Corsair the Rational Pirate

Watch Out for the American Street

The Washington Post has an article about a poll conducted by the Institute for Jewish Community Research declaring that plenty of Joe-Six_packs have decided that Saudi Arabia is really not on our side in this fight.

President Bush has identified North Korea, Iraq and Iran as a terrorism "axis of evil." In the poll, seven of 10 adults said Iraq supports terrorism and nearly as many -- 64 percent -- said Iran does, too. Forty-four percent said Saudi Arabia also was a patron of terror, while fewer had a similar view of North Korea (38 percent) and Syria (35 percent), according to the survey of 1,006 randomly selected adults.

Now that the American Street has spoken (and will continue to speak, I expect these numbers will get bigger) will there be wholesale changes in Arab policy towards us?

Will armies of journalists, UN negotiators, and government officials from around the globe start putting pressure on the Arabs to mend their ways or face our wrath?

Don't hold your breath.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 08:21

Gotta be Multicultural... Gotta find the Multicultural Angle

The San Francisco Chronicle (the letters to the editor are the best part as they are filled with anti-American screeching and are fun to read) has a article by Joe Garafoli who tries his best to find something positive to say about the Diversity of the US Olympic team.

Before these Olympic Games, the U.S. team again took criticism for the lack of diversity in its Winter Games contingent. Critics said that with more than 95 percent of the team being white, how were young people of color supposed to find role models to inspire them to Olympic greatness?

How were they supposed to find skating rinks and luge parks and ski jumping things in their hometowns? I don't know where they are either! Most of those places are away where the snow is. No one is stopping anyone from going there.

A new rule requires every American sports federation to develop a plan to recruit more minority athletes and administrators to their sport. Still, that doesn't solve one of the biggest problems: facilities.

After seeing all the wild action on the short-track speed skating track during these Olympics, where are kids supposed to go if they want to try that with their pals?

"All the ice rinks are in the so-called 'white areas,' " said speed skater Rodriguez. "What we need to do is build some rinks in areas where kids have never seen speed skating before."

That will take private and public investment that goes way beyond the scope of Olympic officials.

So, they have to recruit more minorities yet the facilities don't exist in the places minorities live in order for them to recruit. And they are not going to make their own facilities. So where are all these new folks coming from?

And what happens if there are not more minorities in four years? Drop some of the white folks off the hockey team and add some underepresented people of color? If that is so, can I be on the next Basketball Dream Team? Seems to me they don't have a lot of white guys on it at the moment. (I would also except 100 meter dash but I get to start half way up).

Yet while athletes are more than willing to help out, Rodriguez says she realizes that her surname is part of the draw.

"Derek (Parra) and I are really just gringos -- I don't really speak any Spanish or anything," she said and laughed. Wilson isn't concerned. The important thing is that these athletes are role models, Wilson said.

Don't you just love it when the underepresented person of color knows what is really going on more so than her advocates?

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 13:42

Great one in the Wall Street Journal

For all of us inarticulate ones, it is good that there are people such as Victor Davis Hanson who can write solidly and convincingly.

He hits the nail on the head when he state:

They hate us because their culture is backward and corrupt.

And this quote. I have never understood why it was ok for Arabs to kill each other without restraint yet when the Israelis do the same they are condemned for it. Either condemn all or none!

Millions in the Middle East are obsessed with Israel, whether they live in sight of Tel Aviv or thousands of miles away. Their fury doesn't spring solely from genuine dismay over the hundreds of Muslims Israel has killed on the West Bank; after all, Saddam Hussein butchered hundreds of thousands of Shiites, Kurds and Iranians, while few in Cairo or Damascus said a word. Syria's Hafez Assad liquidated perhaps 20,000 in sight of Israel, without a single demonstration in any Arab capital. The murder of some 100,000 Muslims in Algeria and 40,000 in Chechnya in the last decade provoked few intellectuals in the Middle East to call for a pan-Islamic protest. Clearly, the anger derives not from the tragic tally of the fallen but from Islamic rage that Israelis have defeated Muslims on the battlefield repeatedly, decisively, at will and without modesty.

He ends with the following:

So a neighborly bit of advice for our Islamic friends and their spokesmen abroad: topple your pillars of ignorance and the edifice of your anti-Americanism. Try to seek difficult answers from within to even more difficult questions without. Do not blame others for problems that are largely self-created or seek solutions over here when your answers are mostly at home. Please, think hard about what you are saying and writing about the deaths of thousands of Americans and your relationship with the United States.

America has been a friend more often than not to you. But now you are on the verge of turning its people--who create, not follow, government--into an enemy: a very angry and powerful enemy that may be yours for a long, long time to come.

Damn! I wish I could say it like that. Go read this article. Now.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 12:49

Good Reflection on Satanic Child Murders

James Lileks has a great column today on the connection between satanic cult movies and real-life fake memories of satanic cults.

