As you might have heard, there was an oil summit in Saudi Arabia today. This is what came out of it:
“Saudi King Abdullah confirmed Sunday that his country will increase daily oil production to 9.7 million barrels from 9 million to counter the sharp rise in international oil prices.” (source)
Basically, some are saying that the oil problem is because of the increasing demand and the inability of Saudi Arabia to cope with it, while the honorable King Abdullah is blaming speculators. Either way, it is interesting to see how increasing the oil production is going to change what matters most to the common man – prices.
Many people are saying that oil is the main reason why America invaded Iraq. However, only by looking at the facts can we truly make an educated opinion about that statement. Facts:
We are discovering less and less oil fields
We are consuming 3 times more oil than the oil we are discovering
We are consuming 84 million barrels a day
“Five foreign troops were killed Saturday in Afghanistan, bringing the number of NATO and U.S.-led coalition troop deaths in June to 32 — more than in Iraq.” (source)
It astonishes me how the war in Afghanistan does not receive as much coverage as the war in Iraq (at least in the US.) Everybody is talking about bringing democracy to Iraq, getting out of Iraq, there will even be a reality show about Iraq someday, but the war in Afghanistan always stays in the shadows. The general opinion about Afghanistan is that it is justified because of Bin Laden:
“After attack on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush gave the Taliban an ultimatum to hand over Mr. Bin Laden. When it refused, the United States joined forces with rebel groups that had never accepted Taliban rule, notably the Northern Alliance, which represented minority tribes. An air and ground campaign began that drove the Taliban out of the major Afghan cities by the end of the year.” (source)
Obviously, Bin Laden is nowhere to be found. He may be dead, he may have had plastic surgery, or he might be drinking tea with Chaney right now (for all of you conspiracy folks out there.) All in all, it does not matter what happened to him. What matters is that people are getting killed over a war, which is called the “war on terror.” Such a thing does not exist. You might have some success in defending a war against communists (due to Cold War propaganda), but a war against terror has as much validity as a war against Narnia.
“I love hip-hop, but I am tired of defending it,” that’s what Chris Rock once said during one of his stand-up shows. Now that MTV has completely given up on bringing quality hip-hop, we are forced to listen to lyrics like “she lick me like a lollipop.” I don’t ever want to be licked like a lollipop. Ok, maybe I do, but now I have to decide if she wants to lick me as a rapper, and then if I would give her permission to lick the wrapper, because the lyrics go (and I quote):
“Make her wanna lick the rapper
So I let her lick the wrapper”
If you are wondering, this is Lil’ Wayne with his new song “Lollipop.” Now, I love hip-hop, but this is just beyond anything I can come close to defending. The date is June 20, 2008, and “lollipop” is the best they can come up with? What happened to clever punch lines, complex funky rhythms and feelings? Yes, it seems like today’s rappers are completely deprived of any feelings. If you are going to state something, you need to feel passionate about it, be a leader so to speak. The main problem, however, is that it is hard to be passionate about topics such as “cash flow,” “bust it baby” and “get silly.”
You know what kind of a news day it is going to be for America when the top “picks” are : “boy hit by ball at Sox game,” “outrage over bear’s shooting,” “man gave buttocks enhancing injections,” and the usual “garnish” of NASA filler, which is a hopeful attempt to wake up anyone who has not fallen asleep yet.
On the bright side I have stumbled upon a blog called Where’s the Outrage, which has an interesting post about a surveillance bill which the house passed:
“Ending a year-long battle with President Bush, the House approved, 293 to 129, a re-write of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that extends the government’s ability to eavesdrop on espionage and terrorism suspects while providing a legal escape hatch for AT&T, Verizon Communications and other telecommunication firms. The companies face more than 40 lawsuits that allege they violated customers’ privacy rights by helping the government conduct a warrantless spying program after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks” (qt. from the Washington Post)
A big news story has swept the nation once again. A mysterious pregnancy pact has been made among a couple of sophomore high school girls, who apparently:
“regularly approached her (friend) in the hall, remarking how lucky she was to have a baby” link
Let’s get a couple of things straight here. If a bunch of girls decide to have a pregnancy pact, then I think that they really deserve what’s coming for them. To go through all this trouble, making a pact and all, and then having it broken down and televised must really hurt them right now. And of course, you have the usual blogging intelligence suggesting that giving birth control was a part of the problem, because it encourages teen sex. I think that the “pregnancy pact” movement would really benefit from that, because they have been living in a cave all this time and exposing them to evil sex encouraging birth control methods would just change everything.
“All it took was a few simple questions before nearly half the expecting students, none older than 16, confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together. Then the story got worse. “We found out one of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless guy,” the principal says, shaking his head”
Do you know what this reminds me of? A really, really bad porn movie script that has the potential of being really, really ridiculously good. Give me a break. Is this that big of an issue? Let me tell you how they decided to make that pact:
As you might have heard, all major stores are putting their tomatoes away because of a salmonella outbreak. The origins of which still remain unknown. Of course, this disaster for humankind has been covered by all major news channels and we will be presented with numerous reasons for people not to eat their beloved tomatoes. BadGeneration presents to you a list of things you can do in order to satisfy your tomato fetish:
I don’t know if you are following the Euro2008, but it is one of the most exciting sports competitions. A part of its greatness is that it is very unpredictable. France has done a terrible job finishing with just one point, the previous winners Greece also did not do much, and England did not even qualify, which allowed underdogs like Croatia and Russia to step it up and prove themselves.
