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What do Words mean?
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 07/19/2009 13:44:18

Good morning dear readers of blog! What a beautiful day it is here in the interwebs. Nice and cool on a partly cloudy day. So I don’t want to bog down the blog with blah news like US Soldier captured by Taliban, or someone killed at the Tour de France. (That one I had to read, because how does a spectator get killed? Short answer: doing something stupid).

This story really, really made me angry and not just because I HATE AMAZON, but because as a lover of books I detest the forces out there that want to make changes to them just because the writing was “outdated” or “ugly” or whatever the reasons. Recently I learned that schools around here took “The Catcher in the Rye” off the reading list because it’s…….. (wait for it)……… out-dated. Students can’t relate to it? Goodness, I wonder what happened to Shakespeare? Others have wanted to edit books that contain certain words like “the ‘n’ word” (another phrase I hate. It’s not the word that hurts people, it’s how certain people use the word) in classics like “To Kill a Mockingbird” and books by Mark Twain.

But Amazon has gone too far. Here is basically what happened:


In George Orwell’s “1984,” government censors erase all traces of news articles embarrassing to Big Brother by sending them down an incineration chute called the “memory hole.”

On Friday, it was “1984” and another Orwell book, “Animal Farm,” that were dropped down the memory hole — by Amazon.com.

In a move that angered customers and generated waves of online pique, Amazon remotely deleted some digital editions of the books from the Kindle devices of readers who had bought them.

An Amazon spokesman, Drew Herdener, said in an e-mail message that the books were added to the Kindle store by a company that did not have rights to them, using a self-service function. “When we were notified of this by the rights holder, we removed the illegal copies from our systems and from customers’ devices, and refunded customers,” he said.

Amazon effectively acknowledged that the deletions were a bad idea. “We are changing our systems so that in the future we will not remove books from customers’ devices in these circumstances,” Mr. Herdener said.


Oh, really? It was a bad idea to change someone else’s work? You’d think a company that big could catch that little mistake. And all this new-fangled stuff – electronic books- just makes me cringe. Call me old fashioned, but I like my books made out of trees the way God intended.

Now in other news, seems our Prez is putting on the cool shades and going out to kick some ass to get things moving! He’s gonna kick some of those soft dem’s into shape, many of whom used his name when they were campaigning for their states, but now distance themselves because their ‘red to blue’ state status is fragile and they want to get re-elected.

This kick ass campaign got me to thinking. Remember Newtie’s “Contract with America”? How’d that contract do? Not so well methinks. And in fact, thanks to that colossal waste of time and along with the Reagan Revolution, started the mess that made it easier for W to fuck up our country even more. That’s why I was shocked to hear that many want to go back to a NEW Contract with America. (Oh, because the original worked sooo well). If you want a very brief read of the NEW and IMPROVED Contract, here it is. I guess they have some more work ahead of them. But don’t let Michael Steele get his input because, ya know, he’s black. And seeing as “white men built this country” we wouldn’t want any minorities involved in this shiny new contract.



 

30 comments (Latest Comment: 07/20/2009 02:40:50 by Mondobubba)
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Comment by AuntAzalea on 07/19/2009 14:01:25
Good blog VJ :coffee2:- I think what freaks me out the most about the Kindle is the fact they can erase a book that you bought after the fact. Books disappearing before your very eyes - Ironic of course that it was "Animal Farm" & "1984".

I was watching a so-so horror film the other day ( A haunting in Connecticut) and I loved how one character described libraries, as "amazing repositories in locations all over the country that hold vast amounts of secret knowledge" . For some reason that really made me smile (OK, I am a bit nerdy)

Comment by Raine on 07/19/2009 14:04:53
Speaking of Books, This Texas Textbook Story scares the shit out of me.







Comment by Raine on 07/19/2009 14:10:46
I was just reading about this soldier, the Dod released his name: Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl. 23 years old from Idaho.



Then there is this little tiny problem: U.S. condemns video of captured soldier as violation of international law.



that does pose a bit of a Problem for America, duncha think?



Good Morening btw--- thanks for another Sunday Read Ms. Jones.





Comment by velveeta jones on 07/19/2009 14:10:52
Question: Why does Sarah Palin have a PAC still in place collecting donations since she has resigned as Gov, said she will not seek another term and has NOT committed to any other political office runs?



sarah pac



Also, why is the logo of her PAC the USA with Alaska in the middle? :O



Anyone?

Comment by AuntAzalea on 07/19/2009 14:11:04
Quote by Raine:

Speaking of Books, This Texas Textbook Story scares the shit out of me.









Yikes!

