Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Oh god what happened is everyone ok!?

Rest assured, Peachaholics, NientePeaches.com has not been bought out, taken over, hijacked, broken, overloaded, or demolished. It was time for more content, and therefore a redesign. Isn't she pretty? But like all pretty girls, she is full of holes, so tread gently, and try not to break anything that isn't quite finished yet.

Speaking of content... Niente Behind the Scenes with Sir Rutherford Welch: Episode 1 is up and ready to be burned into the back of your eye sockets. Watch it and weep from every orifice! Every single one.



And don't forget to check out the newly re-designed site with more cantent and shiny stuff!:

NIENTEPEACHES.COM!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Things to come...

In the coming weeks and months, Niente Peaches will be posting the freshest and juiciest behind-the-scenes footage of Niente.

A story of grief and redemption set amongst the background of WWII Lithuania, Niente will be a fun-filled summer romp for the whole family. Set amongst the background of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, this action-packed, explosive, and explosive action epic will be set amongst the background of the Hindenburg disaster and its impact on aviation technology. This six-hour documentary will feature cameos from Will Arnet, Sean Bean, Jon Stewart, Kaiser Wilhelm, the Olsen Twins, 78 of the 251 known Pokemon, and the best Steve Gutenberg impersonator ever. Can't wait to see you there!

Also, new comics, new trailers, new graphics, new products (how I love my Niente t-shirt and mug), and new... well that's it, actually.

In thirteen days I will be leaving the country in what I am told is an "Aero Plane"? From what I understand, this is some sort of gigantic metallic bird. I asked someone and they told me that it won't be full of organs and poop, but rather cramped seats, screaming babies, and a ventilation system designed solely to circulate the SARS and whatnot. I'm skeptical of the whole thing.

I will be arriving in the greatest country in the world: Europe.

From my new outpost in Barcelona, I will continue to bring you the latest, but in a foreign language you will never understand. To prove my point, here is the last paragraph translated from english to german, then to italian, then french, then japanese, then russian, and then back to english.

13, I remained in Japan, however, say that the "plane"? I know this is a kind of giant metal bird. Therefore, I, and she told me nothing to tell us. Full body down, but the narrow seat, crying children and ventilation systems, severe acute respiratory syndrome as a trick. All of this I am skeptical.

Stay tuned.

December's Videosift Sift

Thought we could all use a chuckle, so here are the best of the best videos from Videosift this month, sifted by yours truly for your glorious entertainment.

Why don't you ever call anymore? I made some soup for you, and you never came and ate it. That's fine. Your dad and I can just sit here alone all day. No. Go on. Go see your friends.










If you haven't been keeping up with the podcasts, go do that. Otherwise, just watch the behind the scenes teaser again. And again. And again. Turn down the lights. Put on soft music. And watch it again.

In other news...

Time for something a little less serious. A recap of this month's news:

-Rudy Guiliani's campaign has come to a screeching halt after it turns out that while mayor of New York he routed money into obscure departments of the NYPD to fund nights out with his then mistress. Moreover, some of that money went to hire police officers to cheaufer the woman around town and, not kidding, walk her dogs. Guiliani slipped to fourth in the Iowa polls, and then this happened. Can't make this up, folks.

This is worth celebrating because Guiliani is a crook, a liar, and the second coming of Bush.

-Another Spears sister is whack. This is not a surprise. Meanwhile (true story), the mother is planning to write a book about parenting.

-A fire blazed through one of Cheney's offices in the white house caused by "an electrical failure". It's unclear as to what documents were "lost". The Daily Kos speculates a few things, however.

If seeing that link didn't compell you to click it, I urge you to do so, because the article features a list of every major Bush scandal to date, which is very eye opening and past due.


-In other news, Ron Paul doesn't believe in evolution, Fred Thompson was in "Hunt for the Red October", Hillary Clinton still sucks, Huckabee is creepy and puts subliminal crosses in his commercials, and no one will admit that Kucinich is the best man for the job. Also, everyone is a liar.

More stuff later. I promise it won't all be political.

It's all so simple now...

Over the past few days, I've been following the legislative passing of new Iraq troop funding which guarantees US military presence for at least one more year. It may have been a bit hard to spot because another Spears sister is all over the news, but it's a major story. I'll spare you the details, which you can read about here, here, and here just for starters.

It got me to thinking about the true motivation behind the invasion of Iraq. Here are the reasons we have been given so far:

1. Iraq had nuclear and chemical weapons or had the capability to make them. We know this isn't true.

2. Iraq had ties to Al Quaeda and the 9/11 attacks. We know this isn't true, and a short history of the Ba'athist party and the difference between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims will confirm that.

3. Saddam was a dangerous dictator and a threat to the security of his own people. 70,000 dead Iraqis and a new totalitarian government later, we know that this was not the purpose of the war.

So none of that fits. Then there are the reasons that we ASSUME we went to Iraq for:

1. Oil. Take the Iraqi oil fields, make some money, pressure the Saudis to lower their prices. The price of oil has skyrocketed, and the Iraqi people haven't seen any money. Meanwhile, the US is gearing up for a recession. I don't think oil was the primary objective.

