Wow, it must be nice for President Musharraf to be able to suspend the Constitution whenever he wants. Really convenient. And then he disbands the Supreme Court. You can’t be illegal if there is no law, right?

Most people have probably never heard of the tiny, Eastern European country of Estonia. It’s one of those postage stamp pieces of land that you might memorize for a geography test and then never think of again. However, it was the site of one of the more remarkable events of the 20th century.

In 1987, after nearly 50 years of brutal occupation by first the Soviets, then the Nazis and then the Soviets again, Estonia decided it wanted to be free. The people fought for their freedom not with guns or riots, but with songs. The most unique aspect of Estonia is that everybody sings. The country has more choral singers and ensembles per capita than anywhere else on earth. The Soviets had banned the traditional folksongs, but when it came time to protest, thousands of people flooded the streets brazenly singing. Thus began the Singing Revolution. (more…)

Beer is popular in China, but nowhere is it more popular than in China’s beer capital: Qingdao. Home of the best-known Chinese brewery, Tsingtao, beer here is cheaper than anywhere else, and the locals have devised the perfect method for ensuring a happily intoxicated populace… the street keg. (more…)

OC mascot Sudsy O’Sullivan was spotted today in Tienanmen Square protesting the totalitarian communist government of the People’s Republic of China. Along with students, labor workers, and intellectuals, the protests were calling for democracy and more freedoms for the people. The government response was to deploy military forces to quell the demonstrations.
In this Robert Capa Award-worthy photo, Sudsy is seen bravely standing his ground against a column of tanks. Brave Sudsy. There’s a reason why students love beer so much.

OC mascot Sudsy O’Sullivan was spotted today in Tienanmen Square celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. When asked for comment, Sudsy said, “Get off my case, man. Tsingtao beer is only 35 cents … if that’s not worth compromising your principles for, I don’t know what is.”

6 years ago, today, the lenses with which we look at the world were tainted. 6 years ago, a normal morning for the United States of America, came crashing down in flames and smoke as the hijacked passenger airliners were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon Building in Washington, D.C.
It unified our nation, and we vowed to never let it happen again. The world rallied around us in our time of need. In our time of most pain, we were also the strongest and most resolved people.
But it cast our nation into a shadow of fear. Partisan politics have torn our country apart since. We have lost legitimacy in the eyes of much of the world. We are mired in two wars halfway across the globe, and our beloved troops, our Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Sailors, those that volunteered on behalf of this great nation, are dying everyday. The American people increasingly are questioning the justification and purpose of this war.
And so, on this September 11th, this 6 year mark, I ask you to remember it. Remember that day, honor that day, the people that died. Don’t ever forget, like I almost did, that September 11th was a day that showed the resilience and resolve of the American people. Remember how we got to where we are today as a nation. And think of how we can regain our reputation with the rest of the world.
Most importantly, remember what it means to be an American. I won’t say what I think it is, because to each person, being an American means something different.
No matter what, I was, am, and always will be proud to be an American.

So what do OC staffers and Irish archaeologists have in common? Some of our best ideas come after booze-filled nights at the pub, of course.

According to BBC World News, Irish archaeologists have seemingly solved the ongoing mystery of fulacht fiadh, or burnt mounds, which are abundant on the Irish landscape.  Once thought to be ancient cooking areas left behind from the bronze-age, Billy Quinn and Declan Moore easily solved the mystery after a long night of drinking, as nursing a hangover brought the epiphany that all men seek to alter their minds, so why not bronze-age Irishmen?

They immediately began brewing beer in a burnt mound for the next three days to produce a surprisingly tasty ale, which they testify to being comprable to modern brews. Pretty impresive, considering some fulacht fiadh are dated to 2500 BCE.

I can’t wait for the day archaeologists start digging up 21st century bathtubs in order to cook up the ancient version of  strawberry quick …

Put this in your pipe and smoke it.

Question: Sen. Nate Gulley and Osama bin Laden. What do they have in common? Answer to follow.

So this weekend, I took an experimental INTL class on ‘Militant Islam’, taught by Sociology/International Studies prof. Anita Weiss. We first studied the roots of Islam, how it started, and what some of its core values are. The general point of the class was to study the foundations of the faith and how it has become, in the average American mindset, such a militant and feared religion and culture.

Stemming from burns and wounds from the Crusades and European colonialism, many Islamic communities started different reform movements in the 1700s-1900s. Some called for more acceptance of the West, others said that Islam should be completely autonomous from the West, and yet others felt that the correct path of action was to overthrow their own governments and leaders for appeasing the infidels.

