Thursday, December 29, 2011

Cause, Meet Effect II

From an editorial in today's NYT:
The gun lobby, fairly crowing, claims the spike in gun sales is because more people are feeling the need to protect themselves — even though the latest F.B.I. data show a 6 percent drop in violent crimes.

Huh?

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Nervous flyers should not watch this.

Gee, I wonder why?

I'm going on a trip in January, about which I got a notice from the company:
[There is] a new Department of Transportation policy that goes into effect in 2012. It requires that government taxes and fees be reflected directly in air fare prices—instead of being listed separately and added to a trip price.

The correct word, by the way, is buried.

Friday, December 23, 2011

This is not a good sign

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Toto, we are so not in Kansas

Reading todays Sunday Times, I came across the classifieds. The matrimonial classifieds. Perhaps I should mention at the outset it is the Times of Delhi at which I am gandering. Here a couple, out of a couple hundred, that caught my eye:

High Status South Delhi based industrialist Punjabi Arora family seeks alliance for their beautiful, fair, slim, charming, cultured Daughter. '81 born/5'5". Convent educated post graduate from most reputed Institute of Economics from London.

Looking for handsome, qualified, well settled in Business/Industrialist boy.

Caste no bar.

How nice.

On the flip side of this coin,

High Profile industrialist and multiple business Punjabi Saraswat Brahmin family invites alliance for their son, Manglik. Vegetarian, teetotaler, 5'7"/Sept 86/BBA from USA well settled in family business. Looking fro professionally qualified beautiful girl from similar status family.

Wondering: is caste a bar a bar to caste no bar?

Among the brides wanted section, the physical descriptions of the hopefuls rarely amounted to anything more than height and DOB.

Those seeking grooms are always a little more elaborate, adding at least a couple references looks, build, personality and sophistication. However, since the women are, a la Lake Wobegon, all either beautiful or very beautiful and slim and charming and sophisticated, these additional qualifiers are very little help. (Okay, I did find one that is homely and slim.)

Along that adjectival stream, roughly 70% of them plugged in either "fair" or "very fair".

None of the men seeking wives felt compelled to share in that regard.

Unsurprisingly, I suppose, not one ad noted either hair or eye color.

I'll bet there are a few lessons on human nature to be had here.

Friday, December 02, 2011

Nice Folks

An Eric's Progress*