Just another quick plug for the Huffington Post. This week they're running some of the best entries from the past year, including posts by Norman Mailer, Larry David, Walter Cronkite and Vernon Jordan (yes, THAT Vernon Jordan, the dude that gave Monica Lewinsky a job after she'd had enough of the cigar).
So far, my favorite Huffington blogger has been Adam McKay. McKay was head writer at SNL for four years and wrote and directed Anchorman which, along with Dodgeball , has become a staple on HBO the last couple of weeks and provided hours of cheap comedy for me ("Discovered by the Germans in 1904, they named it San Dia-go, which of course in German means a whale's vagina"). Needless to say his entries are funny, but more than that I like him because 1) he's a big basketball fan and not only wrote an entire entry on the NBA, but usually throws in one or two basketball references in every post, and 2) he takes the time to respond to the comments (even the crazy right-wing ones) that people leave on his posts. Highly recommended, especially the "Larry King"-posts.
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I can't WAIT for the Rose Bowl!
Reasons for the long hiatus...
-Swamped at work with year-end ish
-Severe stability problems with my wireless connection. At times of extreme frustration I would think back to the days of dial-up and say, hey it could be worse, but really, living with broadband for the last 7 years or so has pretty much warped any meaningful historical perspective I could have. (It's kinda funny though, despite more than 10 years of being an essential part of my life, the Internet still seems new, like I'm still amazed by the limitless utility and entertainment it provides. I think that's because it was "invented" well past my first decade, so I can very vividly remember what life was like before it. I wonder if people who were at the same age when say, the TV was invented still feel the same newness about it. Will it always be that way? When I'm old will l sit around and wax nostalgic about the first time I "signed-on"? )
-The latest Harry Potter book. Though it's a really quick read, the last few books have all been like 1,000 pages long, and once you start it's impossible not to plow through as soon as you can. So for about a week, any spare time I had was taken up by Harry and his buddies at Hogwarts. More on this later.
-Summer movies! I've been on quite the binge the last couple of months, inhaling all the great and not so great offerings of the summer season. More on this later too.
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Two years ago on the pizzle, I wrote about President Bush's pledge to provide Africa with 15 billion dollars over 5 years to fight the AIDS epidemic. I praised the President then for doing the right thing, but worried he might let the gesture get derailed by a conservative agenda. As the following article from Rolling Stone points out, that's pretty much exactly what happened. I don't want to repeat the points that RS makes, but suffice to say the road the administration is going down is not only insufficient to fight the epidemic, but may end up making it worse. I can understand and maybe even forgive the fact that the administration tries to push a conservative agenda on America (they did win the election after all and Bush isn't just the President of those that voted for him, he has a right to govern). But in this case, pushing that agenda on other nations who didn't put him in offce is putting millions of additional lives at risk. As I said before, not cool Zeus, not cool.
I must admit though, even as I was initially incensed after reading the article, it made me wonder. Does it matter? Stripping away idealogy and politics, does the untimely death of a Ugandan truck driver really affect my life in any way? The unfortunate answer is, of course, no. It doesn't. I can still wake up, go to work, come home to my wife and watch TV and go to sleep and do it all over again without any real interruption. Sure we can make the "butterfly-flaps-it's-wings" argument and say the world is so small nowadays an unfettered epidemic on one continent will somehow find its way over to us and wreak havoc. But that's too abstract. How many Ugandans with AIDS come to America on any given day? Probably not too many. The people contracting and dying from AIDS are often not the ones most likely to migrate. They're laborers, farmers and others so desperately poor their only real worry is surviving for another day. I wish I had an eloquent and persuasive answer to this. But I don't. I wish I could create a logical, step-by-step alogirthm that would explain how my life will become better if we stop the spread of AIDS in Africa (I've made some economic arguments but those apply more to India and China whose connections to America are bit more tangible). But I can't. It really does just come down to compassion, some sort of appeal to our better natures. There's a West Wing episode that involves Josh negotiating an emergency bail-out of the Mexican economy. Donna poses a similar question to him, why are we using my tax dollars on helping them? Does it really matter? They go back and forth throughout the episode, but in the end Josh sums it up in a way that you can't really argue with, There's so much in this world we can't do. Why help Mexico? Because we can.
