Friday Ephemera
The price of happiness. || Postmodern Pong. || Paragliding DJ. || The ideal male body. || Logo of note. || Have you licked your eyes today? || Clearly, his are way stretchier than yours. || The thrill of waxing (or, One Man’s Woes). || Nook-dweller detected. || When autogynephile men get off in ladies’ bathrooms. (Not, needless to say, suitable for work). || And nobody helps. || I’m not entirely sure what’s happening here. || Posh pad. Hit ‘walkthrough’ and turn left. (h/t, Julia) || The joys of public transport, part 4,868. || “It’s time to talk about my pronouns.” Because she’s just so damn fascinating. || The progressive retail experience, parts 440, 441, 442, and 443. || Only recruiting the cream. (h/t, pst314) || A cat’s conscience is at best intermittent. || First contact. || And finally, how Marvel shat the bed – one woman’s point of view.
Also, I now have a Twitter account.
I do believe that individual did not seek out a Muslim owned petrol station. Odd that.
You reminded me of this 2020 rant from a black woman enraged that store owners were protecting their property from looters. A common attitude among “African Americans” and white liberal shites.
Took me a minute to realize that was to be read as “…
I blame hoarders at Oxford for the ongoing shortage of commas.
I thought you had the tarpaulins down permanently for the benefit of the henchlesbians.
No, for the benefit of the janitor who must clean up the blood after the henchlesbians are finished.
‘So when you say ‘Mumbai’, in a sense you accept and adopt their agenda whether you know it or not.’ –there are lots of things like that. Take BLM (please): the simplistic black lives matter phrase that whites can’t not agree with, hides organizing riots, unaccounted for millions in donations, communist goals including eliminating the family, complete alignment with the Democrats, etc. Even organized cop killing a few years back.
“inuit”: do all eskimos agree with the phrase? No. It is like the removal of indian names from sports teams–many indians oppose removal, recognizing that they are being erased. The indian maiden on the butter box (“Land ‘o Lakes?”) wasn’t even derogatory. To oppose things that used the old word from before the word change is…nuts.
Too bad some nearby customer didn’t start hosing down those a**hole with gas while loudly calling for a match.
There is a clip out there on the interwebs of someone doing just that to three sc*mbags attempting to car jack him while he’s filling up. It’s amazing because it seems like an automatic action. He’s pumping gas, three dirtballs walk up to him, he knows immediately what’s up and pulls the hose out of the car and starts soaking. When they cop to what’s happened they immediately run away. It’s quite the enjoyable few seconds of video.
To oppose things that used the old word from before the word change is…nuts.
Not at all unrelated…
One for the ladies.
Also not entirely unrelated to either topic, Queue up, gentlemen.
I blame hoarders at Oxford for the ongoing shortage of commas.
They were stolen and flipped upside down by the teachers union.
Queue up, gentlemen.
His placard reads “Transphobia kills.” A more honest placard might read, “Dysmorphia like mine is very often a consequence of some horrific childhood experience, typically molestation, that makes me want to kill myself. The dysmorphia also makes me tragically unhappy – just look at the state of me – and I therefore still struggle with suicidal thoughts. This is somehow your fault.”
Though admittedly, you’d need quite a big placard.
I smell a rat in this wiki description… I have not been able to find what the exact requirements are for a degree in “nuclear engineering, technology and policy”. The “technology and policy” thing seems like a stretch and I was not able to find the requirements/courses for that specific degree at MIT. Repeated searches with modified terms brought up degrees without the “policy” context along with numerous links to two specific individuals. Might anyone here know what that degree entails?
Cream of the crop recruits: Wait until you see who is recruited to join the 87,000 armed IRS agents.
“A little out of my comfort zone” – Funny, but it doesn’t look like it’s out of its comfort zone. Not by a whisker’s width.
Also not entirely unrelated to either topic, Queue up, gentlemen.
Never miss an opportunity to look at such people with open expressions of incredulity and disdain.
Wait until you see who is recruited to join the 87,000 armed IRS agents.
When you are living in a Cargo Cult, such trivial matters are simply not contemplated.