I don't remember Law and Order covering this...

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 11:46

Tacky Trailer Trash

Anyone this idiotic deserves to sleep on the street from now on.

Four?!?! Four properties in Aspen?!? And what is with all the trashy trophy wives that used to be scretaries? Buncha assholes.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 08:32

You Can't Have it Both Ways

There is an article in the Washington Post (I only read it 'cause it is the hometown paper and it gives me lots of ideas to rant about) by Valerie Strauss and Emily Wax about the (it seems to me) impossibilty of Islamic schools in the US to educate their children in the 21st century.

Eleventh-graders at the elite Islamic Saudi Academy in Northern Virginia study energy and matter in physics, write out differential equations in precalculus and read stories about slavery and the Puritans in English.

Then they file into their Islamic studies class, where the textbooks tell them the Day of Judgment can't come until Jesus Christ returns to Earth, breaks the cross and converts everyone to Islam, and until Muslims start attacking Jews.

They seem to be doing fine in the real part of the school. It is just when they get in to their illogical religious ranting that makes them suspect citizens. Don't get me wrong, a religious school of any persuasion teaching similar silliness gets the boot in my opionion.

It seems that now that the spotlight is being shown on these dens of repression and hatred, they are beginning to change their ways.

To that end, some Muslim educators are writing a new curriculum that infuses tenets of the religion in every lesson while providing a broad-minded worldview. Textbooks, often from overseas and rife with anti-American rhetoric, are being replaced in some schools. Some parents are forming PTAs and seeking a curriculum that teaches the civic virtues of tolerance and pluralism.

"I wouldn't be surprised if some teachers are sometimes anti-American or anti-Semitic," said Abdulwahab Alkebsi, whose 12- year-old daughter attends the Islamic Saudi Academy. "But I don't want it to be that way.

Several times in the article they mention replacing textbooks with ones that don't preach hate and divsiveness. Gee, I wonder what led them to such a act? Was it perhaps that they have textbooks that preach hate and intolerance and that leads to terorist massacres at home and abroad?

Anyone who teaches that I am better than you because my imaginary god said so deserves to be shut down and turned into the street. Can't we all just get along? (Shaaa...)

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 08:25

I want my... Showerhead?

Fascinating article by Dina ElBoghdady in the Washington Post about the making of a new shower head by Moen. While developing the new showerhead, they actually observed how people take showers, as opposed to asking them what they want in a shower.

But these days, companies eager to leapfrog ahead of the competition spend big bucks in search of the life experience that will lead them to the next big thing. Many do it through "observational research."

"It's a technique that gives irrevocable cues beyond what people say they want and need into what they really want and need," said Ralph Oliva, a marketing professor at the Smeal College of Business at Penn State. "It can be very telling in certain situations."

This is what it told Jack Suvak, Moen's marketing research director: Showering is not just about lather and rinse.

So, necessarily they needed to do some tests. Would you want them going door-to-door asking to videotape you taking a shower. Well, you might, but not most people so:

Weeks of discussion between Suvak and Mariampolski boiled down to this: We must observe people in their showers, and we must observe them in the buff.

"We realized this would not be something everyone in society would be eager to do," Mariampolski said. "So we sat around brainstorming. Who, we asked ourselves, would be comfortable enough with their bodies to have us videotape them?"

It took only seconds to hit upon a willing segment of the population: social nudists.

Not that I know anything about �social nudists� but if they help advance the frontiers of science (and showering) all the better for them and us!

The bggest problem, of course is:

But that kind of traditional inquiry rarely leads to true innovation because it's tough for consumers to form opinions on products that don't exist, Leonard said.

If someone a couple years ago had asked you what color ketchup you would like, you would have said �red�, of course. Now people buy it in all kinds of colors.

Moen then watched people as they looked at the product in the store to see what they are looking for. These people seem to have done everything right to make a showerhead. I plan to run down to Home Depot soon and see if they have one.

Normally I consider marketing a complete waste of time (having had enough classes in it in college) but done this way, making something we actually need, works for me.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 11:50

Ahhh, Natalija Does it for Me

The inestimable Natalija Radic over at Samizdata sums up the Pearl/Pakistan story beautifully. As beautiful as she is, actually.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 21:16

Ahhh! Mike Tyson is Headed This Way!

Living in the Metropilitan DC area of Northern Virginia I get exposed to more than my share of idiotarians from the Federal government, the DC governemt, Virginia government, and local politicos. No one pays any attention to what happens in Maryland so i don't have to deal with them.

The most recent outrage perpetrated on the citizens of the Distric of Columbia is the insane push to get Mike Tyson here to have a title fight. If any of you are old enough to remember the gladiatorial contests in the Roman Empire, you sort of have an idea of what it would look like.

