Dumbidity

I'm Just Askin' - XXII

Today, November 30th, marks the end of Hurricane Season. A record year, 2005 saw 26 named storms, using all the pre-established storm names and diving into the contingency pile of Greek letters for the first time since the system was implemented.

As of right now, T.S. Epsilon still churns in the middle of the Atlantic, with some forecasters projecting that it could become a Cat 1 hurricane.

If it does, and if the USAF weather planes go after it tomorrow, will they be subject to charges of hunting hurricanes out of season?

I'm Just Askin' - XXI

From time to time we'll hear some feel-good story about someone having trouble out in public and someone else steps up and helps out. They're called "Good Samaritans."

Most of the time the story is about car trouble, from breakdowns to serious accidents - in fact, there are even laws written to protect the medical professionals from lawsuits when they're Johnny/Janie-on-the-Spot for crash victims. It's generally referred to as a "Good Samaritan Law".

But let's say you've had minor car trouble - say a flat tire - and some guy pulls over to help out. In the course of "helping," it turns out he's mechanically inept and cracks your hubcap, deflates your spare trying to check its pressure and cross-threads the few lug nuts he doesn't lose down a storm drain.

Or worse - he, instead of helping, simply robs you at gunpoint.

Would you refer to this guy as a "Bad Samaritan"?