Tuesday, August 17, 2004

The Value of a Human Life
If I were to tell you that an Asian man's life is worth less than a white woman's life, you would call me a racist. And you would be right. So, why is it that Mao Zedong's atrocities have camp value, while Adolf Hitler's do not? In the twenty-seven years that he was absolute ruler of China, Mao killed easily as many if not more people than either Hitler or Josef Stalin. Yet, Mao is funny. Why? I have tried to figure this out and the only answer I come up with is racism. We care more when six million Europeans are slaughtered in the concentration camps than we do when thirty million Chinese die in an artificial famine.

My good friend the Guy proudly owns a watch, bought for him in China by his father, bears on its face the likeness of Mao Zedong, with his arms as the watch hands. He delights in this watch. Can you imagine if he had a watch with Adolf Hitler's face, with his arms as the watch hands? He would be accused of being a Nazi and would be hard pressed to refute the charge. So, why is it okay, even funny, to wear a Mao watch? I guess it just doesn't matter that Mao killed millions. And after all, Mao's victims were predominantly Chinese, whereas Hitler's were mostly Russian, German, Polish, Czech, Austrian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Greek, Italian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Danish, Dutch, Belgian, Norwegian, French, and American. And who cares if Chinese kill Chinese, right? Mao Zedong was an evil man, with as much blood on his hands as either Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin. Wearing a Mao watch is as unacceptable as wearing a Hitler or Stalin watch.

9/11 Circus
The 9/11 Commission Report is fascinating reading. That said, it was not passed down to us from On High. There are many valid reasons to criticize Rummy, but his refusal to dogmatically accept the Commission's recommendations as Gospel is not among them.

Crap
Rob Zombie

H-A-N
Have a blackout night.

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