My roommate is visiting the states right now and he forgot to pay our cable bill before he left. As a result, we only receive a couple of channels right now. For some reason, CNN is one of the free channels, so I have been watching a lot of news lately. We receive three free channels - CNN, Euronews and German MTV. I have no idea why those are the channels that Canal Plus deemed to be free.

I woke up this morning (and by morning I mean afternoon) and turned on the TV. What do I hear? Pirates attacked a cruise ship. HUH? I did a triple take. I thought I was dreaming (because I always dream about being a pirate and attacking cruise ships). Turns out it really happened. To top it off, the Captain fended them off and out ran them. To clarify the situation, pirates attack a small cruise ship with rocket launchers. A Seabourn Cruise Lines captain doesn´t even sound the alarm, fights them off and they escape. They had to be the worst fucking pirates in the history of looters. I think it is time to quit the pirate business when you can´t even conquer the Love Boat.

What is happening in the world these days? The Chinese are ethnically cleansing chickens at an alarming rate, France is literally on fire and those poor Pakistanis can´t even get food or tents in the aftermath of that earthquake.

First, Bird Flu mania. I´m on the fence about this one. I can´t decide if this is for real or if it is something like the Monkey Pox that is just overhyped and not a real threat. After reading a book about the Flu Pandemic of 1918 I am starting to lean towards real scary. In 1918 anywhere from 20 to 100 million people were killed worldwide. Reading those numbers got my attention. So as a result of their latest outbreak, China slaughtered something like 350,000 chickens. Maybe they should stop selling live chickens in crowded markets?? That might help. I also see that experts are blaming the migratory birds. How many times this year can we blame mother nature for the problems we have? Constantly after Hurricane Katrina you saw idiot politicians on TV saying things like "mother nature is a tough opponent" or "we are dealing with mother nature´s wrath". Did I miss the memo? Are we at war with terror, drugs, Iraqis, Muslims in general and now nature too? How many fronts can we fight on at one time? It also looks like we are losing.

Not sure what the coverage is like outside of Europe, but France is literally on fire...and not the good kind of South Eastern US wildfires slowly encroaching on the Malibu Homes of actors and actresses that we are all secretly hoping burn to the ground. For the last 10 nights there have been riots in Paris. The riots have now spread and somewhere around 15 different cities across the country have been dealing with the problem. Punks with sticks and cars on fire in the streets. Why you ask? The coverage is about "poor areas" in Paris. But, it´s muslim. Two young muslims were killed by police in Paris, apparently, with no cause and it has led to the riots. The cops seem particularly befuddled with regard to stopping it. Catch the next non-stop to Paris and bring some lighter fluid. The republicans would probably say that those "cheese eating surrender monkeys" had it coming or "that the cops will probably surrender and call for international help".

And Pakistan. They are still pulling bodies out of the rubble and the death toll is around 75,000 already. Where is the big international relief effort for them? For the Tsunami and Hurricanes we have telethons, Presidential Fund Raising Teams and a general outpouring of support. For them, we toss a few bags of rice and say "Good Luck Akmed! Let me know how it works out." I was watching something today and rice was being delivered. Some bags ripped and rice was all over the ground. People grabbing handfuls of dirt to get every last piece of rice. They have no tents or shelter and in a month it is going to be winter and freezing cold. I can´t imagine that the Western world´s response to this disaster is really winning us any friends in the muslim world.

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