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"Gratias tibi ago, domine. Haec credam a deo pio? A deo iusto, a deo scito? Cruciatus in crucem. Tuus in terra servus, nuntius fui. Officium perfeci. Cruciatus in crucem. Eas in crucem!"
"I give thanks to you, O Lord. Am I really to believe that these are the acts of a loving God? A just God? A wise God? To hell with your punishments. I was your servant here on Earth. And I spread your word and I did your work. To hell with your punishments. To hell with you!"
--Martin Sheen as President Jed Bartlet from "Two Cathedrals", episdode 22, season 2 of The West Wing.
I hesitate to add anything to what has already been written about Hunter S. Thompson after his passing. I feel that people of his generation can better speak to his impact on American literature and culture, and knowing him best only from his occasional Page 2 column, I simply don't have the personal experience with his work. At the same time, HST still loomed large in my Page 2 world. He was the original reason it caught my eye to begin with. This MUST be a unique thing that ESPN.com is doing if Thompson is involved. Not only unique, but funny and real and above all, honest. I can't/won't say that much save a few points:
He wrote and lived with a freedom few of us will ever be courageous enough to emulate. For that, I admired him.
His style, part fiction, part journalism, part editorial was instantly recognizable, and so unique no one could copy it. He had a sense of drama and rhythm with his words that somehow made things much clearer, yet much more complex at the same time. He not only made you think, but did it in a way that you never realized how close to epiphany you came. For that, I learned from him.
He presented an America to his audience that few of us wanted to admit exists. Thompson's America was a greedy, brutal, violent place full of sex, drugs, crooks and pigfuckers. But through all his talk of impending doom, a ray of innocence and hope always shined through. A hope that one day someone, anyone will come along and make America what it should be, a place free of hypocrisy and lies, where freedom and truth could coexist. Thompson was never too afraid to hold up a mirror to American life. Sure, his was a dirty, cracked, blood-stained mirror, but it showed an image and carried a message that knocked us all out of our complacency. For that, I needed him. We all did.
Mahalo.
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"Don't wanna be an American idiot.
Don't want a nation under the new media.
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mindfuck America.
Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alien nation.
Everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones who're meant to follow.
Well maybe I'm the faggot America.
I'm not a part of a redneck agenda.
Now everybody do the propaganda.
And sing along in the age of paranoia."
---Green Day
NEW SIDEBAR: We've reached the stretch run of the election, and as my own meager contribution a new section of links has been added to the pizzle. Politrix covers a few of my very biased but still useful political websites. Visit them and peruse and think and consider and then click on the register to vote link and go vote in November, because really, what the fuck do you live in a Democracy for anyway?
I'm especially excited about the Muslim Wake Up link. Finally, a haven for all of my like minded pro-choice, anti-death penalty, pro-gay marriage Muslim friends. I really like the Sex and the Ummah section, where short pieces of fiction are posted periodically. It's honest, frank and open ("You just said three words that mean the same thing") about sexuality, Islam and any and all conflicts in between. Pullitzer-caliber literature its not, but you have to love a site that gives outlet to paragraphs like this:
"The night I have to bail him out of jail for public intoxication and battery, Shoshanna and Mona are crying: “Fuck this, Aida, let’s just go. You have to leave this asshole!” I want to explain to them that I need this, need to keep going to school and have a father for the kid, need to be able to tell the God, on the day of judgment when I crawl out of my grave and I’m all alone and shards of sky are crashing down on me, that look, dude, I tried."
Click Here for the whole story
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Impressions of San Diego: Love the big-little city feel, just like Austin...I'm so glad we found a place to live that didn't involve a crazy foot-condom lady...I really, really, really wish my car had a sunroof...I'm praying my work schedule doesn't interfere with my life-long (and by life-long I mean about 3 months) desire to learn to surf, if it does, I will probably be stuck in my room watching the Endless Summer DVD over and over again as the cool Pacific breeze wafts in through my window, carrying away my hookah smoke.
