Althouse: This is the kind of obvious error that gives the urge to help a bad name.

March 31, 2017

This is the kind of obvious error that gives the urge to help a bad name.

Cheerios — in an effort to help bees — put a packet of wildflower seeds in its boxes of cereal without ensuring that none of the varieties of seeds were invasive in places where the boxes would be sold.

54 comments:

sparrow said...: The problems with the bee population are somewhat overstated. According to the NASS there were 2.775K colonies in the US in 2016 a ~4% increase over the 2,660K colonies in 2016. Typical virtue signaling.; 3/31/17, 7:08 AM
sparrow said...: that should be 2,77k not 2.7 , typos again; 3/31/17, 7:09 AM
rhhardin said...: There will be trout lilies taking over the lawn.; 3/31/17, 7:25 AM
rhhardin said...: Invade atque vale.; 3/31/17, 7:27 AM
JAORE said...: Some of the the worst examples of invasive species were at the direction of those expert biologists.; 3/31/17, 7:27 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Isn't General Mills the same company that required ad agencies that did business with the company to have the right mix of male, female, LGBTXYZ etc. employees?; 3/31/17, 7:31 AM
David Baker said...: High probability "Mikey" and his brothers will eat the seeds.; 3/31/17, 7:33 AM
Michael R. Arndorfer said...: @David Baker - Life cereal is a Quaker product. Leave "Mikey" out of this.; 3/31/17, 7:45 AM
tcrosse said...: Q: "How many people work here, broken down by sex ?"
A: "Not many. It's usually the booze that gets them".; 3/31/17, 7:47 AM
Bob Ellison said...: tcrosse, outstanding!; 3/31/17, 7:50 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Also creating a buzz:
PPP reported ...
"Paul Ryan is the most unpopular politician in the country. At the start of the Trump administration he had a 33% approval rating, with 43% of voters disapproving of him. Now his approval has plunged to 21%, with his disapproval spiking all the way up to 61%. Ryan's particularly seen his image crater with Trump voters- what was a 53/23 approval rating with them in mid-January is now negative at 35/41.

In contrast, the Affordable Care Act is more popular than ever, with a 52-37 percent approval rating."; 3/31/17, 7:56 AM
Patrick said...: Another case of a do-gooder failing to ask: "Is this better than doing nothing?"; 3/31/17, 7:56 AM
Man in PA said...: Those "number of colonies" figures are deceptive because colonies are split to create more colonies. While the number of colonies created may exceed the number of colonies lost, the total bee count has diminished.; 3/31/17, 7:58 AM
JPS said...: tcrosse:

Very nice!; 3/31/17, 7:58 AM
bagoh20 said...: No good deed goes unpunished. It's the sport of the culture these days. Just try to think of an action, no matter how well intentioned, that wouldn't outrage some faction somewhere. Disapproval - it's what we do.; 3/31/17, 7:58 AM
Ann Althouse said...: First, do no harm.; 3/31/17, 8:07 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: ARM: this was already pointed out to you, but it doesn't matter what Ryan's national ratings are, as he is in the US House of Representatives, just as it never mattered how unpopular Pelosi was on a national level when she was speaker.

American Government 101.; 3/31/17, 8:09 AM
wild chicken said...: Piffle. Bees love invasive stuff like knapweed and dandelions as much as anything else. Good luck getting rid of those invaders.

Why so hatey about non-natives anyway.; 3/31/17, 8:12 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: exiledonmainstreet said...
it doesn't matter what Ryan's national ratings are

This is, of course, nonsense. Ryan is the leader of a national party, his national ratings reflect his leadership skills in that role.; 3/31/17, 8:15 AM
bagoh20 said...: Aren't we really talking about illegal immigration?; 3/31/17, 8:20 AM
JPS said...: Paul Ryan lost my approval when he let Joe Biden trounce him on a technical point (about which Biden was completely full of crap) about nuclear weapons development.; 3/31/17, 8:21 AM
bagoh20 said...: "First, do no harm."

Good luck with that. Every breath you take is melting the ice caps.; 3/31/17, 8:22 AM
MadisonMan said...: In contrast, the Affordable Care Act is more popular than ever, with a 52-37 percent approval rating

Brought to you by the same pollsters who were convinced Hillary would trounce Trump.; 3/31/17, 8:32 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Pelosi poll ratings in 2010:

"Yet those who do have an opinion of the Democratic Congressional leaders don't seem to have a very good one: Pelosi and Reid are viewed unfavorably by roughly three times as many people as they are viewed favorably.

