A World of Cheese, For your Pleasure

A new twist to "getting a raise"

“While everyone else is looking outside the box,” he states, “we’re all looking inside hers.”

Good employees at Lisa Blanco's restaurant don't get extra money or hours. They get head. Or who knows what else. This type of thing could only work with male subordinates and female managers. But I wonder, are all the workers single or something? Doesn't ANYONE mind that she gives head to her employees and treats them like good sex objects that double as waiters? And she's being commended for this? I'm not against her doing what she can to keep people happy, but come on, folks, equal opportunity here. It's only a matter of time before there's a porn movie based specifically on her. It would be ironic if she blocked based on morality, though.

Sad news for Plutonians

After careful consideration, we regretfully announce that you are no longer considered a planet, and therefore your inclusion as part of the Solar System Planetary Governance is immediately revoked.

Good luck with your further plans, loser.

Let's all hate Toronto

I am going to go ahead and say it: Hatred of Toronto is lame, just as equating Ontario with Toronto is lame and Quebeckers with self-centred pricks is lame. I'll go even further and say that I don't think that there's anything wrong with Toronto. But don't even think of trying to revoke my Montrealer and Quebecker cards.

Albert Neremberg is attempting to have people accept that Toronto deserves respect in his documentary entitled "Let's All Hate Toronto". I wish him well. That is, as he holds "Toronto Appreciation Days" all over the country, I hope he survives.

I find it a little hard to believe that the one thing that unifies the country is the hatred towards Toronto. Maybe Mulroney's Tories should have really capitalized on this during the 80s and 90s when they debated with the whole country for years about "unity".

ISO Ridiculous Women

Is anyone getting sick of shows and comics that feature really stupid men? Why are men always depicted this way? I mean, it's funny, but come on. As soon as Homer Simpson becomes dull, we get Frye (another idiot, although the 1000-year difference might explain part of that), Peter Griffin (a big fat idiot), and then American Dad, a patridiot. Plus all family sitcoms since 1987. All. This is no accident. I am by no means saying that we should go back to the iron fist of the man on the house, type of thing, but why do you have to implictly show respect to women in comedy shows by casting them as slightly weird but rather quite sensible people that you might actually encounter in real life, but all of the men are the most riduculous people you can imagine. If they actually existed, they'd be lynched for their stupidity. This clearly has something to do with feminism. It's the same reason why you can openly mock white people for being "white", although I can't be bothered to actually articulate that reason here.

All this to say that this is why I like Scary go Round better than Theater Hopper. Both are good, but at least Scary Go Round will feature ridiculous women as well as ridiculous men while TH's Tom is just another male character that is annoying or stupid. Which I appreciate. What other popular shows, strips, etc. have ridiculous women that I can laugh at? (Porn doesn't count.)

Eat more, not better

This is the message we are constantly being given. I have always (well, not ALWAYS) said that I'd rather pay more per gram from better food and not as much of it than the mountains of crap we see people eating now. Here's a great summary.

What a bunch of self-indulgent pigs we are.

I wish I could see commercials of people actually eating sensibly for a change. Or ads of people being more conscientious in general, without proselytizing for some religion. But everything is driven by exactly one thing: the dollar. And even those of us who are aware of this succumb to it, for isn't blogging a way for people that know a little more than the average bear to simply feel better about the things that trouble them in the world without actually doing anything to really change it?*

When I think of the things that people have to face and compare it to me, I sometimes feel ashamed that I might complain about my own situation. I don't really have a right to bitch about my Internet connection acting funny sometimes. It's literally 100 times more expensive for less than half the speed in some parts of Africa. But bitch I do, because that's what people who almost have it all do. They complain about not actually having evreything. They (we) think that we are entitled to everything. We stop short of saying that we are God's chosen people, and not all of us stop short of saying this.

And so we eat, and we eat, and wonder why we don't feel any better. Why aren't we trained to understand what really matters in life? Because it doesn't pay.

TIP: Rarely enter the aisles if you want to eat well. Everything good for you is on the periphery. They don't want you to buy the good stuff. Also, shop on a full stomach if you can so that you don't buy unnecessary crap.

