"And we will shine a light of justice on them, and we will smote those evildoers out of their caves ..."

I can't handle CNN anymore. Between Dubya's incessant calls for war, unsettling information about possible new terrorist activities ("Oh, by the way, we're going to put these antiaircraft missiles around the capitol. Just in case, you know. Go about your usual business."), branding of the French and Germans as "ungrateful" for their reluctance to follow Bush's charge into Iraq, and news about how not only are the North Koreans most likely in possession of two nuclear devices, but they have a missile that could reach the west coast of the United States. The Onion's recent headlines have hit the nail squarely on the head: "N. Korea Wondering What It Has To Do To Attract U.S. Military Attention", "Saddam Enrages Bush With Full Compliance", "Plowshare Hastily Beaten Back Into Sword". I'm seriously disgusted with our government, moreso than i can ever recall having been before.

Nineteen days since I played video games. I can't even remember the controls to Splinter Cell anymore. Was X the button that put you in stealth mode? How did you fire those sticky shockers again?

Saw a sneak preview of Old School, starring Will Ferrell, Luke Wilson, and Vince Vaughn, last Saturday at Fenway. A good belly laugh kind of movie, in the style of Road Trip (not surprisingly, the same people made both). I'm doubtful that Will Ferrell could ever not be funny. On an entirely different note but strangely the same day, i tivoed Princess Mononoke, an anime film from 1997 about the battle between ancient forest gods and the humans inching ever closer. That was wonderful, both visually spectacular as well as topically relevant. Anime is a genre that i always mean to more fully explore, but never seem to get the chance.

I finished Fast Food Nation on the T the other day. On the whole i found the book very well written and thoroughly researched. It touches upon many different social consequences of the proliferation of fast food culture, from the exploitation of a cheap and easily replaceable work force to government regulation of meatpackers. Although i am a democrat, i did find that the author's left wing bias had too much of an effect on the book. I mean, i know for a fact that the fast food industry has made a number of positive contributions to our society, none of which are covered in this text. Nevertheless, the book's indictment of fast food corporate culture, from the restaurants to the meatpackers, potato conglomerates, and other suppliers, remains valid. Descriptions of the horrors of the meatpacking industry are difficult to dismiss, from bilking its workers out of compensation for their numerous and ghastly on-the-job injuries to squashing legislation proposing anything (improved microbe screening regulations, occupational safety, minimum quality requirements for food sold to the school lunch program) that might affect their bottom line. I'm pondering giving up ground beef altogether after reading FFN.

Tonight is Sleater-Kinney in Providence. Hopefully they've gotten their act together since their ho-hum performance at the Roxy in Boston last October.