prosecuted eleven incorporated owners for failing to conduct mandatory annual inspections of fire service installations or equipment. The defendants were convicted in the Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Courts and collectively fined HK$32,700.
So in other words, $3,000 on average while “Failure to comply constitutes an offence, with a maximum penalty of HK$50,000 upon conviction.”
Not only do the paltry fines contribute little to the costs of running the courts, they certainly represent an almost zero deterrent when the judges place such low value on
the failure in compliance despite the many and sometimes deadly fires that underline the importance of having working installations in place.
Steve, man/woman/whatever of science…explain the return of polio to us please. RFK may be flawed, but he asks the right questions. Why are you offended by skepticism of big pharma?
Big hand to RFK Jn for singlehandedly strangling the last vestiges of the Kennedy mystique. Bravo Bobby, your daddy would have been so proud of you, while serving the most incompetent and corrupt Republican president who ever held office. But hey, your ego has been fed, hasn’t it?
Wolfie–It’s a common misconception that RFK is a vaccine “skeptic.” He’s a vaccine DENIER–he wants to jettison all childhood vaccinations, among other lunatic ideas related to public health (e.g., he’s against fluoridation and pasteurization). Have a look at what he did in Samoa for a preview of what’s in store for the US.
There’s a big difference between being skeptical of big pharma and coming up with alternatives that are guaranteed to kill and disable many, many people.
@Wolflikeyou – whether I wear a mask or not; whether I’m a he, she or it; and how many shots I’ve had, are all totally irrelevant to the point I made in my original comment. Gratuitous remarks aside, steve is quite right: the danger is not that RFK Jr is sceptical of big pharma, but that he appears ignorant of the well-established scientific facts of epidemiology.
Trump is really engaging in some next level trolling at this point.
Russian asset as head of national intelligence
Criminal as attorney general
White supremacist as secretary of defence
Vaccine denier as health secretary.
If Stephen King were writing the allegorical novel version I am sure that Elon would be Randall Flagg
@justsayin
You forgot the most fabulous one:
Putting twice as many people in charge of Government Efficiency Department as all the other departments.