Wait until you see who is recruited to join the 87,000 armed IRS agents.
Joe Swanson and the Flying Karen Squad.
The expiry date is September 2013.
Well matured then and suitable for baking baguette a l’ancienne
I blame hoarders at Oxford for the ongoing shortage of commas.
They were stolen and flipped upside down by the teachers union.
The green’grocers were there first
Lesbians removed from Pride parade.
[goes to kitchen to fix popcorn]
Kevin Williamson is a pompous ass. And like many of his ilk, clueless about the definition of “fascism”.
Whatever you feel about Shiv Sena (essentially similar to SNP, and share the same traits), arguably the main Congress party was closer to being a “fascist” party (incestuos links to media /corporates, practically one party state for a long time)
Multiple Indian cities were renamed, not just Mumbai, and the reasons are not as complicated as he puts it. Various political parties replaced colonial era Anglicised names with original India names. That was it.
Some Indians like me were opposed just because it was pointless and diverted attention from the govt’s performance (or lack of it, which was the idea).
And he is very, very wrong about words. Action matters. Laws matter. Actual violence matters. Much more so than words. And that’s the problem with the West’s academia, press etc – that order has been reversed.
The West was happy supplying massive arms aid, diplomatic support (in the middle of the Bdesh genocide) or set up terror camps for the ISLAMIC REPUBLIC of Pakistan – where minorities were exterminated and the few (1%) remaining treated as subhuman. By law.
And you are worried about evil Yindoos apparently upsetting Muslim feelings by renaming Bombay Mumbai…a city with flourishing minorities such as Parsi, Jains, etc…
What the hell is wrong with you?
The green’grocers were there first
[ Pratchett reader detected. ]
And he is very, very wrong about words. Action matters. Laws matter. Actual violence matters. Much more so than words. And that’s the problem with the West’s academia, press etc – that order has been reversed.
This. In spades.
Kevin Williamson is…like many of his ilk, clueless about the definition of “fascism”.
Please explain: How does he define it, and how is he wrong? And who else do you feel are his ilk?
Shiv Sena (essentially similar to SNP
I think most of David’s readers do not hold the SNP in high regard, and regard it as at least somewhat fascistic.
replaced colonial era Anglicised names with original India names.
My understanding is that “Bombay” derives from a Portuguese name, and was then adopted and mutated by various Indian ethnic groups, much as Italian names have been Anglicized in the past.
And he is very, very wrong about words. Action matters…
Where does he say that actions do not matter? Or that words matter more than actions? Did I give up too soon on that very long talk?
The West was happy supplying massive arms aid…
Not sure why you are ranting to us about events of 50 years ago, and policies that were enacted by people who are now nearly all dead. I was mere child at the time and little awareness and less understanding of world events, especially those in cultures so different from my own. As for condemning a monolithic “the West”, are you sure Western opinion was so uniform?
And you are worried about evil Yindoos…
I’m not as worried and upset as you imply, and I think you are reading far too much into what has been said in this thread.
However, I have on rare occasion read about fascistic anti-Christian incitement and mob violence, anti-Muslim ditto, anti-Hindu ditto, and so on, so it would seem that a perfect multiculturalism has not been achieved. (And in fact that is not surprising, since multiculturalism means differing traditions and mores, and differing means conflicting.)
What the hell is wrong with you?
Calm down.
Hosing thugs down with gas…
Unfortunately, here in California this is difficult or impossible, due to the vapor recovery nozzle design. It cuts off gas flow if the nozzle is not well-seated in the fill pipe.
Another downside of the California nanny culture.
And he is very, very wrong about words. Action matters. Laws matter. Actual violence matters.
Words are no more divorced from the circumstances in which they are produced and the consequent influence or impact they have on all who hear or read them than a fist launched directly into someone’s face is divorced from the circumstances that takes place in.
Also, Wikipedia, not the best source I know, but still, they have this in their page on Shiv Sena:
In January 2016, the Shiv Sena demanded that the words “secular” and “socialist” be “permanently removed” from the Constitution’s Preamble which were added in the 42nd amendment during the emergency
You can offer a correction if you like, obviously, but assuming that Wikipedia is correct here – is that a case of words, or actions, or laws?
