My latest Don’t Panic was just published on Creative Loafing’s web site. It’s about Syria’s occupation of Lebanon.

The artwork above has something to do with Syrian President Bashir al-Assad being an ophthalmologist. I don’t really know what though.

I read an article this morning that listed Adolf Hitler as a past Nobel Peace Prize nominee.

I didn’t believe it at first, so I looked it up.

It’s absolutely true. The man who invented WWII was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1939. The nomination is recorded on this page of the Nobel Prize’s web site.

Any active member of a national legislature can nominate someone for the Nobel Peace Prize. To be a Nobel Peace Prize nominee doesn’t mean you’re worthy or even that the people at Nobel HQ think that you’re worthy. All you have to do to get nominated is impress a single politician, somewhere, anywhere in the world. Every one of us is one steak dinner and a golf-weekend away from getting nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Hitler was nominated by a single Swedish parliamentarian named E.G.C Brandt. The Nobel committee ignored the nomination. The Nobel Peace Prize’s opinion of Hitler was expressed three years earlier, in 1936, when it awarded the prize to outspoken German pacifist named Carl Von Ossietsky. He was dying of tuberculosis in a Nazi concentration camp at the time. The Nazi response to Von Ossietsky’s win was a declaration that no German would be allowed to accept the prize in the future.

If you wanna bash the Nobel Prize for not quite grasping the concept of Peace, Hitler’s nomination will not support your argument. However, the fact that the prize was actually given to war criminal Henry Kissinger and terrorist Yasser Arafat will.

I just got off the phone with my mother, who is now in Teheran visiting her family. She mentioned to me that she did not hear about today’s large earthquake in Iran via Iranian news, but by satellite TV coverage from CNN.

She also laughed very heartily at President Bush’s idiotic statement reprinted below — and she voted for him!

“This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table.”

President George W. Bush
Brussels, Belgium
Feb. 22, 2005

To me, the news last year of former Suede co-principals Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler reuniting to start a new band was kind of like hearing that, after ten years of not getting along, chocolate and peanut butter had decided to get back together.

The new band, called The Tears (as in water from the eyes) has posted a one minute 12 second excerpt of a song called “Refugees” on its web site. I’m thriled.

The excerpt.

On January 19, 1961, Frank Sinatra used the authority vested in him as Chairman of the metaphorical Board to summon some of the biggest musical stars of the day to D.C.’s National Guard Armory . . . (read more).

From Saturday’s Atlanta Journal Constitution:

“After reading our report on Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau’s online wedding registry this week, Creative Loafing Scene & Herd columnist Andisheh Nouraee did what any ardent admirer of romance would do. . .”

I just stopped by the Mozart Bakery & Cafe. As I’m sure is obvious from the name, it’s a Korean bakery.

While perusing the cookies, I came across two different-sized boxes of chocolates. Both have hunter green boxtops, shiny gold box-bottoms, and are tied shut with a red bow.

The smaller of the two boxes is embossed Sweet Message. Below that, in fancy cursive print, it says, “I wish you happy forever.”

The larger box is called Hearty Present. Its message of love is “I send to you a present kind feelings.”

“Dude, sitting here with you, I feel like we’re an army of one.”

This is a recent missive from Kebo. He writes an e-newsletter publicizing social and art-related events around Atlanta. He often accompanies them with unintentionally hilarious messages like the one below.

Kebo (real name: Keith) calls himself The Cultural Ambassador. I believe that the title gives him diplomatic immunity from basic rules of grammar.

From: Kebo The Cultural Ambassador [mailto:kebo@hushbox.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 1:21 PM
To: Hushbox Main 7; Hushbox Main 8
Subject: The Hushbox: “We Gonna Make It Do What It Do Baby” – Ray Charles

The Hushbox Hotlist:
http://www.hushbox.com/hotlist.html

Kebo’s Thoughts:

Are you part of the problem or the solution? What am I speaking of you might ask>

Problem: Do you consistently support the same old tired events weekly and monthly and continue to talk about there is nada to do, if so, you are the problem. Solution: Why not support the countless number of folks who offer quality that may be less about the bling and free before11or the grown and sexy and whatever else folks are putting on flyers.

See www.hushbox.com and tell a friend.

PS. Stay out of Will and Jada’s business. What works for them may not work for you but at least they’re working it! Take That! read for yourself.

http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/24732004.htm

—
Kebo, Hug A Dread
Hushbox Founder + Publisher
Political. Opinionated. Critical…Fun!
AOL IM: KB9267 | Yahoo IM: thehushbox