2018 archive
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness is child’s play.
The story continues to say that the 4-year-old that the gun was a toy.
QOTD 0
Robert van Gulik:
Judge Dee stroked his beard. He reflected that is host was an extremely astute man. He said so much that he said practically nothing.
van Gulik, Robert, The Chinese Maze Murders (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1997), p. 145.
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
At the Bangor Daily News, Stefano Tijerina pens a lengthy analysis of what he believes has gone wrong with news coverage. He suggests that the primary issue is not “fake news,” but a much broader one of “useless news,” arguing that accuracy and well-reasoned analysis have been sacrificed to entertainment value and ratings.
As with a piece I posted a couple of days ago, I quibble that he uses the term “media” when the context of the piece shows clearly that his primary focus is broadcast media, particularly television. Nevertheless, the piece is well worth a read. Here’s an excerpt (emphasis added):
Today global media and its professionals are motivated by market value systems that have replaced the integrity of the profession. Media relies less and less on research and more on speculation camouflaged by invited guests and “experts” that magically predict and loosely interpret the basic facts and rumors of the day. For example, instead of thoroughly explaining to the public the degree of interdependence that exists between the North American Free Trade (NAFTA) agreement partnership and the complexity of dismantling the trade agreement that has resulted in an energy, pipeline, telecommunications, infrastructure and industrial trilateral integration, media opts to water down the information in order to simplistically argue that either the Trump administration policies on NAFTA are good or bad.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness is essential to domestic tranquility.
Fly the Fiendly Skies 0
Lay off those double vodka-and-tonics.
Words fail me.
Recommended Reading 0
Poets and Murder, by Robert van Gulik.
I think it is easily van Gulik’s best novel.
Okay, so I’m a mystery buff. But I will note that Robert van Gulik’s stories are reputed to give the best picture of day-to-day life in ancient China available to English readers. That is a tribute to van Gulik’s skill, as van Gulik was a Dutch diplomat and scholar who wrote in English.
Russian Impulses 0
Shaun Mullen takes a look at where we are this week and what might be to come.
The Lie of the Land 0
My local rag’s editorial today is certain to provoke a reaction. I look forward to an outpouring of Lost Cause bilge in the week’s Letters to the Editor. Indeed, the fun has already started in the online comments.
Here’s a bit to give you an idea of why:
The same goes for schools or public buildings named for leaders of the rebellion. Surely a community can identify other figures more deserving of such tribute.
At the very least, cities and counties should be free to make these decisions independent of Richmond’s consent. Lawmakers need to get out of the way.
I realized this morning even before I opened the paper, that one (not the only one certainly, but one) of the dynamics in the refusal of the Secesh, old and new, to recognize that the Old South was built on cruelty, exploitation, and theft of labor; that the narrative of racial superiority was created as an elaborate rationale so the exploiters could tell themselves and others that what they were doing was not only okay, but divinely ordained.
Persons now do not want to admit even to themselves what their ancestors did (and they still like the idea of theft of labor), so they perpetuate and nourish the lie.
The lie will live until white Americans cease the denial and make peace with the history they have, not the history they made up.