Surely it’s all three, which was pretty much the point I made at the start of this reply.
Besides …
Kevin Williamson is a pompous ass … What the hell is wrong with you?
I could rest my case right here to be frank.
The passionate indignation Williams’s comments have provoked in you quite clearly demonstrate that words are not somehow separated off from action.
But there’s one more thing I’d like to point out:
And you are worried about evil Yindoos apparently upsetting Muslim feelings …
The extract from the speech lists six groups that he suggests Shiv Sena wanted to give the finger to: (1) “the national government”, (2) “religious minorities”, (3) “ethnic minorities”, (4) “linguistic minorities”, (5) “foreigners” and then finally (6) “Muslims”.
Now, true enough, he does say “especially to Muslims”, but then again, he was talking about the early 1990s. Since Williamson was born in 1972 he probably arrived in Bombay around 1993 or 1994 at a guess which means he arrived there very shortly after quite serious sectarian violence in which around 1,000 people were killed.
Not only that, but he says absolutely nothing whatsoever about “Yindoos”, evil or otherwise.
And you are worried about evil Yindoos apparently upsetting Muslim feelings …
Could our commenter be upset due to misunderstanding earlier comments about Dindoos?
I notice that one of the snack mixes that I enjoy is still called “Bombay mix”.
Bombay Gin has not changed names, either. Not that I’m a gin-drinker. At least not yet, although a sufficient increase in political chaos could change that….
Unfortunately, here in California this is difficult or impossible
Would a full-auto bb gun be legal? 😀
People who live in the nation-state of India may name their cities as they wish. Citizens of other nation-states may have their own names for those cities.
Don’t know much about Bombay. Don’t know much about Hindu nationalism. Don’t know much about Shiv Sena.
I do know some about Kevin Williamson and neither he nor his magazine impress me much. And I do know NR puts way, way too much emphasis on words and very little on actions. Except that those actions should be taken by somebody else. This is a big reason for Western civilization’s fall. They think other civilizations put the same degree of emphasis on words over actions that they do. Words are a means to an end. Simple fact of life. I don’t like saying it, and up until fairly recently, at least within the legal context of Western civilization, I could accept the importance of words. But in a world where the word ‘literally’ does not literally mean ‘literally’ (yes that is flippant…it is also simultaneously very relevant) only a fool continues to play by his enemies’ rules. At least when engaging with his enemies. And now the West, for various reasons, has many enemies within.
Citizens of other nation-states may have their own names for those cities.
Where my Munich/Munchen German folk at? Japan/Nippon? Artists formerly known as Prince? United States of Amerigo? Great Albion?
Citizens of other nation-states may have their own names for those cities.
Take me back to Constantinople
No, you can’t go back to Constantinople
Now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That’s nobody’s business but the Turks’
Words: There is a tendency today in the US (only place I can speak for) to think words are reality. You can just say no to fossil fuels and this “no” will magically save the planet–no tough problems to solve of wind that stops blowing or lack of batteries. We can just put a BLM sign on our lawn and the achievement gap will vanish. We can change the names of sports teams and native americans will do better.
Words are a means to an end. Simple fact of life. … But in a world where the word ‘literally’ does not literally mean ‘literally’ …
I don’t know much about Williamson either and for the record know even less about the National Review and I also appreciate that what you were getting at is something other than what I’m about to pick up on, but …
If it’s a fact of life that words are means to an end, then why would you take exception to people using “the word ‘literally'” when it “does not literally mean ‘literally'”?
Surely if words are a means to an end, then anything that gets the job done – whatever that job happens to be at the time – should do, shouldn’t it?
If my friend wants to let me know that she is looking forward to dinner and on the way to the restaurant says “I’m literally starving right now!”, hasn’t she used words as the means to an end (the end being to impress on me that she is hungry and really, really looking forward to dinner)?
