Okay, this is annoying me. Bush is currently griping to Putin about Russian citizens selling the Iraqis--before the start of any war or military action, mind you--technology that you can buy on eBay this very moment.

Want a pair of Russian military nightvision goggles? You can bid on them, likely uncontested, and win them in the next hour as of this posting.

I don't know what tech it takes to jam a GPS, but I'm in Silicon Valley and know enough hardware geeks that I'd be heartily surprised if it weren't available on eBay or just a couple blocks down from eBay headquarters at Fry's Electronics.

Word of the Day

velleity

n. pl. vel·le·i·ties
Volition at its lowest level.
A mere wish or inclination.


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[New Latin velleits, from Latin velle, to wish. See wel-1 in Indo-European Roots.]

Word of the Day

chiasmus.
chi·as·mus ( P ) Pronunciation Key (k-zms)
n. pl. chi·as·mi (-m)
A rhetorical inversion of the second of two parallel structures, as in “Each throat/Was parched, and glazed each eye” (Samuel Taylor Coleridge).

What the French think of the "Freedom Fries" nonsense.

Here at another blog:

http://www.jaycaruso.com/archives/001841.html#001841

Damned to Repeat History Department

Okay, as the old saw goes, those who forget history are damned to repeat it, and sometimes look just as stupid as people did the first time.

Here's a historical tidbit from WWI, of interest to wordsmiths:

Once the U.S. entered the war, an onslaught of anti-German propaganda caused German-Americans to come under increasing scrutiny as uncivilized Huns and possible traitors. Acts of vigilantism occurred against German-Americans thought to be insufficiently loyal.[11] As the war went on, German composers and musicians were boycotted, German towns changed their names, and common German words were replaced with more patriotic alternatives, turning ‘hamburger’ into ‘liberty steak,’ ‘sauerkraut’ into ‘liberty cabbage,’ and ‘dachsund’ into ‘liberty pup.’

http://www.stevesachs.com/papers/paper_98a.html

Now we have this just in from CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/11/sprj.irq.fries

House cafeterias change names for 'french fries' and 'french toast'
Move reflects anger over France's stance on Iraq
By Sean Loughlin
CNN Washington Bureau
Tuesday, March 11, 2003 Posted: 3:51 PM EST (2051 GMT)



Reps. Walter Jones, left, and Bob Ney announce the name changes on House menus as a Tuesday news conference.

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Restaurant serves 'freedom fries'

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The cafeteria menus in the three House office buildings changed the name of "french fries" to "freedom fries," in a culinary rebuke of France stemming from anger over the country's refusal to support the U.S. position on Iraq.

Ditto for "french toast," which will be known as "freedom toast."

The name changes were spearheaded by two Republican lawmakers who held a news conference Tuesday to make the name changes official on the menus.

Across the country, some private restaurants have done the same.

"This action today is a small, but symbolic effort to show the strong displeasure of many on Capitol Hill with the actions of our so-called ally, France," said Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, the chairman of the Committee on House Administration.

SPECIAL REPORT

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• Document: March 7 Blix report to U.N. (1.4 MB)

Ney, whose committee has authority over the House cafeterias, directed the change, after colleague Walter Jones, R-North Carolina, circulated a letter suggesting such a move.

"I represent a district with multiple military bases that have deployed thousands of troops," Jones said in a statement. "As I've watched these men and women wave good-bye to their loved ones, I am reminded of the deep love they have for the freedom of this nation and their desire to fight for the freedom of those who are oppressed overseas," Jones said in a statement. "Watching France's self -serving politics of passive aggression in this effort has discouraged me more than I can say."

The name change was criticized by one young man in a House cafeteria.

"That's completely ludicrous to me," he said.

France has pressed the United Nations to give weapons inspectors more time in Iraq, saying the U.S. and British-led move to war is premature.

Its stance has angered some U.S. lawmakers.

Rep. Jim Saxton, R-New Jersey, has introduced legislation in the House that would block any French company from receiving U.S. government aid or financing in any reconstruction of Iraq. Another measure discourages American tourists, businesses and the government from participating in the 2003 Paris Air show.

But House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said he didn't think Congress needed to take any formal steps to signal its disapproval of France.

"I don't think we have to retaliate against France," he said. "They have isolated themselves. They have resigned from any responsibility for the war on terror."

-- CNN Congressional Correspondent Jonathan Karl contributed to this report.



Wow, we can be just as jingoistic and stupid as we were in WWI and who's going to notice?

Tears of the Sun: Ill-Conceived and Spiteful Boycott

Note: I just received an email request from an old friend to boycott the new Bruce Willis action film, "Tears of the Sun." Below is my response:

I'm sorry, but as an artist and writer, you've hit a hotbutton issue for me.
You're asking people to boycott a move you HAVEN'T SEEN because of
inaccurate portrayals of a COUNTRY YOU HAVEN'T VISITED?

Shades of Farenheit 451 here.

Also, since when has Hollywood ever done accurate portrayals of anything? I
remember watching "Sliver" and laughing about the million dollar glitterati
lives of New York authors, agents and book editors. Not! My sister, a
doctor who's worked in the military, watched the first lady's death scene in
"Independence Day" and was going "Why don't they just transfuse her?
They've got a whole base full of marines there and they've got them all
bloodtyped already."

So "Tears of the Sun" is inaccurate about Nigeria. Big whoop. The book
that it was probably based on (haven't read it, but this is typical with
action-adventure movies) or the screenplay that was sold was likely set
closer to the actual time of the assassination, but the producers decided
that a current day film would do better than a period piece since this is
fictionalized anyway. And if current day Nigeria doesn't have disease or
refugee camps, good for it.

