Humor: October 2003 Archives
Two guys walk into a bar. The second one says to the first one, "Oh, you didn't see it either?"
Top that!
I'm constantly amazed at the clever ideas that pop up on the internet. A couple of recent ones I've discovered are both based on the concept of anonymity. A few months ago I first heard about mailinator.com. The concept is simple; when you sign up for something where you think you may get spam, but they force you to use a valid e-mail address, give them a mailinator address. Anyone can check any address they want. You check your madeup address, get your activation code or confirmation number or whatever, and never have to see the spam you inevitably accumulate. I love it.
Another, more ridiculous site is here. A website dedicated to anonymous (and humorous, and probably 90% made up) confessions. this is a good one.
As I sit here listening to Lewis Black, I came across this article that made me proud to be an American. Singapore is finally allowing the Rocky Horror picture show to be played there...after 30 years. Now, you can argue the merits of Rocky Horror all you want, but I'm glad to live in a county that, at least more than most other countries, doesn't give a crap what you watch or do.
But, of course, this also makes me think of all the ridiculous things we can't do, either due to the law or society or both. Not that I'm working hard to fix any of it (unless drinking newcastle alone at home on a thursday helps, I don't know), but I can still complain, since this is america!
I'm sure everyones already seen this, but I got this great link to a Britney lookalike which needs to be seen to believed.
As many of my strange and wonderful friends have said...dang, oh well...I'd hit it.
One of my highly-placed friends in the Department of Homeland Security just leaked a picture to me of John Ashcroft's new Citizen Awareness Program, or "CAP". Apparently, Ashcroft thinks he'll be able to find terrorists more easily if he can tell them apart from citizens by using spy satellites -- he's planning to issue these ballcaps with barcodes to "real Americans". My friend says they'll be for "our own protection" at first, but after the "election" of 2004 Bush is going to make them mandatory!
Forgive me if this is just plain too geeky, but I started playing Temple of Elemental Evil last night and it gave me the urge to apply the D&D alignment system to world politics.
In D&D, moral alignment is described along two axes: the first includes "lawful", "neutral", and "chaotic"; the second is "good", "neutral", "evil". So a person or organization has an alignment with two components, one from each set, and there are 9 possible combinations. For example, "lawful good" or "chaotic neutral". If someone is neutral along both axes, they are "true neutral". Please refer to this post for more specific information on D&D alignments (I wrote it for reference).
With regard to "international law" and the interests of the United States, America can be seen as a neutral good actor. We tend to give lip-service to organizations such as the UN, but we really don't seem to care that much whether they go along with us or not. And from my perspective, our country is generally trying to do good.
Our diplomatic enemies, such as France and Germany, are lawful evil. They don't have the military or economic power to challenge us directly, so they fall back on international legal institutions such as the UN to thwart America and to further their own goals. Since they're willing to leave vicious tyrants in place for the sake of stability, I have no problem categorizing them as evil.
Saddam Hussein was pretty clearly chaotic evil. Sure, he used the legal system in his own country to control his people, but from everything I've read that system was pretty arbitrary. Saddam's laws were designed to keep people terrified; the populace could never be certain who would be the next to be dragged off to jail and tortured. And of course, Saddam had no respect for "international law" either.
Kim Jong Il does seem pretty insane, but I think that's by calculation, so I wouldn't categorize North Korea as chaotic neutral; it's more like neutral evil. They tend to use the UN and treaties when it suits their purposes, but they abandon them just as quickly when it doesn't. The concentration camps and threats of nuclear blackmail put them pretty firmly in the Axis of Evil.
As for Britain, they're more lawful good than we are. Tony Blair has to be concerned with respecting the UN because so much of his population does (and dislikes America). The UK is trying to do good, and it is trying to do so within the legal framework of the world, such as it is. Blair was willing to bend a little to help in Iraq even without (yet another) UN resolution -- because it was a good cause -- but it made him uncomfortable.
The terrorists and al Qaeda are, of course, practically the epitome of chaotic evil. Their whole purpose is to destroy the existing social structure of the world, and to bring about the end of America and the dominance of the "infidels".
Update:
Yes, I'm being mean to people in the comments here who say innane things. I know, I know -- I'm normally such a polite fellow, but it's kinda fun to indulge just this once.
