Rotundus.com

I wonder if this is a bit too resemblent of the "nanny state" phenomenon, but I'd be glad to have a law like this in place:

... the bagpipes are to be quietened by an edict from Brussels.

From this month, pipers must adhere to strict volume limits or risk breaking European Union health and safety laws. Bands have been ordered to tone down or wear earplugs to limit noise exposure to 85 decibels.

Typically, a pipe band played at full volume peaks at 122 decibels outdoors, noisier than the sound of either a nightclub or a chainsaw, which rises to 116 decibels.

(Times Online)

As an undergrad I remember having a class with what came to be a "bagpiping intermission". The university held grad ceremonies on campus while classes were in session, which meant that having a band of bagpipers roaming the campus for a week or so in the spring and summer semester. Basically for a week or two you'd be required to take a 3-5 minute break from class simply because you couldn't hear anything that anyone else was saying during that time.

It wasn't a bad quality pipe band that brought me my hatred of bagpipes - in fact they were one of the world's best, having won the world championships 5 times, being the only non-UK group to win more than once

It's kind of interesting to track the probable demise of these Nalgene containers that were the rage in recent years. I mentioned it before when MEC first pulled the bottles from their shelves, but it now appears as though major retailers (HBC, Canadian Tire, Sport Chek, etc.)

There's an oddity, though, that the following snippet brings out:

As speculation mounts that the federal government will declare that common plastic food and drink containers are officially toxic, an odd twist is also emerging: Being declared toxic would not force the products off supermarket shelves.

The chemical bisphenol-A, used to manufacture a common form of plastic, would fall under the Canadian Environment Protection Act. And this doesn't force governments to ban or restrict its use in consumer products.

Even if it's listed as "toxic" under the CEPA law, bisphenol-A will could remain legal to use in baby bottles, liners of food and drink cans, and water bottles. The government would have the option to restrict bisphenol's use, or not.

(Calgary Herald)

Pompous fools drive me up the wall. Ordinary fools are all right; you can talk to them, and try to help them out. But pompous fools–guys who are fools and are covering it all over and impressing people as to how wonderful they are with all this hocus pocus–THAT, I CANNOT STAND! An ordinary fool isn't a faker; an honest fool is all right. But a dishonest fool is terrible!

- Richard Feynman,
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character), p. 133

He wasn't a Christian, but it seems as though he knew something about the distinction in Proverbs 26:4-5