Thanks for sending in some questions, as requested earlier (here). The topics range from whether the feds will prosecute Zimmerman to 6 yes-or-no questions about ending the comments section.
ADDED: This video makes me look really sunburned. In addition to using sunscreen all the time, I guess I need to adjust the color on the videos.
July 14, 2013
Homemade bitters.
"Now, bartenders across the country are experimenting with these bittersweet infusions."
Mallett, a chef at the Black Trumpet Bistro, is collecting medicinal herbs, which he infuses in alcohol to make his own bitters, a bittersweet alcoholic concentrate used to flavor cocktails.This sounds vaguely dangerous... the stuff of mystery novels.
Mallett says he often forages in the woods for ingredients like wild chamomile, dock and burdock root for his bitters, too.
"At the Bar Meet Every New Woman as If She Was..."
"... a Fond Ex-Girlfriend That You Haven’t Seen for Quite Awhile, and You Are Just Happy For This Opportunity to Wish Her Well."
A post found at the blog of betamax3000, who commented here in the days when there were comments and whose blog I have added to the blogroll.
A post found at the blog of betamax3000, who commented here in the days when there were comments and whose blog I have added to the blogroll.
Parsing Obama's statement on the occasion of the Zimmerman verdict.
Here's the text:
1. This is a measured and fairly bland statement. Obama sounds like a mild-mannered pastor.
2. The word "passion" — which appears in the 3rd and 4th sentences — takes the place of more violence-related words like "anger" or "outrage." He acknowledges and manages the emotion.
3. In sentences #5 and #6, he counters emotion with intellect. First, respect the rule of law and the legal system. And second, respect Martin's parents, who have called for calm reflection. Think, calmly and rationally.
4. There's advice about what we should do to move forward. It's not to brood over the past, but to do positive things for people who are still alive. (I thought of Lincoln's "It is for us the living...")
5. Looking toward the future, Obama draws our focus to "gun violence," which is a standard move for him (used after the Tucson massacre and the Sandy Hook massacre). That's the specific substantive issue he flags.
6. There is no mention of race. The closest he comes is in the idea of "widen the circle of compassion and understanding in our own communities." There's a slight suggestion that some of us are insular, within "circles" or "communities," which could be understood as our racial groups, but you have to stretch to say that. (Similarly, there's "any one community" in sentence #2.)
The death of Trayvon Martin was a tragedy. Not just for his family, or for any one community, but for America. I know this case has elicited strong passions. And in the wake of the verdict, I know those passions may be running even higher. But we are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken. I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son. And as we do, we should ask ourselves if we’re doing all we can to widen the circle of compassion and understanding in our own communities. We should ask ourselves if we’re doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis. We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this. As citizens, that’s a job for all of us. That’s the way to honor Trayvon Martin.Comments:
1. This is a measured and fairly bland statement. Obama sounds like a mild-mannered pastor.
2. The word "passion" — which appears in the 3rd and 4th sentences — takes the place of more violence-related words like "anger" or "outrage." He acknowledges and manages the emotion.
3. In sentences #5 and #6, he counters emotion with intellect. First, respect the rule of law and the legal system. And second, respect Martin's parents, who have called for calm reflection. Think, calmly and rationally.
4. There's advice about what we should do to move forward. It's not to brood over the past, but to do positive things for people who are still alive. (I thought of Lincoln's "It is for us the living...")
5. Looking toward the future, Obama draws our focus to "gun violence," which is a standard move for him (used after the Tucson massacre and the Sandy Hook massacre). That's the specific substantive issue he flags.
6. There is no mention of race. The closest he comes is in the idea of "widen the circle of compassion and understanding in our own communities." There's a slight suggestion that some of us are insular, within "circles" or "communities," which could be understood as our racial groups, but you have to stretch to say that. (Similarly, there's "any one community" in sentence #2.)
Vlog alert.
I'm going to do a little vlog, maybe later today, where I'll respond to email. Ask me some good questions, and I'll select a few for response. This is something I used to do years ago. Perhaps some of you might remember. I thought it would be fun to try it again.