For those who don’t know, after the group phase has finished the number one team in Group A plays against the number two team in Group B. Consequently, the number one team in Group B plays the number two team in Group B. It’s the same for Groups C and D. The next games are Croatia-Turkey, Netherlands-Russia and Spain-Italy (those are all direct elimination).
Not so long ago, I remember that one of my friends was asked if people in Africa wear shoes when they play football. What can I say, Television does wonders.
“Patients will live with their cancer, and die with their cancer, but not of their cancer - it will be like diabetes today”
Professor Karol Sikora
Imperial College London
Have you ever wondered how medicine will cure all kinds of deadly diseases in the future? To me, it always seems like there is a group of people locked up in a lab somewhere, constantly trying to figured it out. There is always a certain amount of secrecy involved in finding a cure that will benefit the humankind, but it will also upset certain corporate interests. In the end, it is our own immune system that holds the key to a longer life.
Another issue that I find interesting is the constant use of the word “research” when describing a possible breakthrough in the sphere of medicine. It is usually followed by the word “money.” However, I don’t think we are ready for a world-wide cancer cure campaign, considering that there are people who are dying from hunger just in this very moment. And I also hate it when people use Africa as the holy place of hunger. There are people dying from hunger two blocks away from us. It is easier to pin point what needs to be done when you are far away from the real issues. It is when they start being pushed in your face, that you begin to take real measures.
One of the many topics that news agencies prefer to dwell on, in order to deter your attention from the real issues is gay marriage. On and on, they would ramble about how bad it is, how God did not intend for it to happen and how the world is going to blow up if we see two men or women holding hands and loving each other, while heterosexual couples are fighting with flamethrowers and baseball bats.
To paraphrase Bill Hicks, if the opponents of gay marriage are such good Christians why don’t they just…hm…forgive gay couples. Christianity promotes forgiveness, doesn’t it? Now, I know that people are going to say that this is an issue about principles and the definition of “marriage.” Well, if you haven’t already noticed I don’t really pay much attention to the terms themselves, but rather to my own experiences. As a straight man, I can say that gay people are obviously happier, positive and usually more open-minded than the “blessed” heterosexuals. Gay couples have been fighting for the right to marry each other for some time now; why shoudn’t they have it? I would really like to hear somebody’s view on that question.
I’ve been hearing a lot about the “dissapearing” values among the myspace-facebook-cell phone generation. They are growing up so fast, sharing nude pictures with each other and just not caring about the world around them. They are playing computer games, not going outside and ignoring their parents. Such a bad generation, isn’t it. Getting more independent, taking advantage of the technology that has been shoved in their faces and most importantly, questioning their parents’ authority.
But nobody wants that. Let’s sit them down and explain that there is study time, there is play time, there is God time and then there is sleepy time. No questions asked. Parents are the ultimate authority, closely followed by the government. It doesn’t matter that the divorce rates have been so high, or that alcohol and Victoria’s secret ads are practically everywhere. Once you realize how ironic all of those arguments are, it slowly hits you that maybe the real issues are somewhere else. How come cigarette smoking is considered a bad habit, and smoking weed is a crime? What about alcohol, if it kills so many people every year why do they advertise it on TV so much? I have to be honest, World of Warcraft and porn are better than lung cancer and being paralyzed. No?
The art of beatboxing – or making beats with your mouth is something to be admired. The hardest part is when you have to imitate bass, snare and drum at the same time. This guy does it well.
This is one of the best contemporary covers of a great song by Joy Division. The lyrics are open to numerous interpretations, but the great thing is that it all comes together in the end. I find it both interesting and ironic that this is Joy Division’s most famous song. It does not do the band justice, because all of their songs deserve such attention.
I usually stay away from cover songs, because most of the time they sound pretentious and out of place (most recently, Fall Out Boy’s “Beat it”). It is very hard for an artist to add his interpretation to the song, while still maintaining its original meaning. Enjoy!
Having spent most of my life living outside of the US, I often wonder how easy it is for one to have misconceptions about other countries. Sure, anybody can pronounce the name of a country. However, when it comes down to other cultures, most rely on things that they have heard or watched, rather than things they have experienced. We are constantly bombarded with so much information, that we begin to accept it for what it is without questioning it. We want to have an opinion. Have you wondered how you have formed your opinion?
1. News Channels – sure, you might say that you don’t watch them, but they always find a way to creep up on you. They will make sure that you know something, and you know it well. Because of news channels, millions of people have very educated opinions about Iraq and its future. That’s not all. News channels nowadays want to enhance the viewer’s experience by providing cinematic elements – like heartfelt music when having a heartfelt moment during a segment preceding somebody’s dog being castrated. In other words, facts are not enough – we need shiny graphics, and a soundtrack to piece in all together in our fragile minds.