Console Wars, part VII

Brutal.

I have fucking had it

This terrorist shit has got to stop. If it isn't obvious that there is something going on globally (which implies, or even necessitates a World War) then you should get out of the gene pool now. I am furious that shit stuff just keeps happening.

On the other hand, I am not ready to admit that killing off my own freedoms and lifestyle for the sake of security is necessary. But this will bring terrible social repercussions.

UPDATE: I was wrong. This attempt was a good thing. Oil prices dropped as a result.

Europe: The next centre of Islamic power

This article exposes (with many important and relevant links) what is happening with a possible Islamisation of Europe. To dismiss this as fearmongering or racist is, in my view, a head-in-the-sand reaction to the state of Europe in the 21st-century. I am not given to hyperbole, but I do believe that this is part of what will lead to a new World War (III or IV, depending on how you view the Cold War). Before discussing it, here are some salient passages:

"Whites will soon become a minority in Birmingham and other major British cities, posing a "critical" challenge to social stability"

Implication? Stability iff white majority. This should be its own article. I wonder what most non-whites would say to that. I'd like a study to see if it is true.

"Orbin's report cited Muslim students' refusal to use the "plus" sign in mathematics because it looks like a crucifix; Muslims boycotting class trips to churches, cathedrals and monasteries; and forcing wholesale changes in school lunch fare to accommodate their religious practices."

The plus sign = sickeningly lame. The lunch menu: been there, done that. Non-Jewish public schools in lots of places in North America have done this.

"Six to seven percent were prepared to use force to "defend" Islam, and the majority were opposed to freedom of speech for offensive statements, particularly criticism of Islam."

Ever notice that defence can be used to justify anything?

"The AEL calls on the Jewish community in Antwerp to cease its support of, and distance itself from, the state of Israel. If not, attacks in Antwerp are almost unpreventable."

More abdication of responsibility.

"The Prophet said, 'Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or there are pictures' and 'Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) ordered the killing of dogs and we would send (men) in Medina and its corners and we did not spare any dog that we did not kill.'"

Interesting thing about the name Medina: It was the name used as the basis of operations for the Mystics, monster people, from the game Chrono Trigger. There were Christian and Jewish symbols in the game as well as part of "good guys" symbology (which I have to find, can't remember the details). Depending on your choices, you can work to make peace with the Mystics or continue the war to receive different items and game endings. This game was released in 1995.

All in all, I would say that this is rather dire. However, for some groups the idea of widespread Islamisation is a bit of a hard sell. Those groups are mainly ethnic minority groups. I understand that these particular Muslim types are quite racist and would enslave us if given the chance (and then just say that it was the will of Allah, the way 18th and 19th-century slave owners said that it was the will of God, or science). But then again, it could be simply another shift in power where we are at the mercy of others. Many minority groups might see it as the comeuppance that white people deserve. They may ask, "Where were the white people when we were overwhelmed by ABC?" Even more directly, "Why was it okay for the white people to enslave others, but it's a big deal when they are under siege?" White colonialism may be a distant memory for whites (or the West), but not so for minorities.

Further, if Muslim gangs should not be treated with kid gloves, it makes sense that other groups should not be treated that way. This means black and Hispanic gangs. And this means, of course, that by supporting the "intolerance" towards Muslims in general, it means supporting increased intolerance towards themselves. You might think that this could mean that black communities and other high poverty, high crime areas would be inspired to shape up, but that's a far cry from what I think would really happen. Black and hispanic groups would feel threatened by increased racial divides, and would not cooperate. Muslim recruitment into the Nation of Islam (a hate group according to the Southern Poverty Law Center) would likely increase, in fact, due to all of this. Imagine it: a Nation of Islam leader could just say something about how whites are reacting to their Muslim brothers because they want control and hate those they see as inferior. They should join in solidarity with the Nation of Islam because to protect black interests and to overthrow the oppressive regime, or something like that. It wouldn't really take much of a charismatic leader to do this, just an opportunistic one, and the opportunity is already there. I wonder how their recruitment is going, actually.

I am very interested in the European response. It will not be long before what is happening there happens here unless they take charge of the situation.

