WTF?!, or Bikini-Clad Woman Searches for Dog

Bikini-Clad Woman Searches for Dog. Now this is saying something about the sanity of human race... or the lack thereof. And it's not even a real dog, it's goddamn yipping rat. As they say in Russia, dog owners look like their dogs... and have about the same amount of brains.

Oh well... should've seen this coming...

I stumbled upon this little gem: Passengers Refuse To Leave Delayed Plane Until Airline Pays Up - The Consumerist. It read like some kind of joke... and then they hit me with the punchline: The passengers mentioned were Chinese from the Mainland. And they've actually got something from the airline. Well, good luck for them if they try to do it on the Chinese airlines here in Mainland. I wrote already about the way they treat you in Mainland when your flight is delayed... Apparently the HK airline was too embarrassed  with the passengers' behavior (shouting at the top of their voices, red faces, rude gestures and generally being a pain in the ass) and decided to pay up rather than have this crap going on. Well, so much for "ancient, deep and wise" culture, eh?

Hear, hear! or, Look who's talking!

Read this:BBC News - Ex Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov: Medvedev 'dictatorial'. I find this article highly amusing. You see, the guy was one of the architects of that United Russia party. And one of it's long-time leaders as well. So now he pretends that he's an innocent bystander? Well, why doesn't he explain how his wife happened to get all the best land plots in Moscow? Why doesn't he answer all the accusation of corruption aimed at him? You see, everybody in Russia knows why he was a mayor of Moscow for such a long time. Elections went just the right way all the time he was in power in Moscow. In return nobody gave a damn about corruption. And now he's playing dissident, having safely routed all the money his family stole to Austria. Well, I guess that's just the kind of source the British press would like... really trustworthy and honest... I just wonder why don't they try and be consistent. Imagine BBC correspondent asking some drug lord to give his opinion of another drug lord!

But to be serious... Publishing something that a known thief said is one thing. Presenting the thief as someone who's being persecuted for his words... well, that's another story. The funny thing is, the corruption trial started before Mr. Luzhkov started condemning Russian political system (which he was a part of for 18 years). The sad thing is, being the thief and son of a bitch – what he have said about Russian elections is true.

What happened to the unbiased media?..

The Guardian reports that Moscow's martial arts fans boo Putin as he steps into the ring. Ok, I thought, I'd dig up some info on this. You see, there was a time when I respected Putin even though it was clear that his rise to power was staged. Pro-Western "democracy activists" have spent too much time trying to instill the feeling of guilt into my people and it was time for the return of propaganda. And the president saying that the people of Russia should hold their heads high was much needed then. Restoring national pride was vital, as was stabilizing the economy, but it should have been followed by reforms. What we have got instead was the poor remake of the worst aspects of Soviet times. We have the remake of the Communist Party of Soviet Union now with the official ideology of "supporting Putin's decisions" (I kid you not, that's their only goal!). The speaker of the Duma have even said thet "the Parliament is no place for discussion" (again, I wish I was making it up). So I'm no fan of Mr. Putin and his posse.

But still something seemed not right in that article. So I dug into the Russian sources. And – lo and behold! – it all suddenly made sense. Yes, there were people applauding. There were catcalls. But all of this had exactly nothing to do with Putin. Applauding people were happy that our athlete had won the fight. Catcalls were for the loser. And Mr. Putin with his little PR plot was ignored, hence him being upset. If you ask me, that's exactly what you should expect when you turn up and try to swing the vote your side at the goddamned fight. The people there came not for Mr. Putin, they came to see the fight and could not give a damn about political bollocks. But of course the idiots on the both sides of political spectrum (liberal idiots as well as loyalist idiots) had to make it about Putin (that's why the idiot bit is justified). And that's why I dislike our so-called democratic activists – for their fight is not for the good of the people and the country but only to dislodge the current ruler (who comes from the team that worked with one of the most prominent of such activists, one Mr. Sobchak). I dislike the other side for being thieves and bastards, but that's the subject for another rant.

Oh, and bogatyr does not mean "medieval warrior". It means something more akin to "the champion of the people", the warrior who defends his people and homeland, a man of honor and valor. So the guys at The Guardian should do a bit of research... but they won't. Looks like it's much more compelling for the British press to paint my homeland as an Evil Empire reborn. Well, ain't nothing new here.

Shoot the dog! or, What about humans?

Ukraine to stop killing stray dogs before Euro 2012 football championship, reports The Guardian. Now there's something strange in the Western attitude toward dogs. Like they say that killing the dog on film is a big no-no in Hollywood. And now British charity is trying to save stray dogs in Ukraine...