Pelosi's favorable rating in the poll stands at 11 percent. Her unfavorable rating, meanwhile, is 37 percent -- meaning that more than one in three views the California Democrat negatively. "

From US News and World Report in 2013:

Most everyone knows who Nancy Pelosi is – and they don't like her.

That's according to the latest Gallup survey on the popularity of top congressional leaders, which found both Democratic leaders more unpopular than their Republican counterparts.

Nearly 8 in 10 Americans know of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, compared to 72 percent who know House Speaker John Boehner, 65 percent who are familiar with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and 60 percent who know Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

But overall, Pelosi is seen the most negatively by Americans – with a "net negative" of 17, compared to a net negative of 11 for Reid, 10 for Boehner and 8 for McConnell.

From February 2017:

According to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, President Trump has a net favorability rating of negative 4 points, while House minority leader Nancy Pelosi has a net rating of negative 25."

Gee, Pelosi isn't very well liked by Americans, is she? Did that stop the Dems from making her minority leader?; 3/31/17, 8:33 AM
MadisonMan said...: I wonder if the mid-level Manager who pushed this silly idea at General Mills, and the upper-level Managers who okayed it, are still working.

Who was fired as the scapegoat here?

"I'm from General Mills, and I'm here to help"; 3/31/17, 8:34 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: MadisonMan said...
Brought to you by the same pollsters who were convinced Hillary would trounce Trump.

This has been debunked multiple times. National polls were within 1% of the final vote.; 3/31/17, 8:37 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: MadisonMan said...
In contrast, the Affordable Care Act is more popular than ever, with a 52-37 percent approval rating

Brought to you by the same pollsters who were convinced Hillary would trounce Trump.

3/31/17, 8:32 AM

Yep. It was unpopular throughout Obama's presidency, but viola, a Republican gets in and suddenly the country LOVES O-care! Even as it falls apart, costs rise and insurers drop out.

ARM, pull my finger.; 3/31/17, 8:37 AM
tcrosse said...: Who was fired as the scapegoat here?
Above a certain level, nobody is ever fired. They may choose to pursue other interests or spend more time with their family. They will not miss any meals.; 3/31/17, 8:40 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Exile abandons one specious argument only to adopt another one. Ryan is the Speaker of the House, not Pelosi. How did Pelosi's ratings work out for her party?; 3/31/17, 8:42 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: exiledonmainstreet said...
viola, a Republican gets in and suddenly the country LOVES O-care!

Maybe it just required some familiarity with the alternative, RyanCare. Anything would look good next to that pig.; 3/31/17, 8:46 AM
Birkel said...: @ AReasonableMan

Here is the AReasonableMan to English definition of debunked:
Ignorance of inconvenient facts like the polls showing a twelve (12) point lead for Hillary a week before the election proves the polls were statistically accurate.; 3/31/17, 8:55 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Birkel said...
polls showing a twelve (12) point lead for Hillary a week before the election

Provide a reference and provide it for the last few days before the election, which is what I referred to.; 3/31/17, 8:58 AM
Birkel said...: http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/23/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-presidential-polls/index.html

October 2016

Now claim the polls were accurate.; 3/31/17, 9:01 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: ARM actually believes the mass of conservatives give a shit about Paul Ryan. Leftists are so conditioned to goose-stepping that they think it's what everyone does.; 3/31/17, 9:04 AM
Birkel said...: Let me help:

The polls that were meant to shape public opinion were lies meant to shape public opinion.

The polls at the end were an effort to protect the MSM and it's waning credibility.

Accurate, therefore, is a word that does not apply.; 3/31/17, 9:05 AM
tcrosse said...: This is an excellent example of Threadjacking.; 3/31/17, 9:06 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: You picked one poll, taken more than a month before the election.

The final polls were only 1% off the popular vote, which is what they measure. Deal with reality don't waste our time with nonsense.; 3/31/17, 9:09 AM
Birkel said...: Good call, tcrosse. Sorry.

Leftist initiatives collide, as they must.; 3/31/17, 9:10 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: tcrosse said...
This is an excellent example of Threadjacking.

ARM wants to talk about what ARM wants to talk about.