Marc Fisher in the Washington Post gets to the root of this upcoming train wreck:

Oh, let's just come out and say it: A huge number of people, here as anywhere in the country, would happily plunk down a week's salary to attend a Mike Tyson fight in the fervent hope that he will chomp off someone's ear, hurl a chair at a photographer or, in some other excitingly novel way, reveal himself as an insane maniac.

All I have to say is ewwww, yuck. If this happens (and there appears to be a lot of resistance to the idea of selling DC's image [such as it is] to the lowest common denominator) it iwll be just another in a long line of black eyes for the seat of the United States government.

It is sad that the most powerful government the world has ever seen has to be associated with such a mob of unruly incompetents.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 12:06

Googlewhacking?

I just tried my first google whack and was able to get one on about my third try. This has got to be the biggest waste of time on the internet... But sort of addictive.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 12:41

BlogBuddy?

This is my first attempt to use blogBuddy instead of switching from Opera to Explorer everytime I want to blog.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 11:16

I Hate You and You Hate Me

Rod Dreher on NRO (which is becoming increasingly wacky) tells us all about Lutherans and their attempts to achieve irrelevancy.

Emo Phillips had similar observations.

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said 'Stop! don't do it!' 'Why shouldn't I?' he said. I said, 'Well, there's so much to live for!' He said, 'Like what?' I said, 'Well...are you religious or atheist?' He said, 'Religious.' I said, 'Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?' He said, 'Christian.' I said, 'Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?' He said, 'Protestant.' I said, 'Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?' He said, 'Baptist!' I said, 'Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist church of god or Baptist church of the lord?' He said, 'Baptist church of god!' I said, 'Me too! Are you original Baptist church of god, or are you reformed Baptist church of god?' He said, 'Reformed Baptist church of god!' I said, 'Me too! Are you reformed Baptist church of god, reformation of 1879, or reformed Baptist church of god, reformation of 1915?' He said, 'Reformed Baptist church of god, reformation of 1915!' I said, 'Die, heretic scum,' and pushed him off. ~Emo Phillips

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 10:34

Irrational Loony Alert!

According to this CNN story there are actually people out there who believe that an artificially constructed time accounting system has an influence on people's lives. ANd not only that but thinking happy thoughts at specific points on that time system will lead to... Peace? Love? Lower long distance rates? Who knows.

Meanwhile, Israeli psychic Uri Geller has planned to lead a day of spiritual meditation on Wednesday to mark the occasion.

"The date 20/02/2002 is very, very rare. Palindromic dates have always had very supernatural auras about them," he told Reuters news agency.

He urged his followers to think positively at four points on Wednesday -- at 11:11 a.m., 13:11 p.m., 20:02 p.m. and 11:11 p.m. -- to encourage peace-building and personal growth.

"For two to three minutes there will be a massive surge of positive consciousness. It will be a moment to bring healing, a moment to bring peace," he said.

Asked how he would co-ordinate the meditations of his followers around the world, Geller said:

"I would appreciate everyone concentrating in GMT [Greenwich Mean Time], but if you can't do that, take a moment when you can ... The message is be positive, be optimistic and believe in yourself."

Arghhh... "Do something positive together.. But if you can't, do it when you can." Doesn't that sort of defeat the whole special point in time thinking together thing?

But none of this matters anyway::

Of course, all the excitement comes from a Western perspective, leaving aside the many other calendars that track the passage of time -- Chinese, Islamic, Jewish, Ethiopian and others.

Or the infamous corsair the rational pirate clock whereby everyone else seems to be a few minutes ahead of me all the time.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 09:02

I don't get it...But I should... Shouldn't I?

As a reasonably informed adult in the United States of America, I am supposed to know what is going on in the politics of my country. Aren't I? I should take a stand when something is clearly ignorant and irrational. Call my congressman... Letters to the editor, that sort of thing. I now find myself without an ounce of interest in the whole campaign finance debate. Some people are frothing at the mouth claiming injustice, persecution, end of civilization, fire raining from the skies... you get the picture. I, on the other hand, don't get it.

Here is what I know for those of you in totalitarian regimes (the Eurpean Union) who do not have the chance to influence your rulers. People get in government by taking other people's money, spending it on a lot of stupid tv commercials, and getting elected. Once in office, the people who gave the money assume they will now have influence on law and regulations. Pretty simple.

Well, now some of those same government people are trying to limit themselves (I think) from taking so much money that it gives the impression that they are selling their souls. "Please stop me from taking another check from this multinational corporation. Boo Hoo" This will lead to armageddon and the fall of the West.

I have a real hard time caring who gives what money to whom. As the average Joe knows, all politicians are on the take and will sell out his mother for a campaign contribution. If there is a less-well-loved group of people in the whole world (including fur-wearers and people who unscrew the caps on salt shakers in restaurants) then they have yet to make an appearance.

