November 27, 2021

If you ever find yourself wondering, Am I the only one who..., the answer is no you are not. There is always someone else.

That's what Meade asserts — and I presume he's not the only one who asserts that. If he could say it, someone else has also said it. You're never the only one.

The specific occasion for the assertion of this immense generality was a discussion of yard signs on view in our neighborhood as we were driving home from the sunrise run this morning. We noted that the Black Lives Matter signs are nearly all gone, for whatever reason. The only persistent signs are anti-gerrymandering, perhaps because there's serious hope of affecting legislation, with help from Tony Evers. (Evers, the governor, is a Democrat, but both houses of the Wisconsin legislature are run by the GOP.)

I mention Evers, and I have to add, "Say it, say it!" which I do to escape the very mild fake annoyance I would experience if Meade said what he always says — or used to always say — which is: "Tony is the little man who lives inside my mouth and tells me what to do." I added, "Do you think you're the only one who whenever he hears the name Tony Evers says 'Tony is the little man who lives in my mouth and tells me what to do'?"

56 comments:

Eric said...

I've got to ask, because I've thought about this. How, if "Silence = Violence" do you remove a "Black Lives Matter" sign?

Scot said...

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. ~Ecc. 1:9

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

There are 7.9 billion people alive today, apparently.

Iman said...

Do NOT permit that low-T sufferer to control your mouth! Wouldn’t be prudent!

Meade said...

Genius!

Achilles said...

A real election with Paper Ballots and purple thumbs and Evers is not Governor. Milwaukee and Madison had to get pretty blatant lately.

I find it interesting you have not posted about 5/6 of the members of the Wisconsin State Election Board being referred for indictment because they openly broke Wisconsin election law.

Well actually I don't find it interesting...

It is pretty obvious why some topics are not discussed here.

narciso said...

evers is more like the cadaverous julian beck from poltergheist 2, who invited darrell brooks to wisconsin, who punished rittenhouse for doing his duty, walker's persecutor chisholm is knee deep in this,

Ann Althouse said...

“but when I wake up i can’t remember everything” = woke

Ann Althouse said...

"It is pretty obvious why some topics are not discussed here."

Says the Observer of Obviousness about a news story I hadn't even seen.

Good job screwing up the odds of my writing about it now.

Mark said...

Lots of the signs in our neighborhood came down as people winterized their homes and put up holiday decorations.

All except gerrymandering and the Middleton Morey airport ones, both of which will be settled this winter.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

The Democrats and the Lie-Stream Media, but I repeat myself, are always yammering on how Republicans are gerrymandering their states so the poor, poor Democrats won't have a chance to elect anyone. That this is the "end of DEMOCRACY", that Republicans are turning into "authoritarians".

They never mention their gerrymandering. In Oregon, Portland's been split into four Congressional districts that span hundreds of square miles and reach from the Oregon coast, down to Eugene/Springfield and all the way to Bend (central Oregon). Illinois districts give pretzels a good run for their money, as does Maryland's districts.

Everyone state that doesn't have an independent redistricting commission does it. And even with an IRC, the IRC members can play games to favor one party over another. One of the Democrat members of Washington's IRC went to Scotland for a COP26 boondoggle, instead of staying in the state to work on the maps. The IRC finished their work one day after the November 15 deadline, so now their maps go to the state supreme court.

All of the members of the state supreme court were originally appointed by the democrat governors and then were formally elected. They are all liberal if not left wing and the fear is they'll throw out the IRC's maps, which they can do, and create maps to favor the Democrats, with monstrosities like Oregon's.

Meade said...

You’re the only blogger in the universe who could ever write such a masterful post as that.

Meade said...

(Full disclosure: Tony told me to type that comment.)

Bob Boyd said...

How, if "Silence = Violence" do you remove a "Black Lives Matter" sign?

Very quietly.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

You’re the only blogger in the universe who could ever write such a masterful post as that.