I can't stop listening to: The Killers - Hot Fuss (see Spins section). Catch them now before the hype blows them far, far away into a future of opening for Oasis on the 2015 BTSBG (Bands That Should Have Been Great) tour. Cheap Cure knock-offs? Yeah, but The Killers are damn good at it, and though I'm hoping for it, I'm just not sensing any staying power. Favorite song of the album, track 2 "Mr. Brightside". A perfectly poignant and uplifting ode to the pain of being the "other" guy. Over a impossibly catchy and soaring synth groove The Killers touch the heart of any of us who have ever been the odd man out in a love triangle ("I just can't look, its killing me"), but ultimately we are left, at least for me anyway, with a positive message,
"But it's just the price I pay, Destiny is calling me, Open up my eager eyes...."
Word.
Tonight the Israeli military killed Sheikh Yassine spiritual leader of the Palestinian group Hamas. He is one of the most prominent and important figures to be killed by Israel in recent memory, and retribution will surely be devastating. Israel says he led and inspired a number of suicide bombings and terrorist attacks over the years, but apparently overlooked the fact that his death will inspire even more. Kanye West speaks for me in his new single Jesus Walks, "I want to talk to God but I'm afraid because we ain't spoke in so long", but tonight I pray. I pray that the Palestinians can control and focus their anger so that innocent people are not sacrificed, and I pray that Israel sees the error of its ways and ends the violence.
A few months ago on the pizzle, we brought up George W's seemingly magnanimous gesture of pledging 15 billion dollars towards the fight against AIDS in Africa. In typical Dubya fashion, it was almost all smoke and mirrors, with little to no help actually going to Africa this year.
Since December 1st was officially World AIDS day, the pizzle thinks it a good time to bring all two of my readers a progress report and to remind everyone that is fight is far from over.
The BBC news website has been running a special feature on AIDS all month with some amazing stories from around the world.
Let the linkfest begin:
Some crisis warnings from Russia , China, and India : In all three countries AIDS is on the verge of moving from high risk groups, mainly intravenous drug users and sex workers, to the general population. In this phase, education, information and removing social stigma is absolutely crucial to preventing the spread of the disease. The populations of these three countries make up more than half of the world's total population. This means that not acting now could exact an enormous human and economic cost to the whole world.
Some personal stories that help illustrate both the importance of removing the social stigma and the truly global reach of the disease: Stories from Pakistan, Cuba, and Iran are just a few of the highlights.
For all you numbers people here are some ominous statistics. Globally, the number of those infected is now more than 42 million, and by the end of the decade it will have grown by another 45 million. Half of the people living with HIV/Aids are women; more than half are under the age of 24. In economic terms, this leads to a rise in health care costs and a depletion of the workforce in the short-term (as seen in many African nations like Botswana ). In the long term it leaves a generation of children uneducated and unprepared to be productive members of society. More on the numbers.
So as not to completely depress you here is some good news:
Bill Clinton recently helped to negotiate a deal between generic drug makers and the governments of several developing nations to provide AIDS drugs at low cost. Way to go Bill, Kneeee-hah!!
And a wonderful success story from Uganda.
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So what can you do? First of all, don't take the pizzle's word for it and educate yourself. More links: The WHO , and UNAIDS with links to AIDS organizations in every country.
Also, make the fight against AIDS an issue in next year's election by clicking over to Truemajority.org and stop taking your freedoms for granted!
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"I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged.
Their feathers are just too bright.
And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice.
Still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone.
I guess I just miss my friend. "
----Red, from The Shawshank Redemption
Updates:
The Singapore 2001 album now has captions and a Austin '02-'03 section is forthcoming to a browser near you.
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I don't understand the scientific "value" of such a study. To me prayer is a personal, spiritual act, and whether or not prayers from an anonymous set of Jews, Christians, Buddhists and Muslims (where are the Hindus, the Zoroastrians?) benefit random patients is totally irrelevant.
