The French Suck, I'm Sorry.

So the French have passed and upheld a law that makes schoolbooks focus on the "positive influance" France had on its former colonies. I imagine that probably doesn't include the several hundred thousand they killed trying to maintain their iron grip on Algieria.

Please read my past post entitled "With friends like these, who needs an uninhabited bomb testing range?" Again, why the hell do people like the French? It's because they have mastered the art of empty rhetoric that the bulk of the world's populace seems to prefer to actual progress...

Okay, I'll leave them alone now...

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Why my fellow Californians are idiots.

Um, you voted against independent redistricting of legislative districts? Seriously?

C'mon, what the hell is wrong with us? After being put billions in debt by our genius legislators in all 153 districts, and then not a SINGLE ONE of those district seats changed hands, we just voted to allow the same people to decide whether or not to keep their jobs.

I'm sure it's because we all admire their work so much.

If you voted against that measure, you are one of two things:

1. The victim of a horrible head injury
2. A bad person, and one who is never again allowed to complain about Bush's cronyism.

There you have it. I've heard the argument that it was poorly drafted because it allowed political appointment of the independent judges who were to decide upon the districts... Okay, small point, but: More politically appointed than the politicians themselves who are currently drawing their own district lines? No good answer to that one yet.

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Is the Arab culture becoming rational?

After the most recent terrorist blood orgy, Islamic Jihad and Hamas have condemned al Qaeda's methods, and Zarkawi has been forced to post a quasi-apology.

What the hell is going on here?

Is the Arab culture finally insisting upon decent behavior in it's cultural waste product? I doubt it. Perhaps I'm a cynic, but as has been so frequently said, Arab governments never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. My doubt springs from the fact that there is just nothing especially notable about this most recent attack that it ought to be the tipping point.

97 people were killed in the bombing in Egypt, mostly Arabs. There was a small protest in Egypt that lasted for about 30 seconds, and yes, people were pissed. So why all the Arab excitement this time? It may be that this attack blasted away most of an Arab wedding party, and those that survived have been making the Arab interview circuit and are very sympathetic people. Could this be the beginning of the end for Zarkawi? Maybe, and I doubt it.

I think Arab culture is much like Democrat culture; rhetoric is highly valued, and action is not required. There will be a series of speeches denouncing the atrocities, and probably some more protesting, but in the end, I suspect that no permanent realignment will take place. Al Qaeda may change some of its tactics, as they did with the backlash over the public beheadings, but the totality of our experience with this culture seems to suggest that the status quo will reign.

It may be my prejudice, but my feeling for the Arab culture is that continuity is a very highly valued commodity. Change is not a natural phenomenon within the culture which is why so many within the culture seem to prefer the continuity and stability provided by authoriatarianism, rather than the unpredictability of a freer political situation. That value placed upon continuity predicts the continuation of the hero worship bestowed on terrorists, and the continuation of random murder, just with a new justification procedure.

I hope I'm wrong....

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