Wow, another year has gone by and I end up on this blog once more. Go figure. Well, I do not know how current this will stay but I'll try. Most of the info here will come from my Livejournal and Flickr but I may just throw in whatever in here. Myspace will be playing second, if not third or fourth fiddle to those.

A happy New Year to you all. May the pains of the old one wash away like those unwanted gifts from the holidays. We start this New Year by:

Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was executed and later a video of the execution was leaked, leading to further cries that the trial was a show and the excecution was nohting more than a spectacle violating the Geneva Convention. But we've been down that road before and last time I checked, Congress had given up it's balls to the president and had allowed him to decide how he would interpret the Geneva Convention.

Corporate CEO's continue to make the big bucks even when critizised or fired. In another example of "runaway executive pay", Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli was given a $210 million severance package after being driven out. Supporters of high executive pay state that pay reflects the need to hire talented individuals, many of whom would rather go to private firms where disclosure is unnecessary and one gets more flexibility.

Democrats officially take control of the House and Senate after being driven out after the "Contract with America". Talk is that Republicans are already feeling sidelined by Democrats, much the same way Democrats complained about Republicans. Democrats taking control of the Senate reminded me of their brief stint as majority pary back in 2001.

Somewhat related, there has recently been a bit of hoopla about congressman-elect Keith Ellison, D-Minn choosing to use the Koran/Qur'an/Quran instead of a bible. Critics may forget that other holy books other than the Bible have been used to be sworn in. Jewish office holders have used the Tanakh, some have used no Bible at all, and what about that a Catholic bible is slightly different than a Protestant bible? One neat interesting bit is that Ellison will use Thomas Jefferson's Koran, a sign of "paying respect to the founding father's religious freedom." Something that some do not mention is that he will use the Koran for his private ceremony, not the official swearing in of the US Congress.

Here in California, our governor broke his leg while on vacation. He will recovering for about two weeks, though he still plans to deliver his State of the State speech which will outline his plan for the next four years. After finding a tough fight as a reformer, it looks like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is going for a legacy like former governor Pat Brown, focusing on massive public works projects. I personally still await high speed rail in the Central Valley, or at least BART extension into Sacramento and Modesto.

Also, during the Rose Parade, George Lucas let us know that he could at any moment take over if he wanted to, as his strom troopers marched down the lane filled with floats from fire breathing dragons to the forest moon of Endor.

In neighboring Mexico, president Calderon has stepped into action, sending federal troops and police to Tijuana to help combat the rising homicide rate related to drug trafficking. Drug trafficking is a violent business, with rival gangs fighting each other and local law enforcement. The results are usually beheadings, 1920's style drive by's, and kidnappings. Calderon is carrying over from former president Fox, who began a more intensive push against the traffickers and made news when he signed a bill decriminilazing small amounts of illegal drugs.


And finally, I had always seen the grim reaper statues when touristing in San Francisco's Chinatown. I always wondered about them. This article has a bit about them.

Comments, opinions, critique? e-mail at jose.g.a.gonzalez@gmail.com or reply on Factualities.