Words. Because people read and are otherwise exposed to too much fiction. There’s a point at which it became very creepy to me how the number of people I know would spout movie lines or make similar pop culture style references, most of which are based on fiction, to a point where their own personalities start to disappear. Not just teenagers, adults who never grew up do this. In some instances, some even insist that movies loosely based on fact, which have become so infused with fiction “for the betterment of the story”, the story is to them having superior fact to the actual facts. Never in history have so many people had so much of their free time consumed with fiction. Many people never actually do anything real. And I don’t mean just Hollywood types or writers. The schools are thick with histories that someone got from someone else who said they saw…whatever. The law at this point is becoming consumed with a reality that ultimately will collapse, but until then, it’s the law. And it’s fiction.
then why would you take exception to people using “the word ‘literally'” when it “does not literally mean ‘literally'”?
Yes. That’s my point. If words such as ‘literally’ are meaningless, even internally what is the point of sticking to them? Amongst friends they have meaning. Amongst enemies, no. And the enemies are accumulating internally. Maybe talking past each other here. Possibly my bad as chaos going on around here…
Take me back to Judenstrasse
No, you can’t go back to Judenstrasse
Now it’s Berlinstrasse, not Judenstrasse
Why is Judenstrasse on the outs?
That’s nobody’s business but the Krauts.
One could make a similar parody singing about “disappeared” Jewish neighborhoods in numerous Arab countries.
We can just put a BLM sign on our lawn and the achievement gap will vanish.
It is virtually impossible to have a sane, honest conversation about this with liberals. Not just with leftists. Endless denial of well established facts.
A nicely done political statement:
Who remembers Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern-schplenden-schiltter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dingle-dangle-dongle-dungle-burstein-von-knacker-thrasher-apple-banger-horowitz-ticolensic-grander-knotty-spelltinkle-grandlich-grumblemeyer-spelterwasser-kurstlich-himbleeisen-bahnwagen-gutenabend-bitte-ein-nürnburger-bratwustle-gerspurten-mitz-weimache-luber-hundsfut-gumeraber-shönendanker-kalbsfleisch-mittler-aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm?
Who remembers
John-Jacob Jinglehiemer-Schmidt? Because his name is my name too. Of course, you can call meRay, or you an call me Jay…
John-Jacob Jinglehiemer-Schmidt
Cripes, I must’ve heard that 5 billion times since my son was a Barney fan.
Some more follow-up to the thesis that masturbating to Japanese porn constitutes research.
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/masturbation-journal-paper-exposes-deeper-problems-research
Cripes, I must’ve heard that 5 billion times since my son was a Barney fan.
Dunno about Barney, but it was very popular when I was a young Scout.
and white liberal shites.
I read that as “shiites” and was going to ask if there were any white liberal sunnis. ;-p
In January 2016, the Shiv Sena demanded that the words “secular” and “socialist” be “permanently removed” from the Constitution’s Preamble
I like these guys more with each passing post.
misunderstanding earlier comments about Dindoos?
He Yindoo Nuffin.
Citizens of other nation-states may have their own names for those cities.
Leningrad was once St. Piotrsburg
No, you can’t go back to old St. Piotrsburg
Now it’s Leningrad not old St. Piotrsburg
How come all the priests are dead?
That’s no one’s business but the Reds
why would you take exception to people using “the word ‘literally'” when it “does not literally mean ‘literally'”?
Blah blah Humpty Dumpty blah blah whatever I choose it to mean. Don’t be disingenuous.
If my friend wants to let me know that she is looking forward to dinner and on the way to the restaurant says “I’m literally starving right now!”
Then she’s eating by herself because I’m not subjecting myself to any more airheaded milleniallettes, thank you. And take those stupid glasses off, girl, they’re not even prescription.
the number of people I know would spout movie lines […] to a point where their own personalities start to disappear
Increasingly “F/SF fan” means “watches a lot of movies”. Even Harry Potter, which despite being weapons-grade bad writing got an entire generation of kids to read books that make Dune look like a trifold pamphlet, has increasingly become about the movies. The majority of people under 25 I know who call themselves “huge HP fans” have never read the books.
