Most of the “Some people are soooo stupid” stories are “oh deary me” funny, or “D’oh” silly. But sometimes you come across one where somebody is dangerously ignorant and stupid.

You may be aware of an incident that happened early on in the current Iraq war, where American planes shot up a British convoy, killing one soldier and injuring another. The lead pilot has been promoted(!), the video was covered up until recently, and there’s quite a bit of understandably angry comment in the British press and elsewhere right now.

The pilots involved have expressed their remorse, but the neighbour of one of them was interviewed and came out with unbelievably incendiary rubbish: “He is a hero, and it’s a damn good thing we have heroes like him in the United States to do the fighting we have to do against terrorists around the world and you guys better get on board and that whole damn country of yours and along with the rest of Europe. You’re going to go merrily sucking your thumb like you did in World War 2.

“We don’t need your damn help, we need your cooperation, that’s all we need out of you guys, that’s all, and it’s hard even to get that. We know you can’t shoot, move and communicate but we sure as hell like your cooperation anyway.”

I’m certain that uninformed fools like this are in the minority; I’m concerned as hell that they exist in the first place.

Unfortunately that kind of moron is not far enough in the minority.

Here’s one for the “needless loss of life” category:
[quote author=“Associated Press”]11 Dead, Over 100 Hurt at Kite Flying Festival in Pakistan

Monday, February 26, 2007

LAHORE, Pakistan —  At least 11 people died and more than 100 people were injured at an annual spring festival in eastern Pakistan celebrated with the flying of thousands of colorful kites, officials said Monday.

The deaths and injuries were caused by stray bullets, sharpened kite-strings, electrocution and people falling off rooftops on Sunday at the conclusion of the two-day Basant festival, said Ruqia Bano, spokeswoman for the emergency services in the city of Lahore.

The festival is regularly marred by casualties caused by sharp kite strings or celebratory gunshots fired into the air. Kite flyers often use strings made of wire or coated with ground glass to try to cross and cut a rival’s string or damage the other kite, often after betting on the outcome.

Authorities temporarily lifted a ban on kite flying that was imposed following a string of deaths at the festival last year. Lahore Mayor Mian Amier Mahmood said the two-day permission to fly kites ended Sunday and that the ban has been re-imposed.

Police arrested more than 700 people for using sharpened kite strings or firing guns, and seized 282 illegally held weapons during this year’s festival, said Aftab Cheema, a senior Lahore police officer.
Five of those who died on Sunday were hit by stray bullets, including a 6-year-school boy who was struck in the head near his home in the city’s Mazang area, Bano said.

A 16-year-old girl and a school boy, 12, died after their throats were slashed by metal kite strings in separate incidents. Two people were electrocuted while they tried to recover kites tangled in overhead power cables, Bano said.

A 13-year-old boy fell to his death from the roof of his home as he tried to catch a stray kite, and a 35-year-old woman fell off the roof of her home trying to stop her son from running after a stray kite, Bano said.

They’ve stolen my marijuana!

A woman who called Napier police this morning to report a burglary became so upset she broke down in tears - although the police communications officer who took the initial call couldn’t stop smiling.

The call left senior sergeant Mal Lochrie shaking his head as he explained that the woman had called to report the theft of three marijuana plants which she had growing in pots outside.

She also bitterly complained that it was the fourth year in a row someone had sneaked on to her Ahuriri property and made off with her marijuana plants.

Mr Lochrie said the woman told the communications operator she was a good person and was sick and tired of “low-lifes” stealing her things.

“The community constable is going around to see her later to have a bit of a chat,” Mr Lochrie said.

OK here’s another “just how stupid are todays kids” news story.
http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_074075832.html
The police were tipped of to the illegal activities this kid was involved with when he posted pictures of his marijuana plants on his MySpace page complete with a note as to where they were in the house. He also wrote about his drug activities and gang associations. I’m sure all of this will be used at his trial.

Phone Virus

No one has actually gotten hurt over this
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9016500&source=NLT_PM&nlid=8
In Pakistan, apparently someone sent out a message saying that people were dying from a computer virus transmitted by cell phone. Panic has ensued.

Officials in Maine are getting their knickers in a twist over an English lemonade that is alchoholic. That is, it contains 0.5% alchohol. Not 5%, 0.5%. Good luck getting even slightly tipsy on that.

It is not a laughing matter in Houlton, Maine, where police chief Butch Asselin asked the state’s liquor licensing authorities to determine if the Victorian-style lemonade could legally be sold to minors.

“It wasn’t so much that we were trying to give [...] a black eye,” he said. “We just want to make parents aware it contains alcohol. I’ve never had it, it’s probably very good, but their website says it can be used for mixed drinks.”

He pointed out that nonalcoholic beers with similar residual alcohol content cannot be dispensed to minors under Maine law.

The police chief is also concerned because a Google search of Victorian lemonade turned up recipes calling for it to be made with gin. He is concerned young people will read those recipe and add gin to their [...]

The cynic in me is wary about publicising the name of the company, on the off-chance that this is a marketing hoax. I’m inclined to believe it though. Sigh.

[wanders off to have a stiff drink]