Orwell’s 1984, only 20 years too late
I never imagined I would read something like this in the news. Let me say this… I dare you people to show up at my door.
Amazon vs. Barnes and Noble
Hmmm. I didn’t notice at first perusal of the buyblue.com site, that Amazon.com is on the wrong site of the page. They donated 61% of their political donations to Republicans last year.
Wow. “India, Russia, China working towards 2005 trilateral summit”
NEW DELHI: The leaders of India, Russia and China are planning to hold a summit next year aimed at countering the dominance of the United States in international affairs, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discussed the possibility of a three-way dialogue at a meeting in New Delhi on Friday, the Asian Age newspaper reported.
Singh held similar discussions with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of a regional summit in Laos last Tuesday, the report said.
Russia first mooted the idea of a trilateral dialogue two years ago, and senior officials from the three countries have since met several times. The report, which didn’t cite any source, could not be independently verified.
Putin accused the United States on Friday of conducting a “dictatorship of international affairs.” “Even if dictatorship is wrapped up in a beautiful package of pseudo-democratic phraseology, it will not be in a position to solve systemic problems,” Putin said at public lecture in New Delhi. Putin is critical of the United States for waging war in Iraq without broad international approval.
One Book, One City
One Book, One City is an annual city-wide book discussion program organized by the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library and the City of Indianapolis. The goal is to promote a city zeitgeist of reading and discussion by picking an annual book selection from a long list of titles suggested by Indianapolis residents.
In 2004, the program’s third year, residents were asked to suggest books following a theme: representing either “America’s Finest Hour” or “America’s Darkest Hour.”
Mini-Marathon Sells Out Early
From the Indy Star: “Officials at the 500 Festival announced today the 2005 half-marathon has sold out at the earliest date in its 29 years of running.
The OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, which will be held on May 7, will have approximately 30,000 runners and walkers, officials said. The cap was reached today, with some paper applications yet to be processed.
The race sold out several weeks ahead of last year’s record pace. Terry Powers, spokesman for the 500 Festival, attributed the early sellout to continuing strong interest in the nation’s largest half-marathon, plus high demand last year.”
Costco Vs. Walmart
Interesting information on Costco’s excellent treatment of their employees, versus numerous articles on WalMart’s incredibly poor treatment of their workers:
In California
In Georgia and other states
In Arizona
Republican “moral values” hypocrites, part 248
Judith Regan, moral hypocrite.
You may have heard that Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik recently took his name out of the running for head of Homeland Security. One of the reasons being cited was his possible employ of an illegal immigrant.
But there are a couple of other problems that may be the real reason he pulled his name from the running… one of them being some questions about financial problems, and where some of his income came from.
The other reason being that Kerik, who is married with two kids, had been carrying on two extramarital affairs simutaneously. One of them with a subordinate in his employ, and the other with Judith Regan, a Republican head of a publishing company, and sometime political pundit.
Check out a few of the things that Regan had to say about the sanctity of marriage while she was busy doing it with a married man:
REGAN: You know, look at Monica Lewinsky talking about being suicidal, being on antidepressants, you know, gaining this huge amount of weight. This is clearly a woman who has suffered and is suffering inside because she has no depth of feeling and no morality whatsoever. And so, I decided, after being involved in this ugly negotiation, which I found morally reprehensible, that we should make fun of the whole thing, and we should make a comment about the amorality of everybody.
REGAN: I don’t know. I mean, I think that they’re going to move forward here, and I think it’s alarming to me that the country is not concerned about having an amoral man in the White House.
REGAN: I said, “You know what? There’s a really great morality tale here with a great, great moral lesson,” and nobody’s really said that.
REGAN: Well, partially, but it’s also an “amorality tale” because the one thing that’s missing from “Monica’s Story” is, you know, deep thinking about her own amorality, which we saw — was in ample evidence during the Barbara Walters love fest the other night. I mean, here’s a woman who clearly knows a lot about sex, but knows nothing about right and wrong.
REGAN: You know, the amorality tale, “Monica’s Untold Story,” is about her amorality, and the amorality of all of the people in this ugly story. But one of the things that was remarkable about her two hours is her utter lack of sincere remorse. And in that case, I would say she is a true soulmate of Bill Clinton because the two of them — she learned a lot about spinning. She learned a lot about publicity. You know, she learned a lot about changing her image. And she tried to do another Barbara Walters show, but I don’t know if America’s buying it. I’m sure not.
Trailer for new Willy Wonka Movie
Check out the movie trailer for Tim Burton’s Willy Wonka And the Chocolate Factory, starring Johnny Depp. There’s a lot of stuff I recognize there, especially in Depp’s portrayal, which is clearly an homage to Gene Wilder.
Lazy Sunday Afternoons
Yesterday, Stephanie and I curled up in the living room under the quilt, next to the Christmas tree, and watched TV while sipping hot chocolate and eating popcorn and cookies. We watched five hours worth of Survivor (including the season finalé) and one of Joan of Arcadia.
I love lazy Sundays.
On Friday night, a bunch of our friends came over and watch Xmas specials on TV, and on Saturday, I took Spike out and we got our picture taken by a photographer for Nuvo newsweekly, for an article they are doing on my Big Things photography hobby. The article should appear sometime in the next three weeks.