Not trying to soften up the Master Blogger very much, are you Meade? Got a hot date planned?

Original Mike said...

I still see a lot of black lives matter signs in my Hoyt Park neighborhood during my daily walks.

wildswan said...

I think I'm the only person in the world who understands that there are two sets of prime numbers - one based in the set of numbers formed by 6X+5 (including other numbers formed by prime number multiples), the other in the set formed by 6x+7 (including other numbers formed by prime numbers.) Everyone else thinks there's just one kind of prime number and that's why they find them hard to understand.

Hey Skipper said...

Last summer we did a two-month US road trip. 8900 miles isn't enough to see all the states, but we did manage a representative sampling.

State with the most BLM signs per foot? Vermont.

State with the lowest (or near as makes no difference) black population? Vermont

Big Mike said...

They are NOT anti-gerrymandering. They are merely opposed to Republicans doing the gerrymandering.

Howard said...

I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.

Howard said...

I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.

mikee said...

Eric, BLM wasn't the first to use the SILENCE = VIOLENCE connection in their fundraising.

The eastern facade of the Baltimore Museum of Art sports a neon sign that slowly changes from the word VIOLINS to VIOLENCE to SILENCE, in an artistic homage to the meaning of words being dependent on context, or sequence, or something. Maybe art, maybe feminism, maybe simple signage symbolism. After 30 years display, it was removed due to being highly worn out. A huge fundraising effort got it restored (re-neoned?) and reinstalled, where it shines to this day.

I, for one, always think of a bunch of tiny violins playing when I see a SILENCE = VIOLENCE sign, because of this artwork. Not the tiniest violins, just tiny ones.

Yancey Ward said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JPS said...

“and I have to add, ‘Say it, say it!’”

As I read this, should I hear that in Sam Kinison’s voice?

Drago said...

Althouse: "Says the Observer of Obviousness about a news story I hadn't even seen.

Good job screwing up the odds of my writing about it now."

I am surprised that you would intimate the comments of any poster might be determinative as to whether or not you engage on a particular topic/story.

Your blogging reputation precedes you now and no sensible person familiar with your history would ever mistakenly believe you posted on a subject simpky because you were goaded into it.

Mea Sententia said...

Sometime in the 1970s, my father (a physicist) programmed his HP calculator to find all the prime numbers up to a million. No reason, other than curiosity. I remember standing by his desk, watching the little red numbers dance on the calculator screen. It took quite a while. That little episode folded itself into my memories of him.

Ice Nine said...

Am I the only one who was really pissed when Hallorann got axed?

Drago said...

Meade: "You’re the only blogger in the universe who could ever write such a masterful post as that."

Eddie Haskell-mode is appropriate and even laudatory in some situations.

Rollo said...

So does it make you more lonely or less lonely knowing that hundreds or thousands of miles away somebody else has the same problems? What about imagining or supposing that somebody nearby has similar problems and knowing that you will never know who or never be able to approach them? Does knowing that you aren't unique make you feel better or worse? And what does Tony Evers, Joe Tinker, or Frank Chance have to do with any of that?

rehajm said...

I have this-this tiny, uh, little, little--a-tiny-chef-who-tells-me-what-to-do

Yancey Ward said...

I have never thought that thought on hearing Tony Evers' name mentioned, but I knew exactly where it came from.

Iman said...

Thanks for the play-by-play, Howeeee!

A little here, a little there… pretty soon yer talkin’ real vomit.

JAORE said...

How, if "Silence = Violence" do you remove a "Black Lives Matter" sign?

In the dark.

Big Mike said...

@Howard, we heard you the first time.

Bob Boyd said...

They shoulda named the little man Mickey.
Mickey Mouth.

Lewis said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qn7XZWsFCo

Meade said...

“How, if "Silence = Violence" do you remove a "Black Lives Matter" sign?”

“In the dark.“

Careful you don’t bump into the Washington Post there, murdering democracy.

rehajm said...