It does, however, have a few other things, also rather undesirable.

For example, there were the Miss World riots that just happened. Here's the
lead from an article in case the link doesn't work:

Nov. 27, 2002 | The facts of the case are not in much dispute. A
journalist, Isioma Daniel, for the Nigerian newspaper This Day, made a crude
reference to the coming Miss World pageant in her column. She wrote last
week that Mohammed might approve of the contest since he might pick one of
his wives from the throng of beauties. This comment prompted an outpouring
of enraged Muslims from a local mosque, who grew into a crowd of rioters.
Christians were attacked, dozens of churches were burned, and some
Christians fought back. As many as 500 people were killed in the rampage,
and there are reports that Christians are now fleeing the area entirely.

http://archive.salon.com/news/col/sullivan/2002/11/27/nigeria/index.html

What's happened since? Well, Ms. Daniel is now in New York, fearing for her
life, since someone put a Salman Rushdie-style "Kill her!" fatwa on her, and
to top it off, the governor of her province was cheerleading the cries for
her blood.

There's also the matter of the continual Nigerian email scams we get in our
emailboxes, which if your read the news reports, have messy death on the
other end for people stupid enough to fall for them.

Also, from what I understand, Nigeria's current government is only three or
four years old. An assassination and bloody coup is hardly outside the
realm of possibility.

I'm sorry if the film makes things difficult for the Nigerian Tourist
Commission, but it's hardly going to cause any worse press than the Miss
World riots.

I'd also like to say is that ill-conceived and spiteful little boycotts like
this are the reason why most Western straight white male (yes, all four
here) artists won't touch minority or third world characters or plotlines
unless paid to do so or supremely inspired. The bitching is not worth it.
As W.E. DuBois said, "The black people want their art and their propaganda
to be one and the same." A true phrase, except it should be extended to all
minority groups.

This is art. This is fiction. This is not a film from the Nigerian Tourist
Commission (though is likely less prejudicial than a documentary on the
recent Miss World riots would be).

I'm not a fan of this sort of movie, but if you are and would have seen this
movie anyway, please do so. Censorship is an ugly thing, and mindless
boycotts are just another form of censorship.

Kevin Andrew Murphy
http://www.sff.net/people/Kevin.A.Murphy

Update Received the following response from another friend: My mother tells me "Tears of the Sun" is a remake of an older film about escorting escaped prisoners to safety, so the producers just picked Nigeria for the remake because the average American knows next-to-nothing about Africa and wants a shoot'em-up action picture and cares diddly for realism.

Freedom to Read

It should not have gotten to this point, but thankfully someone is working to repeal a particularly awful clause in the U-SAP-AT-RIOT act that lets the government spy on library records. Thankfully, my old public library in college, the Santa Cruz Public Library, is doing their best to frustrate Witchfinder General Ashcroft.

I really hate that this is becoming a political blog, but politics keeps stepping on things I care about.

"Put on that old Blue Ointment --
To the crabs' disappointment.
Rub it in three or four times a day.
Oh, my Lordy how it itches But it kills those sons-of-bitches
In the good, old-fashioned way!
--Unknown; sung to the tune of "Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet"

The Tale of Plush Cthulhu

Oh dear.

I have just found this:

The Tale of Plush Cthulhu.

Read it if you dare.....

And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street

I just went to ConDor in San Diego. While I was there, I saw a great many odd and not so odd things, as per usual. I also heard something which left me somewhat disturbed, simply because the thought had never occured to me before, and this squicked me. It squicked me all the more because, compared with some of the other things I saw at the Con, you would have thought I would have been blase about this one item and squicked by the others. But I am an odd person, and here's what disturbed me:

During one panel, the topic turned to horses. An ordinary subject, granted. I was not, however, prepared to watch a woman in the audience go into full anglo-saxon attitudes, paroxysms of joy, and a look of beatitude on her face as she described the joy with which her horse leapt out of its stall, frolicked about and farted, and how much it enjoyed farting and frolicking, and twitching its ass as it farted and frolicked.

Now, I take my dog out in the morning. My dog frolicks. My dog then takes a dump on the patio. My dog then frolicks up to me and I praise her lavishly for having taken a dump on the patio (as opposed to indoors on the rug). However, call me old fashioned, but while I consider the frolicking cute, bowel movements are simply a biological necessity, and the only reason I praise them is because I'm doing positive reinforcement. I'm certainly not going to brag about them to the neighbors, let alone tell an audience of convention goers about it. (Yes, I am mentioning them to the whole world here, but note that there are no attitudes of joy contained in this post, not even emoticons.)

Then again, who knows--I'm probably just a philistine who never appreciated the joy of urinating children statues either.

Now that you know what disturbs me, here's what else I saw at the con which didn't disturb me. At one panel, someone next to me, who I'd taken to be a rather butch young lesbian with huge breasts, informed the room that she was a he, a female to male transexual. I couldn't see it, but the proper PC thing to do is to let people be whatever gender they want and shrug it off.

Then at one of the parties I ran into Cat, who's apparently male, but has breasts, but more than that, is getting himself (herself?) transformed into a tiger, or at least as far as tattoos and surgery will allow.



As I heard, he's wanting to get a movable tail implanted too.

Looking at him, I couldn't help but think that the overall effect was more aesthetically pleasing, and likely cheaper, than what Michael Jackson has done to himself. Then again, Jacko currently looks like the offspring of an unholy union between Diana Ross and the Crypt Keeper, so this is not saying much.