Blues From A Gun

I was just scanning the news on Drudge Report, and came across some interesting things:

The big headline right now seems to be whether or not California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will grant clemency to Stanley "Tookie" Williams, the founder of the LA-based gang The Crips. Williams is due to be executed tomorrow at 12:02 for three murders from the '80s. In his past 13 years on death row at San Quentin, he's denounced his former life as a thug, apologized for founding the Crips, written children's books teaching against gang life, and has had his name repeatedly submitted for consideration for the Nobel peace and literature prizes. His supporters who include big names such as Snoop Dogg and Jamie Foxx have asked Governor Schwarzenegger to take Williams' turnaround into consideration.

After thousands of white men started attacking Arabs in a suburb of Sydney (Aus) last night, the rioting still continues. Much like Paris, this makes me wonder why some countries are so accepting of immigrants, yet refuse to acknowledge their native culture? That's how these clashes come up. Although, in Paris, it was the foreign immigrants who rose up against their oppressors. This incident is slightly different. Apparently, two youths of Middle Eastern origin attacked a lifeguard last week, and in a classic move of sweeping generalization (that goes hand in hand with racism), the white young men of Sydney reacted violently.

It sounds like Israel doesn't like the thought of Iran having nuclear weapons. Shit, who does? But instead of trying the peaceful thing and talking it through, Israel is preparing their armed forces for an attack on uranium-rich civilian sites in Iran. This will all take place in March after Mohamed El-Baradei, recent Nobel peace prize winner and current head of the International Atomic Energy Agency makes an announcement regarding the extent of Iran's uranium enrichment activities. Iran claims they want it for energy, but Israel claims it's for weaponry. He said, she said, how cute is that?

Yesterday, Pope Benedict proclaimed that "In today's consumer society, this time of the year unfortunately suffers from a sort of commercial 'pollution' that threatens to alter its real spirit." This pollution, is in essence, materialism. Note that the pope said this when giving his weekly Angelus blessing from St. Peter's Basilica. The balcony that he stood on to make the blessing is made of fine white marble, the basilica is domed in gold, his hands probably weigh five pounds from all the jewel-encrusted bling, and he wears a big fat gold crucifix around his neck. Do as I say, not as I do, right?

And, lastly, the pro-gay cowboy movie, Brokeback Mountain had a huge opening weekend. It was also named Best Picture by the LA Film Critics Association this weekend. The release was very limited, but for a small opening, the box office intake was big - a lot bigger than most small-opening films. I don't have a problem with a film being pro-gay or pro-cowboy or whatever, but I think it's funny that so many people are excited to see what happens with this one because it's about gay cowboys. Like liberals everywhere are just waiting for Rush Limbaugh to denounce it and for Tom DeLay to call it an affront to the 'merican way of life. I guess we'll just have to sit back and wait and see what happens.

For a much more interesting take on world news, I suggest checking out the BBC instead. They actually do articles on the same kinds of frivolity listed above, but they put more focus on the shit that really matters.