Killing Kids

As many of you are aware, the death of innocent children in areas of conflict is something that angers me to no end. I don't care what side their parents happen to be on, if they're on 'a side' at all, the murder of innocent children is murder - plain and simple. …

Israel, The Media, And The Web

Jason Ditz, who runs Antiwar's news section, made an interesting point in an update today regarding the media, its access to what is transpiring in Gaza, and Israel's attempts to control information online...

"Across the world, mainstream journalists are expressing …

Gaza Update

The Secretary General of the UN has called the Israeli bombardment of Gaza an "excessive use of force" while Israeli officials are saying that Israel is now engaged in a war "to the bitter end" against Hamas. Four Israelis have been killed by rocket attacks emanating …

Vancouver

It's going to be a busy week. Production notes, confirming arrangements, going over parts, deleting parts, writing the odd new one. In short, I will be spending them in my pajamas sitting in this room mapping everything out.

Recording begins the first week of January, …

When In Doubt, Defer To Robert Fisk

It only stands to reason that Robert Fisk's commentary on what is occurring in Gaza is going to be of import. Having lived in and covered the region for three decades he's no stranger to such events, which makes his insights as a Westerner all the more powerful. The …

A Quick Video Entry

Why is it that whenever you record video on your computer it always captures the most ridiculous facial caption at the beginning?

Oh, and just to clear something up. If I get another email or Facebook message telling me to watch Zeitgeist I'm going to go on a shooting …

Where Only Smiles Should Have Domain

Beyond the factual reports there are the personal stories - the stories of those enduring catastrophe. Reading them produces a pit in my stomach, my hands to hover above my keyboard shaking, as sympathy, confusion, and sadness creep into my heart. The world spirals a …

War On The Ghetto

To many people on this side of the world the Gaza strip is viewed as a 139 square mile terrorist training camp in which 1.4 million people spend the majority of their time plotting to kill Israelis. That is a popular view, and one used by countless individuals to …

Revolutions by Daniel Regelbrugge

The following guest entry was written by Daniel Regelbrugge. Daniel is a fourteen year veteran of the United States Army, has served throughout the Middle East and the Balkans, and currently works at The Pentagon. A linguistics expert, he will be moving to the private …

Gaza Invasion Update

According to the BBC, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has said...

"If what we're doing in the air will not suffice we'll continue on the ground."

The Defense Minister made the comment in regards to rocket attacks emanating from Gaza. The catch 22, of course, is that …

Operation Cast Lead Commences

Mere hours after Shimon Peres claimed that Israel had no intentions of sparking a conflict in Gaza, even going so far as to call on various Arab nations to appoint peace envoys so that the crisis might be averted, the Israeli air force struck Gaza in force, employing …

A Very, Very Good Point

Probably because he's lazy?

What A Live Band Should Be

Forget the video screens, the elaborate lights shows, state of the art trickery, and everything else that is prevalent at shows these days. As Explosions In The Sky demonstrates in the following video, shot by an audience member at Edmonton's Starlight Ballroom, all you …

Cheap Deals On Useful Information

It's a good day for information, unless you're spending it running around trying to take advantage of Boxing Day sales. To be honest, I'm not sure if the prices today are going to be all that different than they will be two months from now the way things are …

We Now Resume Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

Peace on earth. It lasts for a day, maybe three if you include the two days before Christmas. Of course, given that it's a holiday connected with the Christian calendar much of the world doesn't subscribe to the warm fuzzy feeling that many identify with at Christmas. …

On Gaza

If you're looking for some lazy reading today or tomorrow I highly recommend Sara Roy's If Gaza Falls. A professor at Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, she is also the author of Failing Peace: Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.

Also of interest is …

Passings

Today the world lost a great artist, the playwright and Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter, responsible for such works as No Man's Land, The Birthday Party, and The Caretaker. Pinter was also known for his political activism, especially regarding US and British foreign …

Merry Christmas

First, Merry Christmas to everyone. I want to extend my most heartfelt thanks for another year of your support. I've been blessed with a truly amazing group of fans from around the world and hope to continue to earn your support through my recorded work, live …

Snow Maze

This is just small part of it. Most of it is on the other side of the yard. It's been snowing pretty hard so it's kind of hard to see.

It snowed again last night rather bad. In fact, it's still snowing. It's so deep in the backyard that I had problems getting the …

An Invisible Hell

In December of 2006 a US sponsored Security Council Resolution paved the way for the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia, then largely controlled by The Islamic Courts Union. While the ICU had instituted Sharia law in those parts of the country it controlled, the violence …