Alex Golub is an anthropology professor of at the University of Hawaii who usually specializes in the study of New Guinea. But these days, Golub is immersing himself in an even stranger culture; hardcore World of Warcraft players. Golub, who is something called a "level 80 Restoration-spec Shaman," tells WoW Insider (Yes, it exists.) he is researching "American cultures of self-control, efficiency, masculinity and success amongst players of WoW." Thank goodness someone is.Everyone else in New York State may be down on Caroline, but Maureen Dowd in the New York Times wants Kennedy in the Senate.
John Bolton and John Yoo, also in the Times, say that whoever gets New York's open senate seat, the body needs to reassert its treaty power. The two stress the role of the Senate in avoiding global treaties that "push the nation into quixotic and impractical global governance regimes." They cite President Clinton, who didn't consult congress before singing the Rome Treaty of 1998 (an act that established an International Criminal Court for subjecting American soldiers to international judges.) With the new president, Bolton and Yoo are worried specifically about global agreements on climate change that the Obama might sign and cede control over American energy policy to the UN.
Frankly, we find the hysterical coverage of Israel's action in Gaza annoying. Israel has been fighting for it's existence since it came into existence, and this semi-annual breakout of violence doesn't strike us as any different from last summer's excursion into Lebanon, the West Bank incursions of the last decade, or anything else that's happened in the Middle East since Israel came into being.
It always goes the same way. Muslim fighters, funded by other countries in the region, gradually increase guerrilla/terrorist attacks until Israel responds with massive force. The world accuses Israel of "war crimes" and "massacres," and compares the invasion to the Nazi Holocaust. Israel says it's self-defense. Europe and the UN call for Israel to stop attacking immediately, while the US urges "restraint." The media, keeping track of body counts like fantasy football scores, solemnly warn that Israel is making an already bad situation worse and strengthening their foes. In a few weeks, the military operation ends with a "ceasefire" and, less than year later, we do the whole thing again. Sound familiar?
However, since our job is to provide information, we'll sum up the story of the moment. An Israeli artillery shell hit a UN-run school, killing either 39, 40, 42 or 46 civilians, depending who you believe. Israel contended that Hamas fighters fired mortars from the school compound, using civilians as human shields. The United Nations called for an "inquiry," and then said there were no terrorists in the school. Israel gave the names of two Hamas miltants it says were killed in the attack. And so it goes.
