tsunami disaster relief

Relief information -- You don't have to donate through this site's paypal link. In fact I'd recommend donating directly to the relief organizations linked at the bottom. I've just included it for the relief links and news.

116,000 are reported dead and that number is expected to continue rising.

Chinese sabres are rattling again

China spouted off again about how they will crush any move by Taiwan toward independence. I really don't understand the Chinese government. I mean besides they fact that they're made up primarily of an old guard of Communist in name only men (like every "Communist" country that's ever existed) who care far more about their personal wealth and power than anything else. I get that part. No, what I don't get is why after 55+ years, they are still threatening Taiwan and declaring that it must remain part of China at all costs. To quote, "Separatist activities on Taiwan had become the "biggest immediate threat" to China's sovereignty and to peace and stability in the region, the paper said". Huh? How the hell does an island of 23 million that has been self-governing since 1949 come anyways near threatening Chinese sovereignity today? The Chinese government has been hitting the opium a bit too hard again. It's not like Taiwan will overthrow the Chinese government. If the Communists are ever kicked out, it will be a well deserved boot from the long oppressed people of China, hopefully sooner rather than later, not because Taiwan finally declares independence.

Most nations have already figured out what a load of shit communism is and some of the Chinese people have too, but it hasn't reached critical mass yet. For one thing, the government has allowed some capitalism, a compromise that has undoubtedly helped relieve some of the tensions that could have led to their downfall by now. I think the other main reason they're still in power is simply because change has historically happened at a glacial pace in China.

What worries me about the latest sabre rattling is the proposed Chinese law that may "legally bind Beijing to take military action" if Taiwan declares independence. The United States is already legally bound to defend Taiwan if it is attacked. So any conflict in the Strait would very quickly become a US/China war.

News flash for the Chinese government: Taiwan has been self-governing since 1949 and they HATE you. Of course if some nation was constantly threatening to invade yours, you probably wouldn't be too fond of them either. The real motivator for China is the fear of losing face. They've been saying that Taiwan is theirs for so long that saying anything else would mean admitting defeat. They'd sooner start a global war than do that. Morons.

Weird link o' the day courtesy of a Fark poster -- recipe for Whole Stuffed Camel! I suppose that's not microwaveable...

Also via a Fark link, my favorite quote of the day, from a doctor developing a worm like model to replace the current method for doing colon endoscopy (shudder)... "Ultimately our idea is to turn the current ordeal of the colonic endoscopy procedure into something akin to a pleasurable experience!" Uh.... oh my... umm.... err... hm.... ack? I got nothing.

Santa threatens separation of church and state?!

A 7th grader was denied entry to his school holiday dance because he wore a Santa costume. In the article, the school principle is quoted as follows:

"Principal Fred Muscara said he told the boy he couldn’t get into the dance because he was wearing the costume. 'It was a holiday party,' said Muscara. 'It was not a Christmas party. There is a separation of church and state. We have a lot of students that go to Hampton Academy Junior High that have different religions. We have to be sensitive to that.'" Mr. Muscara added, "I'm blind! I'm blind! Oh, when will I pull my head out of my ass so I can see again?" Or something like that...

So, Santa violates the separation of church and state? What the hell are you smoking, Fred? Granted just last year my church's pastor gave his Christmas eve sermon wearing a Santa Claus outfit and talked about how important our faith in jolly old St. Nick is... or maybe that was my LSD talking... hmm...

Suffice it to say Muscara offers us still more proof that these politically correct people are completely retarded. The article notes that the next day, after the boy's parents had complained to the principal and the school board, Muscara asked the boy if he was trying to get him fired. I don't know, Fred, but I wouldn't blame the kid. I doubt a principal can be fired for this one incident, but it sounds to me like you should be fired for general stupidity.

Osama rambles on...

Blah blah blah... American infidels... blah blah... martyrs... blah... virgins in heaven... blah blah.... death to the house of Saud... blah...

Yes, everyone's favorite terrorist wacko has released a new audio tape. He reportedly rambles on for over an hour on this tape about his usual themes. Maybe he's getting a bit scatter brained in his advancing age. I suppose hiding in caves for years can do that to you.

Unfortunately for Osama's target audience, increasing exposure to the television stations of the Great Satan are leaving more and more young people unable to focus on an hour plus length tape that doesn't even have pictures! Not wishing to lose converts to short attention spans, Osama is trying to figure out how to produce "The Real World: On the Run in Pakistan/Afghanistan" without revealing his location. Top aides say MTV has offered a sure to be controversial deal for the first season including 30 million US dollars, 187 crates of lightly used AK-47s, and enough explosive material for 100 suicide car bomb attacks.

I swear, it's all true.... :-P

European Vacation?

