Imperial Awards 2005

Just in time for the new year, here is my roundup of notable people and other things, both good and bad, of 2005. I may add to the list, for example if I see a movie that deserves to be listed under "Imperial Movies." Also note that no one is listed under more than one category. People who could fit under two or more categories are placed in the one I think is most suitable for them.

The Imperial Awards of 2005 A.D.

People of the year: It's a tie between Pope Benedict XVI and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Worst people of the year:
John E. Jones III, the Pennsylvania judge who ruled that nothing but evolution can be taught in public schools
Cindy Sheehan, the "Peace Mom" who annoyed President Bush outside his ranch
The Rocha and Grantski families for being publicly rude to Scott Peterson, and Judge Alfred Delucci for sentencing him to death (go to http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/16/peterson16.TMP to see what they said at the sentencing)

Politicians of the year:
Harriet Miers
John Roberts
Samuel Alito
Rick Santorum for his accurate and insightful comments about the link between the pedophile priest scandal and Massachusetts's acceptance of gay rights

Athletes of the year: the New England Patriots and Giacomo, winner of the Kentucky Derby

Criminals of the year (there seem to a lot, but here are the most notable):
Saddam Hussein
Scott Peterson
Eric Rudolph
Dennis Rader, also known as B.T.K.
Daniel Pelosi
Stephen Barbee
Mark Hacking

In memoriam:
Pope John Paul II
William Rhenquist
Stanley Tookie Williams
Rosa Parks

The Imperial Movie Awards:

Imperial movies:
The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Because of Winn-Dixie
War of the Worlds

Imperial actors:
The cast of "The Chronicles of Narnia"
The cast of "Because of Winn-Dixie"
Tom Felton, Jason Isaacs, and Alan Rickman for "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
Dakota Fanning for "War of the Worlds"
AnnaSophia Robb and Julia Winter for "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"

Peterson, Sausage King, and Hammer

Today, the parents of famous murderer Scott Peterson have hired two lawyers, Cliff Gardner and Lawrence Gibbs, to handle their son's appeals. These two lawyers also represent Lyle and Eric Menendez, the brothers from Beverly Hills who murdered their parents in 1989. Scott's father, Lee, says that "Since he is innocent, we don't want him sitting there any longer than he has to." On average, it takes five to six years for the state to assign appeals attorneys to death row inmates, so Peterson, who has only been on death row since March 2005, has gotten a lawyer relatively promptly. Although the Petersons could have allowed Mark Geragos, who defended Scott in his criminal trial, to handle his appeals as well, Geragos believes that the case needs "a fresh set of eyes."

Also, murderer Stuart Alexander, known as the "Sausage King" was found dead in his cell at San Quentin prison. San Quentin, of course, is the same prison that Scott Peterson calls home, and in fact, prison spokesman Vernell Crittendon has stated that he was considering assigning Peterson and the Sausage King to the same exercise yard because he believed they'd get along well. However, I don't know if Scott and the Sausage King were actually put in the same group, or if they became friends. The Sausage King gets his nickname from his occupation. He was a sausage maker who killed three government meat inspectors in 2000. He was sentenced to death and was placed in a maximum surveillance cell because he was known to have mental problems and was likely to commit suicide.

In other news, murderer David Hammer, who had been sentenced to death for strangling his cellmate, was given a new penalty phase yesterday. Evidence had been discovered that indicated that the crime was not premeditated. It is an interesting coincidence that after he killed his cellmate, Hammer became a close friend of Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh when they were both incarcerated at the federal death row prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Hammer had a cell next to McVeigh's, and they were such good friends that Hammer actually tried to commit suicice at the time of McVeigh's execution in June 2001. Hammer tried to kill himself by avoiding taking medication for his diabetes, but the suicide attempt was discovered and stopped by prison guards.

