Eloquent Incoherence

Israel killed three times as many Palestinians (660 to be exact) in 2006 as it did in 2005, according to annual statistics published by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. Meanwhile, the number of Israelis killed by Palestinian militants dropped from 50 in 2005 to 23 in 2006. In addition, 9,075 Palestinians are currently being held in Israeli jails, of which 345 are minors and 738 have not been informed of the charges against them, if any.

Illinois, which won only 8 games the past four seasons combined, is poised to pull in a top-10 recruiting class this year. Martez Wilson, a 5-star prospect and arguably the nation’s top defensive end, recently committed to the Illini. Wilson joins fellow 5-star prospect Arrelious Benn, the nation’s top wide receiver, in a class ranked alongside the likes of Notre Dame, Michigan, and Auburn. A lot could happen before signing day, but the fact that a school like Illinois has managed to attract so much talent is nothing short of amazing. Normally, pulling in just one 5-star prospect is a major coup for a school of Illinois’ caliber, and yet Illinois has managed to attract two. As bad a coach as Ron Zook is, he must be one hell of a recruiter.

I just bought an XBox 360. I’m not quite sure why I wanted to; I played video games a lot as a kid, but I haven’t been really into them for at least 10 years. The last console I owned was the original PlayStation, and I didn’t really play it all that much. Maybe it’s because I had no concept of a video game world that wasn’t dominated by Nintendo and Sega, and I equated Nintendo and Sega’s decline with a decline of the industry itself. I’m not used to the fact that Sony and Microsoft are now leading the race, Nintendo is hanging on for dear life, and Sega has thrown in the towel. Or maybe I just grew out of it. In any event, the hoopla over the original XBox, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, GameCube, PSP, Nintendo DS, or any of the other consoles that came and went over the years never really captured my interest. I just thought this batch–the 360, the Playstation 3, and the Nintendo Wii–was really cool for some reason. I may change my mind; I haven’t opened it yet and probably won’t for the next few days (the reason I bought it now instead of waiting until I was sure is because they were running a 3-day special on it). Or maybe I’ll exchange it for a Wii (the PS3 is just way too expensive).

I realize this decision won’t be good for my productivity, but I’m halfway done with 3L year and not under very much pressure anymore (at least that’s what I keep telling myself).