The Lebanese conflict does not — at present — appear to be expanding into a regional conflict.  But should it ever balloon into a regional — or global — war, it will happen when we are finally certain it will not.  Here are some reasons to be wary:

• Syria may be preparing for war by opening public bomb shelters for hte first time since 1973.
• Some Muslim countries like Jordan are afraid of getting sucked into the war
• This is likely because other muslim countries want to arm Hizb’allah.

 

Americans devote more than 15% of their electrical consumption towards air-conditioning. Depressingly, this amounts to more than the total energy usage in India, which has more than 5 times the number of people that we do. American cities are hotter outside because we cool them down inside.

Perhaps we should rethink this propensity to isolate ourselves from our environment. We live in an environmental containment bubble — thick insolation, triple-pane windows filled with inert gas, electronically controlled temperature that keeps not just the part we occupy but the entire house within a 2 degrees span. Lest we go outside and melt, we have elaborate mobile environmental containment bubbles (complete with soundproofing, audio-manipulation and air-conditioning) that allow us to move between environmental containment bubbles — home, office, restaurant, tanning salon — without fear.

We fear nature and our neighbors — and design our technology accordingly.

It is grotesque.

Koizumi will almost certainly, for the fifth year in a row, pay his respects to class A war criminals enshrined at Yasukuni.

He says he cannot understand why China and Korea get angry when he pays respect to people who systematically butchered, raped and/or enslaved millions of Asians.

Although Yasukuni is serene and beautiful on the surface, it has been irrevocably defiled by the disgraceful Japanese who enshrined fourteen class A war criminals on its soil. Japan has only one option if no one ejects these abhorrent spirits from resting inside the shrine: burn Yasukuni to the ground.

Yasukuni is an abomination.

How long can we continue to add over 80 million people per year? We only have so much energy. Ever person we add takes up a share of those otherwise available resources; we are all poorer.

Reading the Pajamas Media middle east reports, I am beginning to worry that this still has the potential to balloon into something big and scary.

But reading the actual article gives me more confidence in the Middle Eastern governments.

I have learned so many things about the Middle East during this recent Israel-Lebanon war: Druze, Canaan, Mount Lebanon, Phoenicia. Amazing to think Arabs trace their lineage back to Abraham and Moses. These people were at it fourty centuries ago!

Awhile back, some idiot went and butchered a household because a girl wouldn’t give him his xbox. Two years later, he’s getting the death penalty. Good riddance. Troy Victorino and his gang committed a terrible crime.

Nonetheless, Erin Belanger should not escape all fault for having been stubborn to the point of helping kill her friends. Had she simply returned the Xbox–which was rightfully Troy’s–none of the victims would be dead today.

I hope Israel refrains from destroying too many Roman ruins in their quest to teach Lebanon that it doesn’t pay to ignore home-grown terrorism.

Right now Seattle has many ads for HIV-free volunteers to test an AIDS vaccine. They mention that it is “completely safe” and “you cannot get HIV” from the drug. Right. Tell that to the six people who now have auto-immune diseases after taking an experimental anti-inflammatory drug.

Selfish? Yes, but also smart.