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Showing posts from November 10, 2002
Genius. One of the best anecdotes about eastern Europe that I've ever seen. A Worker's Paradise The Right is not hated or stereotyped here in Sofia, like in some parts of the US (cough). I still find it exhilarating when an liberal American (invariably an actor) makes an off-the-cuff political statement, absolutely sure to hear no conflicting views—possibly even believing that none legitimately exist—and yet finds himself the minority at the table, with genuinely offended Bulgarians glowering at him (or her). I’ll draw back the curtain on one example: One American fellow (a nice guy, mind you, not some kitten-eating troll) with some minute knowledge of Bulgaria mentions loudly over his foie gras how capitalism is hurting this country. The Bulgarian girl, 10 years the younger, stares at him like he grew a second head. And the fellow continues with what he thinks is the final and immutable proof of his assertion. He says, "Prices were cheaper back during the p
Silliness of multiculturalism in action. Last week we had a Divali festival here at work. Divali is some sort of fall harvest festival that is celebrated in India. Fine, no problem there. The awful part was the MC who was a balding white guy in traditional Indian garb. I could not but cringe when I saw him. WTF is he doing in Indian clothing? If there were a Japanese festival, he'd be wearing a kimono and a samurai sword. Right off the bat he says "Namaste" only he murders the pronunciation so badly the crowd corrects him. He then explains that it means "hello". It does not. It means (literally) "I bow to you". It is correct to say that it is a greeting but it does not mean "hello" any more than "Vaya con dios" means "goodbye." Perhaps I'm picking nits but get it right, even I know that and I'm not the one MCing some Indian cultural event.
Good quotes from random sources. "There are two major products that came out of Berkeley: LSD and Unix. We don't believe this to be a coincidence." Jeremy S. Anderson "You can't be a Real Country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." Frank Zappa "Without lying there would be no sex." Jerry Seinfeld "It's all very well in practice, but it will never work in theory." French management saying "With Epcot Center the Disney corporation has accomplished something I didn't think possible in today's world. They have created a land of make-believe that's worse than regular life." P.J. O'Rourke "... The metric system did not really catch on in the States, unless you count the increasing popularity of the 9-millimeter bullet." Dave Barry "I want to find a vora
Thoughts on Terrorism. I'm on yet another message board that deals with England. The visitors are mainly English (shocker) and are interested in devolution of central powers from Britain to Scotland, England, N. Ireland (don't get me started) and Wales. Perhaps even Cornwall. A fellow calling himself Big Mad Tam and I were dueling about the nature of terrorism. Here ya go: "George Washington was a terrorist. " X>Why Washington? He was a rebel but not a terrorist. There is a difference. Really? Don't you think a modern-day Washington would be called a terrorist by the government? By the way, the Bush Administration has defined terrorism as: (d) the term "terrorism" means an activity that -- (i) involves a violent act or an act dangerous to human life, property, or infrastructure; and (ii) appears to be intended -- (A) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (B) to influence the policy of a government by
Thoughts on cities. I frequent a message board that discusses things like politics and news and such. One of the other posters is a militant vegan, libertarian, agnostic, southern californian computer guy. We actually agree on much. He is logical and consistant in (most) of his opinions which are most often well reasoned and the result of considerable thought. I say this, not because we agree on much and that it is somehow a reflection of [b]my[/b] opinions but I notice it more in the things we don't agree on. Mainly animal "rights" (I must put that one in quotes), and matters of faith. Anyway, he posted a question about the need for cities. Are they obsolete? He contends they are. I have thought something similar for a while and wondered if they would lose favor. I'm not so sure. Because they exist, they will likely carry forward. However, I believe he does have a point that if they did not exist now, they would not be able to be created out of whole