Let me tell you something. The dog's nearest relative is wolf. A pack hunnter. The pack would defend it's territory and may turn on any creature that isn't a member of a pack. And guess what? They can perceive small children as a threat. Well known for that trait, actually. You get regular reports on Russian news about another small child that was mauled by the pack of strays... and if the pack is big enough they'd take on grown men as well. Now guess what a dozen of intelligent carnivores with sharp teeth working together can do to a human... Ok, you can stop throwing up now.

Strangely there were no protests when US police shot some exotic animals that escaped from that private zoo in the US, making some endangered species even more endangered.I'd guess that have the pack of wolves escaped nobody would say a world were they shot by the police. But the dog is seen as the man's best friend... and here's where them dog lovers make a mistake. While ordinary pet dog is the best friend of it's master, stray mutts do not trust humans and unlike wolves have no fear of humans and won't hesitate to attack when feel threatened. Add to that the fact that many of them hate humans with passion and would attack even without being provoked and you have the rrecipe for disaster.

And what solution do them tender-hearted Brits propose (and Ukrainian authorities are willing to implement)? Why, build shelters for tens of thousands of them mutts, and if they run out of space in the shelters just sterilize and release them! The first one puts additional burden on the economy (who'd pay for the construction of those shelters and tons of dog food?) while the second one is no solution at all, as sterilized stray remains the same pack hunter with sharp teeth as it was before, posing exactly the same danger.

So shooting or otherwise killing the dog is actually the best solution. And if those with the stupid feel-good solutions want to save dogs – why, they could try to educate people who'd throw the puppy out as soon as it's not that cute anymore. They can encourage people to adopt the strays. They could help existing shelters to increase adoption rate. Maybe it would not be as dramatic as building hundreds of shelters... but I feel that it would make a difference. You have to decrease the number of strays, you kill them instead of feeding them. You want to decrease the number of strays without killing, you adopt them.

Oh, and one more thing. The last dog there was in our family was a stray mutt who just sorts of adopted us. It came one day and stayed for 8 years and it was one of the smartest dogs I've ever known. She had many puppies during that time, and we saw them all adopted by the people who really cared. Now that's what I call the solution: Happy people and happy dogs.

Monkey business, or Soup and pearls

Aaaand... it's BBC time again! Here: BBC Sport - NBA season in doubt after players reject new offer. It's the latest development in that NBA business. The players want more money (OK, so it's 1% more of the basketball-related income... still, that's millions of dollars). Like, you know, they're starving or something as it is.

And I wonder: Do they expect me to sympathize with those monkeys? I don't get paid ridiculous amounts of money for jumping and throwing balls. Actually I do not see why they should be paid that much. After all, they're doing about the same work as those organ-grinders' monkeys: entertaining people. While millions of people find it entertaining (you guessed right – I do not), the real value of those entertainers t the society is much lower than the value of, say, surgeons or sewage plant workers. But the entertainers are paid much better than surgeons. Oh... and far as I can remember the surgeon after graduating will have the debt of 100,000 USD, while the basketball player will have that athletic scholarship. And now they complain that they're not paid enough. As they say in Russia, "Some complain there's no meat in their soup; some complain their pearls are way too small"...

Brains and bollocks, or "I hate two things: Racism and niggers"

I stumbled upon this piece of news: BBC News - Ghana seafood restaurant denies 'whites only' policy. Now I do not like them Negroes. I don't hate them. Actually I just don't give a damn about the colour of the people's skin. Oh, and Negro in russian means "a person of African origin with black skin". Nothing more, nothing less.

But it's one thing if you just don't care and don't support all that newfangled "positive discrimination" crap. But when you start making remarks about people's race that's another thing. After reading the article I've got an impression that the woman offended is well-educated (like, you know, middle class) and, moreover, it is her country. Who in the name of Goddess is that expat guy to crack stupid jokes about race in her own country? Ok, I'm prone to that myself, but only with the people I know who are used to my jokes and who'd know that I mean no offence. But telling that it's "whites only" establishment – well, if I was there, I'd just kick that guy in the bollocks, as it's quite clear he does all his thinking with them. I don't give a damn about race, but I hate racists.

Women are stupid sometimes...

As some of us have noticed, women sometimes wear high heels. But as you may notice if you check this link, sometimes they're plain stupid. Not because they're women, just because they're stupid. As you may see if you check the link, it's some add-on for them high heel which would enable the woman wearing said heels go out wearing them when there's ice on the road. And the stupid part is going out wearing high heels when the roads are covered with ice. Grips or no grips, it's risking injury for what? Glamorous look? That's the stupid part.

