Catpaw – diary of an angry cat

Is it too much to ask for a modicum of literacy in a bookstore?

The sign has been in place for months now and no one has corrected the sign yet. Sigh…. and the store sells books on American history for pete’s sake!

Some people really are too stupid to live and they are doing their best to prove this. There are rumours swirling about that have led health officials to say having a swine flu party is not really a good idea. I might be tempted to say it’s one of the more asinine ideas a human might get. Today health officials here in Canada and the UK are trying to discourage swine flu parties. What’s that you ask? Oh just the brilliant idea of holding a party for all your friends and inviting someone who has an active case of the flu to attend. That way you all get some sort of immunity. UK officials are worried because a number of parents believe this would be a great idea for their children.

Let’s see – let’s deliberately infect ourselves with swine flu so we don’t get swine flu. Yea, great idea. While I’m at it, I’ll go bungee jumping without a rope and if I survive, I’ll go stand in the middle of a busy road.

I seriously don’t know how this species has survived for so long.

The home of the English language is in dire need of a lesson on how to use it. Well, to be honest, the Police Chiefs (Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) need a remedial course on how to write coherently. Read this from one of their response to a proposed reform initiative:

The promise of reform which the Green Paper heralds holds much for the public and Service alike; local policing, customised to local need with authentic answerability, strengthened accountabilities at force level through reforms to police authorities and HMIC, performance management at the service of localities with targets and plans tailored to local needs, the end of centrally-engineered one size fits all initiatives, an intelligent approach to cutting red tape through redesign of processes and cultures, a renewed emphasis on strategic development so as to better equip our service to meet the amorphous challenges of managing cross force harms, risks and opportunities.

If you read the sentence – and it is indeed ONE sentence – you kind of get the general idea of what they are saying… kind of. Maybe…

I think the ACPO have gotten all hot ‘n bothered about possible reform of the the current red tape heavy policing system. I think… But I’m still pondering “amorphous challenges of managing cross force harms, risks and opportunities”. Do you think they mean “develop flexible strategies to deal with the complexities of modern policing”?

My head hurts now. I have a literacy headache. Or is that a mangled grammar migraine? I’m going to go and have a coffee… and not think about that sentence anylonger.

Is it possible to overdose on fresh strawberries? Not the plastic imported garbage the grocery stores insist upon feeding us. I’m talking about FRESH LOCAL strawberries. We’ve eaten so many, I keep checking the mirror to see if I’ve turned a lovely shade of strawberry red. Last Wednesday we went down to the farmers market and bought strawberries, peas, spinach and some lovely lettuce. Good eating. Alas, we finished all the berries and the peas and not much of the spinach is left. The farmers market is only open on Wednesday so I have a few days to wait.

Our grocery stores are a disgrace. You have to hunt for local produce. How can the farmers make a profit when the stores won’t sell their produce. Lots of California strawberries, but not a single Ontario basket. Disgraceful. I won’t touch the California factory farmed food. I’ll do without.

Is it Wednesday yet?