The Voyage of Captain Obvious

Grading is satanic

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Mynamar

this is why I was leery of Bush using 'the spread of democracy' as a reason to invade Iraq. It was enraging hearing Bush talk in absolute terms about justifying an invasion of Iraq, but never once saying why he was not invading any of a myraid of other nations in order to 'spread democracy.' As an added bonus, the Myanmar government is directly making an assault on freedom of religion:

Some of the monks reportedly carried small banners that summarized the grievances of the public: “Sufficiency in food, clothing and shelter, national reconciliation, freedom for all political prisoners.”

Wouldn't it be nice to have a moral voice to add to theirs?

Labels: , ,

Thursday, September 20, 2007

My rant against the MPAA

I don't think that the MPAA reflect community values. It tells the masses what is offensive. It creates a set of standards that we expect. The MPAA allows us to know that if we see a nipple during the superbowl, that we should be shocked. When I have seen similar things happen in my life, I have seen maybe some embarassment, maybe some giggling. Never have I seen rage. But the MPAA tells us that nipples are for adults only and therefore, they are bad.*

But it sets a horrible set of standards that are applied with almost no consistency and with almost no attention given to anything logical. The MPAA allows almost any content, so long as you don't use one of George Carlin's seven words to describe that content, or show any nudity. Violence is much, much, much more acceptable than sex, which in turn isn't as bad as female nudity, which is much more acceptable than male nudity. Gay male sex is a horrendous nightmare of disaster. Gay female sex is slightly more acceptable than male nudity.

None of it makes any sense. I would much rateher one of my young nephews accidentally sees a couple having sex than I would that they accidentally witness a murder. I think most people agree with me on that. The MPAA apparently thinks the exact opposite.

That being said, I think that "what about the children!?" is an epithet used most often by the intellectually lazy.

*I realize that the superbowl is a TV incident, but it is the ame general idea, and TV is supervised by a similar, and in fact, tighter, regulatory system ocensorship.

Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

This is the most absurd thing I've ever read

MSN Encarta: Does the Reverse Glass Ceiling Exist?



In fact, the idea of the glass ceiling is such a phenomenon that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) formed a "Glass Ceiling" commission in 1991. But what about the men who succeed in what tend to be female-dominated careers, including nursing, travel, marketing, and childcare? Is there such a thing as a reverse glass ceiling for men?

Are you fucking kidding me? See, gals, everything's ok! You might not be able to get that management position, but just remember the poor men that are having trouble rising to be the day manager at KinderCare!! Read the whole article. It is an astounding combination of stereotypes, anecdotal evidence, and an inidcaiton that there is in fact no "reverse glass ceiling" in nursing. At one point, the author even says "his may set off your stereotype alarm, but even Kaiser [female counselor to men in female-dominated fields] admits that men tend to be more logical, rather than emotional, thinkers."


But that doesn't even compare to this golden gem:


he admits that in the PR industry, clients often prefer to work with a woman. "People like to talk to women on the phone--men can sometimes be harsh," he says. "Women can be more fun. They have a much softer way of being more forgiving and open."

So, if my clients are sexist jerks, I should just hire a bunch of party girls to cater to their obnoxious sexism. It's just more fun! And this in no way limits the ability of these women to advance in their careers in the pr industry. They certainly won't be impeded from advancing beyond their fun position to upper management, right? I should just stop reading this crap.

Labels: , ,