First of all, trying to measure the effect of prayers on other people is missing the point. The entire purpose of prayer is to make a personal connection with God, or whatever higher power you believe exists. It's not even important that you fully believe God can affect events on Earth. It's an act of trust and submission. Prayer makes me feel better, more at ease. Once you realize that certain things in this crazy, crazy world are out of your control, it's sometimes comforting to leave everything in the hands of the divine. Equally, when someone else is praying for you, it gives you strength and hope to know someone cares for you enough to pray. Prayer is all about personal connections between you and the divine and your loved ones, it has nothing to do with science.
Secondly, by attempting to measure faith and the effects of prayer, the Duke researchers are ascribing human characteristics to something that is supposed to be beyond human ways of understanding. Well if you can't understand God on human terms, how are you supposed to understand him? You don't. That's the point. At least, it is for me. If you have enough faith to pray in the first place, you should realize that there is a fundamental difference between the measurable, earthly world of science and the world of divinity. You can only understand what you believe to be true, and if your faith is strong enough to pray, you shouldn't need numbers to confirm that your prayers are working.
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What I can't stop listening to:
We're A Happy Family - A Tribute to the Ramones - I usually don't like tribute albums, but this one is a revelation. Green Day, Rancid and the Offspring offer their homage in true punk form, while U2, Metallica, Tom Waits and Pete Yorn give their brilliant and exciting takes on Ramones' staples. The most fun, and I hate to admit this, comes from Kiss' anthemic makeover of "Do You Remember Rock n' Roll Radio?" For a more well written piece on why this tribute album is different from others, read the liner notes by Stephen King.
Deliverance - Bubba Sparxxx - Two years ago he was a novelty. A fat, white Southern rapper spitting slightly funny rhymes over Timbaland's signature quirky bounce. This time around Timba swaps the synths and beat-boxes for harmonicas, banjos and fiddles and the result is one of the most innovative and enjoyable hip-hop releases in a long time. Bubba rides the country beats with an assured drawl and a confident, if not terribly remarkable, flow. Throw in some psychadelic-funk-rock beats by Atlanta's Organized Noize (think Aquemini-Stankonia era Outkast) and you have some of the best music I've heard this year.
Here Comes the Fuzz - Mark Ronson - My musical wet dream. This will get a longer pizzle treatment one day if I ever get around to updating the Spins, Flicks and Words section, but for now suffice to say that it is a sweeping, genre-bending, head-bobbing, funky ride into how satisfying blending musical tastes and styles can be. It reaffirms my long-standing belief that all music is one. Except music that sucks.
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"I'm not becoming them Maggie, I am them."
----Johnny Depp as Donnie Brasco
Ok, I lied, I was too tired last night to post, but here we go...
Since there's almost always bad news being reported, I thought I'd bring some sunshine into the pizzle. Each year TIMEAsia does an issue on Asians who have contributed to the world in a positive way. This year they profiled celebrities like Yao Ming and Yoko Ono, but I would like to highlight a few of my favorite and more obscure stories:
Asma Jahangir , a Human Rights Lawyer in Pakistan, has expanded her fight for women's rights in Pakistan to the rest of the world. You go girl.
Gulla Jan Hairran found an amazing and ultimately life-saving way to stand up to Soviet and Taliban rule.
The women of Gujarat who looked beyond religious extremism and reached out to all those affected by hatred and violence.
Anonymous slum dwellers in Cambodia who saw past class differences and resentment to save lives during anti-Thai riots in Phnom Penh.
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I had the privelege of seeing the White Stripes in concert Tuesday and I have to say I was blown away. The set was non-stop energy. A full-force rock and blues assault made all the more astounding by the fact that it's produced by just two people. The level of Jack's mastery on the guitar was made fully evident ( I officially nominate him for the Guitar God Pantheon) and Meg was as solid as any drummer I've ever heard. I was constantly wondering how such big noise could come from someone so small. Other entertaining sidenotes: Jack getting angry at crowd surfers and threatening to leave, Jack calling Meg his sister twice (I thought it was settled that they were ex husband and wife, what does he mean by sister? Sister as in his companion on their unique musical mission? Sister, in the existential sense that we are all brothers and sisters on this crazy journey called life? who knows...) and the bizarre on-stage antics of the guitarless opening band, Whilrwind Heat.
