Communism vs. Fascism

A couple of comments questioned my label of domestic spying as communism.

Incomplete Thoughts
I agree that fascism is the term I should have used to describe it. I was thinking more along the lines of what the communist USSR was doing to their citizens and not communism as an ideal. Sometimes when I blog in haste, I forget you don't have the benefit of knowing what I'm thinking.

Ironic how President Reagan fought so vehemently against the Soviet practices, and this president feels completely justified.

Blog Awards
First of all, thank you all for your nominations and the comments some of you have included in your e-mails. I don't have the time to administer the awards and also reply back to everyone, so please excuse me if I don't reply to your comments.

One nominater, whose opinion I value, wrote the following:

"I don't know how set you are on the criteria you will use to choose the finalists, but I strongly urge you to use your own discretion, in addition to popularity of nominations. I've already seen buzz on some knitting lists and boards, and get the impression that a lot of people are basing their nominations on friendship or kissing up, and not on which blogs they earnestly think are best. I'd hate to see a blog make it to the finals because someone has a lot of friends on the Knittyboard, instead of someone who has many fans who appreciate their blog outside of their personal relationship with the blogger. I know it's likely that these awards will turn into a popularity contest of sorts once we get to vote on finalists, but I think it would be fantastic if those who make it to the finals get there based on blog quality, as much as is possible."

Ideally, I would have preferred to have an awards committee that would have helped establish the criteria for nomination, helped choose the nominations and vote on the winners. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to organize that this year, and so I settled for a democratic method. I know it's not perfect, but hopefully it will be better in future years.

Current Knitting
I've finished the first of the two sleeve lengthenings on the wool/hemp sweater, and I'm hoping to finish the second one this weekend (despite all the craziness I'm expecting at home).

I also have to decide on whether I'll go back to the lace design project, or start a new sweater. Since I have off of work next week, I think I'll focus on the lace, but we'll see how it goes.

Merry Christmas
Since this will probably be my last post before Christmas, I hope you all enjoy the holiday (even if you don't celebrate it). I figure with pregnant virgins and flying reindeer, you can't really go wrong with a holiday.