Just shut up already.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 13:58

The Germans Beat us to the Punch!

OK, just so this picture gets as much coverage as possible I have included it here. I saw it this morning on Instapundit. Like he said, works for me!

I am with Glenn Reynolds and others when they speculate that his is supposed to make us feel bad. "Boo Hoo! The ever-so-evolved Germans think we are a bunch of warriors. *Sniff*" Let us just hope that the bad guys see us in the same light.

Expect to see record numbers of Der Speigel fly off the shelves in the US (and anywhere else the US military is stationed). I also expect it to be tacked up on cubicle walls and bulletin boards around the country in no time.

Damn, why did the Germans have to draw this image before we did?

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 08:16

So I am reading in Slate that the country is getting less irrational. Despite occasional sitings of wacky IDers in and around Ohio (this time).

John Calvert, the country's principal exponent of ID, answered that question in a treatise he presented to the Ohio board. Calvert described the "methods" by which scientists can "detect" design in nature.

In summary, if a highly improbable pattern of events or object exhibits purpose, structure or function and can not be reasonably and rationally explained by the operation of the laws of physics and chemistry or some other regularity or law, then it is reasonable to infer that the pattern was designed. � the product of a mind.

That, in a nutshell, is ID. It offers no predictions, scope modifiers, or experimental methods of its own. It's a default answer, a shrug, consisting entirely of problems in Darwinism. Those problems should be taught in school, but there's no reason to call them intelligent design. Intelligent design, as defined by its advocates, means nothing. This is the way creationism ends. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.

If only it would end; bang, whimper, who cares as long as these no-nothings crawl back into the grotto from whence they came. Everyone in the world knows that it is just a way to say that "God did it" in schools that are trying to teach science to students. Many people have a problem with science, it never seems to agree with all the little pithy sayings, strange history, and flat out lies in their selected religious tome.

I have gone around and around with a few people on other sites (namely www.lucianne.com, a bigger den of irrational neanderthals I have yet to see) and know that they have no clue how the world works. What science they do know they learned in church.

For example, I was listening to Rush Limbaugh once (I do on occasion... so sue me) when he was talking to a listener and made some comment about "Well, you can read it in my book." And Mr. brain-dead listener replies something like "I work all day and when I get home I only read the Good Book. Don't have time for newspapers or magazines"! And this idiot votes and procreates! Argh! He has no clue what is going on in the world or how the world operates except when it is filtered through his 2000 year old book of myths and fables!

Education is everything! The more you learn (provided it is the truth) the better citizen, family memner, worker, person you are. And I don't mean endless navel gazing and religious book studying (see madrassa, bible study, and that thing the Orthodox Jews do with the bouncing head) . The real world is so much more interesting. Read some Carl Sagan and get a feel for someone who didn't need a "Goddidit" answer for everything. The world, nature, and the universe are infinitely more fulfilling.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 16:07

I wish I had the time

... to really give this story the treatment it deserves. It has all the elements of a great blog... Airplanes, orchestras, alcohol, ejection, and Dulles International Airport. I live near there. They should have given me a call and come over for some vodka and Stravinski.

"The group was misbehaving, inebriated, opening their own bottles of alcohol, rowdy and nonresponsive to the crew,"

Who says clasical music is dull?!?

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 09:31

So it is 2002 or 1002?

The pope appears to driving round in his popemobile throwing out the devil! I guess when he sees a funny shaped hat projected on the clouds at night he dons his ecuminical robes, slides down to the bottom of the Vatican, jumps in to the popemobile with his sidekick "the Boy Cardinal" and is off to wrestle with the devil!

Sheesh. Get a grip.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 16:23

Arrgh... Grind....

Must... control... self....

If this guy was anywhere near me... I smash his head in with whatever was at hand.

Kill you own daughter? Sick bastard. I hope this "devout muslim" enjoys taking it from behind. He will have plenty of time to get used to it.

Is there nowhere in this "religion of peace" that tells a believer not to kill someone?!? Especially your own family? Especially by stabbing her 19 times in front of her sister?

Argh

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 16:16

Went out to buy Drapes

The house needs drapes. We have become tired of scaring the neighbors with our antics so we went down to Bed Bath and Beyond to get some long hanging fabric. So you are thinking "That must have been a cheap outing." Shaaa! Here is what you need to have drapes in your house:

First you need drapes. Long hanging pieces of fabric. $2? $3? Ha! Try $30 and up! For no moving parts! No precious metals. Its long and it is fabric. And you can't just get one. Oh no! Gotta have two!

Next, since you can't just throw them at the window and have them stick like some kind of expensive refrigerator magnet, you have to buy a rod. Piece of wood about so long. $1? $2? Ha! more like $15! For a sapling.