And yeah, we shouldn't give into his threadjacking.; 3/31/17, 9:13 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Having now lost the argument, badly, exile now gets religion on the sanctity of thread topics.; 3/31/17, 9:15 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Isn't General Mills the same company that required ad agencies that did business with the company to have the right mix of male, female, LGBTXYZ etc. employees?

Yes. Can confirm. My husband works for an agency that pitched GM well but they wouldn't contract with them because agency does not have 50% female employees.; 3/31/17, 9:23 AM
s'opihjerdt said...: If they are grown from a packet of seeds, how can the flowers be "wild"?; 3/31/17, 9:40 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Did you know all Cheerios sold to the public are female?
The males, called drones, are kept at the factory/nest where their seed is extracted to artificially inseminate the queen.
Cheerio drones are larger and have a much different appearance than the female worker Cheerios. Drones don't live long and when they die, they are dried and sold to Frito-Lay as Cheeto blanks.; 3/31/17, 9:41 AM
mockturtle said...: It's ironic that so many are so concerned about some invasive species and so unconcerned about others.; 3/31/17, 9:57 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: This invasive species got me thinking of us, humans, as such. There is a theory that many of the largest mammals in the Americas went extinct within 1,000 years of our species reaching the continental US (apparently, the ancestors of the American Indians were held up for awhile in Alaska until the ice melted in west central Canada). The theory goes on to suggest that it was because the Indians were able to hunt them to below replacement level because these species had no good defenses against us. Then, maybe ten millennium later, the Indian populations were devastated by pathogens brought her by Europeans. A little like what the Africa can bees are doing to the native species.

Thing about bees is that they have long been very important to farmers, but maybe we didn't realize just how important until we had a lot of die offs several years ago (my understanding is that much of this was ultimately traced to pesticides and/or herbicides applied to crops by farmers. My kid's SO is defending their master's thesis on bees this month, so I hear a lot about them.; 3/31/17, 11:55 AM
Michael said...: mockturtle

Most excellent!!; 3/31/17, 11:59 AM
Rick.T. said...: Honeybees aren't natives. Heck, nightcrawler (worms) aren't native either and are doing coniserable damage to forests in the north.; 3/31/17, 12:28 PM
Rick.T. said...: PS - nothing like picking up a 3 pound wire mesh box of bees and a queen at the post office to create a buzz. FYI they are perfectly harmless until they've started a functioning hive.; 3/31/17, 12:32 PM
Fernandinande said...: JAORE said...
Some of the the worst examples of invasive species were at the direction of those expert biologists.

I've been reading someone blogging a trip to New Zealand; being an island, much of its native fauna weren't up to dealing with introduced species, and now the remaining forested areas are like a zoo or farm as they try to control the introduced possums, stoats and rats with poisons and traps. Good luck!; 3/31/17, 12:45 PM
mockturtle said...: Speaking of bees, it seems they turned out in full force at a spring training game in Peoria, AZ, yesterday. Players Duck for Cover; 3/31/17, 1:23 PM
Christy said...: Yesterday I bagged up a wooden front porch decoration that had morphed into a bee condo. Small bees, not the big carpenter bees that colonized Mama's front porch swing. Sat there feeling lower than a snake's belly as first one then more bees flew back, buzzing around searching for home.

Then I tried to plant some late blooming bulbs and was driven away by hornets. Karma?; 3/31/17, 3:33 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Last week's NASS data supports the first bee comment but not the contradictory ones. Overall bee count up, colony count up (but USDA measurements have counting anomalies, especially for the 2 million or so colonies that travel to CA this time of year from all over). I recommend caution with turning that "invasive species" label on other humans because then the progressive eugenicists really will have won.

I don't support threadjacking generally. God Hillary was a lousy candidate!; 3/31/17, 4:31 PM
mockturtle said...: Christy reposrts: Sat there feeling lower than a snake's belly as first one then more bees flew back, buzzing around searching for home.

I know how you feel. Once I poured boiling water down the cracks of a brick patio to kill the ants. After a while they came up carrying egg sacs and all their other belongings in search of a new 'safe' place. I did feel sorry, after all their work, to have destroyed their home and possibly their young. :-(; 3/31/17, 4:49 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Native is a stupid concept used by shit-talking morons obsessed with the current age and oblivious to prior and post today eras and what might have or could indeed been/be.

I am native wherever I roam. You too.

I am the Big Bang folks, you too.

We are native atomically and natives anywhere in the universe there is matter.

The native scene includes us, each and every one of us.; 3/31/17, 11:05 PM