These days it seems as if more and more people suffer from myopia and apathy. Basic ideals of community and honor can no longer compete with the ever-present "me-me-me" mentality. So when an individual acts against his own self-interest for the common good, I believe it is worth noting. Particularly when that individual is often written off in the press as just another bad boy rocker.

Last night Josh Homme broke his silence over his dramatic ousting of Nick Oliveri from Queens Of The Stone Age in 2004. Homme told Zane Lowe of BBC Radio 1, that he fired his longtime friend after independently confirming that Oliveri had been physically abusive to his girlfriend.

A couple years ago, I spoke to Nick about a rumor I heard. I said, 'If I ever find out that this is true, I can't know you, man.' Because music and my life are the same thing, there's no rules until something massive happens. [Nick] was over here [in England] with [QOTSA vocalist Mark] Lanegan and something happened again, and he almost didn't make it out of the country. That's not music anymore.

Homme vocalized his frustration with repeated pleas from QOTSA fans to give Oliveri a second chance:

They don't understand what it's like to just sit there and feel helpless. When you have your chance to make your statement, which for me was firing Nick, that's what I did.

Homme's explanation sheds new light on his frequent sparring with Oliveri via the media in recent months and his recent brawl with Dwarves singer Blag Dahlia, a friend and former band mate of Oliveri.

If you're trying to be good about something and everybody else around you isn't, what do you do? Do you fight fire with fire or sit there and burn?

QOTSA is in the middle of an international tour supporting Lullabies to Paralyze. They will kick off a North American tour with Nine Inch Nails in San Diego on September 16.

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