I have a friend I game with who seems to be incapable of communicating except through TV/movie quotes. As a lark I bet him $20 once he couldn’t go an entire game night without uttering a single quote. He won, but he barely said three words all evening.
London was once English
No, you can’t go back to old London
Not ever
Yes. That’s my point. If words such as ‘literally’ are meaningless, even internally what is the point of sticking to them?
I assure you I’m not trying to provoke you, but you seem to me at least to be contradicting yourself.
Either you hold that words are a means to an end and nothing more (“Words are a means to an end. Simple fact of life.”) or you hold that each word has a precise and particular meaning and usage that is immediately noticeable when misused (“If words such as ‘literally’ are meaningless, even internally what is the point of sticking to them?”).
I don’t see how you can hold that both of these are true at the same time as they are saying quite different things from one another.
If I need to get a nail into a piece of wood, but don’t have a hammer, I can maybe make do with another heavy metal object, a skillet say.
That’s equivalent to words being a means to an end – whatever I have to hand that does the job will do and the only judgment worth having is the end result, not how you got there.
If on the other hand I insist that only a hammer will do, and that it has to be a very particular type of hammer has to be used to get that nail into the piece of wood, then I am very clearly someone who does not believe that the hammer is just a means to an end – the hammer is as much a part of the end as getting that nail into that piece of wood.
That’s why it looks like there’s a contradiction in what you’re saying.
Excuse me, all, I’m between my first and second sleep. Just posting this to find out what time it is as Greenwich.
7:59, got it. Thanks, g’night.
*at
Just posting this to find out what time it is at Greenwich.
I’d wondered whether the time displayed under comments was local to me, i.e., God’s Own Time, or local to you, i.e., heathen rabble time.
I’m glad that’s cleared up.
How to deal with pronoun police:
https://twitter.com/Random_Terrain/status/1557589053532413952?t=ksP46qKYq2WaDdHhfhwUxA&s=19
In January 2016, the Shiv Sena demanded that the words “secular” and “socialist” be “permanently removed” from the Constitution’s Preamble
I like these guys more with each passing post.
Making India officially Hindu might be “problematic” given the multiplicity of religions, the reality of religious conflict, and the aggressive intolerance of Shiv Sena and other Hindu nationalist parties. From the 2011 census:
Hinduism 79.8%
Islam 14.2%
Christianity 2.3%
Sikhism 1.7%
Buddhism 0.7%
Tribal 0.5%
Jainism 0.4%
No religion 0.25%
Other 0.15%
(Not that Islam doesn’t have a well justified reputation as the most violently intolerant religion.)
The West was happy supplying massive arms aid…
“Happily” would misrepresent the situation: The only personal memory I have of the 1971 war was widespread horror at what East Pakistan was doing to West Pakistan.
Instead of “happily” you should think “grim necessities of Realpolitik”.
The key problem was that at the time India was strongly aligned with the Soviet Union, an aggressively imperialist genocidal tyranny against which the West was fighting its own Cold War of survival.
If only the people of India had not been so foolish as to embrace socialism and the Soviet Union.
What would David do without us heathen rabble?
[ Enjoys ham-and-egg breakfast conspicuously devoid of beans, while drinking coffee instead of tea. ]
“I think most of David’s readers do not hold the SNP in high regard”
When I compared that Indian local party to the SNP, did you think I was being complimentary? As an aside, for a long time I didn’t realise how malevolent the SNP truly is, before coming to the comments in places like this or the Speccy / Unherd.
“What the hell is wrong with you?
Calm down.”
Ha. Apologies, rhetorical line aimed at the quoted message, came out a bit aggressive and rude towards you.
“Please explain: How does he define it, and how is he wrong? And who else do you feel are his ilk?”
Check the dictionary definition of fascism, and other than the Shiv Sena’s petty, ethno-supremacist, “non-locals should be kicked out” ideology nothing else matches. My main beef is that genuinely fascist “progressive” groups smear their opponents by equating fascism with conservatism and nationalism. One could make a case that the current Democrat party is more truly “fascist” (one party rule effectively in say California or certain large cities, “supremacist” ideologies, close links between the political class and media/ corporates as in 1930s Germany / Italy etc). But it’s the Republicans who are habitually labelled Fascist.
