Author's archive
Gradations 0
In a larger discussion about the “warrior gene”* (follow the link–it’s worth your while), Elie Mystal explains the hierarchy of charges involving causing the death of another person.
- First Degree Murder = You killed people.
- Second Degree Murder = You killed people, opportunistically.
- Voluntary Manslaughter = You killed people, but I understand.
- Involuntary Manslaughter = You’re such a dumbass that you actually killed people.
- Self-Defense = You killed black people.
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*The short version is that a certain gene, if present, alters body chemistry so as to make a person less able to resist impulses. The occasion of Mystal’s post is that the theory is being floated as a mitigating circumstance in a particularly horrific killing. Mystal is arguing that the law already recognises mitigating circumstances.
QOTD 0
Edmund Crispin, in the voice of Sergeant Beeton:
But in spite of that, you couldn’t help liking him–same way you would like a cat, provided you keep your pet goldfish out of his reach.
Crispin, Edmund (pen name for Bruce Montgomery), “Black for a Funeral”
in Beware of the Trains (London: Bloomsbury, 2013), p. 98.
But the Emails! 0
David marvels at the hypocrisy.
Afterthought:
David needs to grow up.
Republicanism is all about hypocrisy.
License To Kill 0
Field explains how to distinguish a “good guy with a gun” from a bad guy with a gun.
QOTD 0
Rex Stout, in the voice of Archie Goodwin:
You can’t look down your nose at someone when he is standing and you are sitting.
Stout, Rex, Champagne for One (in a double volume with Too Many Cooks
which if you haven’t read it you should) (New York: Bantam, 2009), p. 147.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
David interviews Professor Pete Simi about Simi’s research into white supremacists.
Rules of Derangement, Reprise 0
Dan Simpson, writing at The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also takes a shot at understanding Donald Trump. A snippet:
Rules of Derangement 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Stanton Peele offers three rules for predicting Donald Trump’s behavior, arguing that they are next to infallible. Here they are; follow the link for an explanation of each one:
- Everything is a victory.
- Any apparent shortfall is due to others.
- Silence anyone who disagrees, or who violates rules 1 and 2.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Be polite while patronizing the big box store:
The man told police that when he tried to reposition his loaded gun and keep it from falling, he shot himself in the groin area.
“Do You, Alexa, Swear To Tell the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth . . . .” 0
From the Internet of Things to the Internet that Sings.
Words Fail Me 0
More stuff you can’t make up in a society that has lost its way.