Comment by AuntAzalea on 07/19/2009 14:12:15
Quote by velveeta jones:

Question: Why does Sarah Palin have a PAC still in place collecting donations since she has resigned as Gov, said she will not seek another term and has NOT committed to any other political office runs?



sarah pac



Also, why is the logo of her PAC the USA with Alaska in the middle? :O



Anyone?


She heard Bergdorf Goodmans was having a sale?



Comment by velveeta jones on 07/19/2009 14:17:05
Quote by Raine:

I was just reading about this soldier, the Dod released his name: Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl. 23 years old from Idaho.



Then there is this little tiny problem: U.S. condemns video of captured soldier as violation of international law.



that does pose a bit of a Problem for America, duncha think?



Good Morening btw--- thanks for another Sunday Read Ms. Jones.







I agree with one of the comments: lets offer George W in trade for this fine soldier. :clap:

Comment by trojanrabbit on 07/19/2009 14:41:51
Quote by velveeta jones:

Quote by Raine:

I was just reading about this soldier, the Dod released his name: Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl. 23 years old from Idaho.



Then there is this little tiny problem: U.S. condemns video of captured soldier as violation of international law.



that does pose a bit of a Problem for America, duncha think?



Good Morening btw--- thanks for another Sunday Read Ms. Jones.







I agree with one of the comments: lets offer George W in trade for this fine soldier. :clap:




I'd add Cheney as well.

Comment by Raine on 07/19/2009 15:24:14
@NASA Minor inconvenience - 1 of 3 toilets, the U.S. one in Destiny, temporarily is out of order. Crew can use the Russian and shuttle toilets.
For some reason that just sounds funny.

Comment by Raine on 07/19/2009 15:26:53
Quote by AuntAzalea:

Quote by velveeta jones:

Question: Why does Sarah Palin have a PAC still in place collecting donations since she has resigned as Gov, said she will not seek another term and has NOT committed to any other political office runs?



sarah pac



Also, why is the logo of her PAC the USA with Alaska in the middle? :O



Anyone?


She heard Bergdorf Goodmans was having a sale?





I heard it is so she can donate to politicians that share her world view. And Also. of the over 200.000$ it has raised -- she has given 10,000. 1 To lisa Murkowski and I am not sure who the other person is.



Maybe it's her personal Shopper at Bergdorf's who is running for Community college class president?



Comment by BobR on 07/19/2009 15:36:27
I'm not sure I understand the outrage over Amazon... they accidentally sold books that they didn't have the rights for, so they recalled them and refunded the customers. Would it be any less "creepy" if they were asking customers to send back a paper book?

Comment by Raine on 07/19/2009 16:11:35
Comment by Raine on 07/19/2009 16:21:39
I think Sara has been Drunk tweeting again: @AKGovSarahPalin From sealife near lush wet rainforests to energy housed under frozen tundra atop permafrost,God most creatively displays His diversity in AK



:huh:

Comment by livingonli on 07/19/2009 16:33:10
Hello everyone. A quick hit and run since I am heading to work a little early today.



What really scares me is the fact that Texas has such control over what textbooks come out throughout the country since they are mass produced and in order for them to produce enough books, they have to give in to Texas low standards of education and high standards of ignorance.

Comment by clintster on 07/19/2009 16:59:11
I'll try to time this right. Apollo 11 today:



12:58 p.m.- The crew is informed by Mission Control: "We're 23 minutes away from the LOI (Lunar Orbit Insertion) burn. Flight Director Cliff Charlesworth is polling flight controllers for its status now." Then quickly, seconds later: "You are go for LOI." Aldrin replies: "Roger, go for LOI."

Comment by Raine on 07/19/2009 17:15:03


Comment by clintster on 07/19/2009 19:56:08
40 years ago, right now:



3:56 p.m.- A 35-minute telecast of the Moon's surface begins. Passing westward along the eastern edge of the Moon's visible side, the camera is focused especially on the area chosen as a landing site.


Comment by Mondobubba on 07/19/2009 21:51:22
Quote by Raine:







:rofl:

Comment by Mondobubba on 07/19/2009 22:01:53
Quote by Raine:

Speaking of Books, This Texas Textbook Story scares the shit out of me.









So goes Texas, so goes the rest of the country textbook wise. Texas is the single largest purchaser of textbooks in the country and the wing nuts know it. This is why they are so hell bent on injected the crap into the books.



Speaking of wing nuts, I had some fun with one on the Facebook. He was responding to a friend of mine's comments about the passing of Walter Cronkite. Said wing nut even included a link to a David Podhoretz blog posting about Cronkite, saying it was an "honest appraisal of Cronkite." As we well know, Podhoretz has never had an honest thought in his life. I pointed out in my response that when Cronkite came back from Viet Nam and said the war was un-winnable, he was following what by 1968 had become a majority opinion of the country. Media elite shaping American opinion my !