OK. How do we get the sapling to stick to the wall? Gotta buy hanger things. $7. Each. Had to buy two. Luckily they come with their own screws. Thanks for small miracles.

And then you need these big ball things that stick on the end of the sapling. Another $12 for a pair. Big ball of wood. Bocce ball or something.

Now that I have assembled all the parts, I just might need to buy a new drill to put them up correctly. And a sander to smooth the wall. And a table saw to cut the saplings to their proper length. And a... Pretty soon my garage looks like the frigging New Yankee Workshop and I got Norm coming in to give me pointers.

Didn't someone once say "For want of a drape my bank account was drained" Or was it just a bad dream of mine.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 09:06

A Couple of Things This Morning

I guess these both go in the "Moron" files.

I was buying gas at the local Sheetz Gas-atorium and Automated Sandwich Cafe when I came across the following sign posted on one of their "fuel dispensing" machines (that's a gas pump for you and me).

Persons under the age of 16 should not be permitted to operate this fuel dispensing equipment

What?! Can they possibly mean "Those younger than 16 shouldn't operate the gas pump?" Then why don't they say it that way?!? Imagine you are just learning English and you read this? Or you are a diehard grammarian. You would probably have a fit and die right there in front of the "fuel dispensing" machine.

The second one comes from the idiots in and around Fairfax County, Virginia. According to the story,

The Fairfax City Council has ruled that, without exception, no playing shall be allowed in public streets. Police officers have twice warned Daniel and Becky's father about their games, curbing their street athleticism, literally.

"We want to send a message that it is not okay to play in the street," City Manager Robert L. Sisson told the council at a recent public meeting. If the Oliver Street games were allowed to continue, the "children may go to school and talk with their classmates about 'It's no problem -- you can play in the street.' "

And so it goes. In communities across the country, street games that just a generation ago were a fixture of childhood are fading under rising fear about traffic, the proliferation of homeowners association rules and neighbors who simply dislike the noise and hubbub.

I, personally, spent my life in the streets playing until it was dark every night The parents in the neighborhood had to drag us inside. Now with parents' unfounded fears that little Jimmy is going to get kidnapped (I know it happens, just not as much as people fear) no kids play outside. They sit on their ever-increasing behinds watching TV and playing video games after school (which, in many cases also does not allow the fragile little dears outside to get some exercise).

Put the kids outside wth nothing but some sticks and they will soon be running around playing some game they devised (we used rolled up newspapers). Sure they make noise and create a disturbance. So what? What more could a parent or a community want than to see their children outside running around having a good time. Trapped in my cube all day at work, I envy them. But now they are not allowed to do it. Here is where I bring out my standard... I sometimes weep for this country.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 08:34

Now this is what I am talking about!

I am astounded that someone (in Europe, no less!) had such a rational and non-stupid idea and that they decided to run with it despite almost certain derision and ridicule. I can hear it now, of course "Adding vitamins will only encourage the children to consume satan's beverage!" It is always hysterically about the children. Children's issues are the last refuge of the incompetent.

Since this is Europe, it may well pass. Try doing the same thing in the US and see yourself get crucified.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 15:23

More North Korean Wackiness

You know, if someone like Kim Il Sung or Kim Jong Il lived in the states, he would probably be locked up for being loony. In Kim Jong Il's case, however, he gets to run a country! What fun! Fast cars, fast girls, fast crumbling into obscurity.

And here is what it all comes done to. For all those out there who go to bed every night thinking things will get better in North Korea if only we are nice to them:

A year and a half ago, Lee successfully escaped North Korea via China and now lives in Seoul. After months of hesitation, he decided to tell his story for the first time after learning that North Korean authorities have put his family under surveillance. He hopes to keep the wife and son he left behind from harsh treatment, gambling that Pyongyang will hesitate to further blacken its international image once his story is public. These days, South Korea discourages defectors from speaking out to avoid upsetting President Kim Dae Jung's policy of engagement with the North. But Lee, 39, believes engagement will never work: "North Korea's not going to change," he says. "If it did, Kim Jong Il thinks the country would collapse."

Kim saw what happened to Eastern Europe 10 years ago and will do everything in his power to avoid a similar fate.

Of course, he is an irrational moron and those he has hoodwinked are pollyanna idiots, so I guess they deserve each other. I feel sorry for the Korean people.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 19:35

I have heard of the bottoms dropping out...

But not the center falling out? Via Instapundit. Didn't they bother to test these things before they released them? Idiots.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 15:43

Damn! And I was sooo looking forward to this...

Turns out CNN doesn't like the new Britney Spears movie. Thinks it is inane. Who woulda thought? Metacritc doesn't help find a favorable review either... What's a girl got to do to get a good review around here?

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 13:56

Dump on the French Day!

