Wednesday, December 26, 2007

In Mr. Bennet's honor

Mr. Bennet of Longbourn, the father of the heroine of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, is described as a connoisseur of human folly. In his honor, I have a few samples gathered.

By way of Michelle Malkin and rcfox, there is a report that the Salem, Massachussets Board of Health, prompted by Health Agent Joanne Scottt, banned bake sales in town. One commentator proclaimed, "Stop the witch hunt! She has been found!" But this benevolent ruling by a wise paternal government is no isolated incident, because a month ago, the Maricopa County Envronmental Heath Division in Arizona did the same thing. Maybe the desert sun really can fry your brains.

And at Captain's Quarters, we have a report on a private citizen in La Habra Heights, California buying a fire truck because the city had shut down four of its five fire stations, and the lone remaining station had at least a 12-minute response time to his house.
City: "You can't do that. That's Our Job".
Citizen: "Then why aren't you doing it?"
City: "Prosecute him!"

And for a third helping, in a display of erudition that can only inspire speechless wonder, we have a paper from Hebrew University that claims that the Israeli Defence Force is guilty of not committing rape.

"In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it can be seen that the lack of military
rape merely strengthens the ethnic boundaries and clarifies the inter-ethnic
differences - just as organized military rape would have done."

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