(Click here to email. Put "vlog" in the subject line.)
(Click here to email. Put "vlog" in the subject line.)
Okay, that's 3 hilarious videos.
You may now go back to thinking about George Zimmerman, the nonriots, the nefarious media, and how Obama's leading everything from behind.
Alternatively, enjoy your Sunday afternoon.
Alternatively, enjoy your Sunday afternoon.
Please do not drink the antifreeze, coolant and — especially — the liquid nitrogen...
... as you beat the heat:
High-heels for biking.
At first, it seems stupid, but:
The Merrell design team includes cyclists from Montreal, one of the early bike-share cities. One of their epiphanies was that high heels are built like cycling shoes. Flexibility diminishes pedaling power, Mr. Throne said. “So for all practical purposes, the best shoe that you can have from a commuter standpoint is a woman’s heel. It’s stiff from heel to toe.”Here's an example of the shoes in the Evera line, designed for women biking to work. It's not going to satisfy women who want to look really chic, but it would be perfectly fine for teaching a law school class and other kinds of indoor work where you're sort of dressed up, but not amongst very judgmental people.
"A protestor in Oakland throws a trash can at a window in the wake of the verdict."
At a window. I guess it didn't break or we'd have a picture of that. And how do I even know that isn't a posed picture? Amazing that the AP photographer was right there as the trashcan hurler was in the fully extended position and the can was arcing vividly at the window with papers photogenically flying backward across the arc. How do I know the protester/"protester" didn't aim right at the metal frame between those windows to make sure there'd be no real damage? Interesting that he's bundled up in such warm clothing on a summer night.
And look at this guy and his sign:
The image of ineffectuality. I love the ellipsis in "Geoge [sic] Zimmerm..." It's like: Ah, you know the rest. Zimmerm...
The photographers went out prowling the streets, to track down young black men who they expected to find committing crimes. Isn't that ironic? And look what they found — this old guy with his "Zimmerm..." sign and the trashcan hurler?
ADDED: The trashcan at the window photograph is so: Hey, could you do that trashcan through the window thing like Mookie in "Do the Right Thing"?
And look at this guy and his sign:
The image of ineffectuality. I love the ellipsis in "Geoge [sic] Zimmerm..." It's like: Ah, you know the rest. Zimmerm...
The photographers went out prowling the streets, to track down young black men who they expected to find committing crimes. Isn't that ironic? And look what they found — this old guy with his "Zimmerm..." sign and the trashcan hurler?
ADDED: The trashcan at the window photograph is so: Hey, could you do that trashcan through the window thing like Mookie in "Do the Right Thing"?
Did Zimmerman gain all that weight to aid in his post-acquittal disguise?
Watching the verdict announcement last night, I thought: If it's not guilty, he can just walk away... except he can't. He has no further business with this court — as the judge put it — but he has the task of finding a way to move forward into the rest of his life, which includes so much hostility — death threats and all — from people he cannot identify, while he is stuck with a famous face.
"I wish Ann would make the dating clear regarding her BloggingHeads conversation with Bob Wright."
"If that conversation happened over the last few weeks it would seem to me prima facie evidence that Bob is either being willfully obtuse, or else he's really, really NOT paying attention."
So writes a reader in email about my post last night, where I introduced the Bloggingheads clip with this sentence:
I'm posting about this now to make a point about the problem of comments and the benefits of going forward without them. I continually faced criticisms and demands for clarifications like that one, and it took energy to respond or to resist responding. That energy could have gone into reading new material and putting up new posts. I had comments for 9 years, and I estimate that I've spent over 3,000 hours concentrating on handling that sort of thing. That's really the equivalent of 2 years on a full-time job.
I find that shocking.
So writes a reader in email about my post last night, where I introduced the Bloggingheads clip with this sentence:
And I said a lot of what I wanted to say back on March 31, 2012, in this diavlog with Bob Wright — resisting the political exploitation and excessive emotion around the case...Back on March 31, 2012... How clear am I supposed to be?!
