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Friday, July 21, 2006

Thoughts about gay rights and the Middle East:

Two very disparate topics, but I thought both germaine. First, I read that the Massachusetts lesbian couple who spearheaded the debate over same-sex adoption are now in the midst of a breakup, and like sensible parents of all type, wish to do so with minimal impact to their 10-year-old child. Barring revelations to the contrary, these two have been good parents and provided their child with a loving home, so the only thing this really reveals is that same-sex couples are every bit as capable of utterly fucking up a relationship as straight people. Big news flash there. On that note, I would normally say that now it's time to hit the snooze button, but it seems there's something more important happening elsewhere.

I recently read something interesting on the Jewish World Review by Paul Greenberg. In addition, I have posted a second editorial by Mr. Greenberg and another columnist whose intelligence and wisdom I respect and whom only the most foolish would question, Professor Alan Dershowitz. Frankly, I don't know as much about the ethics and copyright law implications of posting others' work online. Therefore, I will only provide the links, but I strongly recommend reading all three. They are as follows: Greenberg 1, Greenberg 2 and Dershowitz 1.

In response to the link shown as Greenberg 1, I find myself agreeing with the words, but not the intent behind them, of French President Jacques Chirac. Israel's response has been totally disproportionate, and for that, the people of Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, and Syria should be very grateful. A truly proportionate response would be far uglier than what we've seen thusfar.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

And for today's What the FUCK?! moment, a Coca Cola employee tries to sell their trade secrets.

Yes, like something out of the movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", an administrative assistant for one of the executives in The Coca-Cola Company tried to sell trade secrets and insider information to PepsiCo Inc. The whole story is here, but here's the gist. Since I can't bother myself to look up the guy's name, I'll just call him FM, short for FUCKING MORON. Anyway, FM sends a letter in an official Coca-Cola Company envelope offering to sell trade secrets. PepsiCo did the responsible, ethical, and legal thing by contacting Coca-Cola Company, who then contacted the FBI who, in turn, set up a sting. PepsiCo then continued to do all they could to assist the investigation, and never actually saw the insider documents, which were authenticated by Coca-Cola Company. This all culimated in three arrests.

Aside from the obvious, my question is this: Why would Pepsi want Coke's formulas? The flavor of Pepsi products is far superior to that of Coke, and at least Pepsi's name isn't on the execrable Vault soda/energy drink. My only real complaint about Pepsi is their discontinuation Josta soda a few years back, though this is a very minor point and was probably a sound business decision at the time. I just miss it from time to time. Anyway, in the end, the criminals were caught, and everyone involved in resolving this issue did the right thing and caught the bastards, so it's all good. Still, it's pretty weird shit.