I'm the South Pole explorer, too!, or On scale and training

Yes, you're right. It's my RSS feed again. Actually, it's this article on BBC. It's about the girl who's training to ski to the South Pole. She's 16, she's the daughter of famous British traveler/explorer and she's training in the supermarket freezer. Ok, so it's –27°C in there, but seriously... It's like training for the swim across the Atlantic in the outdoor swimming pool. By Eris, I've spent the first half of my life training for the South Pole every winter then! 'Cos –27°C was a normal winter temperature in Southern Siberia back then and I loved skiing. Only I'm right enough to understand that there's some difference between skiing in the forest near my hometown and skiing in the Antarctic. And sitting in the freezer won't get you ready for any of these experiences.

But still I do hope that girl will get to the South Pole and back safe and sound. She's a bit crazy to do it, but it's the sort of craziness this world needs desperately. Eris be with you. girl!

Discovery of the century!, or Chinese like shiny things

Ok, as I have said already (well, repeated ad nauseam actually) the habit of reading the news will be my downfall sometimes. You ever try to show your wife an article you find amusing while she's busy with reading stuff she finds amusing?.. Yes, exactly. No cutlery flying as of yet, but I wouldn't rule it out. Oh, but I digress.

One of the funniest things is reading various Apple-related blogs. Apple Computers' fans are a funny lot. Anything Apple does they see as great innovation (OK, OK, excepting the iPod Socks). Like, you know, GUIs (idea came from Xerox Alto, of course). Or using RISC CPUs in computers (Archimedes Acorn and countless others, anyone?). But there was at least something to say for all these. Like making something with GUI that does not require a decent-sized cabinet to house it. Or participating in the creation of a really successful RISC architecture. They were not the first but they managed to bring it to the customer in a neatly designed package and that's a lot in my book.

But some of the more recent things: iPhone 3G, which introduced such revolutionary features as MMS and (gasp!) 3G connectivity. Oh, and GPS. Also known as "the features all the other smartphones had by that time". And I'm saying nothing of the Great Copy-Paste Debates... Every time those Apple fans would defend crippled features of them gadgets (AFAIR some people even told everyone and their grandmother that you need no copy-paste feature on a smartphone!) and when the next iteration of hardware or software brought them to their beloved devices there would be cries of joy that Apple had somehow revolutionized it.

But all that lengthy preamble was written just for me to say that Apple fans are a bit too sure that Apple devices are bought for "Apple experience", whatever that means. And that's where the news come in.

You see, I've been reading this. And it occurred to me that good people at TUAW are somewhat naive. The article was about Macs being the most desirable PC in China and they seem to believe that Chinese are buying them for the same reason – that same "Apple experience". Alas, if that's the case they're wrong. The reason Chinese people buy Apple gadgets is entirely different.

To understand it you may want to look up the sales figures of BMW in Zhejiang province of China. They grew 60% in one year. Similar figures were reported for other luxury brands. And the reason for that is simple: Chinese are show-offs. They must show to the whole world that they're prosperous, otherwise nobody would believe it. And you show it by bying expensive cars, stupid  LV handbags and yes, expensive gadgets.

As you see, that "experience" things comes nowhere near it. And the sad truth is, most of these computers will have Mac partitions shrank to the minimum size and then Windows installed in the Bootcamp. And pirated windows, at that. How do I know that? Well, I talked to the retailers and I know plenty of Mac owners here. Only one of them is using OS X. All the others? Why, Win XP of course! They don't need to learn anything new, they just need to show off... So the real title to that article should be: Apple the most desired PC in China to run MS Windows.

Them smokers be evil!

Found it in my RSS feed today: BBC News - Australia is the first country to ban branding on cigarette packets. That's some news, people. I just can't say what I think of it in printable words...

You see, I am a smoker. I will quit some day, but right now I am goddamn lazy. And at the same time I hate when the room reeks of tobacco smoke, I hate it when people smoke on the escalators or in tunnels (as Chinese are prone to do). So I am all for ban of smoking in some places.But at the same time... You see, these attempts to ban smoking outright are plain frigging discrimination. and stupid one at that. As I have said already, I support the idea of restriction on smoking, but it doesn't have to be ridiculous. You (the government and non-smokers and whoever else) have no right to decide whether I should smoke or should not, period. And I have no right to force the non-smoker to breath my second-hand smoke. Now, we can ban smoking in restaurants... or we can separate smokers and non-smokers, like many good places do in Russia and China. This way if the non-smoker goes to the smoking section – why, he has no right to complain. And if the smoker lights up in the non-smoking section – well, there'd be a substantial fine for that.

But no, that would be reasonable... or maybe it's just the fact that such arrangement leaves some (albeit very small and simple) decision to the person. But if we just ban smoking everywhere – why, you don't get to decide anything even on this level, little man! Sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory? Well, maybe... but being paranoid ain't no guarantee you ain't being watched, you know...