Rammstein

I just bought the new album by Rammstein. Like all its predecessors, it consists of eleven songs. Every one of them is worth the money spent! It may not be in typical Rammstein style, but the changes are simply amazing. Rosenrot does not have the in-your-face oomph of, say, Herzeleid. Instead, it takes you in by its deep-rooted underlying sadness that is present in all the songs. From the opening track, Benzin, down to the last song, Ein Lied, every piece on this album almost makes you cry. Rammstein do not rely on Till Lindemann's booming bass voice so much as on his almost expressionist lyrics.

My favorite track so far is easily Spring. Its the story of a man who stands on the edge of a highrise building who came there to watch the skies but who is eventually forced to jump to his death to satisfy the mob that had gathered to watch his supposed suicide attempt.

Saddam Hussein

What with the trial of Saddam Hussein kicking off today, I engaged in a conversation about "what is the right thing to do" with regards to the trial. In the course of this discussion, someone pointed out the basic dilemma for lookers-on such as myself:

I think these issues are genuinely very difficult. I'm strongly opposed to capital punishment under almost all circumstances, but to what extent are we entitled to tell another country how to run its legal system? Particularly given the US's record on capital punishment. This is a classic liberal dilemma - is liberalism a commitment to a positive set of values or a commitment not to impose values?

Time will tell, right?