Scarlett Johansson

I just wanted to point out a very SFW entry over at Blue Nuit about Scarlett Johansson.

Hezbollah in Montreal

I was not aware of the protest rally down St-Denis yesterday. Rose and I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. For us, that was the Quartier Latin around 3 pm yesterday. Until yesterday, I was more ambivalent about the situation in Lebanon until I saw the terrorist flags being shown all over the place. I remember not so long ago when Hezbollah was regarded as a bunch of filthy terrorist killers. Now they are being hailed as heroes. I cannot believe that they and other related groups have manipulated the world so much that they now have sympathy from pretty much everyone everywhere.

I realize that the rally was not officially pro-Hezbollah, but to end the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon. People want peace. They all want peace. I do, too. But this rally was so obviously in favour of everything that Hezbollah stood for that my skin started to crawl. It might as well have been a Hezbollah rally. (Watch the video.) Why are we as a society supporting terrorists?

I used to avoid discussing Quebec separatism, but I have relaxed a bit on that. But this conflict, and which side you are on (as though there are only two) could be another subject that I will choose to keep mum about except in very controlled instances lest violence break out. Something like what nearly happened to Rose yesterday. She feels very strongly about the situation and is firmly against Hezbollah. It deeply saddened and enraged her to see people from here, women, the PQ, supporting all of this. So when she decided to exercise her right to speak, just like everyone else, by shouting "Hezbollah, terroriste!" in response to their shouts of "Israël, terroriste!", four women confronted her. An empty water bottle sailed in her direction.

When Rose said those two words, no less than 15 people turned towards her with daggers in their eyes. One of the four women became very aggressive and angry, yelling epithets such as "slut" at Rose. She tried to physically attack her, but was held back by her three friends. You should have seen the woman's eyes. There was hate in them. As soon as I took the picture, I had to break up a possible conflagration by getting in between them and forming a wall. I was saying, "Okay, nothing to see here, break it up, thank you" as though Rose were a star and I were Chief of Security. I must say this: if the woman's friends hadn't restrained her, I would have had to. That would NOT have been pretty, especially since I likely would have held her in a half nelson (she was small) until the police arrived.

Speaking of police, where were they? I didn't see a single cop down that way. The press says that there were 15000 people in the rally. What kind of security is that? This is a highly sensitive situation where anything could have happened.

I understand that mob mentality takes over sometimes in rallies, and that yelling contrary opinions at a rally is not necessarily the best thing to do if you don't want your ass kicked, so I won't say that these protesters are any worse than other ones. But Rose had a right, right there, to express her views without the obvious threat of violence. Furthermore, I don't think that most supporters know enough to make an informed decision, which can be hard, especially if the media is manipulated or manipulating. It's as though their collective memory does not remember anything before July 12. But that is another post that I likely won't ever make.

Here are some pics I took with my crappy camera phone. Here's a video and other pics.

And if you ever wonder if there is any manipulation of the media, wonder no more. If it isn't Hezbollah, it's us. It was Reuters in this case, but it could have been the Gazette, or even more likely, La Presse.

World's largest webpage and other incredibly cool sites

When I was in Grade 5, I discovered large numbers. I had always loved numbers, and I knew by then that there were numbers larger than 1 trillion, but I could only guess that their names. (As it turns out, I happened to be right.) This webpage, the world's largest, is 9 quadrillion by 9 quadrillion pixels. There are a number of ways to conceive of how big it is, although apparently you need Firefox to really appreciate it. Go ahead, give it a try.

Ever wonder how popular some words are, and how they might be over/underused? Wonder no more. This site tells you just how common an English word is in an visually appealing way.

Possibly the most "relevant" of the three pages featured in this post is Ten by Ten, an aggregate news source with a twist. It tells you what we are all thnking about in another visually appealing manner. In fact, it's brilliant when you read how they do it.

Chinese prof wins suit against blog site

Proving that personal dignity outweighs freedom of speech. The amount awarded is only about $130, but still. This all happened because someone criticized him on a blog hosted by the service, Blogcn.com. This is a country that is supposed to be making a splash in the 21st century?