iObserver Apple Pulls Anti-Gay App from App Store

Apple has pulled an app from the App Store that espoused an anti-gay and anti-abortion agenda called Manhattan Declaration from a group with the same name. The app had been approved and given a 4+ age rating, a rating that means the app contains “no objectionable material,” but Apple pulled the app over the Thanksgiving weekend after PinkNews got more than seven thousand signatures asking for the app to be pulled.

According to reports, the app presented The Manhattan Declaration, a manifesto put together by conservative Catholic and fundamentalist Christian groups against both abortion rights and gay marriage, in full. The app also included a four questions presented as a survey asking about the user’s opinions on the two subjects, but anyone filling out the survey was then given a score based on whether their answers matched the group’s agenda. In addition, the app also asked people to sign on to the declaration.

Surprisingly, Apple actually commented on this app removal, telling PC Magazine in a statement, “We removed the Manhattan Declaration app from the App Store because it violates our developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people.”

For its part, The Manhattan Declaration is “deeply perplexed” as to how Apple could find its app objectionable. In a blog post, it said that, “We are urging Apple to restore the App, and have written to Steve Jobs. We will update you with developments as they arise.”

The image below of a broken iPhone with a screen shot of the now-pulled app was taken from the group’s home page:

The Manhattan Declaration Protests Apple’s App Decision

Apple hasn’t often been publicly active in the political spectrum, but in 2008 the company did give US$100,000 to fight the now infamous Prop 8 measure in California that rewrote the state’s constitution to outlaw gay marriage. At that time, Apple said in a statement:

Apple is publicly opposing Proposition 8 and making a donation of $100,000 to the No on 8 campaign. Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees’ same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation. Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8.

All of this serves to illustrate the tightrope that Apple will constantly have to walk after setting itself up as the arbiter for what can and can not be offered on the App Store. In this case, anti-gay and anti-choice people will be angry the app was pulled, while gay rights and pro-choice users were angry the app was ever approved.

Ten Wars That Will Happen in Our Lifetime

courtesy of humor.gunaxin.com

War is awful. But you know what else sucks? Constant tension of war, injustices done by those who need to be overthrown, and threats by politicians who deserve to be kicked in the groin.

We won’t get into the reasons behind the U.S. invading Iraq and Afghanistan. But not doing so would’ve had major costs, too. So, war may not be the answer, but neither is allowing evil people to stay in power.

The U.S. and the Soviet Union never went to war directly with each other. Had the U.S. nuked Moscow, you know, rained nukes on those Commies, that could’ve prevented the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 80s (which led to things that are still going on today), or that mess with Cuba. And if the U.S. bombed China when they became Commies, the Korean War and the Vietnam War might not have happened. Or, instead of reading my theories, you can read: What If?: The World’s Foremost Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been, the author of which I’m sure isn’t a blogger. (Also check out Five Unfought Wars That Would Have Changed Everything, from Cracked.com.)

But if you don’t, then here are ten wars that will happen in our lifetime (written for the humor section on Gunaxin.com, not friggin’ Time Magazine).

1

U.S. vs. Iran

The Ayatollah wasn’t perfect, but the U.S. had good relations with Iran up until the 1979 revolution. Even Saddam Hussein went to war with these nuts, and the U.S. took Hussein’s side. Now we’ve got the puppet president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad building nuclear weapons, sponsoring terrorists, and daring nations to fight.

Given an ultimatum like Bush gave to Hussein, Ahmadinejad opts for bombs to fall on Iran’s government offices, air-force bases and nuclear labs.

The Victor: U.S.

The Good: No more worrying about Iran nuking anyone and much less aid to terrorists for other conflicts.

The Bad: A broken country, terrorism, anti-U.S. rhetoric from Iranians who are now free of this government, more problems and the need for another bombing campaign years later once they regroup and start threatening the U.S. again.

2

India vs. Pakistan

We’ll sum up the problems between India and Pakistan in one word: Kashmir. They’ve already fought three wars over it (1947, 1965 and 1999). More will follow. The U.S. has relations with both sides, but the Pakistanis seem to appreciate it much less than India, and are looking for an excuse to say ‘Death to America.’ Let’s say that in the next war, India uses its nuclear weapons and ‘wins’ the battle for Kashmir.

The Victor: India.

The Good: Nothing good will come out of this. The British created a problem that will last for the next century. Sure, had the British did it ‘right’ there would still be problems, but this is what it comes to.

The Bad: Mass death and Pakistan will be obliterated. Then more terrorists.

3

Israel vs. Hezbollah

With Lebanon as a war-zone again, the next chapter of Israel vs. Hezbollah won’t be as pretty as the first. Now that Hezbollah, a terrorist organization, is stocked with even more dangerous weapons than they had in the 2006 war (mostly supplied by Iran), Israel won’t hold anything back in Lebanon this time. In fact, as a joke, Israel will code-name this operation “Operation Excessive Force.”

The Victor: Israel.

The Good: Hezbollah will be crippled.

The Bad: The real victim here are the people of Lebanon, who have suffered for years with terrorists using their home as a battleground. And though Hezbollah will be crippled, other terror organizations will pop up. There will also be more unrest in Gaza and the West Bank during the war. Lebanese and Israeli civilians will die.

4

North Korea vs. South Korea

This war technically never ended, and has been in a stalemate for the past 57 years. But now we’ve got the North making nuclear weapons and Kim Jong Il threatening everyone, it’s time to put an end to this regime. Also, this is one time when the United States looks to China and says, ‘Stay the hell out of this or we’ll stop buying your knick-knacks.’

The Victor: South Korea

The Good: No more threats from the North and the oppressed people are free!

The Bad: Mass death and the struggles of rebuilding the infrastructure of the North. The U.S. will tell China to fix it. But now that it’s opened, refugees will exit to China and the South, which will create challenges, as well.

