Irony Can Be So Ironic

The British definition of irony is "the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning," whereas the American definition is "the property of being like iron." Either way, irony can be so ironic.

Last week Amazon remotely deleted editions of George Orwell's 1984 from the kindles of folks who had purchased them.

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.

In these electronic times, this feels like personal betrayal. We order from Amazon as often as we e-mail our siblings. Amazon has become something akin to a member of the family, you know, like a big brother to us all.

So, let me see if I understand the Sotomayer hearings properly...We have the first African-American President, raised by a single mother who would get him up at 4 in the morning to get extra time in on his school work which allowed him to go to Columbia and Harvard Law, nominating the first Latina for the High Court, who came from poverty in the projects of the Bronx with parents who so stressed education that her brother became a physician and she went to Yale Law before becoming a federal judge, only to have less intelligent, less qualified, rich white guys complain that her appointment shows the problems with affirmative action.

Just a week after the death of Oscar Mayer (brothers and sisters, our beloved departed had a first name, it was O-S-C-A-R,...), the Wienermobile crashes into the side of a house. I've heard that geese mate for life and when one dies, the other is not long for this world. But please, Wienermobile, try to be strong. None of us relish the idea of going it alone and your beloved Mr. Mayer faced life with all the verve he could have mustard. But this self-destructive behavior may catsup with you the next time because the insurance company may not be around to pull your buns out of the fire.