Go here for even more hilarity connected to Bush’s Olympic vacation.

Looks like President Bush has been playing some Olympics drinking games of his own.

The Chinese are mean!

Russia takes a break. Georgia disagrees.

I didn’t think it was possible, but Jake Gyllenhaal is lookin’...ew.

In memory of Isaac Hayes…a song. About the menstrual cycle.

Britney’s back, bitches.

Cheerleading - that sh*t is dangerous!

Where has all the porn for straight women gone?

Gossip Girl has been gone too long; how about a little fix?

It’s time to give tequila another shot (pun intended).

Bored at work? This may be the best game of all time.

I love Tina Fey and her poopy perspective

20 pick-up lines for people wearing keyboard pants

I can only imagine the conversation between “Speidi” and Bush

The Michael Showalter Showalter with Michael Cera

Dude, where’s my dress?

Proving the impossible: Jimmy Fallon annoys me more than Carson Daly

The College Bucket List

The JoBros on the Big O!

Sometimes I wonder what Marilyn Manson’s diary is like

Abercrombie & Fitch “adults only” catalogue

In my last post

Leaving Iraq is only the beginning of their problems. Thanks to this large number, it is increasingly difficult for an Iraqi to gain asylum.

How difficult you may ask? Read on:

→ According to the Independent, Iraqi asylum applicants within the European Union rose by 98% between 2006 and 2007. In 2006 there were 19,375 and in 2007 there were 38,286.

→ Within many countries traditionally known for their openness to refugees such as Sweden, the saturation of the system brought on partly by the deepening Iraqi refugee crisis, is resulting in a backlash.

In 2007, the Migration Board of Sweden approved 72% of all Iraqi asylum requests. Since then, however, they ruled that there is no longer an armed conflict in Iraq. The BBC reveals that during January and February of 2008, the majority of Iraqi requests for asylum were rejected.

→ According to Refugees International, neighboring countries within the Middle East are being similarly impacted. The growing influx caused Syria to end its’ open door policy in October, imposing visa restrictions on Iraqi refugees. There are 130,000 Iraqis living in Egypt and the country will not accept any more.

In Syria, the influx of refugees has driven up housing prices. In 2005 the Washington Post reported that while in 2004, a two-room apartment in Syria cost $110 a month, at the time of the article it had doubled. Who knows what it is now. One Iraqi they interviewed said that he could not find openings within the Public Schools for his children—another sign that the infrastructure has been overwhelmed.

→ The United States, who for better or worse began the destabilization, has been slow to accept Iraqi refugees. According to the Washington Post, between 2003 and January 2007, the US had allowed only 466 Iraqis to immigrate under refugee status.

In the face of such dwindling options, many Iraqis are left with no place to run.

To remain in Iraq means food and water shortages, no electricity, poor medical care, and constant violence. Humanitarian agencies can do little to soften these realities since, as you know, humanitarian aid workers are frequently kidnapped and their distribution points often targets for suicide bombers.

To leave Iraq, however, often is hardly any better. Rather than nearly certain death, they face the plight of an asylum-seeking refugee where a part of their humanity dies daily— refugee children are often unable to attend school, their parents are unable to find work, the family lives in a tiny shanty, and no one seems to care.

The plight of the Iraqi civilians is incredibly complicated. The presence of US troops alternatively exacerbates and ameliorates their security problems. A total troop pull out right now, therefore, would not solve their problem—it actually would make it worse.

There needs to be safe places created either within Iraq or within the neighboring countries where refugees can go and rebuild their lives. This takes money—the neighboring countries to Iraq have huge poverty issues already. It also takes commitment on the part of the International Community to the crisis in Iraq.

Why should you care?

Well, from the perspective of the “War on Terror”, teenagers and young men are more likely (sometimes women) to turn to guerilla tactics and terrorism after experiencing life as a refugee or in a destabilized state such as Iraq. They feel that they have nothing to live for and hate being powerless in the face of conflict—such feelings are the breeding ground for recruitment by militant groups.

Stability for the Iraqi youth, therefore, is essential for the future stabilization of Iraq and the prevention of further outbreaks of terrorist violence.

On a larger level, refugees are victims of violence. They are not the perpetrators or instigators, they simply are looking for some way to return to a semblance of normalcy. They deserve to be heard and helped.

For more information visit Global Policy Forum’s page on Iraq’s Humanitarian Crisis, Refugees International’s page on the Iraqi Displacement Crisis, and the New York Times’ archives on Iraqi Refugees.

I remember being accompanied on the subways of New York City by armed soldiers, dressed in camo. I remember waking up every day checking the current terror alert color along side the weather. One day would be yellow, the next day orange…as long as it wasn’t red; I really didn’t care.

So what color terror alert are we on today?

Rudy Giuliani recently spoke to his supporters and reminded them all that terrorism is still here and that it is a reality that we cannot wish away. And yet, polls have shown that 8 out of 10 voters in Florida think that the terrorism threat has disappeared.

The inconsistency here is choking.

Yes, I marginally cared about those alerts…about as much as if it were going to be windy or cloudy on any given day, but the emphasis I placed on these in the past is neither here nor there. The fact that we have politicians broadcasting the ongoing threat without the follow up precautionary steps is what really gets to me.

Is the reality of terrorism more staged than we have been imagining? Many of my skeptic friends would say, “Yes, Of course.” So why the continuing of the charade?

Are these declarations of threat being reiterated on the basis of pride or fact? Certainly, if our leaders felt that this country was still in as much danger as they thought it was immediately after 9/11, our terror alerts would still be in tact and, if the threat were so serious (serious enough to still be at war), why wouldn’t the soldiers still be decorating the New York City subways?

Terror alerts are no longer broadcasted, no longer talked about, no longer even second page news. Does that mean we’re any safer than we were when our president brought them up during every address? According to most Americans, the answer feels like a yes, since the primary concern of most citizens these days seems is somewhere between the economy and American Idol.

And somehow, I can’t help but think American Idol may be posing a much larger threat to the well being of this country than terrorists abroad ever were….