Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Papal Condomnundrum

Even theologians around the world are trying to decipher what the Pope meant by his recent statements regarding condom use, so for us lay people it is not immediately transparent what he had in mind.
Let's see if we can sum it up in an easy-to-understand, question and answer format. You lay people can ask the questions, and I will answer them. Ready?
Question: Did the Pope say that people can use condoms now?
Answer: If by "people" you mean "anyone", no.
Q: Then who CAN use condoms?
A: Male prostitutes who are HIV positive.
Q: Any male prostitute who is HIV positive?
A: No. Only HIV positive, male prostitutes who are engaged in homosexual activities.
Q: Why would a male prostitute who was HIV positive but having heterosexual sex not be covered under this religious plan?
A: It is Church doctrine that birth control is immoral because it stands in the way of conception, so if a male prostitute was having heterosexual sex, the door (so to speak) to procreation should be left open.
Q: But that would infect his client with HIV, wouldn't it?
A: Tough luck.
Q: Why would the Church support infecting heterosexuals with HIV but allow homosexuals to avoid this "punishment"?
A: Nobody really knows. The Church believes that homosexuality is "objectively disordered", so you would think that they would support (as some religious groups do) the spread of HIV among the gay population, letting them get AIDS as a kind of punishment for their behavior . But in this case, the Pope seems to have taken the opposite view. He may be hiding something.
Q: Do you think the Pope has thought this through carefully?
A: No, I think the Pope is an idiot.
Q: Let me ask another question... what if the male is not HIV positive but is worried that his partner is, can he wear a condom in that case?
A: That is a very good question. I assume you are thinking of a scenario of some sort here?
Q: Yes, I was wondering what if – say – a Catholic priest was molesting the men in his congregation, would it be OK for him to wear a condom, so that he would not be exposed to whatever sexually transmitted diseases his victims might have?
A: Apparently not. The Pope focused his comments on "first act of responsibility" and "thinking about the other person", so since the priest would be selfishly thinking only of himself, he would not be able to wear a condom.
Q: What if the "male" wasn't a prostitute, but only a regular, gay guy who happened to be HIV positive? Would it be OK for him to wear a condom?
A: No. The Catholic Church believes that "being" gay is not a sin, but acting out on it is, so it would not matter whether he wore a condom or not. He is supposed to be chaste.
Q: But just in case... what if he couldn't ... um ... manage to be chaste at that time, would it be OK for him to wear a condom?
A: What you are suggesting is related to lust. The Roman Catholic Church does not approve of lust. So the answer is NO! NO! NO! NO! Hello?
Q: I am right here! ... no need to shout... sheesh... What about lesbians... they don't need condoms but they might be infected with HIV for some reason.... can they have sex with condoms, just in case?
A: Yes. Lesbians are free to put condoms on dildos and whatnot as there is no obstacle to procreation.
Q: How about everyday lay people... is there anyway that we can use condoms?
A: Yes! They can be used as balloons at birthday parties and bar mitzvahs etc. They are very good for that.
Q: What does it actually mean when we are called "lay people"?
A: It means that the Catholic Church can pretty much do whatever it wants to us, so long as it does not wear a condom.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Herbivore Government

I am sure all of you are aware of the territorial conflict between Japan and China over a bunch of tiny islands (Senkaku Shoto in Japanese, Diaoyu in Chinese, and Unchbay Ofay Inytay Islandsay in Pig Latin). Recently this friction over the islands came to a boiling point when a Chinese fishing boat rammed a Japanese Coast Guard vessel which was trying to make that fishing boat stop for illegal entry into Japanese waters.
The Chinese ship was captured, and its crew and captain held in Japan until finally the Japanese let them all go without so much as an apology or compensation from the Chinese government. A video was taken of the Chinese fishing vessel's actions, but it was not released by the Japanese government which was worried that it was too provocative towards the Chinese. The recording was eventually leaked by a Japanese Coast Guard officer (see it here), giving rise to a lot of domestic criticism of the Japanese government for caving in to Chinese pressure.
Yes, it's the herbivore problem at the national level. Forget the samurai legacy, the rip-snorting aggressiveness of old, Japanese leaders have become herbivores.
"Why have they become herbivores," you ask? That is an excellent and timely question! Thank you for asking.
The reason is their wives.
"WHAT?!" You query. "How could their wives have ANYTHING to do with Prime Ministers being herbivores?"
That is also an excellent and timely question. (Please see me after class; I think we should discuss your future as an academic.)
Most Japanese Prime Ministers are – how shall I put this delicately – freaking old. The average age of the last 10 PMs is 63 years old, and they include some of the youngest PMs ever. This also means their wives are older too.
Older women, in their efforts to retain their youthful appearance, use more creams and unguents, some of which have hormones in them. These hormones have been cited as a cause for – shall we say – "unusual" developments in pets. If even pets are changed by their exposure to their owners' creams, imagine what sort of "evolutions" might be caused to the spouses.
"Oh, come on! Surely Japanese Prime Ministers are not hormonized into being herbivores by their wives," you say!
You are not paying attention. Who was the last Japanese PM who had a reputation as an alpha-politician? Koizumi Junichiro. And why was he not a herbivore? He is single!
That is not all. Check out the previous PM, Hatoyama. If he does not have "herbivore" written all over him, I don't know who does!
"But what about the present PM," you ask?
Once again, a timely and pertinent question.
The present PM who would not allow the video of the Chinese fishing vessel ramming Japanese Coast Guard ships to be released, and who sent back captain and crew without conditions is perhaps one of the herbivoriest of recent PMs in Japan, but his fashions are typical politician fuddy-duddy; no indication there.
The key in his case is his wife. You see, he married his first cousin, a marriage that was opposed by both families. So clearly, he married for love rather than for political or other advantages. We can assume that this means that his wife has been touching him more than most political wives touch their hubbies, so the spread of balm-carried hormones is stronger.
"What should be done about this problem," you ask?
Once again, I must commend you on your timely and almost prescient questions!
There is only one solution. The PMs must stop having any physical contact with their wives (or pets). Only through this drastic measure can Japanese leaders regain their testosterone levels and act as manly men in the world arena.

