Things from last week that I just can't let drop without comment
1. Dubya's speech
I'm not going to get into how moronic he sounds, or even make fun of his painful malapropisms. I have to leave something for the Dialy Show, right? Actually, I see so little of Georgie unedited, that I half expected John Stewart to jump in there.... but whatever.
I'll be honest. I'm not exactly a political pundit (big shock!) and I don't often like talking in forums like this about things I know little about, but there were a couple of little things that I just haven't really been able to get out of my mind.
First, did anyone else notice the complete cop-out clause he slipped in? All this aid that the Iraqi government is supposed to supply, and then he threw in a little caveat, something along the lines of "as long as they hold up their end of the deal, we will support them" ...giving him his exit strategy. How the hell can we credibly document what the Iraqi forces are doing, and what parts of this plan they are following through on?? Are we not waiting until the summer, at which point there will be another presidential address indicating that the Iraqi people are not holding up their end of the bargain, and thus the US is pulling out? (yes, I meant to say it like that)
Anyway, after that little nugget, it just made the entire rest of the speech ring completely hollow. Well, that and the ground troops he promised just brought numbers back up to where they were about a year ago (way too lazy to look that up). Nevermind that 20,000 troops is the equivalent to pissing on a forest fire. It might make you feel better, but it doens't mean it's going to make any difference.
As a final thought on the matter, I can't help but become nauseous at the hypocrasy shown in this matter. Attempting to portray the US as some kind of moral big brother, trying to bring peace to the region, while ignoring that they just want to keep tabs on their oil supply. If they were actually the moral saviour of the world, as they would like to have you believe, they wouldn't turn a blind eye to the many, and on-going, genocides happening every day in Africa just because those countries don't have oil reserves. Especially considering that the flow of diamonds (about the only "real" resource of their the Western World cares about) isn't being inhibited by the slaughters. Warrants mentioning.
...and now on a totally different note............
2. Amy Lee
This chick is just flat out cool. I caught her Live@Much performance last week, during which she announced her engagement. This did not dampen my spirits, as I am unlikely to meet her, anyway, so what does it matter? I'd gladly be her "other man" anyway.
But I digress...
Some things that came up in the interview that I thought were kinda cool, and that I could even relate to! For her, writing is a kind of therapy. While her music is often sad and depressing, lyric-wise, she is actually quite a happy person because she gets it out through her writing. And through her writing she has become more comfortable with herself, and has started to share more of her true feelings in her writing for no other reason than it feels good. She is not intentionally going in any direction for her fans, as she actually writes for herself, and while she loves that people can relate to what she has gone through, or is going through, it is more of a release for her, and she will continue to write even if the music isn't selling, because that's just what she wants to do.
She's also pretty goofy... using a lot of phrases that peaked in their usage several years ago, and just generally doesn't seem to take herself very seriously. She actually seems to be pretty amused by both herself, and everything that's going on, in terms of celebrity. She is also quite pleased that she has been able to "make it" without becoming "one of those girls who feels she has to take her shirt off to get on stage."
I'm not going to get into how moronic he sounds, or even make fun of his painful malapropisms. I have to leave something for the Dialy Show, right? Actually, I see so little of Georgie unedited, that I half expected John Stewart to jump in there.... but whatever.
I'll be honest. I'm not exactly a political pundit (big shock!) and I don't often like talking in forums like this about things I know little about, but there were a couple of little things that I just haven't really been able to get out of my mind.
First, did anyone else notice the complete cop-out clause he slipped in? All this aid that the Iraqi government is supposed to supply, and then he threw in a little caveat, something along the lines of "as long as they hold up their end of the deal, we will support them" ...giving him his exit strategy. How the hell can we credibly document what the Iraqi forces are doing, and what parts of this plan they are following through on?? Are we not waiting until the summer, at which point there will be another presidential address indicating that the Iraqi people are not holding up their end of the bargain, and thus the US is pulling out? (yes, I meant to say it like that)
Anyway, after that little nugget, it just made the entire rest of the speech ring completely hollow. Well, that and the ground troops he promised just brought numbers back up to where they were about a year ago (way too lazy to look that up). Nevermind that 20,000 troops is the equivalent to pissing on a forest fire. It might make you feel better, but it doens't mean it's going to make any difference.
As a final thought on the matter, I can't help but become nauseous at the hypocrasy shown in this matter. Attempting to portray the US as some kind of moral big brother, trying to bring peace to the region, while ignoring that they just want to keep tabs on their oil supply. If they were actually the moral saviour of the world, as they would like to have you believe, they wouldn't turn a blind eye to the many, and on-going, genocides happening every day in Africa just because those countries don't have oil reserves. Especially considering that the flow of diamonds (about the only "real" resource of their the Western World cares about) isn't being inhibited by the slaughters. Warrants mentioning.
...and now on a totally different note............
2. Amy Lee
This chick is just flat out cool. I caught her Live@Much performance last week, during which she announced her engagement. This did not dampen my spirits, as I am unlikely to meet her, anyway, so what does it matter? I'd gladly be her "other man" anyway.
But I digress...
Some things that came up in the interview that I thought were kinda cool, and that I could even relate to! For her, writing is a kind of therapy. While her music is often sad and depressing, lyric-wise, she is actually quite a happy person because she gets it out through her writing. And through her writing she has become more comfortable with herself, and has started to share more of her true feelings in her writing for no other reason than it feels good. She is not intentionally going in any direction for her fans, as she actually writes for herself, and while she loves that people can relate to what she has gone through, or is going through, it is more of a release for her, and she will continue to write even if the music isn't selling, because that's just what she wants to do.
She's also pretty goofy... using a lot of phrases that peaked in their usage several years ago, and just generally doesn't seem to take herself very seriously. She actually seems to be pretty amused by both herself, and everything that's going on, in terms of celebrity. She is also quite pleased that she has been able to "make it" without becoming "one of those girls who feels she has to take her shirt off to get on stage."
Yeah, I enjoy writing and eating bacon... where is this going?
- Amy Lee, on "Born to be..."
posted by Iain @ 4:04 PM
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