Since it is Dump on the French Day here in corsair-land I will relate to you a story of my youth when I was indoctrinated into the "School Without Walls" California Educational System of the 1970s. Occasionally whilst sitting in our orange carpeted classrooms listening to the class next to us (since we didn't have any walls... duh!) we would be forced to partake of an incredibly bad bit of film making known as "The Red Balloon" (Le Ballon Rouge in French talk). This usually happened when the regular teacher was out sick or the weather was damp enough to keep us inside during recess or the administration didn't think we were suitably whiny and annoying. So our asbestos-coated room would be turned into a first run movie screening complex complete with 16 MM projecter (one scratchy speaker included), uncomfortable plastic table/chairs, the aforementioned orange carpet, and light leaking in through the barely closed, lowest bidder blinds. As an aside, it was usually I who was in charge of setting up the equipment as I was part of the "AV Gang". Quite the privelege for an aspiring Propeller Head such as myself.

This piece of badly filmed, over messaged, French styled "film making" had to have been the worst 34 minutes of celluloid ever produced. I now believe the French inflicted it on us for the guilt they felt about us always running over there to save their sorry-asses whenever the Nazis came a'calling.

It appears to me now, actually, that it is an allegory on Communism and the struggle of the proletariat against the entrenched reactionary elements in society. Or something like that (who knows what the French think?).

In our little story we have a French nancy-boy who is adopted by a rotund red balloon. The ballon follows him everywhere ruining his life and setting him up for derision and contempt. That is until the day the French skinhead imperialists show up and stone the poor ballon to death. This causes the underclass balloons to collectivise and, through direct action, rescue the boy and drag him to heights hitherto unknown and impossible to reach. Yuck.

What it doesn't show is the balloons then losing steam (or hydrogen or hot air or whatever it was that communism was built on) and dropping the punk 2,000 feet (that is 132.4 celsius for you metric-heads) into the roadway to be run over by the ugliest car ever designed, the Citroen. Showcasing the triumph of capitalism over communism. Yay for us.

If you or any of your loved ones have ever been subjected to this movie, start thinking "class action suit". Let me know when the trial is.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 09:25

Washington Post Takes the Gold!

Another great column from the folks at the Washington Post. Sally Jenkins writes about the cheese eating French judge and her attack of the vapors:

I am so fragile today. I am trapped in this French film, and it is a little bit noir and a little bit farce, and it exhausts me so. I have to recline, my handkerchief to my face. I have to take a pain reliever. I cannot answer the phone. I cannot speak above a whisper. I cannot deal with these sordid questions surrounding the Olympic figure skating. Is it raining outside? I feel as if it's pouring. It is unbearable. I fear I will break.

I initially was not sure whether she is talking about the slimy French Figure Skating Judge (Here is a thought. If a country has someone skating in an event, the judge from that country has to recuse himself to lessen the appearance of bias... Nah, too easy) or any number of French weenies opposed to our actions in Afghanistan or the treatment of the poor babies in Guantanamo.

Say, what ever happened to those poor kids down there anyway? Have we tortured and killed them all and and fed their bodies to rabid sharks (do sharks get rabies)? Haven't heard from them in a week or so.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 08:39

Skating and Boxing... Seperated at birth?

Probably the best line so far to come out of the Olympic Sktaing debacle comes to us via Michael Wilbon in the Washington Post.

You know what this means to all those defenders of these little darlings in sequins and pounds of makeup?

It means figure skating is no better than boxing.

Bwahahaha! It hasn't been better than boxing for a long time, especially after the Harding Affair. Wait, maybe that was more like wrestling.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 08:22

Is It the End? IRS Make Useful Suggestion

I read recently that the IRS was proposing to do something efficient and sensible (rational as well). Right now as a good American have to drive on the right if my car is slow, buy lots of products with baking soda in them, eat at McDonald's once per week, die, and pay taxes. Not much I can do about the first bunch of those but there are currently several ways in which to pay my taxes.

Currently I go to the Price Club, buy some software (Turbo Tax for Mac is my program of choice), install it, wait for various companies thoughout the world to send me information, enter it, and submit it ot the IRS via the internet. They then send me back my money as I am always paying too much. The IRS has suggested that they can shorten my list of things to do by creating a web page wherein I would be able to enter my tax data directly, submit it, have it checked immediatly and showing me the results ("Send more money now" or "We'll get you your dough in the future").

Sounds reasonable, doesn't it? HA! You are obviously not an American. This would be too efficient. Turns out that this would be an evil thing according to an Intuit spokesman.

"We obviously support their initiatives to make the government more streamline, faster and more economical," Intuit spokesman Scott Gulbransen said Thursday. "But when you talk about tax preparation, that's inherently the responsibility of the taxpayer."

