Anonymity 101

From a Yahoo! News story: “WASHINGTON (AFP) - A Canadian model has won a landmark case in a New York court after Google was forced to disclose the online identity of a blogger who anonymously posted derogatory comments about the Vogue cover girl. Justice Joan Madden of the New York State Supreme Court ordered the Web giant on Monday to hand over identifying information about the person who created the blog a year ago using Google's blogger program.” This is nice. I think that if you are going to attack or accuse someone, never do it anonymously – only cowards do that. Please.

Clothing optional

From a recent news report: “WELLINGTON, New Zealand – New Zealand's national airline has adopted a cheeky way to encourage passengers to watch its in-flight safety video: The cabin crew's uniforms are nothing but body paint. The "Bare Essentials of Safety," screening in the cabins of planes flying Air New Zealand's main domestic routes, has gone viral online. It had 1.2 million YouTube views by Friday, four days after it was launched. In the video, three cabin staff and a pilot, all in full body paint applied to look like their uniforms, talk viewers through the aircraft's safety procedures.” Perhaps the difference between clothing and body paint is simply psychological? I wouldn’t know – my eyesight is not the best. By the way, the woman at left is dressed in body paint. Can you tell?

Tallerant

From some news story somewhere: “MELBOURNE (AFP) – Tall people earn higher wages than their vertically-challenged counterparts while being obese does not mean a slimmed-down pay packet, according to a new study in Australia. The researchers found a strong link between wages and height, particularly for men, with each additional four inches of height adding three percent to hourly wages.” The same thing is true of beautiful people. Tell me something I don’t already know – this is SO OBVIOUS. Next thing they will tell us is that according to some university study, higher prices cause inflation. Please.

Another Book About Sex

From a Yahoo! News story: “WARSAW, Poland – The Rev. Ksawery Knotz has a message for all married Catholic couples out there: there's nothing wrong with a steamy sex life. In fact, it's a good thing. In his new book "Sex as you don't know it: For married couples who love God," the Polish friar provides a theological and practical guide for Catholics that has little in common with the strait-laced attitudes often associated with the Roman Catholic Church. Clergymen, including Knotz's countryman Pope John Paul II and his successor Pope Benedict XVI, have written about the ethics of love, marriage and sexuality before, but few if any priests have taken Knotz's explicit approach to sex — including everything from the theological to the practical, from oral sex to contraception and the number of children a Catholic couple should have. The book received the necessary approval from Poland's church authorities that it is theologically in line with Catholic teachings. There also has been no sign of a backlash in the heavily Catholic and conservative homeland of the late Pope John Paul II. Still, Knotz acknowledges that a priest writing a book about sex "is in and of itself a bit of a sensation."
Well, I’m guessing that God invented sex anyway, so I am not one bit surprised by this.

Another Wal-Mart

From a Yahoo! News story: “FRANKFURT (AFP) – Sales women paid five Euros (6.6 dollars) an hour, Asian subcontractors with dubious practices, and counters in the shape of swastikas -- in Germany the success of textile discounter Kik has kicked up a storm. In all, 3,500 Kik workers in Germany, of a total 15,000 worldwide, are paid five Euros per hour and receive the strict minimum in state health and pension benefits according to the services trade union Verdi. "Our workers might have to do more than others, but in exchange they have a secure job," the co-founder of Kik, Stefan Heinig, told German media. In nearly 15 years of activity, Kik, which is majority owned by the German distributor Tengelmann, has steadily gained market share and posted sales of 1.4 billion Euros last year. In Germany or in Eastern Europe, where the company is expanding, the group targets families with kids, "thrifty people and socially weak people," according to its Internet site. According to testimony provided by Verdi member Henrike Greven, staff are watched closely, their bags and even their cars are regularly inspected. At suppliers, such as in Bangladesh, clothing sewers must sometimes work seven days a week at jobs that do not pay a living wage and that have been slammed by the "Campaign for clean clothes." Some are said to employ children. Heinig has acknowledged that could not be ruled out. Kik rejects charges by antifascist Internet sites which call it "a Nazi store." In 2007, clients were shocked to find counters were shaped like swastikas, a symbol used by Nazis and which could be seen in Frankfurt. "It is a completely normal presentation in retail," a spokeswoman said. She said the chain has never been condemned by a court and stressed Kik's commitment "against racism."
Well, well – like they say, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. I had never heard of this Kik thing until today. People, as usual, will always have their priorities in this order: Commerce, Country, and finally, Church. Who cares if the products are sewn by little children? They are cheap and – to the customer - that’s all that matters. Like Clinton said, we’re not about to let a matter like human rights get in the way of our trade negotiations with the Chinese.

What's up?

From a Yahoo! News story: “NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks climbed on Tuesday, driving the S&P 500 to its best month since October 2002. Upbeat news from Europe set the tone for financials, helping them recover much of Monday's losses and continue a recent robust rally after British bank Barclays (BARC.L) declined to take part in a government asset-protection plan. Even as the broad S&P 500 rose 8.5 percent in March for its best one-month percentage gain since October 2002, uncertainty about the struggling economy left the benchmark U.S. stock index down 11.7 percent for the first quarter.” I think this is rather dumb. Doesn’t anyone adjust for the change in the average? 8.5 percent sounds like a lot but 8.5 percent of 1,000 is a lot less than 8.5 percent of 10,000. There is no reason to smile. Please.

Advertising revenue

So, the Super Bowl achieved some sort of breakthrough in advertising. It sold every minute of ad space. It's a good thing it's not a heavyweight title bout - sometimes those things are over in less than a minute. These football games have to go the distance, no?