Ira Gerswhin, the brother of George Gershwin, was born on this day in 1896. In the introduction to his collection of lyrics, he wrote, "Any resemblance to actual poetry, living or dead, is highly improbable." Two of his most famous songs are "I've Got Rhythm" and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off". Ira once heard a radio announcer say, "Here is a new song by George Gershwin and his lovely wife Ira."

Wouldn't it be nice if the old man in a dress known as The Pope had a change of heart in his final days and decided to focus on ending world hunger instead of on condemning homosexuality and encouraging everyone to not use condoms--including millions of powerless women in Africa who are being infected with AIDS.

Religion can be a wonderful thing, but it can also be used as an oppressive tool to maintain power. Speaking of which, I wonder how Canadian Alliance MPs Larry Spencer, Maurice Vellacott, etc. would look in a dress.

"I believe that whatever degree of talent I possess is a gift and must be treated as such. To misuse one's talent, to be cavalier about it, to set it aside because of fear or sloth is unpardonable." - James Lee Burke

What I learned from CBC Radio today:

Some experts say that Nigeria is the second most corrupt country in the world.

[I wonder what the most corrupt country is.]

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has won a British award for being the worst mangler of the English language. The Plain English Campaign has given this year's "Foot in Mouth Award" to Rumsfeld for statements he made about the hunt for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction:

"Reports that say something hasn't happened are interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know."

Today in Asia:

Two Amnesty International researchers have arrived in Burma (Myanmar) to investigate the human rights situation there, especially concerning the large number of political prisoners who have been jailed by the ruling military junta.

It's not clear yet whether they'll be allowed to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy, which won a national election in 1990 but was not allowed to take power. She is currently under house arrest.
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I chose to go to Burma last year because Aung San Suu Kyi had been released from house arrest and was optimistic about the future, partly because the number of political prisoners who were being released had increased. Let's hope that the situation improves again!

T.C. Boyle's description of writing:

"First you have nothing, and then, astonishingly, after ripping out your brain and heart and betraying your friends and ex-lovers and dreaming like a zombie over the page till you can't hear or smell or taste, you have something."

What I learned from CBC Radio today:

The average British family spends 5% of its food budget on chocolate.

Mark Twain (Samuel Longhorn Clemens) was born on this day in 1835. His visits to Africa and Asia convinced him that a God who allowed Christians to believe they were better than "savages" was a God he wanted no part of.