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arcana imperii :: the book of j

26.11.07

Well done, Australia!

Australia's opposition Labour Party under Kevin Rudd has won a sweeping general election victory, removing PM John Howard (a Bush ally) after an 11-year term.

Rudd has promised to withdraw Australia's 1.575 troops from Iraq starting in mid-2008 and vowed to start work this very week on ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and strengthening workers' rights.

Profile of the 2007 federal election:
    More than 13,5 million of Australia's roughly 21 million people had registered to vote.
    Electors were to choose candidates for all 150 seats in the lower House of Representatives and 40 of the 76 seats in the upper house, the Senate.
    PM John Howard had led the conservative Liberal-National party coalition to four election wins since 1996.
    Kevin Rudd was taking the centre-left Labor Party to the polls for the first time as leader.
    Election issues were the economy, environment and war in Iraq.

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quotation of the week

«I look to the future because that's where I'm going to spend the rest of my life.»
~George Burns

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21.11.07

quotation of the week

«To predict the behaviour of ordinary people in advance, you only have to assume that they will always try to escape a disagreeable situation with the smallest possible expenditure of intelligence.»
~Friedrich Nietzsche

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20.11.07

A Positive Outlook Is Overrated

Sooner or later one finds oneself either at the receiving end of advice to cheer up and think positively or giving said advice (not me) to a depressed friend, relative or even total stranger.

Well, it does more harm than good, and you can learn why by yourselves listening to this brilliant segment from the NPR programme All Things Considered and its I Believe series.

It aired 22 October.

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Princess Diana's Death

«I think opportunities were lost» said Dr Thomas Treasure, British surgeon involved with the inquest into Princess Diana's death saying she might have been saved if French medics had brought her to hospital sooner.

It's much simpler, say I. Princess Diana would have most certainly survived the crash, albeit with some injuries such as broken ribs, for instance, had she been wearing her seatbelt.

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5.11.07

the Top 25

Spinner.com has named its list of the Top 25 opening pop song lyrics of all time. They're nearly all so bad, i'm only listing the Top 10 and saying: ugh.

«Superfreak» by Rick James
She's a very kinky girl. The kind you don't take home to momma...

«Jumpin' Jack Flash» by The Rolling Stones
I was born in a cross-fire hurricane.

«Blitzkrieg Bop» by The Ramones
Hey, ho, let's go!

«I Saw Her Standing There» by The Beatles
Well, she was just seventeen, if you know what I mean...

«Mama Said Knock You Out!» by LL Cool J
Don't call it a comeback...

«Close to You» by The Carpenters
Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near?

«Loser» by Beck
In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey...

«Blue Suede Shoes» by Carl Perkins
Well, it's one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, now go, cat, go!

«Gloria» by Patti Smith
Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine...

«Livin' on a Prayer» by Bon Jovi
Tommy used to work on the docks...

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4.11.07

quotation of the evening

«Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call today his own:
He who secure within, can say
Tomorrow do thy worst,
for I have lived today.»

~John Dryden

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1.11.07

a message from «arcturus»

«American religio-insanity is as vacuous as it is silly. It's the difference between a dark and spooky and drafty Medieval cathedral with old women sitting there saying Rosaries (e.g. in Poland) and a shitty, two-bit tract development off the interstate next to the Wal-Mart, the McDonald's, and the used car lot with a gaggle of 300-pound clueless know-nothings who can't find their own country (America) on a world map and think that Clint Black's "Iraq and Roll" is poetry and sound foreign policy.»
~arcturus

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quotation of the week ~ a re-discovery

i just found this quotation among draft posts and while its meaning to me is quite clear, its proper placement within the time line of the blog escapes me as did its origin before i just researched it. let's make it this week's quotation. it still fits a certain melancholy and nostalgia and a very loose end.

«and when we meet, which i'm sure we will, all that was there will be there still, i'll let it pass, i'll hold my tongue, and you will think that i've moved on...»
~dido, white flag

what will i think?

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