I was reading today about the pledges of aid for victims in the Indian Ocean earthquake and it frankly strikes me as pathetic.

• EU $44m
• US: $35m
• Canada: $33m
• Japan: $30m
• UK: $28.9m
• Australia: $27m
• France: $20.4m
• Denmark: $15.6m
• Saudi Arabia: $10m
• Norway: $6.6m

Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in the world, has offered $100,000; even the despicable Pfizer has given $35m.

More money was spent by many of the presidential nomination candidates than is being offered up by these governments. The scale of the disaster is impossible to comprehend, not just in deaths but in how to clean up the areas and let alone how to rebuild them. It will take a lot more money than is being offered to make even a dent in the problem. People and governments need to start coughing up to help these people.

With that said, I wish you all a Happy New Year.

I saw this sign in Fry’s last night and it got me thinking about whether anyone offers cheap DVDs but doesn’t let you choose ?

Listening to a co-worker giving us a lecture on how to solve the world’s problems (I am lucky to have such an expert on world policy so close by) I am struggling to keep quiet. Why do so many Americans insist on making the vowel at the beginning of country names their own syllable? They don’t say A-merica so why do they insist on saying I-raq ? Argh, and now she is saying A-zores!

One of the more cool Christmas gifts was a copy of the brilliant album A Grand Don’t Come for Free by The Streets. Maybe not quite single of the year but check out the video for (and most importantly the lyrics) to Fit But You Know It

It used to be that just mean people suck but I think the Christmas season shows that all people suck when placed in amongst their fellows. I am tired of searching the mall for a parking spot, finding a gap and then finding that some ignoramus has parked so far over the lines I can’t even get the MINI in the space. I’m tired of being near beaten to death in stores whilst waiting in line to pay, I had to stand here for 20 minutes, you can !&@!ing do the same. And the line won’t move any faster with you stepping on my heels or pushing your boxes into my back. There are no manners anywhere, no courtesy, just selfish arrogance. One really does start to understand why people go live in the hills - give me internet and satellite TV and I am so there.

Google have published their 2004 Year-End Google Zeitgeist , a summary of search activity for the year. A few highlights:

• Most searched term: Britney Spears
• Most popular man: Orlando Bloom
• Most popular sport/hobby: Poker Chips
• Most popular cuisine: Pizza

Go check it out for yourself.