Today I Notice

1)We have a new case of mad cow disease. Biiig whoop. The fact that we've caught 8 of them from a beef herd of however many millions suggests that the odds of getting a mad-cow steak approach those of winning the lottery. So I've decided that if I win the lottery I'm giving up beef.

I know, I know. You're saying "But Metro--that's just tempting fate!" Well I promise that I will devote part of my lottery winnings to the feeding and care of cows suffering from mad cow disease. That oughta satisfy Karma, eh? 'Specially since mcd can only be detected by postmortem.

Back during the second wave of mcd in the UK, my grandmother phoned my dad and explained that she'd given up beef, due to the risk of mad cow.

"Mum," he explained loudly (she was very deaf) "It takes twenty years to affect you. At 80-plus I don't think you have anything to worry about."

2) A Canadian soldier has accidentally shot a ten-year-old in Iraq. I suspect this was in order to show the IDF how it's done--accidentally.

Here's an interesting question. In Canada we have legal means to seek justice after someone kills somebody we care for. Lawsuits, disciplinary hearings and the like. What mechanism exists when your kid accidentally gets killed in a war zone?

The US military apparently has such a mechanism, but doesn't actually cover innocent bystanders per se. They compensate for accidental deaths caused by US soldiers, which seems to be a different thing from deaths occurring as a by-blow of combat operations. But there's no certainty as to numbers, and many families aren't sure how to apply for compensation.

So what was this? The boy apparently rode through a secured perimeter (one assumes it couldn't have been well-marked) as a passenger on his 17-year-old brother's motorbike. Soldiers claim the two ignored repeated warnings to stop.

I'm glad I didn't have to make the hot-button decision. Imagine being keyed up and watching that bike coming at you. In the event, it seems the soldier guessed wrong. I sympathise.

So what happens for the family now?

3) This "war against terror" thing--does anyone still think it's working out there? If so, here's a link from Terrorism News, a well-thought out and thorough sort of place where at the moment, Michael Schuer is holding forth, fifth, and sixth on the "progress" made against the idea of terrorism.

4) And a brief rant--dear gods do I hate fake websites. You know the sort I mean, the "search pages" that pop up in Google or what-have-you, but look from their summaries like real sites dedicated to whatever you're searching for. You have to look very carefully at the URL, and even then you may have trouble. Microsoft is currently suing some websquatters for trademark infringement and you know what? I'm actually with them for once. Unlike the ridiculous business of Mike Rowe, there's legitimate reason for a company which has a reputation (whatever that may be in your eyes) to take on people who pretend to be linked to the company.

Why I have this particular burr under my saddle: Today I went searching for parts resources for my Yamaha U7e, of the which I have blogged earlier There was bikezbiz, a garbage site, and a couple of those sites that say "find parts here" but mean "here you will find a million people trying to dig up the same bit's you're looking for and with no more sucess". And then a masterpiece of the genre cropped up. I read the landing page and thought it looked odd. No link on the picture saying "Browse our Catalogue", a field of text written in the oddly stilted way that lets you know it was a translation job (though that's par for the course with an ancient Japanese bike like mine), a few other details. But still it took me three page views to confirm what I suspected. Another @0))@^^|/| "search site". I wanted to link to it as a terrific, almost entertaining example.

But then I thought "screw 'em--why should I drive their traffic?" Go here instead: Swarm and Destroy!.