Scatman is always Hong Kong Phooey to me…

rehajm said...

“and I have to add, ‘Say it, say it!’”

As I read this, should I hear that in Sam Kinison’s voice?


…and now so do I…

Freeman Hunt said...

There aren't any signs up in my neighborhood, except one a local high school put in a kid's yard for his getting a five on an AP exam last spring.

Chris-2-4 said...

Tony, who lived in Danny's mouth and told him what to do moved. He now lives in Washington and tells EVERYONE what to do.

Nichevo said...

Tony is the little man who lives in my mouth and tells me what to do'?"

Honestly, isn't that Meade's job?

Meade said...

Original Mike said...
I still see a lot of black lives matter signs in my Hoyt Park neighborhood during my daily walks.

I know what you mean, OM. In fact, the neighbors next door have not just one but two black lives matter signs in front of their house which means that to them black lives matter at least twice as much as black lives matter matter to anyone else. Their signs also proclaim (doubly) that water is life but to me that seems disrespectful of the people who lost their lives in Katrina. “Science is real,” their signs also posit. But is it? For instance, physics strikes me as nothing more than tiny little invisible particles of theory. Or are they waves of axioms and corollaries? And don’t even get me started on biology where the answer to every question I’ve ever had is some weird variant of “we really don’t yet know and might never know.” They should replace “science is real” with “math is real—real hard.” At least that would be something demonstrably true right? One sign plus one sign equals two signs. Sounds right but here’s the hard part—suppose someone, late at night, after dark, quietly, wearing a hoodie and a mask, sneaks over and relocates one of the two signs into the neighbors’ own backyard composter. Microorganisms immediately go to work decomposing the corn-based biodegradable yard sign material. Now how many signs does genius PhD professor next door have? And does it matter? Sorry—now I’m getting into cosmology. Which, admittedly, is somewhat outside my field of expertise. Thanks for reading this far thus far.

Big Mike said...

They should replace “science is real” with “math is real—real hard.”

@Meade, if your brain is wired for mathematics, it's actually a lot of fun. If not, then it's a chore. I remember one research professor confiding in me -- fifty years ago when I was a grad student -- that he shouldn't be paid to be having that much fun. Someone asked him once how many numerical analysts there were in the world. "Twelve," he answered. At his level, that was about right.

Original Mike said...

"I know what you mean, OM. In fact, the neighbors next door have not just one but two black lives matter signs in front of their house which means that to them black lives matter at least twice as much as black lives matter matter to anyone else."

A house I walk by has two; one near the front door and another on the property line, pointing at the next door neighbor. Something going on there, imagine.

Would much rather talk about cosmology.

Original Mike said...

Been reading vector calculus lately. For fun.

Meade said...

Did I say cosmology? Sorry, I meant cosmetology.

Original Mike said...

Is that the study of comets?

Meade said...

@BM, I shouldn’t be paid to be having this much fun either and in my case I’m NOT paid!

Valentine Smith said...

Yeah but I said it first!

Lewis said...

Your beautiful, kiss

Chris of Rights said...

When I hear "Evers", I think of "The saddest of possible Words, Tinkers to Evers to Chance."

Jupiter said...

"We noted that the Black Lives Matter signs are nearly all gone, for whatever reason."

Too cold to riot?

Narr said...

I think Kubrick lost it after Barry Lyndon. Plus, I'm not the biggest fan of horror movies. Or Nicholson. Or Whatzerface, Duvall.

We had a lot of Ahmaud, Breonna, and George signs around. Probably half have gone. BLM-specific signs were fewer, and most of them are gone. I imagine that once the cases are settled reasonably it only makes sense to move on.

The multi-inspirational multi-color platitude signs seem hardier, and most of them are still around.

Bunkypotatohead said...

You're a unique individual. Just like everybody else.

PM said...

As A. Whitney Brown said: "In China, if you're a one-in-a-million kind of guy, there are a million guys just like you."