2. Business. Take Halliburton and the slew of other contractors who have all bathed in piles of cash as a result of the war and you see that Bush owed a lot of people a lot of favors. Why take the former CEO of Halliburton as VP instead of another candidate? This one makes sense, and is at least part of the reason why we are there. Follow the money and it's hard to say otherwise.

3. Iran. A stronghold in Iraq keeps Iran in check. Saddam kept the Iranians in check. Now there is no one to do it. Iran had little to do with it.

Then I saw the above-mentioned stories, and it all became clear.

The goal of the Iraq war isn't money, or security, or aid. It was power.

Here is my prediction: in the coming years, congress will continue to approve Iraq funding. It will become increasingly quiet as the number of American troops begins to dwindle, and it will ultimately end up being tucked away in the presidential budget for the world to ignore.

This money will fund the upkeep and security for the US military bases now being built and established in Iraq. This goes well beyond the Green Zone and the new embassy. We're talking about a PERMANENT American presence in Iraq.

This will be done for two reasons. One is to provide security for the countless contractors operated by the businesses standing to gain the most from US influence over Iraq. The other is the one I want to focus on.

Our leaders wish to shape the middle east into a functioning western society and economy, and one way in which they plan to do it is to keep US troops on the ground at all times, and liasons continuously pressuring the new corrupt Iraqi government.

A war on terror is not a war against one country. It is an endless crusade (like the war on drugs). When we have finished with Iraq, we will move on to the next country most easily percieved as a threat. Up until recently, this would have been Iran. I'm not convinced that it isn't anymore.

Thus, Iraq is just a foothold into the middle east as a whole, and the war on terror is a war on every middle eastern government that is harboring terrorists and is generally bad for the world economy, and especially the US economy.

I believe that our current congress and most of the candidates currently running for president now understand that fact, and have come to see it as a viable solution to the mess in Iraq. No one is fighting to get the troops out anymore because they will never all be out.

Suffice it to say that historically, US involvement in the middle east has led to nothing but trouble down the line. Let's keep in mind that it was the US government who toppled democratically elected governments to install Saddam and the Shah (ultimately the Ayatollah, but mostly by accident) to keep each other in check. This, of course, has not worked out well for us or for them.

So. What do you think? Is this a good thing? A bad thing? Does this vindicate Bush, or justify his means?

You already know what I think. Let me know what you think.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Led Zeppelin at O2

Ernie writes-

Well I'm to much of a zep head not to talk about this. Here's the set list:


Intro
Good Times Bad Times
Ramble On
Black Dog
In My Time Of Dying
For Your Life
Trampled Under Foot
Nobody's Fault But Mine
No Quarter
Since I've Been Loving You
Dazed And Confused
Stairway To Heaven
The Song Remains The Same
Misty Mountain Hop
Kashmir
ENCORE:
Whole Lotta Love
Rock And Roll


From what I've listen to and what I've read it was a huge success. What can I say that hasn't already been said? Not too much, but right away there have been bootlegs surfacing. In a jungle of shaky images from YouTube of the show there are ones that are tolerable to watch, here's one of them:



But wait until the DVD comes out to really get what you're seeing.

Post # 100!

Ernie writes-

Well this is our 100th post! In celebration, we have our webspot for the fourthcoming Niente: Behind the Scenes series. It features music written and performed by Tom Stroll, enjoy!:

Friday, December 7, 2007

Niente Radio Episode 3 Now Up!

Ernie writes-

Here you are kiddies, the next episode of Niente Radio.

Episode 3

(Side A) Old Man Stroll Strikes Back:

icon for podbean

(Side B) Russian Thanksgiving:

icon for podbean

Here's Some Supplementary Material for You All:

1. The featured song in this episode was Black Jack by The States. Here's their site TheStatesOnline and their MySpace TheStatesOnline@MySpace.

2. Justine Cotsonas appears on As the World Turns as Sophie Duran. As the World Turns can be seen on CBS, weekdays at 2PM. Don't miss it!

3. Despite what Old Man Stroll says about Colbert we still love him! Have a look ColbertNation if you haven't already ColbertNation.

Later this December expect to see:

1. A Re-Design of our site.
2. The first installment of Niente: Behind the Scenes.
3. The teaser trailer to Niente: The Movie!

All the best!

Monday, December 3, 2007

Update: Hate to say I told you so...

Caught this in the NY Times. It is a transcript of the White House response to learning that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program way back in 2003.

Today’s National Intelligence Estimate offers some positive news. It confirms that we were right to be worried about Iran seeking to develop nuclear weapons. It tells us that we have made progress in trying to ensure that this does not happen.


So wait, they are right because they were wrong? Not buying it, assholes.

Take a moment and think about this. They are taking credit for solving a problem before they ever even knew that it was a problem.

Link to the article.

Hate to say I told you so....

But man did I ever call it!

The New York Times is now reporting about a national intelligence estimate that says that Iran halted it's nuclear weapons development program in 2003 after a cost/benefit estimate determined the program to be too expensive to continue.

No nukes. No intent to get nukes.

I called it, and now I'm going home.

More on this later.