So I'm torn now. I really want to take a Western European tour, but with the horrible exchange rate right now because of the weak American dollar it's become a very expensive trip. When I went to Ireland in 2003 the Euro was at a then all time high against the dollar and the prices hurt then. It's much worse now.

If I go anyway, price be damned, I may do a tour with Contiki again. They did an okay job with Ireland. I loved the country, but at times the tour was disappointing. So why would I go with them again for a European trip? Well, they're about the only tour company that specializes in trips for young adults (18-35 yr olds). I suspected and my travel agent confirmed that most tours will be largely made up of grey hairs. Nothing against older folks, but especially if I go by myself again, I want the tour to have people closer to my age group on it. I'm just not sure if I can forgive Contiki for making our last night in Ireland the overhyped tourist trap hellhole that is Johnnie Fox's.

(rant) It was expensive (about 45 euros and that didn't even include drinks), the seating was insanely tight, so much so that it was hard to move at all, the food wasn't all that great, and the entertainment was decidedly second rate. Why various reviews and travel sites claim going to a show at that pub will be one of the highlights of your trip, I have no idea. In addition to the problems I already mentioned, we had to put up with a large crowd of middle aged tourists at the next row of tables over who kept standing up, doing the wave, and yelling the same thing (Ole!) during every single pause of the show until we wanted to beat them with our stools just to make them stop. Several people in our group slipped out partway through and paid for a cab to take them all the way back to the Temple Bar district in Dublin (45+ min cab ride), they hated it so much.

One activist group decides what we see

Who is the PTC? They're the group primarily responsible for the deluge of complaints about broadcast indecency in the last couple of years. Readers of the Drudge Report probably already saw this link today. Mediaweek reports that 99.9% of indecency complaints filed with the FCC this year were from ONE group, the Parents Television Council (PTC). In other words, one activist group is having an enormous influence on what you can view and hear on the public airways. The article quotes PTC spokeswoman Lara Mahaney:

“Why does it matter how the complaints come? If the networks haven’t done anything illegal, if they haven’t done anything indecent, why do they care what we say?”

Republican commissioner Kathleen Abernathy backed her up, noting "that the agency does not let the number or the sources of complaints determine its indecency findings. 'As long as you’re following precedents and the law, it shouldn’t matter,' Abernathy told Mediaweek."

That sounds somewhat reasonable, right? Wrong. As I noted in a previous entry in this blog, local broadcasters concerned about whether showing "Saving Private Ryan" uneditted on Veteran's Day called to ask the FCC if it would be okay. The FCC said, to paraphrase, "we can't tell you. ha ha ha ha ha ha." Okay, maybe without the laughter, but they did say they couldn't tell them because that would be censorship, but would pursue it after the broadcast if they got complaints. So the FCC themselves has said that the presence of complaints determines whether or not they enforce "precedents and the law".

Moreover, the fact is, as the Mediaweek article linked above states, that the FCC uses the number of complaints lodged as part of their argument during any litigation that follows. "For example, the agency on Oct. 12, in proposing fines of nearly $1.2 million against Fox Broadcasting and its affiliates, said it received 159 complaints against Married by America, which featured strippers partly obscured by pixilation."

The FCC and the PTC would have us believe that the law is the key. The source of the complaints and thus the number of complaints (because many complaints from one source clearly shouldn't carry as much weight) is largely irrelevent. Yet we know from the FCC's own actions that that's bullshit. The number of complaints absolutely matters, and appears to be the primary factor, in when and what action the FCC takes. They won't even tell networks whether something is indecent or not until after it's broadcast and they receive complaints!

The system is broken when one activist group can have so much impact. The small minority that is the PTC is guilty of imposing their Puritanical views on the rest of us. Now that's obscene.

Cheat all you want

This week on the Howard Stern show, Anna Benson, wife of Mets ballplayer Kris Benson, said of her husband, "I told him -- because that's the biggest thing in athletics, they cheat all the time -- I told him, cheat on me all you want. If you get caught, I'm going to screw everybody on your entire team, coaches, trainers, players. I would do everybody on his whole team."

So... umm...

...

Having seen FHM model Anna Benson's website, I'll be moving to NY and applying for a job with the Mets. In a related story, as of Tuesday, every time Kris Benson goes out with the guys, no matter where they go, nearly naked women keep showing up to seduce him. His teammates disavow any knowledge of the sharp increase in ladies of the night targeting Kris and only Kris.

piss off, modern art

Sponsors of the UK's leading modern arts prize, the Turner prize, did a poll recently asking art figures what the most influential piece of modern art was. They chose Marcel Duchamp's piece "Fountain", quite literally a urinal, over work by such greats as Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. For the full article, check the bottom of the page here.

Art expert Simon Wilson seems to think the choice a bit odd, then curiously tries to defend the porcelain piece. Later Mr. Wilson was heard wondering why more people don't take modern art seriously... :p