The music's not my style either, but the ending was hilarious.

Nothing like porn. How is it creepy?

>> ^ponceleon:
How is it not about religion? The entire region hinges on who's magical guy in the sky is "right."


If you take Bill Maher's word for it. But come see for yourself. Most Israelis are secular, and other than celebrating the holidays and not working on Sabbath, have little to do with religion. While the government does have religious representatives they are a minority as they are in the populace, and while the army does have officers in charge of religion, they are there only to supply religion services (to non-Jews, as well, BTW).
I know less of the Palestinian side, but I imagine that Hamas draws strength from the living conditions in the occupied territories to a greater degree than it does from religion (and naturally religion draws strength from the same). One example for this is the perception of Hamas as less corrupt than Fatah (which was discussed here a while ago), which becomes critical when resources going into the territories are limited.

At the very least, I must believe that the main issues in this conflict are practical in nature. Any other option would mean there is no solution to the conflict. The majority of the population in Israel (that is, the secular population) is raised to think otherwise.

Obviously things are a bit more complex, but the general idea remains.

I'm not entirely aware of that cultural context, but in hindsight I understand how this could be taken as racist.
Apologies if I've offended anyone.

This isn't really about religion. Nor is this about Every Israeli thinking a Palestinian kid throwing rocks is Hitler's successor.
For most Israelis, this is about two things, really:
1) Not living under constant threat of terrorism. Blame us for this if you will, but the reality right now is that there is a large Palestinian terrorist organization that doesn't recognize Israel's right to exist, much less Israel as a Jewish state. Comparing death tolls does nothing to describe thousands of people living under the threat of missiles before the recent Gaza operation.
2) Not allowing the Palestinian right of return. The Palestinians can't have it both ways: they can't have a state and have a sizable population in the state of Israel. This will effectively end Israel's existence.

Wonder how long before the note goes on Ebay.

Next thing you know he'll be spraypainting "Barack was here" on walls.

What does that have to do with dropping bombs on schools? Just because the people living in that place elected Hamas? What about US citizens that elected Bush?


So, the people are not at all responsible for the actions of their elected government? The Hamas sells war against the occupation, and people were buying.
Of course civilians don't deserve to die because of that, but apparently no, they don't understand that Hamas is bad.

Sometimes I wonder whether voting should even be allowed in areas of conflict. People will just pick the guy most likely to kick the other people's tuchess. It's like this sort of a national survival instinct, or maybe an aspect of an arms race.

The BBC doesn't exactly set the standard for objective reporting.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/bbc-fights-to-suppress-internal-report-into-allegations-of-bias-against-israel-442150.html
(disclaimer: not exactly objective myself).

Actually, the piece says "fewer than 10 deaths have been reported", leading me to believe this is actually a pro-palestinian piece. It seems as though the piece is trying to present the terrorists as an unorganized, unequipped, bunch of hooligans, who fire animal manure rockets that don't even get off the ground.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are such groups. However, there are also well-equipped, well-organized terrorists, as evidenced by rockets still being fired so late into the current conflict. The other thing that piece doesn't refer to is that the goal and effect of terrorism is much more than deaths. In that, at least, the Palestinian terrorists are extremely successful.

Since I consider myself somewhat biased, I looked up some statistics:

According to Israeli security services, 790 rockets and mortar shells were fired into Israel since the current conflict began. Each of those rockets and shells sends population of entire cities into shelters.

MDA (the Israeli Red Cross) has treated 800 psychological trauma and injury victims since the beginning of the conflict.

Speaking as someone not from the US, Anyone who knows anyone who plans on voting McCain-Palin should show this to them.

Where I come from, it is not unusual for politicians to seek the blessing of religious figures. It is also not uncommon for religious parties to use their influence to promote disastrous agendas. And the road from A to B is very short.

Please keep the United States government free from such influences.

Kinda wish I hadn't watched this - makes me question whether the song was really any good, as opposed to just thinking the video is amazing.

Then again, Band Montage...
Upvote, definitely.

dannym3141, we weren't expecting him to say it was good.
Ahem.
<Yahtzee-script>
Yahtzee reviews work because they often make points that few reviewers make, unless they want to get fired and start a blog that no one will read with the exception of game journalists. The reviews are extremely blunt and as exaggerated as a 60 year old person carrying 160 pounds of armament. Frankly, I'm not terribly interested in whether Yahtzee says the game is good or not because I realize that what he says in the review may not represent what he thinks of the game but rather is a collection of jabs at how silly the game is which is usually enjoyable but certainly not a consideration when deciding whether to buy the game or not which is a decision better supported by reading Gamespot for ******** or by seeking the advice of friends or the clerk at the store for those who have none. Mostly however when I know what Yahtzee is going to say it's less entertaining than playing minesweeper where at least there's some element of surprise but I can't be disappointed. Oh and BTW being a game critic doesn't mean not saying that something is good and while Yahtzee does give a good review once in a while it's true that we don't expect a good review so I guess what I'm really saying here is that Yahtzee reviews aren't really game criticism as much as they're game bashing, and this time the bashing just wasn't funny.
</Yahtzee-script>

Pretty weak for a Yahtzee review. But I guess I've read so many negative reviews of MGS games already that I pretty much knew what he was going to say.
I like MGS, but you won't find me hiding behind Yahtzee's house (or at least not because of this review).

So what were they trying to say exactly? That AIPAC is not open to discussion? Why would AIPAC be open to discussion? It's a pro-Israel LOBBYIST group. It's not a democratic organization chosen by the people of the United States. The United States government, however, IS, and if people don't want to vote for candidates that support AIPAC, no one's forcing them.

Going into an AIPAC conference and asking that question is the equivalent of going into a mosque and asking why Islamic terrorists blew up the WTC - it's just plain silly. Unfortunately, so is expecting objectivity from Al Jazeera.

Marinara, it's not AIPAC's job to sit down at the table with Iran, that's the US government's job. Unfortunately, when Iran's leaders speak about wiping countries off the map, it's understandable why one would be reluctant to talk to them.