Tuesday, November 21, 2006

The evils of the iPod

Bill O'Reilly (extreme right-wing demagogue) has decided iPods are evil.

Says O'Reilly: "I don’t own an iPod. I would never wear an iPod...If this is your primary focus in life - the machines...it’s going to have a staggeringly negative effect, all of this, for America...did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them?" (Quote taken from the DailyTech article linked above.)

FYI, you can hear all this in O'Reilly's Talking Points podcast...


Bonus word of the post:

i·ro·ny
n. pl. i·ro·nies

1. The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.
2. An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning.
3. A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect.
4. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs: “Hyde noted the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated” (Richard Kain).
5. An occurrence, result, or circumstance notable for such incongruity.

Example: See above.

Friday, November 10, 2006

As a parent...

There are few things as beautiful
as a sleeping child.





Word of the post:

Avagudweegend
-slang

It's means exactly what it says. Popularized in Australia by a series of television ads for Mortein, an insecticide.

You don't need an example, you need to go and have one.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

More celebration

It looks like the Democrats have taken control of both the House and Senate. Even the Republicans have begun to concede that. The Republicans are also turning on their leadership. Could be quite a bloodbath.

It's about now that various quirks and oddities from the elections become known. this one comes courtesy of my younger brother.


Word of the post:

brob‧ding‧nag‧i‧an  [brob-ding-nag-ee-uhn]
–adjective
1. of huge size; gigantic; tremendous.
–noun
2. an inhabitant of Brobdingnag.
3. a being of tremendous size; giant.

Example: The Republicans have taken a beating of brobdingnagian proportions.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Yes!

My faith in the American public has been restored now that they've sent a clear message to King George and his toadies that "staying the course" is unacceptable. And you know the most amazing thing about the whole election? The Democrats have no plans. No plan for dealing wth Iraq. No plan for dealing with the deficit. No plans. Apparently the American public believe that's better than the Republican's plans.

Amazing!



I'll post a word of the post tomorrow. It might be colonoscopy. That's what Bush will need to find his "mandate".

Monday, November 06, 2006

River Runs Red

Recently I've been struck by some quite old CD's seem more apropos now than even when they were first released. Have a listen to U2's War or Midnight Oil's Blue Sky Mining.

As an example, here are the lyrics to "River Runs Red" from Blue Sky Mining:

"So you cut all the tall trees down, you poisoned the sky and the sea
You've taken what's good from the ground
But you've left precious little for me
You remember the flood and the fall, we remember the light on the hill
There should be enough for us all, but the dollar is driving us still

River runs red, black rain falls, dust in my hand
River runs red, black rain falls, on my bleeding land

So we came and we conquered and found
Riches of commons and kings
Who strangled and wrestled the ground
But they never put back anything
Now I'm trapped like a dog in a cage
Wherever the truth is pursued
It must be the curse of the age
What's taken is never renewed."



So tomorrow, if you're a US citizen, vote.
Just vote.
It's not a right, it's a duty.
Your failure to vote is your failure to your country.
Vote.



Word of the post:

de‧moc‧ra‧cy  [di-mok-ruh-see]
–noun, plural -cies.

1. government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
2. a state having such a form of government: The United States and Canada are democracies.
3. a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.
4. political or social equality; democratic spirit.
5. the common people of a community as distinguished from any privileged class; the common people with respect to their political power.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Why do they have to make it so difficult?

Bush's popularity is low, low, low and dropping. People have had it with the Republicans and "staying the course". The Democrats look like they have the best chance in years of obtaining a majority in the House, and maybe even the Senate. Things are looking hopeful.

And then, John Kerry opens his mouth....

This is so typical of today's Democrats. Everything is handed to them on a plate and they just have to try to spoil it. I'm as liberal as they come, but frankly there's no way Kerry should be forgiven for his "botched joke" until he apologises. Sincerely. Idiot.



Word of the post:

Incogitancy

n. [L. incogitantia.]

Want of thought, or of the power of thinking; thoughtlessness; unreasonableness.

Example: 'Tis folly and incogitancy to argue anything, one way or the other, from the designs of a sort of beings with whom we so little communicate. --Glanvill.