Monday, November 15, 2010

How to Develop Your Country

I am sorry for the amount of reading you need to do to get to my point. At least it is not about North Korea! Count your blessings!
. . . . . . . . . .

Max Weber (Max Weber in English, Mahx Veyber in German and Axmay Ayberway in Pig Latin) is a famous sociologist. Take my word for it or don't... whichever. (You clicked that, didn't you! You DON'T trust me!! We will have to talk about this later... grr.)
His theory was that capitalism and the rise of Western Power came from the Protestant Ethic. He felt that the unique developments of Western Civilization as realized by the Renaissance and the breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church (and all their creepy priests!) was the impetus behind Western Cultural Ascendancy and Power.
This is an interesting take on history. Take my word for it or not. It does have one little weakness. Good Ol' Max died in 1920. Which means it cannot explain why Japan also rose to the top of the economic heap.
In other words, he was wrong.
I apologize in advance for this, but we have to do some math. Yes, it does involve "carrying numbers", but I think they will all be easy to carry. First of all, we need to understand which countries are developed. Check out this graph and data. In fact, China has surpassed Japan in GDP – just last year. Nonetheless, Japan ranks right up there in economic power along with the US (population of more than 300 million) and China (population of more than 1.3 billion). America is the most salient feature (dare I say) of Western Civilization. Let's not talk about food and so on here; I mean in economic and political power – Max Weber goodies. China has also come along strongly in recent years (we will get back to that), but still lags behind in some key ways. But look at Japan!
Japan has about one third the population of the US and only 10% of China's population but is keeping pace across the economic board! (China, on the other hand, even surpassing Japan on the totals, comes in dismally short on the population averages.) (Am I boring you yet?)
So... How is it that Japan, a non-Western Country (no Protestantism, and definitely no Renaissance), has managed to accomplish this incredible feat?
Toilets.
Yes, you read that correctly, toilets.
There are basically two types of toilet on our planet: the "squat pot", and the other, the sit pot.
If you draw a lines around our planet, dividing the squat pot users from the sit pot ones, you will see a clear and definitive line dividing the developed and less-developed worlds.
No, I am not making this up.
Look at Europe. On the northern side of the Bosphoros and Dardenelles the sit pot reigns, but when you cross into Turkey, the squat pot is the norm (though they have been changing a LOT of late in hopes of getting into the EU).
Yes, it is the sit toilet that accounts for the West's rise to prominence, not the Protestant ethic or the Renaissance or whatever it was that earlier socio-philosophers were blathering about.
Something about installing a toilet that requires you to sit down rather than squat is what makes for the progress and development of modern societies. The famous statue, entitled "The Thinker", is a good example. Rodin obviously didn't carve the toilet into the statue, but he might well have.
Because, that's the point. If you use a squat pot, you are in and out, so to speak, but with a sit pot, there is a more philosophical, contemplative attitude. People keep magazines and other reading material in their toilets (Pterosaurish has even seen toilet paper with pithy sayings and whatnot written on it.)
It was this "time out", this meditative opportunity everyday that gave rise to the hyper-productivity of Western Civilization.
And, it also explains Japan. In the immediate post-war era, Japan (like the rest of Asia and most of China today) was dominated by the squat pot. Completely. But in its prodigious effort to develop and catch up with the West, Japan made a dramatic switch within a very short time frame. In 50 years, no less, Japan has gone from Squat Pot Dominant to Sit Pot Dominant and has even made significant contributions to the evolution of the sit pot with its "washlet-type toilets". They have done the West one better and – quite frankly – it shows. I am not saying that anal retention is what provides the impetus to development, but Japanese trains do run meticulously on time.
China, for its part, has been a hard charger of late, but their installation of sit toilets (never mind the toilet technology itself) lags behind. Worse, they seem more concerned about sending people into space and developing jet airplanes than the proliferation of what really matters: sit toilets.
Developing countries need only to concentrate on one thing: how many sit toilets can be installed around the country. Once most of the citizens are using them, the country will be on the edge of development and even first world leadership!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Cheering North Korea

