I don't listen to the radio, but I have minions who listen for me. Apparently they just let any old idiot with a phone on nowadays. Must really cut down on production costs.

According to my most reliable minion, someone said, on the air, that Canada should take part in the US's latest boondoggle-in-the-making, missile defense, because Al Qaida might not make very accurate missiles and one could hit Vancouver instead of Seattle.

I agree with the underlying sentiment that Seattle is a crappy city responsible for grunge, Starbucks and Microsoft which the world would be better off without. What I can't countenance is the fundamental wrongness of every other thought in that train-wreck of an opinion.

I suppose, from one point of view, you could say that missile defense will protect us from Al Qaeda missile attacks, because Al Qaeada will not be able to blow anything up with a nuclear missile if the missile defense shield is built. Conversely, Al Quaeida will not be able to blow up anything with an ICBM if the shield isn't built either. Because they don't have any. And of course, it wouldn't protect us from anyone who has ICBMs because it doesn't work.

It's not enough to just refute something this stupid, there should be real repercussions. People should not be allowed to have opinions if they are going to be that wrong. Opinions are a privilege, not a right. If you abuse a privilege, it should be revoked.

Now, I'm not saying all stupid people need to be killed. That's true too, but it's not the only thing I wanted to talk about today.

Somebody should invent something like a lie detector that can tell when you're saying something wrong even if you don't know it. And then it should punish you in some way, like electroshock or a laxative injection.

Or perhaps the wrongness detector should just be a ball gag with a valve, and if you say something really stupid the valve seals. Then you have a minute or so to think about what you said while you suffocate into unconsciousness.

If an elegant technological solution is too long in coming, I propose a trial by jury. But not a jury of your peers, obviously, because the whole point is that you're stupid. Instead you should be judged by a jury of your betters. If judged too stupid to talk, you get the ball gag with no talk-valve.

Or perhaps something really low tech: you get buried alive in a box with a collection of household items. If you can devise a way to escape from the box, you don't die.