Fair Comment

I came across this in the Daily Mail the other day:

Bouchra Benaissa’s unusual colouring is typical of the Berber people who dwell in the area where her family have lived for generations.

It’s hard to understand how something can be both unusual and typical unless the type itself is unusual. So blond, light-skinned types must be unusual. But as a blond, light-skinned person of many years standing myself, I’m struggling to see what’s unusual about it.

Oh, hang on: it’s because they’re from Africa. See, it’s unusual for Africans to have blond hair and light skin, because we know that Africans have dark hair and dark skin, right, just as it would be unusual for Europeans to have dark hair and dark skin.

How delightful. What next? Black boy in ‘really European’ shocker?

Auto Sufficiency

Newton Emerson is puzzled:

While in no way condoning the attack on student cars in the Holy Land area of Belfast this week, the real question that springs to mind upon sight of the damage is – why do so many students have cars?

A well-placed source tells me that it is because the parents pay for the cars. And, in more than one case I have heard of, the full maintenance grant of £3,265 -received because the parents, having engaged the services of an accountant, are on low incomes- goes towards refuelling costs.

Testing testing

1, 2, 3.

I had a couple of hilaaaariously insightful posts this morning, but they appear to have disappeared up the arse of the internet.