From the River to the UC

It’ s old news, but people are now gearing up to override the veto.

To recap, a bill passed the ASUC Senate urging divestment from companies that allegedly supplied Israel with the materials to bomb Gaza, and was vetoed by ASUC President Will Smelko during the spring recess.

Here is the article about the passage of the bill.

Here is the article about its veto.

Here is a toxic and hysterical editorial celebrating the veto. Here is a less toxic, though even more hysterical editorial condemning the veto.

Here is a new article with more updates.

My thoughts:

I am not terribly excited about my student government grand-standing over foreign policy issues, particularly when they can’t seem to manage their affairs at home. But…

Here’s a quote from the pro-veto editorial:

The measure attacks Israel, an open democratic society that has long been a close American ally. Its government is elected and subject to the rule of law. Its judiciary is independent; its military is under civilian authority; and its press is free.

On the other hand, the measures favor Hamas, an extreme Islamic group that expelled the opposing Fatah party in Gaza by force after winning a 2006 Palestinian election. (Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.) The rulers of Gaza offer no protection under law, no independent judiciary and no free press.

They permit no opposition. Rather than building a civil society, they launched a rocket war against innocent Israeli civilians from behind schools, hospitals, mosques and government agencies, using their own residents as human shields. Yet, the bill holds them blameless for the Palestinian plight. That the supporters of this action singled out Israel for rebuke while ignoring the fanatical regime in Gaza suggests that their agenda is political not ethical.

And here is a graph!

The Squelch Guide to Political Humor

Politics are funny. This is a fact. The constant dance of politicians, pundits, and activists mixing ideology, pragmatism, and pandering to the lowest common denominator, and the clashes that derive from their interactions, produce such a wealth of absurdity and contradiction that humor is really the only way to deal with it without losing your mind. Yet somehow most attempts at political humor are terrible. So as a public service, the Squelch hereby offers a simple outline of the Dos and Don’ts of political humor. No one’s guaranteeing that this is 10 Steps To Becoming Jon Stewart, but hopefully it’ll help people improve their game.

Issue 19-5 Now On Internet!

Yeah, you heard me right. For those poor souls who failed to procure a genuine copy of our latest comedy masterpiece, get your poor souls over to www.squelched.com to bathe in the electronic goodness. Get to it!

The French Fry Revolution

The Sincerest Form of Flattery

Deputy Creative Editor Erik Krasner-Karpen spotted this little gem in the FSM bathroom:

It's good to be loved.

Good try, anonymous Squelch copycat. You might not have nailed the drawing, or the spelling, but we appreciate the thought.

IRL News: In Which We Publicly Distance Ourselves From An Embarassment To Our Craft

It seems the time has come to address the elephant in the comedy-magazine room. Those who follow the news, particularly the depressing news, are surely aware of the baffling brouhaha brewing at UC San Diego. For those who haven’t: some frat or other decided to throw a “Compton Cookout” party at which guests were encouraged to dress and act like black people. Evidently it was on behalf of a rapper who uses racist imagery in his act, but in any event actual black students were understandably upset. Shoe number two dropped when our counterpart at UCSD, the Koala, performed a segment on the university TV station about the incident that was, shall we say, less than tactful. I belive a phrase that rhymes with “inflateful chiggers” was used. Again, anger and befuddlement followed, and they got booted off the air. Now, when a comedian is accused of racism, he or she faces a choice of how to respond: one might earnestly explain why the joke in question was not really racist, which may not be funny but clears one’s name quickly. Or one might do the same in a humorous manner, using one’s comedic talents to both prove one’s innocence and earn some goodwill. The Koala chose, well, neither. Instead, they followed up their apparently racist skit with a jaw-droppingly racist special issue, filled almost exclusively with attacks on the Black Student Union and UCSD’s Chancellor.  I’ve read it, but I’m not linking to it because I don’t like linking to awful things. You can find it yourself if you really want to. Suffice to say it does nothing to improve their reputation.

The Internet in Brief – 3/1/10

• It has now been over a full year since anyone wrote anything on the Cal Patriot’s blog.  Is everything all right, Cal Patriot?  Come back!  We miss your contrarian viewpoints, your flimsy apologetics for Proposition 8, and the fact that you have the unmitigated gall to call essential hate speech cauldron Free Republic.com a “cool site” on the bottom of your blog page.  Get better soon!

• Every episode of the UK version of The Office is available to view on Hulu, which I think is Pretty Neat.  It’s only, like, twelve episodes, because that’s how those lazy Brits are, but maybe that’s the right idea.  At least it wouldn’t be like The Office US, which has reached full stagnation.  Speaking of which, but the exact opposite of, all of Lost is also available, and you should watch it because it’s getting good after being real stupid for a couple seasons.  In fact, just watch Season 1, half of Season 2, and then this current season.  It’ll all make sense probably.

• If Avatar hadn’t come out, I would have thought this was the most boss thing ever but now it just seems vaguely pathetic.  God damn it, James Cameron.

• I have been playing this game about unicorns obsessively for the past couple days not because of its gameplay, which is very dumb, but because of its use of “Always” by Erasure, which is the most inspiring song with garbage nonsense lyrics ever written.  I will hold on to the night and make believe with you, thank you very much.

• ADDENDUM:  In the department of neat free things, you can listen to the new Gorillaz album in its entirety on NPR.org, a week before its due in stores.  WOOP.