Let’s see. Is there anything going on in the world?

Israel and the Palestinians seem to be on the brink of either disintegrating into anarchy or getting their shit together. Depends on who you ask.

Same with Iraq. Is it the Brave New World of Democracy, or on the brink of civil war? And why are our helicopters dropping like flies? (hint: they aren’t designed for a desert environment, and spare parts are getting scarce, for starters). We’re losing track of how many car bombs and whatnot go off on a given day, yet some people are all “we’ve saved the Iraqis from that evil dictator!” who, by the way, has had about NO progress in his trial.

There’s some other evil guy that is rarely talked about anymore. What was his name? Oh Sammy? Anybody talked to him lately?

The Russians have shit of their own to deal with.

Energy prices have spiraled out of control, starting six months ago but with no end in sight, and no explanation of how folks on fixed incomes will manage to keep themselves warm this winter.

The highly touted ‘medicare prescription benefit’ has turned into a nightmare for many.

Our Administration is doing all they can to set up Iran for “Gulf War 3 in 3-D” while saying they are doing exactly the opposite (and after the massive diplomatic failure that led to our current fun-in-the-sand in Iraq, do they have a choice? They don’t know how to do anything but rattle sabres).

American Idol and Survivor are both starting new seasons. And Scarlett Johansson just keeps getting hotter.

This list is just the tip of the iceberg, and doesn’t include volcanos and earthquake survivors and the economy and China and lots of other things.

I turn on CNN to get an update on, well, anything and what do I get instead?

Cooper has some guy stalking Nagin (literally standing outside the restaurant where Nagin was having dinner) because Nagin won’t be on his show. Coop, here’s something for ya: it took Dave something like ten years to get Oprah on his show, and if you conduct a poll, a lot more people know who Oprah is than Nagin. She probably has more influence, too. So quit your whining that he doesn’t wanna be on your show and talk about something that matters.

Then I switch to “Headline” News, and I put headline in quotes cuz what do we have there? Nancy Grace crying about somebody who was murdered. While talking with her husband who was pointedly not crying and looking rather uncomfortable at the outpouring of grief from the “hard-nosed former prosecutor” that is Nancy Grace.

Yeesh. I went back to Sponge Bob at that point.