Steve

Does DQ Still Have an Appointment?

This entry was posted in Economics Humor on by

Who is DQ?, you ask.
All I know is that DQ works (ed) for the UK Department for Work and Pensions which posted an appointment advertisement in the January 17 edition of The Economist.
I suspect DQ is responsible for website and advertising layout.
At the bottom of the ad is some text asking DQ a question:

[DQ – will the website say “Apllicants for GES posts must be UK Nationals, Commonwealth citizens or European Economic Area nationals with an unrestricted right to reside in the UK”?]

DQ’s answer was apparently “no” as no such language is to be found on the website.
I don’t think the questioner expected that the question would be left embedded in the print add either: two stikes for DQ.
For the curious: a reduced form of the original print add is below the fold. The extra language is toward the bottom of the “Assistant Economists” add on the right side of the page. Click on it for a full size version.

Wondering why this post exists: I found it amusing…:)

(more…)

Friday Ark #228

This entry was posted in Bird Blogging Cat Blogging Dog Blogging Friday Ark Invertebrate Blogging Pet Blogging Pets Vertebrate Blogging Weekend Cat Blogging on by

We’ll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and….?

Visit all the boarders, Link to the Ark and check back for updates through Sunday afternoon!

You can board the Friday Ark by submitting your post here, leaving a comment or a trackback to this post or emailing fridayark AT themodulator.org.

You can find previous editions at the not quite up to date Arkives page.

Cats

Television Viewers Likely to Be Subjected to More Hours of Inanity

This entry was posted in Government on by

MSNBC reports that the us senate has voted unanimously to subject television viewers to 4 more months of increasingly tiresome announcements about and explanations of the upcoming analog to digital television transition:

The Senate on Monday voted unanimously to postpone the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting by four months to June 12.
……
The Nielsen Co. estimates that more than 6.5 million U.S. households that rely on analog television sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals could see their TV sets go dark next month if the transition is not postponed.

And the national IQ will rise dramatically if this happens.
Apparently these same TV sets have been dark for the past two years. Otherwise their owners, if they really cared, would be prepared. There is nothing in the article that suggests that there is a shortage of converters in stores.
But, really, it is some kind of national emergency:

“Delaying the upcoming DTV switch is the right thing to do,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., author of the bill to push back the deadline. “I firmly believe that our nation is not yet ready to make this transition at this time.”

Dear jay, the “nation” is ready. Some folks suffer from extreme inertia; the vast majority of households are ready for the transition.
Are you concerned that all the coupons requested did not get sent out?

The NTIA had nearly 2.6 million coupon requests on a waiting list as of last Wednesday.

First, did you give the NTIA more money so they could send out the rest of the coupons…not mentioned in the article. Second, even if you wait for the backlog of coupons to be sent out what about the other 4 million households that may not be ready? They’ve been bombarded with “public service announcements,” how to connect your converter stories and seemingly more news coverage than the Illinois governor. Exactly what is it that makes you think 4 more months is going to change their behavior?

Get it over with. Help out the obama administration by forcing a little economic activity. Let the transition happen and folks that really care will buy their converter boxes.