5

Afghan Civil War

The U.S. will eventually have to pull out, and there is about a trillion dollars worth of mineral buried in Afghanistan, a country that doesn’t have a mining culture. Forget about the Taliban, terrorism, ‘Death to America,’ and the Taliban. Though the U.S. will support the Afghan government and allies, the bad guys will win and Afghanistan will return to its post-Soviet invasion ways, but worse.

The Victor: The warlords/drug traffickers and Taliban hired-help, who will then counterattack those who they fought with.

The Good: Though the bad guy will win, remember that this time it’s over minerals (and the heroin trade) instead of harboring Al Qaeda. This conflict will more closely resemble African conflicts over raw materials instead of religious doctrines. With more money and weapons, the warlords won’t allow the Taliban to take back control of Afghanistan. How is this good? It’s not. But it’s better than the alternative, which is the Taliban running things.

The Bad: Everything. Afghanistan is broken and will never return to its pre-Soviet ways. The USSR screwed up this country and they are to blame. If Russia wasn’t broken itself, it’s that country that should be fixing Afghanistan.

6

Iraq Civil War

America pulls out and a Civil War eventually erupts, turning Iraq into another Iran.

The Victor: The side the U.S. doesn’t want to win.

The Good: The U.S. will again know if it’ll need to invade again.

The Bad: Everything. Liberating people from an evil dictator is thankless. It creates bitter people toward those who rescued them and eventually a full-fledged enemy.

7

Iraq vs. Kurdistan

Kurdish separatists gain power and the new ‘bad’ Iraq invades, unleashing the same type of hell that Saddam put these people through. Deadly gas. And not the funny kind. By the way, this conflict can be blamed on Winston Churchill’s decision not to partition Iraq.)

The Victor: Iraq.

The Good: It is once again established that Iraq is run by evil people. How is that good? Certainty is good. That’s all.

The Bad: Mass death in an already unstable region. And the Kurds will somehow blame America.

8

U.S. vs. Iraq Part III

Now that the bad guys run Iraq again (this time in an Iran-like regime instead of a dictator’s regime), it’s time to bomb this country again back to the stone age, much like we did in the U.S.-Iran war mentioned above.

The Victor: U.S.

The Good: We once again flex our muscles and kiss them while showing Iraq who is better hung. Also, this time it’s a bit cheaper because we won’t be hanging out there and trying to fix the country for once.

The Bad: Some terrorism, anti-U.S. rhetoric from Iraqis who are now free of this government, and more problems and the need for another bombing campaign years later.

9

Mexican Civil War

The drug cartel issue in Mexico is destroying the country. Though legalizing marijuana in the U.S. would drive a serious stake into the heart of the killers, American leaders would rather back massive bloodshed than cave to the economists who propose this solution (come on, like they’d even bother listening to Hippie lobbyists or anyone else).

The Victor: The drug lords.

The Good: Nothing.

The Bad: Mexico is now run by criminals. The immigration issue with the United States continues to be a problem.

10

World War III

Iran, Iraq, North Korea, China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Turkey, Libya, Sudan, Burma, Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea, Cuba, Venezuela (Axis)

vs.

United States, Israel, Japan, Taiwan, Tibet, India, Kurdistan, The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Spain, Italy, South Korea ,Germany, Poland (Allies)

The Victor: The Allies.

The Good: Nothing.

The Bad: One billion dead.

Bonus

The War for the Holy Land

Well, this place has changed hands many times in the past several thousand years. I’d venture to say we haven’t seen the last battle for Jerusalem.

Google Paints Chinese Government into a Corner

courtesy of PCWorld.com

Google's carefully worded blog post today explaining why they redirected mainland Chinese traffic to the Hong Kong version of Google sounds fair and balanced. In fact, it's a humiliating slap in the face for the Chinese government. Here's why.

Because Google was used by hackers most likely working for the Chinese government to track down political activists and to steal Google's intellectual property -- and because they were forced by the government to censor the Internet -- Google decided that such evil wasn't worth the money they might make by rolling over for the authoritarian government. No more censorship.

(If you're tempted to argue equivalency with, say, German censorship of Nazi-related content or censorship of hate speech and child pornography in the West, note that in addition to consumer and social sites, the Chinese government censors the words "dictatorship," "anti-communist," "genocide," "oppression," and related web sites. The Chinese government even forced Google, whose motto is "don't be evil" to censor the word "evil." Here's a more complete list of what the Chinese government censors.)

The Chinese government told Google that censoring the Internet for the Chinese Communist Party is Chinese law. Obey the law, or leave the country.

Google's solution was to redirect traffic from the mainland Chinese site, google.cn, to the Hong Kong site, which is google.com.hk. Mainland Chinese laws don't apply in Hong Kong, so there is far less censorship on that site.

This is something of a worst-case scenario for the Chinese government. It brings huge attention to the special privileges afforded to Hong Kong residents, who have a whole range of relative political freedoms. It leaves the Chinese government with three options:

1. Block mainland access to Hong Kong, which exacerbates frustration with Hong Kong's special status and creates resentment on the mainland

2. Shut down the Hong Kong site, which creates resentment among powerful elites in Hong Kong

3. Allow Chinese citizens access to an uncensored Internet

None of these options are acceptable to the Chinese government. All put a massive spotlight on a set of facts that the Chinese government works hard to keep in the shadows. Despite spectacular economic growth, the Chinese government is in fact a backward authoritarian one-party regime, more akin to Cuba, Burma or pre-invasion Iraq than to the group of leading democracies it pretends equality with or superiority to. Google's redirect move lays that truth bare for all to see, especially inside China.

Don't be fooled by Google's fair-minded tone. This was a humiliating slap in the face of the highest order.