“In January 2016, the Shiv Sena demanded that the words “secular” and “socialist” be “permanently removed” from the Constitution”
Here is the difference. The constitution is not a bunch of words. Its a legal document which decides how the government acts.
India tried socialism in the 60s to 80s. Not words, actual action. One of the many cases where socialism failed to work, and very real impact on India’s ability to raise people out of poverty.
Similarly, secularism was inserted in the constitution in the 70s. Not words, real impact. Just like “anti-racism”, it means the opposite of what it says.
Hence, Hindus are subject to common law which outlaws a lot of evils that crept into their society. But thanks to “secularism”, muslims are exempt and retain archaic religious laws with real, dreadful impact on muslim women. For instance, based on encoded laws on “secularism” the Indian high court recently decided that muslim men (and only muslim) are allowed to marry underage girls. Even at the age of say 13-14.
Can you imagine what the real, harrowing consequences for women thanks to such laws?
And finally
“The passionate indignation Williams’s comments have provoked in you quite clearly demonstrate that words are not somehow separated off from action.”
My indignation is that words are used to subvert action and cover up real issues. Just like words like “BLM” or “anti-racism” or “diversity” obscure the real problems that blacks facr in America – gang violence from blacks themselves, lack of fathers, poor education standards. I have found, for eg, that those complaining about renaming Mumbai tend to ignore the actual, ghastly genocide of Hindus in Kashmir (which also happened in the early 90s)
The problem for Hindus / Sikhs / Christians in Pakistan for instance, is NOT that name of the country literally means “land of the pure” (guess who are the impure) or their capital called ISLAMabad. Those are words. The problem is laws that relate to blasphemy or permit “marriages” where young 12-14 year old Hindu girls to “voluntarily” convert and marry 40-50 year old muslim men.
[ Enjoys ham-and-egg breakfast conspicuously devoid of beans, while drinking coffee instead of tea. ]
[ Sounds of Other Half preparing roast chicken with carrots, spring onions, mushrooms, mashed potato, and a whisper of unsweetened peanut butter. ]
[ A stomach rumbles. ]
When I compared that Indian local party to the SNP, did you think I was being complimentary?
No, did not. And I have read before that the Congress Party had some truly fascist/communist tendencies. I try to always remember, of course, that my perspective is from a distance of 12,000 miles and cursory news coverage.
Ha. Apologies, rhetorical line aimed at the quoted message, came out a bit aggressive and rude towards you.
That is one of the most common errors of phraseology found in social media comment threads: A remark directed at a third party is phrased in such a way that it might be directed at the original poster or at another commenter.
Check the dictionary definition of fascism…One could make a case that the current Democrat party is more truly “fascist”…
The Democratic Party does indeed display significant fascist tendencies, both in its embrace of racial/ethnic/sexual identity politics and in its fervent pursuit of corporatism.
Returning to Kevin Williamson, I am still not sure: Do you feel that what he said about fascism is totally wrong, or just incomplete? Bearing in mind that in any public talk or written essay one might touch only on a few aspects of something. I do not recall much about what he has written, so I am not clear on his complete views of the nature of fascism, but it is common in America for people to focus on the corporatist aspect of fascism when talking about modern liberals.
India tried socialism in the 60s to 80s. Not words, actual action…
Yes, it is widely recognized here that the abandonment of socialism is what led to today’s economic growth and decline of poverty.
The problem for Hindus / Sikhs / Christians in Pakistan for instance, is NOT that name of the country literally means “land of the pure” (guess who are the impure)
Not many Americans know that, unfortunately.
David, did you just make a change to the blog?
When I clicked “preview” on the previous (long) comment, the “post” and “edit” buttons were invisible. There was nothing below the preview text to scroll down to.
Either you hold that words are a means to an end and nothing more (“Words are a means to an end. Simple fact of life.”) or you hold that each word has a precise and particular meaning and usage that is immediately noticeable when misused (“If words such as ‘literally’ are meaningless, even internally what is the point of sticking to them?”).
