Observations
  • Home
  • Observations
  • Trendcasting
  • Odds 'n Ends
  • Science/Technology/Experiments
  • Mental Health

Shoot the Messenger!

3/26/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Now that we are officially in spring, a good portion of the US is cold, it is still snowing, and feeling a lot like winter. But, Punxsutawney Phil suggested that spring will be here early. I say, shoot the messenger! From AL.com in Atlanta comes the recap:
"The weather too cold for you? Blame Punxsutawney Phil. Everyone else is.It's so bad that Butler County, Ohio, prosecutor Mike Gmoser "light-heartedly filed" a criminal indictment against Phil for fraudulently predicting an early spring."Punxsutawney Phil did purposely, and with prior calculation and design cause the people to believe that spring would come early," Gmoser's indictment said. The penalty? Death, Gmoser said, tongue firmly in cheek, according to The Associated Press". But the real guy to blame, apparently, is Bill Deeley, president of the Groundhog Club and Phil's handler. He admits it isn't an exact science. "A year ago I predicted six more weeks of winter," . "Last year at this time, we were cutting our grass, starting to plant, playing golf"!
And, despite the fact that Groundhog day has been celebrated since 1841, it has always been sort of a tongue in cheek event. Records show that the little fur ball has at best a 37% accuracy.
Unfortunately, the joke is lost on many people and they have a tendency to believe that this critter really reflects the fact that he can be a good source of information. The trend? Phil and his offspring will continue to be an interesting urban myth even when he fails to tell the truth. I have a bias regarding the value of groundhogs as can be seen in a post from this past summer here. So, while killing the messenger may be wrong, there has to be a consequence for misleading us! But, I did like the movie...

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Archives

    October 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    August 2019
    April 2019
    October 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011

    Categories

    All
    Advertising 1895
    Applications
    Bulb Act
    Cgi
    China Concerns Again
    Cloud Computing
    Drones
    End
    Family Mediation
    Gas Prices
    Gesture Technology
    Google Antitrust
    Grocery Deception
    Heathkit
    Infolust
    Infrastructure Failure
    Mechanical Computer
    Medical Devices
    Medication Mistakes
    Mental Health
    Original Ideas
    Pc
    Politics Of Fear
    Post Office
    Recycled News
    Rushing To Judgement
    Salmonella
    Siri
    Social Media Business
    Sopa
    Stock Market
    Texting
    Trendcasting
    Urine
    Wireless
    World

    RSS Feed