Bush and Benedict's holiday plans

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and got everything they wanted. Yesterday President Bush telephoned nine soldiers to wish them a merry Christmas Eve. Today, Pope Benedict gave an excellent Christmas speech about the dangers of technology and materialism. He spoke in English for at least part of his speech, and he has a wonderful German accent. He seems to be a great orator.

Bellhorn, Rummy, and Benedict

Oops, I take back my comment that Damon and Bellhorn will be on the same team. Stupidly, I just found out that on December 23, Mark joined the San Diego Padres. Now he'll be with Doug Mirabelli. It'll be Belly and Belli! Hopefully Bellhorn will grow his hair longer now that the Yankees can't force him to keep it short. I always though he looked better with long hair.

In other news, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld paid a Christmas Eve visit to the troops in Iraq, just like he did last year! Maybe it'll become a tradition. Additionally, our glorious pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, held his first midnight mass as pope.

Great job to Mark, Rummy, and Benedict!

Christmas Eve news and history

Today, for the first time in six years, Christian pilgrims are going to Bethlehem, Jesus's birthplace, to celebrate. Before, the pilgrimages were impossible because of violence (which isn't surprising because Bethlehem is in the Middle East).

Today in history, the War of 1812 ended with the Treaty of Ghent in 1814, and the Ku Klux Klan was founded by former Confederate cavalryman Nathan Bedford Forrest in 1865. Also, three years ago in 2002, Scott Peterson reported that his pregnant wife, Laci, was missing. As most people know, it is a commonly held (and correct) belief that Scott killed his wife either on Christmas Eve morning or the night of December 23. Additionally, one year ago on this date, everyone's favorite Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, paid a surprise visit to American troops in the most dangerous parts of Iraq. Finally, I would like to wish a happy birthday in advance to Jesus Christ, who will be celebrating his birthday tomorrow! Have a happy Christmas Eve and Merry Christmas, everyone!

Wonderful "Narnia" review

On a more positive note, I saw the amazing "Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" last Sunday. Here's my review of this glorious movie:

This movie is excellent. The acting is amazing. All four children are innocent and fun to watch, and each has a unique personality. Lucy is wide-eyed and imaginative, Edmund is endearingly conflicted, Susan is prim and intelligent, and Peter is brave. Lucy's facial expressions are particularly good. Jadis, the white witch, is appropriately evil, and Aslan, the lion king of Narnia, is dignified and majestic.

The special effects are also excellent. The animals, including Aslan, are realistic, and the battles are exciting. The music is beautiful, and the pacing is fine. Although the movie feels slightly rushed on very few occasions, I appreciate the fact that the beginning is not rushed. The scenery is beautiful, and the lighting works well in both the scenes that take place at night and those that take place during the day. Additionally, the cinematography perfectly captures the majesty of Narnia. The close-ups are particularly excellent, as they capture the actors' wonderful facial expressions. The costumes, both those of Narnia and of World War II-era England, are glorious and suit the characters well.

"The Chronicles of Narnia" possesses an innocent, glorious beauty similar to that of "The Polar Express" and the first two Harry Potter movies. It surpasses "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" in acting, pacing, visual effects, cinematography, and costumes. Out of the thousands of movies that have been made throughout history, most are mediocre, and some possess true magic. "Narnia" is one of the latter.

You can also see this review at http://imdb.com/title/tt0363771/usercomments-665

Anti-Christian discrimination in MA

This is one of the worst atrocities I have heard of in a long time. According to Fox News, students in the town of Medway, Massachusetts are forbidden from displaying any Christmas symbols at school, and their holiday pageant had no mention of Christmas - but get this - the pageant included songs about both Hanukkah and Kwanzaa!!!! If this is not discrimination, I don't know what is! For a long time, I have predicted that political correctness would grow so powerful that Christians would be discriminated against. Well, today is the day my prediction came true. I tend to dislike political correctness and liberalism anyways, but this atrocity crosses a line that very few atrocities cross.

Athiests win in Pennsylvania!