The music and performance were amazing, almost antagonisitic in tone, it was perfect rock n' roll. All the elements were there for an awesome show, but there was something extra that the White Stripes brought that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Then I stumbled upon The Sports Guy's latest column on ESPN.com's Page 2 (for those that have not explored the greatness of Page 2 please do so, RIGHT NOW). In describing the on-court game of Arizona's Luke Walton, The Sports Guy likens his passing skills to the instinctive chemistry between Jack and Meg White. Chemistry! That's it exactly.
The White Stripes fucking rock, but what really sets them apart is the way the play together. Meg tolerantly keeps the rhythm through Jack's many digressions, responding instantly to changes based on a single glance. An entire lifetime of mutual love and hate comes pouring out as they perform, adding an immediate and urgent emotional undertone to the music. As The Sports Guy says, it was indeed magical.
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I'm going to end on an important, if quite dark, note that left me speechless:
"Two marines cautiously approach the car. It is shot up, its doors wide open, lights still on. Sgt. Charles Graves sees a small girl of about three curled up in the back seat. There's a small amount of blood on the upholstery, but the girl's eyes are open. Graves reaches in to pick her up--thinking about what medical supplies he might need to treat her, he later says--then the top of her head slides off and her brains drop out.
No weapons are found in the car. A translator asks the father, sitting by the side of the road, why he didn't heed the warning shots and stop it. He simply repeats, "I'm sorry," then meekly asks permission to pick up his daughter's body. The last the Marines see of him, he is walking down the road carrying her corpse in his arms."
-------Evan Wright, contributing editor to Rolling Stone, who spent two months in Iraq living with the Marines of the First Reconnaissance Battalion. The three-part article can be found in the June 26, the July 10 and the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone, or just follow the links:
The first unofficial attempt at counting the number of civilian casualties in Iraq was made public today. The Associated Press estimates around 3,000 Iraqi civilians were killed based on visits to hospitals throughout the country.
It is true that in any war, however just or unjust, there are civilian casualties. But the American leadership continues to exhibit an extreme arrogance about the matter ("Our efforts focus on destroying the enemy's capabilities, so we never target civilians and have no reason to try to count such unintended deaths,"). Add to that the repeated showing-off of the "advanced" weapon technology that would always just hit just their targets, makes the fact that thousands of innocent Iraqis died all the more abhorrent. In the military's defense, Iraqi troops did routinely hide in residential areas and dress up as civilians, but 3,000? As a low estimate? With all the talk of the professional and technological superiority of the U.S forces, this unnecessary loss of life is truly sickening.
For the Iraqis themselves, the meaning of this level of loss is debatable. As shown in the article, some question whether the removal of Saddam was worth the loss of loved ones, while others maintain that those killed are fallen martyrs, honorable sacrfices made for the freedom of their people. This is never an easy question especially given the state of absolute chaos that Iraq has been in since the end of the war two months ago. Security is a serious issue, many areas are without basic utilities (I watched a report on TV yesterday showing how children, infants even, are dying everyday due to dysentery and diarrhea caused by the lack of clean water) but, of course, Americans in Iraq are too busy looking for non-existent weapons of mass destruction (more on this later) and guarding oil wells to clean up their own mess. Surely, this type of "freedom" makes even the staunchest Saddam haters doubt whether the lives of their countrymen are more valuable than the removal of a tyrant.
I definitely don't have any real answers. I've spent a lifetime wondering whether a free, but horribly poor and corrupt, Bangladesh is worth the loss of my grandfather and my uncle. One part of me says yes, it is honorable, it is noble, it is necessary, freedom from oppression, genocide and tyanny must be won at all costs. But is being dragged out of your home in front of your family, lined up against a wall, executed and thrown into a mass grave noble? More importantly, is it necessary? Was it necessary that my mother and her sisters had to hide for days in the back of an oxcart en route to an Indian refugee camp, because they were afraid of being raped by Pakistani soldiers?
I have, probably always will have, mixed feelings about it. I am proud. It is probably the most significant source of pride that I have to be able to say that, yeah, my grandfather and my uncle and my entire family sacrificed everything so that I can tell people, I'm Bangladeshi. They died so I can say, "I'm not from East Pakistan, I'm from Bangladesh", and I'm proud of that.
