LAB1663.NET - Sam’s bit o’ the web

It’s been a busy week, both for myself and the rest of the world. I’ve spent my last several entries talking about personal junk, so I’m going to take a moment to discuss a bit of what’s going on in the world at the moment and what I think about it. I know…it’s thrilling, neh?

Firstly, I’m sure everyone expects me to say something about the clusterfsck going down in the Middle East right now. It’s no secret that I’ve long been a supporter of Israel (as evident from this photograph) and what I perceive as its right to defend itself against hostile neighbors, both overt and secretive. To be perfectly honest though, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the current crisis. On one hand, I still believe that Israel is in the right to go after Hezbollah and Hamas. If you think about how any other country would respond if it had paramilitary organizations dedicated to its destruction on and inside its borders, it’s clear that Israel has operated with a surprising amount of restraint over the years. Still, I do feel terrible for the people of Lebanon, who (much like the people of Iraq and the vast majority of the Palestinian population) are suffering the wrath of a powerful military because these paramilitary groups hide among them and ostensibly fight in their name.

One thing is certain, though. If Israel does decide to take the ultimate step and launch a ground invasion of Lebanon we won’t be able to say anything about it with any amount of credibility. Afterall, they’re just invading a country that’s harboring terrorists, right? Although the concept of holding countries responsible for terrorists that operate from inside their borders is something that I can agree with to an extent, there’s no denying that the so-called ‘Bush Doctrine‘ is a big and very ugly stick. And the United States isn’t the only one willing to use it.

It looks like the Justice Department (at the direction of Tyrant Bush) was in full-on collusion mode with the NSA. Yay!

With Intel’s new beastie on the horizon (for not too much $bling$, either) and a hearty round of upcoming price-cuts from AMD (who’s trying to stay in the game until they can get K8L out the door), the next few months are going to be an awesome time to be a PC enthusiast. I’m looking forward to putting together a Core 2 Duo rig in January for about $1k that will blow away my current A64/6600GT box, that’s for sure.

Dead Man’s Chest was awesome. If you want pure entertainment, get thee to thy local cineplex. We went on Sunday afternoon, which was very warm and muggy outside. Spending two and a half hours in a well air-conditioned theater with comfortable seats, a big cup of Hi-C in one hand and a bucket of popcorn in the other and watching this flick was the perfect way to spend such an afternoon. Awesome special effects, funny lines, fast-paced action - I declare this movie the best Summer ‘blockbuster’ since…err, the first Pirates of the Caribbean, I guess.

So I guess that’s about all. I’m gearing up for a little LAN at our house over Labor Day Weekend, so that’s going to be cool - but it’s going to be pretty small so planning should be minimal.

Err, yeah. So I hope everyone is having a good week…or something.