Yet another news bulletin I forgot to add earlier: a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled that intelligent design should not be taught in public schools. This ridiculous ruling is an insult to philosophers and patriotic Americans! John E. Jones III, the judge who made this evil ruling, is helping to mess up the country. How could a reasonable person oppose intelligent design? Clearly, there are good and bad in the world, so there must be at least one extremely powerful good being that created all the good things, and one extremely powerful bad being that created the bad things. The fact that the universe exists is proof that some being willed it into existence. This is a sad landmark in history. In 1925, a court ruled in the Scopes trial that evolution could be taught in schools. Now, a court has ruled that nothing but evolution can be taught in schools! Teachers can't even mention flaws in Darwin's theory! Those individuals who accuse President Bush and other conservatives of suppressing freedom of speech ought to think about how athiests, agnostics, and other liberals are suppressing freedom of speech. In some places, school choruses, bands, and orchestras can't even sing Christmas songs, towns can't display nativity sets, people are frowned upon for saying "Merry Christmas," and now this! The Pennsylvania ruling is another indication that athiests, not Christians, have most of the power.

Peterson doesn't get insurance money

Here's a bit of news that I should have posted earlier but forgot to: on December 19, a judge ruled that murderer Scott Peterson is not entitled to his wife's life insurance money. Instead, the money will go to Sharon Rocha, Laci's mother. At an earlier court hearing in October, the judge awarded the money to Rocha because Peterson's lawyers failed to show up for court. However, the ruling was annulled at the request of Peterson's lawyers, who were clearly confused about when they were supposed to show up! At the December 19 hearing, Peterson's lawyer, Pat Harris, did a good job arguing that Rocha should not get the money until Peterson's appeals are exhausted, but, not surprisingly, the judge decided to give Rocha the money because Peterson was convicted of murdering his wife.

Damon goes to Yankees! (and Saddam news)

H-E-double-toothpicks has frozen over! Former Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon is now a member of the New York Yankees! I was shocked to find this news in today's paper, as I never expected him to go to the Yankees. I always thought Damon would probably re-sign with the Sox, like Varitek did last year. Disappointing, but at least he'll be on the same team as his buddy, Mark Bellhorn!

In other news, at his mass murder trial today, Saddam Hussein accused American guards of beating him in prison! I've read that he enjoyed talking to the guards and that they were nice to him, but you never know, there could have been some that weren't very nice!

Romney for president?

Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts has announced that he will not run for reelection in 2006. Does this mean he'll be running for president? I might vote for him, depending on what other Republicans are running. I would rather vote for Condi Rice than for Mitt, but he would still make a decent president. To improve his chances for the presidency, Mitt should be more passionate in his opposition to gay marriage!

In other news, Congress has approved and made permanent the remaining portions of the Patriot Act that were set to expire. So far, the Act has not interfered with my rights or the rights of anyone I know. Only time will tell if its success at preventing terrorism will be worth the price of some of our freedoms.

Tookie, Ford, Saddam, and Peterson

As planned, Tookie Williams was executed in the middle of last night. In other news, former president Gerald Ford, who is 92 years old, was hospitalized for a very bad cold. Let's hope he gets well soon!

Now for this day in history: two years ago Saddam Hussein was discovered hiding in a spider hole and was captured by U.S. troops. Additionally, one year ago a jury unjustly recommended the death penalty for Scott Peterson. A month earlier, the same jury convicted him in the murders of his pregnant wife and unborn son. In my opinion, Scott does not deserve death. He clearly did not want to be married or have a baby, and his wife had no right to pressure him into it. The fact that Scott was trying to escape a situation his wife had forced him into should certainly be considered a mitigating factor, but clearly the jury did not agree with me!

Tookie will be executed

A quick news bulletin: California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger denied murderer Stanley "Tookie" Williams' plea for clemency, and Williams will be executed at 12:01 A. M., California time.