These are the roots of current Islamic extremism and militant-ness. At the core level, Islam actually has a check-and-balance system that says when the Islamic spiritual and political leaders are not following the religion, then the followers have a holy obligation to overthrow those leaders.

Osama bin Laden stated his mission as to destroy “infidel regimes, apostate rulers, and the ‘Crusader Alliance.'” The first and last are clearly the United States, Europe, and Israel. However, the second target, ‘apostate rulers’, refers to those Islamic leaders that have been lead astray by the West and gone against their roots and religion.

When I realized this, it resonated with something much closer in proximity. Something on campus. In essence, Osama bin Laden and these other militant groups are telling their spiritual and political leaders that they have ‘forgotten where they came from.’

Wait…where have I heard this before? Oh yeah. It seems like Osama bin Laden and Sen. Gulley have more in common than either thought. Perhaps bin Laden’s web-crawler will find this, realize how much he is like Gulley, and kill himself in shame.

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to eat a disgusting amount of hot dogs in a short space of time, America will always be the best. Joey Chestnut claimed victory (as well as a world record) today at Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest by eating a stunning 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes. The former champion, Takeru Kobayashi of Japan, fell short of Chestnut’s mark by three franks.

This is perhaps the biggest symbolic victory for the U.S. since Rocky beat that big, Russian guy in Rocky IV – doubly so since it happened on Independence Day. Now we can forever remember the 4th of July for two reasons: the day we proclaimed independence and the day we took our rightful crown as hot dog eating champions of the world.

…is long, boring graduations. Screw the lei and the stole of graditude, I’m bringing an RPG to my commencement!

Hat Tip: Daily Dish.

I wish I had thought of this a couple weeks ago, this would definitely have been a full piece if I had given it enough time. Maybe I’m just ranting off stress from finals.

I hate incompetent people. People that can’t or don’t read signs, people that can’t figure out how to save a damn document on Microsoft Word, people that wiggle a mouse in hopes that it will make a computer work faster, or anybody that can’t figure out simple common tasks. I wonder how these people survive sometimes.
Take, for example, today. At work, our lab happened to run out of printer at the most opportune time: Monday of Finals week. People are printing out their final papers, notes, and they start coming up blank and faded. When I got to work, there had already been three (THREE!!!) signs placed on or near the printer area saying DO NOT PRINT HERE, SEND PRINT JOBS TO REFERENCE. And yet, people still printed, and started complaining about their faded print jobs. Sorry bud, can’t help you, you’re too DAMN STUPID or OBLIVIOUS to read a sign. Out of the last sliver of benevolence left in me, I put one more ON the print monitor that allows people to select their print jobs. Soon thereafter, I saw someone go up, LIFT UP the sign, and PRINT again. I am surprised that these people haven’t died in a revolving door or in an accident with a kitchen sink.

Tell me, if the toilet had a sign that said “Do not flush” would anyone flush it? What about “Do not park”? Would you park there? How about “Danger, cliff”? That looks good, I think I’ll walk off. I rest my case.

Okay boys and girls, it’s history time!

Forty years ago, the Israeli Air Force launched Operation Focus, a massive airstrike that destroyed more than 450 Russian-built warplanes belonging to Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Nearly 200 Israeli aircraft participated in the strike, which allowed the Israelis to claim air superiority and permitted their jets to effectively support ground units. Egypt’s air force, which had been the largest and most modern air force in the Arab world at the time, was demolished and rendered nearly useless, while the Israelis lost only 19 planes.

The Israeli victory is one of the most astonishing in modern military history, with Israel tripling the area of its territory, humiliating the Arab community and stunning the international community. However, the victory was bittersweet as it led to the growing perception of Israel as a neo-colonial power rather than a scrappy underdog. More importantly, it dragged Israel into the never-ending conflict in the now occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Anyway, if you have the time, it’s interesting to take a look at a historical moment that has lasting repercussions to this day.

Now with the late Rev. Jerry Falwell out of the room, I can link to these great AIDS awareness PSAs from France (very NSFW) without fear of being called a “failure as a human being.” There’s one for straight men, one for straight women and another for gay men.

Sadly, there is no way these would ever get played on TV in the states.

(Image from Boing Boing)

This has to be one of the more amusing stories I’ve stumbled across recently:

According to a recent poll, 44% of the French have a negative view of themselves. This is even worse than the 38% of Americans that have a negative view toward the French. Of course, I doubt France is going to rename French fries to something like Freedom fries any time soon.

See here, and of course Google turns up more results.