But it is also so sad. So sad that it had to happen in such a tragic way. So sad that I still cannot go and visit the gravesites of my grandfather or my uncle because they have none. Iraqis today are struggling with these same issues and one thing I do know for sure. Because we, willingly or not, have taken it upon ourselves to "liberate" the Iraqi people, we must also follow through and allow them to build a stable, proserpous democracy of their own making. We must stop dicking around trying to find Saddam and his imgaginary weapons and help the Iraqis rebuild what is left of their lives. Then, at least, it will be worth it. Sort of.
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One of the main reasons the Bush administration gave for going to war in the first place was to make sure that Saddam could not use his alleged weapons of mass destruction against other nations. It is going on two months since the war ended and no weapons have been found. Additionally, reports are surfacing that the intelligence that Saddam had weapons was not only faulty, but might have been doctored to help convince people of the need for war. I read a letter to the editor the other day saying that it shouldn't matter. The war is over, Saddam is gone, the Iraqi people are free so we should concentrate on the future. This is a reasonable point, but the issue isn't that the weapons can't be found so the war was wrong. The issue is that the justification used to convince Congress, our allies and the American public that we should go to war, was based on a pure lie.
No, politicians lying to the public is nothing new. But in matters of war, of life and death, outright deception is inexecusable. The administration should be held accountable for deliberately decieving the American people into supporting this war. If not, a dangerous precedent will be set that will give the government free reign to do as they wish without regard for the people that put them in power.
Fortunately, the "Internet" has made communication within this democracy efficient and wonderfully simple. I urge everyone to visit TrueMajority.org With this service, you can send letters and faxes directly to your Representatives and Senators by literally just clicking a button. Another growing and effective email-based service is MoveOn.org. These are very worth checking out, and participation is limited to clicking a few buttons. Apathetic people say it doesn't matter, politicians won't listen anyway. Wrong. America is, however flawed, still a democracy, and they will have to listen if we keep speaking out. They sure as hell won't listen if you never speak up.
On the way back from Austin, (on the way there, I managed to get my ass rearended...and that sounded alot less gay in my head a second ago; the car should be a-ok in a couple of weeks, just alot of irritation) I was listening to NPR and heard the shocking news that GW Bush has actually done something sensible and progressive. He signed a bill to provide funding for AIDS treatment and prevention. It's very encouraging that W has decided to face up to the problem rather than do the typical conservative pretend-its-not-there routine, or even worse, the just preach abstinence routine. (Note to conservatives: PEOPLE WILL FUCK). The majority of the bill's provisions goes to help programs in Africa and the Caribbean, and gives local programs flexibility to utilize the money as they see fit. But there are a few bones I would like to pick (aren't there always?)
First of all, the bill bypasses the UN's Global Fund for fighting AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, which has a history of being democratic, effective and transparent. By acting on his own, Bush is once again turning away from the UN and the international system in favor of unilateral action. Not cool Zeus, not cool.
Also, only 20% of the money is earmarked for prevention. It is my humble opinion that the fight against AIDS must start with education and prevention. Rural areas in Asia and Africa are most suspectible to the virus simply because they don't know enough about it, and the prevailing culture is to not talk about it at all. TIMEAsia has some wonderful articles on the spread of AIDS in Asia and the unsuccessful attempts of those in power to deal with it. Just by spreading the word about the disease and showing people how to prevent it can go along way towards containing this pandemic.
Hopefully, this will encourage other countries to start giving, it is estimated that by 2007, the fight against AIDS will require $15 billion a year.
In other encouraging news, Ariel Sharon used the word 'occupation' to describe the Israeli presence in Palestine. It's just a word, but an important step nonetheless, let's hope Likud hardliners and Palestinian suicide bombers don't fuck this up.
some corrections to the last entry : There is a verb disagreement in the second paragraph as well as a missing word. Find them and you win a cookie!! These corrections brought to you once again by the ever-observant (grammar nerd) Sonia, who if she wasn't so damn wonderful would be mildly irritating with the constant corrections. :)