First Looks category archive

Remember, my ancestors wore the gray.

Follow the link.

The first part of the Great Lie
Is to deny
That slavery was savage, barbaric—
Instead, bleating and placating
With soft metaphor and subtle explication
That so many owners were good and kind,
And most slaves redeemably well-treated,
Never whipped, never maimed,
Never shipped into coffle lines,
Iron masks or necklaces of horns,
But lofted with warmed clothes, adorned quarters,
And a living comfortable and soft.

There was nothing nice, no kindness, no benevolence, to chattel slavery.

George Fitzhugh said, Cannibals All.

I say to George Fitzhugh and his contemporary apologists, Liars All.

If you can take a liberty away from one simply because you don’t like him, you can take it away from everyone.

From the The Virginia Act For Establishing Religious Freedom, authored by Thomas Jefferson:

Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.

Excerpt:

This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the Founders must endure.

Domestic terrorism.

I’m staying out of Massachusetts. All I have to do to get poison ivy is look at it.

Also, global warming:

An unusually moist spring and a hot summer have conspired to produce a particularly abundant crop of poison ivy this year, leaving more Massachusetts residents than usual scratching their skin raw.

Scientists believe the plant might also be gaining in potency because, especially in cities, it is thriving on increasing carbon dioxide levels, partly the result of burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests.

Leonard Pitts, Jr. on Anne Rice’s deciding to forsake Christianity so as to cleave to Christ:

To put that another way: The Christian Bible contains numerous exhortations to serve those who are wretched and poor, to anger slowly and forgive promptly, to walk through this life in humility and faith. The word Republican does not appear in the book. Not once.

Yet somehow in the last 30 years, people of faith were hoodwinked into regarding the GOP platform as a lost gospel. Somehow, low taxes for the wealthy and deregulation of industry became the very message of Christ. Somehow, hostility to science, gays, Muslims, and immigrants became the very meaning of faith. And somehow Christianity came to seem a wholly owned subsidiary of the Republican Party.

Consider that, after the 2004 election, a church in North Carolina made news for kicking out nine congregants because they voted for Democrat John Kerry. Has atheism ever had better salesmen than Jerry Falwell, who blamed the Sept. 11 attacks on the ACLU, or Pat Robertson, who ascribed Haiti’s earthquake to an ancient curse?

Taking the day off, at least most of it.

More here.

I’ll have a Scotch on the rocks with a glass of drugs on the side (emphasis added):

The (water quality test–ed.) results, provided in response to a request from The News Journal, show smatterings of medicines ranging from analgesics and antibiotics to anti-convulsives and hormones in water used both by public and private companies, including all three of New Castle County’s largest public utilities and major suppliers in Kent and Sussex counties.

None of the medications detected at water intakes and treatment plants is regulated, and none is targeted or routinely removed by current treatment methods. detection ranged from caffeine and analgesics in United Water Delaware’s big freshwater intake near Stanton to micro-bits of synthetic estrogen in a Seaford well.

I’m betting Delaware is not alone in this.

In a few years, I reckon folks will know whether the “smatterings” are significant enough to cause harm.

Happy 49th.

Non carborundum illegitimi.

I know these folks. Ever since I first met them, they has been planning and talking about this, taking pains to play by the rules and do everything within the law and above board.

And now they are twisting slowy in the wind.

Family business.

Back tomorrow.

Via Inverse Square.

Customers:

Bankster:

BBC:

A man accused of murdering his girlfriend has refused to continue giving evidence because he needed a cigarette.

The judge adjourned the trial till tomorrow. It appears that there are no smoking areas at the courthouse.

I smoked for years. It is a nasty, dirty, dangerous habit, which delivers a little bit of pleasure now for a lot of hurt later. I support banning smoking in public places.

Nevertheless, tobacco is still a legal product; this smoking-areas-not-allowed is really going too far.

At the Guardian, Robert Skildelsky explains why Keynes was right and “classical economists” are wrong.

In Philadelphia, where else?

Unlike the one in Philly, this duck boat accident was on dry land:

A duck boat touring downtown Boston yesterday suffered a brake problem and was not able to stop before it plowed into six other vehicles, injuring five people, State Police said.

According to the story, the fuse box fell out from under the dashboard and jammed the brake pedal.

Thoreau defines Kool-Aid, as in “drank the Kool-Aid.” His summary. Follow the link for his reasoning:

So I guess that’s what the “kool-aid” is about: It’s about adopting a new idea, and treating whatever it is that you do (teaching or something else) as a way of adhering to the idea, rather than treating the idea as something that helps you do what you do.

And why should I care?

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