Revolutionary Moderation

Speaking of morons...



Two stories had me yelling at my radio this morning. The first (and a link eludes me, but I'll add one when I find one) spoke about a meeting of anti-smoking activists trying once again to have the government ban terms like "light" and "mild" from cigarette branding and advertising. Because anti-smoking activists think smokers are fucking morons who won't be able to figure out Export A Green / Red / Gold / Silver.



Wasn't it the government who in the first place made the industry publish tar and nicotine information on the packaging? And then add carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, and benzene, to make the numbers go from clear to incomprehensible. Now to insure incomprehenibility, lets get rid of the most obvious indicators. I'm no fan of the tobacco industry, but it seems to me that some of the changes and rules pushed by these groups are designed, not to keep people from smoking, but to piss off the companies with arbitrary regulation that gains nothing healthwise.



The second story is even more dumbfounding:



A political scientist in Ottawa says the growing anti-war movement in Canada is based on a lack of understanding about why the world is lining up against Iraq.



Elinor Sloan, a political science professor at Carleton University, says when people start paying more at the gas pump because instability in the Middle East has driven up oil prices, fewer will be heading out to protest a possible war.



...



She said the U.S. and Canadian government's (sic) haven't explained the situation clearly enough.



You mean the impending war isn't a humanitarian effort? It isn't about terrorism? It isn't about weapons of mass destruction? Am I to understand that a war in Iraq would be about keeping the price of oil low? I sure glad she's cleared this up, because the anti-war activists I know will sure change their tunes knowing that. I mean, "No blood to protect civilian lives at home and abroad" has a certain rhythm to it... who's going to chant "No blood for oil"?



The real question is how this became a story in the first place. Was it simply to display how moronic professors at Cartoon U are? There's got to be some that are smarter than that. I'm glad she's smart enough to recognize the real reasons behind the war, but I think she's mislabelling "intentionally obscuring an unpleasant truth" as "bad communications strategy".



I said I wouldn't go into detail about my job hunt here, and I won't, but Carleton? I probably work cheaper than this shining star if you'd like me to pick up a class or two of hers. And cbc online? I'd be happy to pick up the red pen for you.



Full story here.