Monthly Archives: January 2009
Holocaust Memorial Day
Lest we forget…
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
- Martin Niemoller
References
+37Rant: Lazy Cartoonist Poster Boy
I’m a long time fan of Scott Adams Dilbert Comic strip, as are millions of cubicle farm workers in the ranks of the oppressed and downtrodden.
But I’ve always taken note of Adams’ willingness to shamelessly exploit his creation to make a few trainloads of cash in the vast world of merchandising and his apparent willingness to play both sides of the employee/employer war against each other, if there was a buck in it for him.
+16Barrack moves in…Bush moves out!
The long awaited day has finally arrived.
An estimated crowd of over 2 million people has turned out to witness Barrack Obama’s inauguration and (hopefully) welcome in a new era of relative political honesty, integrity and accountability.
+13Mission: Impossible Questions
After 3 days of battling a particularly nasty flu virus, I reluctantly emerged bleary-eyed and bunged up, from a mountain of sweaty bed linen, tissues and nasal spray bottles, after my fever broke (and the hot water bottle sprung a leak).
After cursing the second-rate nature of all British domestic goods, I managed to drag my carcass downstairs and park it on the couch. Su was watching some episodes of the original 1967 series of Mission: Impossible so I tried to take my mind off my spiraling temperature and wet socks (the hot water bottle was across my feet when it leaked) and tried to tune in to the episode plots.
+22Rave: XKCD Comics
Recently, we were given a board-game version of the World of Warcraft. It looked interesting and we decided to give it a go over the Christmas break.
Jaysus! It took us almost 2 hours to set the damn thing up and an hour or so later, I was mightily relieved to be eliminated from the game as my last hero bit the dust. I’m the first to admit that I’m hardly Mr Patient and the game is obviously complex, which means that it takes a while to get used to, but even so…
+24Another year passes…
Well, that’s 2008 finished. For many folks it’s not been a good one and I suspect that they are glad to put it behind them.
Beyond the impact of the credit crunch, the Russians and Georgians scrapping and the inevitable Christmas kickoff between Israel and Hamas, 2008 did have a few highlights. The election of Barrack Obama heralded the end of the Bush era and there’s not many of us outside the US who are sorry to see THAT happen.
+14