Or I am saying that amongst honest, decent people, amongst people who believe words have precise meaning, they do. In that context. Amongst the dishonest and untrustworthy, they don’t. Ultimately, either way, actions matter more than the words. In the former context, words enhance or lead to the greater probability that the verbally intended actions happen. In the latter they do not and often indicate something other than their literal meanings.
David, did you just make a change to the blog?
No. Busy peeling potatoes.
You wish you had my glamorous life.
There was nothing below the preview text to scroll down to.
If it happens again, try resizing the window. The buttons may appear.
I’ll just leave this here:
https://twitter.com/BanrionVI/status/1563808128537329667?t=G5wCAR_vWZcp4qy2ysX3Cg&s=19
If it happens again, try resizing the window. The buttons may appear.
Tried about six times. Resized down from 110% to 80%. Tried twice more. No change. Screen shot below.
And I had to drastically shrink the screenshot in Postimage to avoid seeing the same problem again.
Resized down from 110% to 80%.
I’ve had it happen twice and so I made my browser window narrower, at which point the buttons reappeared. After posting the comment, I returned the window to its normal proportions and it worked fine. I have no idea why.
Leningrad was once St. Piotrsburg
Sorry, but it wasn’t. The Russian name for the city would have been transliterated then (and now) as Sankt-Peterburg.
The Russian equivalent of Peter is indeed normally Pyotr (well, Пётр), stressed on the endings in the declension, so the genitive for example would be Petra, stressed on the a. The city, however, got a Germanic name.
And the colloquial name for the city is Питер/Piter.
Sorry to be such a pedantic bastard, but this is one of the times I get to use the four years of Russian I studied in college. 😉
Just like “anti-racism”, [“secularism”] means the opposite of what it says.
It’s like the French public official at the opening of a big mosque in Saint Denis connecting it to France’s tradition of laïcité (secularism), the laïcité of the 21st century is what he calls it. Whereupon the imam makes his own connection to the history of France, presenting the Saint Denis mosque as the successor to the Saint Denis cathedral.
It reminded me of Terry Eagleton’s example of the London Underground sign saying “Dogs must be carried on the escalator” – uprooted from its context, muses Eagleton, this could be interpreted to mean that only dog owners can use the escalator. Contrived pedantic nonsense I thought when I had to sit through lectures on it. Duh, I wanted to study literature precisely because I thought it would root me in the context that gives things meaning. Not let’s pretend we’re Martians who think that the London Underground is a dog-worshipping temple and that accommodating triumphalist Islam has always been a French value.
Secularism in France, a set of ground rules evolved over centuries for balancing the demands of Christian believers and Christian non-believers – a great achievement in itself, but the grandiose French believe themselves to have discovered a universal plug and play system which can accommodate any world religion, and probably the religion of any other planet too. Then when Islam builds up the demographics to make demands of its own, the rootedness of laïcité in French Christian culture, for example that a cathedral ringing its bells isn’t seen as an ostentatious religious display, is brought up again, and not as evidence that Muslims don’t belong in France but as proof of the moral failure of the French to give Islam the respect it’s entitled to.
I’ve had it happen twice and so I made my browser window narrower, at which point the buttons reappeared. After posting the comment, I returned the window to its normal proportions and it worked fine. I have no idea why.
Trying your solution:
Problem did not go away.
I have *never* seen this problem before.
Problem did not go away.
You’re cursed, obviously. I’ll call a priest.
I could have written this sketch decades ago. If I could only stop at two back then.
His public defender said he has an associate’s degree in business management.
I am intrigued by the whisper of unsweetened peanut butter.
And you are worried about evil Yindoos apparently upsetting Muslim feelings by renaming Bombay Mumbai…a city with flourishing minorities such as Parsi, Jains, etc…
What the hell is wrong with you?
You completely missed the point, he is not worried about it. This, like all the rest of the painful absurdities of life is just a dark joke. We are all doomed, but if you can’t laugh at the absurdities, regardless of the pain, you are doubly doomed.
Personally, I come here for the humor, especially on Friday. If you are looking for answers to the dilemma of life you might look elsewhere.
