Monday July 17, 2006
Hey there, peeps. Just so everyone knows, the Ween show was fantastic. Dean and Gene returned to the stage with a vengence, and the crowd in Buffalo was one of the most appreciative I’ve ever witnessed. The boys couldn’t help but smile as we assaulted them with cheers… and I must say, despite the 300% humidity, fog machine, and thousands of gallons of human sweat… we kept cheering to the bitter end.
So, back to the real world. Dominating the news these days is Israel’s aggression against Lebanon. There’s a bit of finger pointing going on, and naturally, the Bush administration is acting as though Israel can do no wrong. In fact, Bush is so pissed at Hezbollah that he was caught swearing about the situation during a G8 luncheon. I’m amazed that this is the level our world leaders are communicating on. Not the swearing per se, but the way these events are simplified to the point that Bush and others think they’re as easy to solve as they are to generalize. It’s not that simple, as Noam Chomsky attempts to explain in this interview. In fact, Newt Gingrich would lump this recent conflict into what he’s calling World War III. I’m not sure about that, but I do know that my boy Anthony Bourdain is trapped in Lebanon at the moment. I also know that this entire conflict, the region as a whole, is senseless and extremely barbaric. I understand that land can be very important to people, but come on Israel! You are completely surrounded on all sides, you have no neighboring allies, and yet you flex your military muscle to the extent that Lebanon is hardly even a functioning country anymore. When you step back from the historical elements of this fighting, it sure seems alarmingly stupid to be risking the lives and livelihoods of everyone in your country just because you want to hold onto a plot of land slightly smaller than New Jersey.
It’s clear that Bush really does believe Syria and Iran have not just ties with Hezbollah, but some kind of influence over their actions. I personally believe Bush sees all Arabs as belonging to the same organizations, including al Qaeda. And maybe that’s not entirely his fault. Maybe his cabinet members are feeding him this bullshit so that when he shovels it our way, it’s a convincing sell - because he believes it himself. So Israel now has to contend with two legitimitely-elected governments, Hezbollah and Hamas, who are both against them. The masses are unlikely to detect the hypocrisy in this situation: that we’re allegedly spreading democracy to these regions, and we’re opposing two elected governments based on the winning parties’ beliefs!
The really sad part about all this is that there is no hope on the horizon. Even international intervention will be a temporary solution at best. Neither side will wave a white flag, nor will they abide by any peace treaties set forth. I sincerely hope that we’re not still reading about this conflict 10 years from now - but I’m only kidding myself if I believe there’s a chance of that happening.
Things in Iraq aren’t looking any better by comparison, as Riverbend explains.
Photos showing the effects of global warming.
America is known for being the most obese country on earth - but here are five contributing factors you may not have considered.
Alternative meanings of flag colors.
What would really happen to a human body exposed to outer space? Not quite what I thought.
The upside-down room prank. You may want to skip ahead to the video footage where they walk into the room.
Hey there, peeps. Just so everyone knows, the Ween show was fantastic. Dean and Gene returned to the stage with a vengence, and the crowd in Buffalo was one of the most appreciative I’ve ever witnessed. The boys couldn’t help but smile as we assaulted them with cheers… and I must say, despite the 300% humidity, fog machine, and thousands of gallons of human sweat… we kept cheering to the bitter end.
So, back to the real world. Dominating the news these days is Israel’s aggression against Lebanon. There’s a bit of finger pointing going on, and naturally, the Bush administration is acting as though Israel can do no wrong. In fact, Bush is so pissed at Hezbollah that he was caught swearing about the situation during a G8 luncheon. I’m amazed that this is the level our world leaders are communicating on. Not the swearing per se, but the way these events are simplified to the point that Bush and others think they’re as easy to solve as they are to generalize. It’s not that simple, as Noam Chomsky attempts to explain in this interview. In fact, Newt Gingrich would lump this recent conflict into what he’s calling World War III. I’m not sure about that, but I do know that my boy Anthony Bourdain is trapped in Lebanon at the moment. I also know that this entire conflict, the region as a whole, is senseless and extremely barbaric. I understand that land can be very important to people, but come on Israel! You are completely surrounded on all sides, you have no neighboring allies, and yet you flex your military muscle to the extent that Lebanon is hardly even a functioning country anymore. When you step back from the historical elements of this fighting, it sure seems alarmingly stupid to be risking the lives and livelihoods of everyone in your country just because you want to hold onto a plot of land slightly smaller than New Jersey.
It’s clear that Bush really does believe Syria and Iran have not just ties with Hezbollah, but some kind of influence over their actions. I personally believe Bush sees all Arabs as belonging to the same organizations, including al Qaeda. And maybe that’s not entirely his fault. Maybe his cabinet members are feeding him this bullshit so that when he shovels it our way, it’s a convincing sell - because he believes it himself. So Israel now has to contend with two legitimitely-elected governments, Hezbollah and Hamas, who are both against them. The masses are unlikely to detect the hypocrisy in this situation: that we’re allegedly spreading democracy to these regions, and we’re opposing two elected governments based on the winning parties’ beliefs!
The really sad part about all this is that there is no hope on the horizon. Even international intervention will be a temporary solution at best. Neither side will wave a white flag, nor will they abide by any peace treaties set forth. I sincerely hope that we’re not still reading about this conflict 10 years from now - but I’m only kidding myself if I believe there’s a chance of that happening.
Things in Iraq aren’t looking any better by comparison, as Riverbend explains.
Photos showing the effects of global warming.
America is known for being the most obese country on earth - but here are five contributing factors you may not have considered.
Alternative meanings of flag colors.
What would really happen to a human body exposed to outer space? Not quite what I thought.
The upside-down room prank. You may want to skip ahead to the video footage where they walk into the room.