Uhm I know it is my responsibilty. That is why I will be surfing over to the IRS website and filling in the form myself. No jackbooted IRS thug will be descending form his black helicopter and forcing me to enter how much farm income I had. It seems to me that Intuit wasn't making a whole lot of spendable cash off of me when I used to fill out (using one of those black U.S. Government Use Only pens I had liberated from the Air Force) the government printed forms I found at the local library and mailed in using the postal system.

I would love to be able to skip a few steps and do everything through the IRS. They have all my info anyway. No one complains that public schools will lead to the ruin of private schools.

However, the IRS making a sensible suggestions is probably a sign of the coming apocalypse. That whole death thing will be soon be happening to us all but make sure you get your taxes in first.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 12:46

I am not sure what to make of this one but thought I would include it anyway.

Whenever we have these kind of protests here in the States, you notice that it never appears to be Carmen Elektra and Pam Anderson out there on the front lines baring it all for the cause. More often than not it is Miss Piggy and what appears to be Divine.

I guess they think they will get what they want quickly 'cause people want them to reclothe themselves. *Shudder*

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 15:07

Here in the Commonwealth of Virginia (which doesn't mean that the commoners have any of the wealth), we appear to be well on our way to our own wacky theocracy.

But legislators would much rather play games with the Constitution, looking for sly ways to mock the separation of church and state. Del. Scott Lingamfelter (R-Prince William) first tried to require that the Ten Commandments be posted in every public school. That was too great a breach of the Constitution even for Virginia's legislators, so Lingamfelter amended his bill to give schools the option to post the commandments with secular texts such as the Constitution. Bingo! The House passed it; the Senate's next.

A jingoist's dream -- a bill requiring schools to teach patriotic songs, including the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," devote instructional time to "patriotic holidays" and teach that our society has superior values to other lands -- sailed through a House committee, 22 to 0. Yet another House bill would make every school post the motto "In God We Trust." It passed, 85 to 13, and awaits Senate action.

Here's a rule of thumb: Societies that resort to inculcating values by posting slogans and singing anthems are one short step from history's dustbin.

Why are they wasting their and everyone else's time with this drivel. We have all kinds of problems in OIe Virginnie that they could be addressing (schools, roads, taxes) and they spend all day staring at their friggin' navels and trying to brainwash us into believing as they do. Get to work, idiots. People did not send you to Richmond (I hope) to spend all your time putting up "In God We Trust" in the schools!

I suppose that I will soon have to emulate these anti Taliban underground guys (and gals) who fought during their recent unpleseantness (as the British would say while sipping tea) if this continues.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 08:35

Want to hear the ugly underbelly of this great country of ours (provided that you are American, of course). If you are up early turn to your local CSPAN radio station (I think they have it on TV as well) and listen to the call-in morons who pollute the airwaves with their consipiracy theories, stupidity, wrong assumptions, misguided logic, incorrect history, and all around general wackiness. They usually call from Armpit, South Dakota (or anywhere in Florida), they have accents that require subtitles, they tend to be on the geezer end of life, they are idiots, and they are... idiots!

I try to listen on my way to work occasionally and sometimes barely keep to the road surface for all the yelling at imbeciles going on in my car.

It is wonderful stress relief, but I then I remember that these people are really out there... voting and writing letters to the editor and... procreating! They must, of course, be stopped.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 12:42

Just ran down to the library. In front of the Chantilly Branch of the Fairfax County, Virginia library system is a bucket thing with the following words written on the front:

SAND MATERIAL FOR ICE AND SNOW

WTF? Is it sand? Is it the materials that make up sand? And, if it is the materials that make up sand... Wouldn't a big bucket of the stuff that makes up sand then be... sand?

Stupid government drones.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 12:29

The Washington Post has an article this morning about more killings in the Middle East. Turns out some "gunmen" (not terrorists which is what they would be called if they jumped out of a car in Washington and shot two people) jumped out of a car and sprayed gunfire around killing two female IDF members (Lt. Karen Rothstein, 20, and Cpl. Aya Malachi, 18).

The headline forgets to mention the fact that they were women. I guess 'cause they were only Israeli women so they don't count (probably Jews too, and you know what they are like). When one US female Marine was killed last month in Afghanistan, it was trumpeted all over the front page. Pictures, stories, everything about her.

And, of course, the pictures accompanying the article (not on the website) showed some 14th century middle eastern peasent woman (at least I think it was a woman, coulda been Bin Laden under that garb) wearing a tent and a veil and carrying a little girl who had been hurt by the Israeli retaliation. No pictures of the Jews. That would be too biased for the "oh so unbiased" Washington Post.

