Thursday, May 31, 2007

Those pesky weeds

As serious chessplayer I have to cut down seriously on all lesser important occupations like watching TV, washing dishes, going to anniversaries, garden maintenance etc..

As a result my garden looks usually like a mess. But when I rested between two problems, I walked into my garden and saw that it was taken over by Aciphylla Monroi.













Aciphylla MONROI,
commonly known as little speargrass, is an ugly looking parasite that lives on DEAD WOOD. This pesky weed is not native to the Netherlands but is imported by Canadian sailors in the 17th century. It kills everything that is not suetable for feeding. Allthough the flowers may look nice initially, your garden is only suitable for paving if you don't take rigorous measures.
Warning: Monroi is on the international blacklist of threatening species.

Let me put on my lawnsuit in order to sprinkle some pesticide.

8 comments:

  1. I learn something new everyday. I'll be ready when Monroi invades USA.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Here is a good story on the blog ethics. Mig Greengard recently made numerous false statements about the hotel in Stillwater, Canadians & MonRoi and posted them on his blog.

    Mig posted false US Championship venue review, which would turn away any credible visitor-“This hotel is unkempt and dirty. The stairs are rotted out, none of the equipment in the exercise room worked. The sheets were dirty with crusty stains. The back stairs are rotted out and dangerous, the jacuzzi in our suite had mildew in all of the jets, no mattress pads on the beds..."

    He falsely claims that Canadians dropped religion, that the Canadian dollar is worthless, that people from Canada are jerks (or viagras), and his “anonymous” blog users claim that Canadians have no right to speak, even when they are right.

    MonRoi is a company based in Montreal, which sponsored the US Championship and publicized the chess players and organizers worldwide. MonRoi customer service received complains from clients related to Mig’s blog. When they informed Greengard that some of his blog posts are false and defamatory, he turned around and misled the readers that this was related to free speech on MonRoi products and that the company threatened him with a law suit. In fact, MonRoi just made him aware on the international laws - - free speech is protected and welcomed, but no law protects false speech or defamation.

    ReplyDelete
  3. In a time before history, in a place named Daily Dirty Blog Kingdom, a powerful and evil lord Miguron has brought together the forces of dirty blogging to recover his hurt ego. Miguron Chess Eye would destroy everyone with his piercing gaze in order to restore his power. He cried- I am the Lord, who dared to enter into MY chess kingdom, and who are those Elves from Montreal. And the story begins… What happened to Montreal Elves read in the next episode.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Mocca,
    I don't know Monroi.
    I don't know their products.
    I don't read Migs blog.
    I don't have an opinion on these and I hope I never need one.

    I blog for fun and for (chess) improvement. Which normally means that I would ignore comments like yours. Or delete them.

    I assume you are in one way or another related to Monroi.
    I assume that at Monroi work goodwilling people, since they sponsor chess.
    I assume that there are forces that give Monroi bad publicity.
    I assume that for everything that has gone wrong with the products there is either:
    - A good reason
    - Due to outside factors it is beyond the control of Monroi
    - or Monroi is working hard to correct it

    So far business as usual.
    But now about the forces that give you bad publicity.

    Once a big tree falls, you can't change its direction. A big tree is falling now, and you are trying to change its direction. Or you even try to stop it from falling.
    What you try to accomplish CANNOT succeed. You can only make it worse.

    The only thing you can do is clean up the dirt (no pun intended)and try to prevent other trees from falling.

    How do you do that:
    Be open and transparent.
    Use your website to explain WHY everything is as it is, since there are very good reasons why things are as they are. Communicate.
    Prevent even the slightest impression that you try to influence the public opinion.
    Treat criticasters with respect even when they are wrong in your opinion. To remind someone that there exists a law IS threatening, you know.
    Probably Monroi does things that benefit the chessworld and that are beyond the obligations of a company. Maybe even that is the area where things go wrong. So critics are VERY unreasonable.

    Let the world know about the benefits. Ignore the critics. People see incomprehendsible things. People are in the dark about Monroi's motives, but instead of asking Monroi they draw their own conclusions. Which they are to blame for, BUT NOT BY YOU.
    You are to blame for being vague about your motives.

    Where can I send my bill?:)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tempo: mocca has posted the same thing at every blog. I also responded to him. Your response is more reasonable than mine.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Blue,
    that's true. But your response is funnier.

    ReplyDelete