Well, the whole "global villiage" thing is back... not that it ever left. Even as I am amazed at the flow of money and goods in today's relatively borderless world, I am facinated by what the flow of ideas is capable of, socially.

CNN.com - McDonald's new high-tech burger flipper - Aug. 1, 2003: "'As a company we need to participate in the global village concept,' Dean Barrett, McDonald's vice president for marketing, said. He stressed that McDonald's is trying to adopt a 'borderless approach' to doing business."

America is fairly homogenous, thanks to nationwide television, music, movies... we have a highly developed national culture - that's a binding force. We've all seen E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars, all at the same time. We've experienced Pac-Man, Glastnost, breakdancing, New Kids on the Block, and Adam Sandler together.

With corporations spreading ever-wider, using a single ad campaign across the globe unites us all. After 20 years of crying, laughing and being bored by the same things, how much closer will the people of the world feel? I'm not saying that India and Pakistan will let bygones be bygones or that Israelis and Palestinians will be sharing fountain drinks, or anything; I'm just remarking that inflicting the world with the same ad campaign is a beneficial force for world peace.

Who are The Zombies and why the hell am I writing about them?

Amazon.com: Time Of The Season : The Zombies Collector's Guide

I went to the library today with Monkus, and I picked up High Crimes and Misdemeanors by Ann Coulter.

I've seen her on CNN and FoxNews and MSNBC a couple times apeice, and every time I hear her I laugh at the amount of vitriol and anger such a pretty woman can generate. And then I think about what she's saying.

And it's pretty good, overall.

In the first chapter of her latest book, Treason, she asks, "Why is patriotism not a quantifiable quality?" And, after the silliness of asking how a quality can be quantified wears off (let alone the now implicitly asked quality of patriotism), I begin to digest the gist of what she's saying.
How can people who slam the US for a living be called patriotic? Are they just trying to make the US a better place? Doubtful.
What she comes up with, not surprisingly, is that Liberals hate America. While I don't hold that conviction for most of the Liberals I know (I live in Massachusetts, fer cryin' out loud - I couldn't possibly be that bitter) it does shed a little insight into how some of these career Liberals and college-educated hippies think.
Hate America? I don't think so. Distrust America. Definitely. I think these lost souls really think America is out to crush it's poor citizens, to roll over our civil liberties, and to strip-mine the world of trees and people in benefit of Coca Cola's bottom line.

How misguided.

Hey! It's always a good thing when a new Gravity's Rainbow link grabs my attention!

I wouldn't be Enzian without it!

Heh. Another great article. GN Online: Amir Taheri: Iraqis are slowly beginning to realise that life is getting better than before.

Big surprise.

And, I just realized! I don't have a Commanding Heights link anywhere on my site!!! This has probably been the most influential book/documentary I've ever read/watched, so at some point, I'll have to put the link off to the side, with the other permanent links.

If you have happened to read Commanding Heights, you'll recognize the tell-tale signs of a flourishing economy in the above article about Iraqi life. The flower stalls and booksellers. All we need now is to track the price of eggs!

Ahh! Interesting... brought to you by QuickTime. Video-C - The Best Music You'll Ever See

Lately, I've been feeling unsure of my past conviction regarding Gulf War Redeux. What's with that false intel? Where are the WMD? Why isn't Saddam dead? A dead GI per day?

I haven't stopped believing that the war was unjust, but those things are enough to make me uneasy.

But, I had a bit of the past swing by to pay me a visit, courtesy of the UK-based Economist, in their article The war in Iraq.

Oh, yeah! It was pretty cut-and-dried when we began this thing! We're doing this because we had to, not because we wanted to.