Author's archive
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” (Updated) 0
Be polite to your neighbors.
Police say the man was about to clean the gun, when it fired, sending a bullet through the wall and striking the woman living next door in the head.
Police say the victim was shot in the head while laying next to her husband.
And another gun that mysteriously fired itself . . . .
Guns and stupid, guns and stupid,
They go together live love and Cupid.
Let me tell you, brother,
You can’t have one without the other.
Addendum:
We got talking about these “I was cleaning my gun” shootings during my quarterly visit to the barbershop. Those of us who know how handle firearms find them puzzling.
As I drove away, I realized that, in many cases, “cleaning my gun” is likely a euphemism for “having ammosexual relations with my gun.”
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Writing at Raw Story, Chauncey Devega explores the fealty of many white folks to the Stars and Bars and all it stands for. He minces no words.
A nugget:
Speaking as one who grew up under Jim Crow, whose ancestors “held” (as the saying went) slaves and wore the grey, and who did not figure out why the local health center had four bathrooms and two water fountains until much later than he should have, I urge you to read the whole thing.
Rule of Lawless 0
Facebook Frolics 0
At The Denver Post, Diane Carman explains that the blame doesn’t lie only with Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, and their ilk. A snippet (follow the link for the rest):
Which brings us to the real problem.
Us.
Here’s the deal. You know that advertisement for overpriced slippers that keeps coming at you whenever you access your digital newspaper subscription or perform a Google search or check Facebook? At some point you innocently click on the ad to see what it’s all about, and then they’ve got you. The ads keep coming. And pretty soon you think you really need another pair of slippers even if they cost 150 bucks and, after all, they’re still just slippers.
You’ve been played.
A really really good con job is still a con job. Persons who stay aware and do their homework generally do not let themselves get conned.
The same goes for societies.
No Raise for the Weary 0
And this surprises you how?
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness builds strong relationships.
While she was being treated, police found her 24-year-old boyfriend dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.
What’s Cohen On? 0
Shaun Mullen wraps up this week in the Trumpling.
In Other Words, DHS Wants To Be like Facebook 0
If you have trouble viewing the embed, follow this link.
Aside:
Damn computers. They expect u to splet stuf rite.
Doms and Subs 0
David Pakman tries to understand Pat Robertson’s fantasy world.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Cleanliness is next to politeness.
The bullet passed through Sidwell’s left hand and shot 30-year-old Jeremy Sidwell in the right arm.
Anyone who is too stupid to ensure a gun is unloaded before starting to clean it is ipso facto too stupid to be allowed near a gun.
Q. E. D.
QOTD 0
Robert van Gulik:
If we ever succeeded in reaching the utmost of what we are longing for, there would be a sense of surfeit.
van Gulik, Robert, The Phantom of the Temple (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), p. 131.
Recommended Reading 0
The Iliad and the Odyssey, translated by Samuel Butler.
I have tried to read translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey a number of times and have not been able to get through them. I found the celebrated Rouse translations boring to the point of impenetrability.
I stumbled over a copy of Samuel Butler’s translation at AFK Books and recommend it highly. He makes the correct compromises between faithfulness to the original Greek and English idiom.
There will still be elements of the translation that the contemporary reader might find difficult, because of the cultural divide. The catalog of ships, for example, might have had great significance for the Ancient Greeks, whereas the contemporary American reader could care less (sort of like the “begats” in the Bible spoke to ancient Hebrews, but not to contemporary readers of the Christian Bible).
Nevertheless, if you want a readable version of the Homeric classics, Butler’s translation is a good place to start. And it’s worth the effort.