Danni wins Survivor

On yesterday's season finale of Survivor: Guatemala, Danni Boatwright became the sole survivor and won $1 million. This was the eleventh season of survivor. During the episode, the four remaining tribe members got a visit from some Mayans, who performed a ceremony in which they sacrificed a chicken to the earth. Later, the tribe members decided to eat the chicken, disrespecting the wishes of the Maya gods! There was a huge storm immediately after they ate the chicken. Could it have been the wrath of the gods? At first, I though Rafe might win, because he was the only person who did not eat the chicken, but I am glad Danni won. She was one of the nicer contestants, and she played the game well.

Red Sox and other news

The Red Sox have traded catcher Doug Mirabelli for second baseman Mark Loretta from the Padres and acquired third baseman Andy Marte from the Braves for shortstop Edgar Renteria. Considering that the Sox have already gotten rid of Hanley Ramirez and will probably trade Manny Ramirez, Kevin Millar, Bill Mueller, or one of many other veteran players, it seems that the team is going to be completely different next season. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since I thought that last season, the team was just missing something - they were simply not as good as they used to be.

In other news, "The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" is being released today. I've been looking forward to this movie for a long time, and I hope it will be good. When I see it, I will post my review. I have a feeling it'll beat the new Harry Potter, but I'll pass my final judgement once I've seen it.

Also, yesterday Congress decided to renew most of the Patriot Act. They still must decide on a few portions, including the part that gives the government easier access to bookstore and library records.

And finally, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger held a hearing yesterday to determine whether or not to pardon convicted murderer Stanley "Tookie" Williams. Williams killed four people and founded a notorious gang called the Crips, but in jail he chagned his views and wrote children's books about the dangers of gangs. He was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times! I predict that Arnold will decide not to pardon Williams, but we'll have to wait and see. Just for some useless information, did you know that San Quentin prison, where Williams lives, is home to a bunch of other infamous murderers, such as Scott Peterson, Richard Allen Davis, David Westerfield, Charles Ng, Marcus Wesson, and Richard Ramirez? Well, now you know!

Pearl Harbor day

On December 7th, 1941, Japan bombed the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, causing America to join World War II on the side of the Allied Powers. President Franklin Roosevelt called it "a date that will live on in infamy," and all Americans should remember the historical significance of this day. Also, a Saddam update for today: the Iraqi dictator followed through on yesterday's threat and did indeed fail to show up for court. I wonder what his punishment will be!

Saddam behaving badly

Today, during his trial for human rights violations, Saddam Hussein lost his temper again, threatening not to report to court tomorrow. "I will not return," yelled the former Iraqi dictator, "I will not come to an unjust court!" Yesterday, Saddam behaved equally badly as witnesses were describing a massacre that occurred in 1982 in the town of Dujail as retalliation for an assassination attempt. "Do you want the neck of Saddam Hussein?" he asked defiantly, "Then have it." Saddam's half-brother, Barzan al-Tikriti, has also had angry outbursts during the trial, including one time when he asked the judge, "Why don't you just execute us?" The judge finally cracked down on Saddam when the dictator told him that "When the revolution of the heroic Iraq arrives, you will be held accountable." The judge angrily replied that Saddam's comment was "a provocation of the court."

Napoleon's Coronation

Today is a glorious day in history! On December 2nd, 1804, Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France. He was only thirty-five years old - relatively young for an emperor. Napoleon was an amazing leader who created the second-largest empire in history (after Adolf Hitler) and developed the Napoleonic Code, a system of laws that still forms the basis for France's legal system today. Go, Napoleon!

Afleet Alex retires

Afleet Alex, the winner of the 2004 Preakness and Belmont Stakes, is retiring from racing. Alex's trainer has said that the horse is retiring because of an ankle injury that was probably caused by his near fall in the Preakness back in May. The injury occurred when rival racehorse Scrappy T almost knocked Afleet Alex down on the turn toward the homestretch. Despite this, Alex amazingly managed to win the race and then went on to win the Belmont by seven lengths. He showed no signs of injury until recently. Hopefully, this great horse will enjoy his well-earned retirement.