I would read the Washington Times but they are just as wacky on the Right. Plus the whole Reverend Moon connection just makes it kinda creepy.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 08:37

I have decided to start a section (haven't exactly figured out how yet) that tracks people's predictions and whether they were in the least correct. I have for some time tried to keep such things in my head but I never remember many months down the line what the prediction was. Here I have a place to put it and check it later. For example, people will soon be predicting the outcomes of the upcoming US elections. Wholly made out of cloth wishes such as "Republicans gain majority in Senate" or "Democrats win 35 seats in House". Crap like that. When I come across them, I will post them where they will not scroll off and let see how good the pundits' future-vision is.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 09:34

Just saw the Olympic Parade of Athletes. Some thoughts:

The frog-eating, suasage-making, warm-beer-swilling denizens of Europe should take our reaction to the Isreali delegation as a sign that we will not soon be giving up on the only democracy in the Middle East. It seemed to me that they got the third biggest round of applause after the US and Jamaica. We like them. We support them. Get with the program or get out of the way!

There are babes aplenty all throughout the world. Sweden and Australia were sporting some prime exmaples, however.

Noticed that there were no Iraqis or North Koreans. I guess the bookends of the axis of evil decided to stay in the basement and foment their evil designs. Iran was there, however, and seemed to get a warm reception.

The commercials were not too bad this time. Unlike Australia. And Nike gets my vote for the best with the return of the "Just Do It" slogan. I won't buy shoes from them however, being that they are child labor using, over priced, spoiled athlete paying corporate jerks. But they do make nice commercials.

I will try and watch some more over the weekend (as Corsair Jr. is down with the sicks) and see if there are going to be any actual sports at this time instead of inspirational stories (gag-choke-puke).

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 22:29

Next topic. North Korea is a long standing sore that needs to be picked. Let us start at the most basic level. North Korea is evil. It has been evil for many many years and it will continue to be evil as long as the loonies in charge continue to be in charge. Here is a link yahoo that shows just how evil this place is. They take our food to prop up their disasterous regime while letting their own people starve. Ick.

If it wasn't for the unspoken blackmail that they have over South Korea (thousands of pieces of artillery pointed at Seoul only a few miles from the DMZ), we would let these wackoes starve.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 19:30

Another Irrational Issue that I shall be trying to stick a wooden stake into is the problem of "Zero Tolerance". Or "Zero Common Sense". In another bit of stirring Virginia illogic (I thought I left California to get away from idiots), it turns out that legislators can not even overturn "Zero Brain-Usage" policies in the school. According to Marc Fisher of the Washington Post, a recent attempt to inject some rationalism into the debate died a horrible death as:

...a procession of lobbyists representing principals and school boards defended zero tolerance as our last line of defense against terrible children eager to turn schools into war zones. A member of the Henrico County School Board, desperate to save a system that teaches children the opposite of discretion, even played the terrorism card, arguing to lawmakers that plastic utensils are a primo tool for budding hijackers.

Come on! These are educators! They are in school with our children all day long. Can't they tell which ones are bad and which ones aren't? Are they idiots? Oops... Answered my own question.

As IBM used to say "THINK".

Not a great way to start a weekend.

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 16:09

OK. I live in Virginia. I know we are technically in the South (I wish I was in the land of Dixie... etc etc) but does the Guvmint have to be so dumb and irrational? According to this the irrational know nothings have decided that we live in a theocracy and therefore need to be indoctrinated into the church using the Ten Commandments.

Despite objections from some lawmakers over constitutionality and propriety, the House of Delegates gave initial approval to a bill that would let public schools post the Ten Commandments.

The House voted 53-44 in support of the measure that would permit display of the commandments. That followed an intense, 40-minute debate laced with legal and religious references.

Now, I have no problem with people trooping to church every week to tell God what a great guy he is. I do, however object when they assume that I want to join them. Let me make it easy. I don't. Got it?

Here now are a few criticisms of the Ten Commandments. Interesting reading and brough up some things that I had no idea about.

First from some Swedish Folks
Then Anne Nicole Gaylor of the Freedom From Religion Foundation
And finally something from Frank Zindler with the American Atheists

I have gone round and round with some folks about this whole church-state thing and it really is quite simple. Keep your church out of anything I paid for with my tax dollars. See? Easy

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 14:24

OK. That last one didn't work. I was trying to say that I run Opera (a nifty little bit of Scandanavian technology that everyone should run!) on my Mac at home (and Opera on my laptop at work) when things got all screwy. What do you expect for my first day?!?

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 05:42

I am trying this from home to see if my Apple G4 running

Before I leave today, here is a link to possibly the most irrational subject in America today Creationism!!! Only someone so steeped in the mind control of the fundamentalist church would deny that natural evolution has occured. I have heard all the lies, distortions, and out of context quotes put out by the fundies who do not subscribe to the theory or evolution and can imagine nothing but ostriches with their heads in the sand denying what is all around them. I would pray for them, but that doesn't do any good either (but that subject will be something for later).

posted by corsair the rational pirate at 16:45