I have been chastened by the Democratic People's whatever there in Korea.
I didn't think they cared.
But maybe I have been a little harsh on them of late.
I am sorry.
(And to the DPRK agents who abduct people from other countries: NO! I DO NOT LIVE IN SEATTLE! I LIVE IN IOWA! Yes, it is inland... rather far.)
So... thanks to others who have gotten on the NORTH KOREA IS COOL bandwagon, today I would just like to revel in good feelings towards that wonderful country which is led by such a cool guy, Kim Jong Il.
Link #1:
Get Down With The DPRK, everyone! GET DOWN GET DOWN!
Let me introduce you to the COOOOOL of the DPRK, folks! (and YOU thought they were benighted troglodytes! Anything BUT!)
What to Check Out:
1:14 Babes and MORE BABES! Can we get enough of them? NO WAY!
1:44 Check out the medals on those GEN.AIR.RALLS! Stepping out with GROOVE! Now THAT is serious military cred! (Pterosaurish was not making it up about the medal thing.... just to let you know)
1:53 OMG! The cheerleaders! And you KNOW who they are cheering for, right? YES! Your hero AND mine, Kim Jong Il! (and don't we just love his hairstyle?)
2:33 Is there a bigger turn on than goosestepping BABES? I cannot think of one.... (oh wait... maybe I can... if they were wearing leather and had thigh boots and had whips coiled at their hips, that might be better.)
And it is not just about BABES!! NO! Get into it you women! YES!! We have for you today;
0:05 Kim Jong Il himself! (Break out those pom poms you have hidden in your closets!)
and
1:30 check out that guy applauding... hot or NOT!? I am saying.. HOT!! YES!
and once again
2:16 My Hero and Yours, Good ol' Buddy Bud, KIM JONG IL!!! Does he rock or what?!
I think all of you have to agree with me that the Democratic whatever of North Korea is absolutely the most coolest place around. So, put your hands together and give it up for KIM JONG IL!! Yay! (I am applauding big time here... are you agents noticing?)
Link#2:
Let's look at the hopping scene in North Korea late at night when everyone is GETTING DOWN there in Pyongyang!! YAY!! It clearly is the bright spot in the country. YAY!! (Are all you agents noticing? I said, "Yay"... twice even!)
And for a final poignant tribute to your hero and, of course, mine, Dear Leader, I give you this charming, personal touch to remind us all that Kim Jong Il is really human after all. Yes... you can join with me in saying together, "Awwww!"

Monday, November 1, 2010

Dear Mr. Pterosaurish:
We appreciate your interest in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and we also love your sense of humor. Ha. Ha.
Your latest blog-post, however, has gone too far. We do not know where you got the transcript for that meeting (see last week's post), but there are some glaring inaccuracies in your account that we would like to correct for the record.
First, General Paek was not even in attendance at that time. On that day, he was supervising the ostrich dancers in preparation for the mass games and parade. The lines you attribute to him were spoken by Gen. O Kuk-ryol. We hope you will correct this inaccuracy.
Second, you quoted Gen. Hyon as saying,"This is ridiculous! We cannot make this spoiled, fat blob a 4-Star General in our Army!" In fact, Gen. Hyon did not use the word "blob" at all! This is clearly a mistranslation. The word he used was "영점"(yeongjeom)! His meaning was more like "zero" or "goose". Please inform your readers immediately of this blatant error.
Thirdly, the Young General, Kim Jong-un, did not stick out his tongue at Gen. Paek, because as we mentioned earlier, Gen. Paek was not even at that meeting. He stuck out his tongue at Gen. O. Please correct this mistake. We hope that you will not be so cavalier in the future about checking your sources and the veracity of your posts!
Fourthly, you said that Jang Song-Thaek made comments that suggested that The Young General might not "work out". We would like to correct this misinterpretation of the transcript too. It is well known that Kim Jong-un, The Young General, has taken up an exercise program and is working out regularly! He is following Jillian Michael's body conditioning routine, and using the thigh master Gen. Paek gave him for his birthday last year!
Finally, you ended your post, suggesting that Our Heroic Dear Leader was crying. He most definitely was not! Our Dear Leader simply had a cold at that time, and was sniffling on account of it. He was not crying.
We here in the DPRK follow your blog closely, and we must say that we are not happy with the overall tone and general attitude you have taken towards our country and Our Dear Leader. The posts about "juche" completely distort the whole meaning of our Eternal President's analysis of our country's independent posture vis à vis the exploiter capitalist class and its running dogs, and the imperialists and their flunkeyist, puppet stooges. We here in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are not fat.
We request that in fairness you post this letter as our official response to your blog.
Sincerely,
Korean Central News Agency