Monday amusement

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It’s Monday and I need coffee so here’s something amusing I was linked to:
Beginner’s Guide to Police Harassment
“A North Island police station received this question from a resident through the feedback section of a local Police website:
“I would like to know how it is possible for police officers to continually harass people and get away with it?”
In response, a sergeant posted this reply:
First of all, let me tell you this … it’s not easy. In the Palmerston North and rural area we average one cop for every 505 people. Only about 60 per cent of those cops are on general duty (or what you might refer to as “general patrols”) where we do most of our harassing.
…..”
Update Possibly nicked from here: Randy’s Busy Life

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More reasons why I like Frank Turner

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Apart from the fact that he made this rather awesome song:

He also just posted this blog, which has this rather nice paragraph:
“Incidentally, here’s some things I’m not: “Tory”, “conservative”, or “Republican”. If you don’t know the difference between these and libertarians, I suggest reading up a little before slagging me off. I don’t consider myself “right wing” either. I’m just not a leftist.”

The rest of his music is pretty good as well, so go read the blog article then go listen to and buy some of his music (For the record I’m not in the pay of big Frank Turner).

Update The Devil’s Kitchen has has more, including a link to the Gruniad article

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Another repeating first

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Northwest passage Taking a break to talk about climate or weather or something. A friend of mine posted a link to an article reporting the first boat to sail the northwest passage. Thus proving how terribly global warming is, as Artic see ice is now at the lowest since records began (1979). The article that’s based on at least is sensible enough to say that “The international three-man crew — an American, Canadian and Swede — claim to have piloted the first sailboat to do so.” (emphasis mine). Which is really just as well, as the crew of the boat apparently haven’t mastered basic research. As a few minutes on the internet reveals that they were no more the first to sail the Northwest passage than Buzz Aldrin was the first man to walk on the moon – though they may well be the first to take that particular route through the passage. Stories about the northwest passage being passable for the first time are so terribly popular that clasicaly liberal put together a nice list of them when it came back round in 2007. Apparently that journey in 2007 was also “the first time the journey has been completed entirely by sail,”. mind you an expedition in 2009/10 sailed it without seeing any need to claim a first, before that Willy De Roos managed to sail it Solo in 1977. In fact it would seem it’s been quite busy at times.

Back to the current alarmist first time to sail it story, I’d note that they seem to report that the ice was closing behind them even as they went through. So it’s not clear if in fact the passage was fully clear at anyone time. I’d also observe that after the early expeditions people were looking for a commercial route, so once you were looking for routes for steamers or other powered boats why on earth would you even bother trying to do it by sail? The only reason to make such a journey by sail is because it’s a challenge, and one made increasingly easy with satellite mapping, GPS, radar and all that sort of modern malarky. I await reports of global warming being proven by some one failing to get to the north pole by penny farthing (after all there’s no longer enough ice to drive there).

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