[hits tip jar]
Every post in this account. Every single one.
I thought the “” was there (I think). forgive me.
I am intrigued by the whisper of unsweetened peanut butter.
If your peanut butter is whispering to you, you should either throw it out or stop taking drugs.
But seriously, I have noticed that nearly all peanut butter is now modified in one or more dubious ways: Added sugar, hydrogenated fat, and so on.
forgive me.
Will you be my taste tester when David puts out new snacks?
Will you be my taste tester when David puts out new snacks?
I’m fasting right now – need to lose a few pounds.
I am intrigued by the whisper of unsweetened peanut butter.
Two teaspoons of unsweetened peanut butter – ManiLife Deep Roast, since you ask – added to the stock before braising. Quite subtle and works surprisingly well.
Oh, and if you often find peanut butter too sweet and sickly, I also recommend this.
[hits tip jar]
Bless you, sir. Should you be tasked with the peeling of potatoes – obviously, the bedrock of any Sunday lunch – may said potatoes be big ones and thus less fiddlesome.
If you are looking for answers to the dilemma of life you might look elsewhere.
While not addressed to me…Been elsewhere. It’s how I ended up here.
If you are looking for answers to the dilemma of life you might look elsewhere.
Perhaps I should have said “…better answers than humor…” since humor is the only answer I have found…
– humor and common sense.
-humor, common sense, and diligent pursuit of the necessary tasks before you.
cue Spanish Inquisition..
I’m fasting right now – need to lose a few pounds.
You might lose more as a taste tester.
[ Assumes innocent expression. Avoids David’s eye. ]
Words: in a sense, yes, they are arbitrary symbols for communication. So we can make up words like Google or Zoom. And words can change meaning. Fine. But existing words also have an origin that relates to other words and can help us decipher them: roots, prefixes, suffixes, tenses. To arbitrarily change word meaning without the rest of the world going along with you causes confusion and LACK of communication. There can also be politics: your words are violence but my violence is free speech. If you go along with that word change you condone censorship and violence.
There can also be politics: your words are violence but my violence is free speech. If you go along with that word change you condone censorship and violence.
And by “go along” you mean what, exactly? To “go along” is a state, correct? How does one “go along” vs. NOT “go along”?
WTP: not going along is to push back when people claim someone’s speech is violence, ridicule them, argue with them (if one is free to do so). Not going along is refusing to put up BLM signs in your yard. Not saying “sorry” if called racist for making a true statement.
Exactly. Still short of physical activity but heading in the right direction. Though the “not putting blm signs” thing should go without saying…words.
Just wait until they find out they have to prove their seriousness by eating beans on toast before they will be allowed to disembark.
It appears to me that if the British hadn’t come along, the Indian subcontinent might have gone through some wars of Indian Unification (a direct comparison of what Germany went through in the latter half of the 19th century). If not, there probably would still be a situation there similar to the current Balkans.
I’m not Indian (23&Me claims that I’ve got 0.2% DNA from the Southern Indian Subgroup, so there may be some tiny connection) so I merely wonder what it would take to create an Indian identity. Is there a common theme among all the people living within that somewhat triangular piece of the word that can have the tag of “Indian”?
Off to the pantry for peanut butter….
So, what became of that sack of expired flour?
These bar snacks have an appetizingly “meatlike” odor.
Peanut butter, pinot noir, paprika, chicken thigh chunks, Portobello shrooms.
Mixed carrots , broccoli, sundried tomatoes, a bit of sugar.
Brown rice, black rice, quinoa.
Sounds of approval from nearby!
Thanks, David.
Should you be tasked with the peeling of potatoes – obviously, the bedrock of any Sunday lunch – may said potatoes be big ones and thus less fiddlesome.
Brings to mind a Tasmanian speciality. Bristling with deeply embedded eyes (something amiss here) the spud is left seriously disfigured once they have all been gouged out. Unfit for the Sunday roast.
The Russian name for the city would have been transliterated then (and now) as Sankt-Peterburg
Doesn’t scan.
Also there were a great many more interested parties to the naming of Constantinople than the Ottomans.