Here's Podhoretz's intellectually dishonesty in full. I could go on at length why his assertions about Tet are totally wrong, but I've got things to do.

Comment by clintster on 07/19/2009 22:11:45
More Apollo 11 goodness. Tomorrow should be legen... wait for it... dary!



6:57 p.m.- Armstrong and Aldrin crawl through the tunnel into the lunar module to give it another check. The spacecraft is orbiting the Moon every two hours.


Comment by Raine on 07/19/2009 22:52:22
Quote by Mondobubba:

Quote by Raine:

Speaking of Books, This Texas Textbook Story scares the shit out of me.









So goes Texas, so goes the rest of the country textbook wise. Texas is the single largest purchaser of textbooks in the country and the wing nuts know it. This is why they are so hell bent on injected the crap into the books.



So are we to roll over and accept it?



Texas, btw has the is the single largest PUBLISHER-- inside of their state. Big diff, Mondo.







Comment by Raine on 07/19/2009 23:04:06
Quote by clintster:

More Apollo 11 goodness. Tomorrow should be legen... wait for it... dary!



6:57 p.m.- Armstrong and Aldrin crawl through the tunnel into the lunar module to give it another check. The spacecraft is orbiting the Moon every two hours.
Keep bringing it on Clint!I love these updates!



Ya wanna do a blog tomorrow? (isn't that the big day?) I get the feeling I will not do it justice.. ...







Comment by Raine on 07/19/2009 23:09:44
Quote by Raine:

Quote by Mondobubba:

Quote by Raine:

Speaking of Books, This Texas Textbook Story scares the shit out of me.









So goes Texas, so goes the rest of the country textbook wise. Texas is the single largest purchaser of textbooks in the country and the wing nuts know it. This is why they are so hell bent on injected the crap into the books.



So are we to roll over and accept it?



Texas, btw has the is the single largest PUBLISHER-- inside of their state. Big diff, Mondo.





Let me make this more clear---

We have a SMALL choice of textbook publishers. We have a smaller choice of those that BUY textbooks.



The bigger question is how Texas gained so much power,



Comment by clintster on 07/19/2009 23:31:48
Quote by Raine:

Quote by clintster:

More Apollo 11 goodness. Tomorrow should be legen... wait for it... dary!



6:57 p.m.- Armstrong and Aldrin crawl through the tunnel into the lunar module to give it another check. The spacecraft is orbiting the Moon every two hours.
Keep bringing it on Clint!I love these updates!



Ya wanna do a blog tomorrow? (isn't that the big day?) I get the feeling I will not do it justice.. ...









Sure! I'll whip something up tonight.



BTW, tonight is my (and Mrs. C's) 6th anniversary. Happy anny, honey! I love you.

Comment by Raine on 07/20/2009 02:14:24
Quote by clintster:

Quote by Raine:

Quote by clintster:

More Apollo 11 goodness. Tomorrow should be legen... wait for it... dary!



6:57 p.m.- Armstrong and Aldrin crawl through the tunnel into the lunar module to give it another check. The spacecraft is orbiting the Moon every two hours.
Keep bringing it on Clint!I love these updates!



Ya wanna do a blog tomorrow? (isn't that the big day?) I get the feeling I will not do it justice.. ...









Sure! I'll whip something up tonight.



BTW, tonight is my (and Mrs. C's) 6th anniversary. Happy anny, honey! I love you.
AWESOME



And even MORE AWESOME --- HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Guys!



( I have it on very good authority that Mr and Mrs Clintser are quite the awesome couple!)

:heart: :heart:


Comment by Raine on 07/20/2009 02:17:50
Quote by Raine:

@NASA Minor inconvenience - 1 of 3 toilets, the U.S. one in Destiny, temporarily is out of order. Crew can use the Russian and shuttle toilets.
For some reason that just sounds funny.
Now I know why...



From Andy Borowitz: Forty years ago: Man lands on moon. Today: Toilet on space shuttle breaks. No comment.



I just knew there was a joke in there... This is why I am not a pro, I can sniff the funny out-- I just can't close the deal.



Comment by Mondobubba on 07/20/2009 02:30:59




Yo! The Large Hadron Collider gets a rap! :throws awkward white guy gang sign:

Comment by Raine on 07/20/2009 02:33:55
Comment by Raine on 07/20/2009 02:37:16
Quote by Mondobubba:





Yo! The Large Hadron Collider gets a rap! :throws awkward white guy gang sign:


I this.





Science ROX.

Comment by Mondobubba on 07/20/2009 02:40:50
Quote by Raine:

Quote by Mondobubba:





Yo! The Large Hadron Collider gets a rap! :throws awkward white guy gang sign:


I this.





Science ROX.




Ain't it. Now explain what anti-matter is!