I'm posting about this now to make a point about the problem of comments and the benefits of going forward without them. I continually faced criticisms and demands for clarifications like that one, and it took energy to respond or to resist responding. That energy could have gone into reading new material and putting up new posts. I had comments for 9 years, and I estimate that I've spent over 3,000 hours concentrating on handling that sort of thing. That's really the equivalent of 2 years on a full-time job.
I find that shocking.
"[On 'Glee,' Cory] Monteith played Finn Hudson, an Ohio high-school student and football star who, initially..."
"... has no interest in joining that school’s struggling glee club for fear it will cost him his popularity and social standing. But once drawn into the singing squad, Finn became a crucial member, sharing vocal duties on its signature cover of Journey’s 'Don’t Stop Believin'...."
All the hope and wholesomeness that TV show means to embody and now Cory Monteith is found dead in a hotel room in Canada. He had what the obit calls "substance abuse problems." He was 31.
ADDED: "Cory Montieth: The Song He Was Listening to 'Basically on Repeat' Before He Died." You can listen to the song at the link, and I bet you'll think of the same joke that 80% of the people who listen to it will almost surely make.
All the hope and wholesomeness that TV show means to embody and now Cory Monteith is found dead in a hotel room in Canada. He had what the obit calls "substance abuse problems." He was 31.
ADDED: "Cory Montieth: The Song He Was Listening to 'Basically on Repeat' Before He Died." You can listen to the song at the link, and I bet you'll think of the same joke that 80% of the people who listen to it will almost surely make.
Should Obama "call for calm after the Zimmerman acquittal"?
Over at Breitbart, Joel B. Pollak is blaming Obama for "amplif[ying] the racial element of the case" by saying "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon" and "fanning the flames of outrage and division--arguably, in an election-year attempt to drive voter turnout." He says:
2. If, without evidence of edginess, the President were to call for calm, it would imply that people don't know how to handle disappointment and emotional pain, that they descend into irrational, harmful activity. That implication is itself racial stereotyping.
3. I can see that Pollak resisted advising Obama to counsel black people not to riot, which would be the most egregious example of the problem I've cited in point #2, above. He says Obama should issue a reminder about the rule of law and the judicial process, but even that would be to say: I think you people might lack the self-control and intelligence to grasp the most basic fundamentals of the society we all live in. That's patronizing, and it relies on a racial stereotype that shouldn't be fed.
4. So I see no problem in Obama's silence. No statement in the face of no rioting is a whole lot of nothing of the very best kind. Have the perception to give credit for The Good Nothing. Some folks like to call Obama "Zero." Sometimes zero is the best number. Think of all the things we might try to count and feel delighted to find zero.
5. Obama's original statement in March 2012 — "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon" — should be remembered accurately, not for the way that it was used and is being used now by Joel B. Pollak. Obama didn't choose to go out and talk about the case. He was silent until he was asked about it. And what he said was measured and careful. Here's what I said at the time, which ends with "To my ear, his words have a calming, moderating effect, but we don't all hear him the same way, I've noticed time and again." [ADDED: Pollak's piece links to that post of mine for the proposition that the question was planted, but all I said was "he knew [the question] would be asked or at least anticipated it. (At most: his people planted it.)"]
6. If Obama were to speak, whatever he said would be exploited race hucksters and the Obama-haters alike. I think it's just fine for Obama to deprive these shit-stirrers of raw material.
7. Before hitting the publish button, I double checked a couple news sites to see if the predicted riots had broken out. Anyone who's disappointed at the lack of action should be ashamed.
Following the verdict, with rallies and protests being held across the nation, and the NAACP and Al Sharpton vowing to take matters further, the President might be expected to remind the nation of the importance of the rule of law and respect for the judicial process....
But as of early Sunday morning, with the country on edge, the White House had yet to issue any statement.1. Is the country really "on edge"? Ironically, saying that is fanning the flames of outrage and division. How about waiting to see some sign of this edginess before expecting the President to advise calm?
2. If, without evidence of edginess, the President were to call for calm, it would imply that people don't know how to handle disappointment and emotional pain, that they descend into irrational, harmful activity. That implication is itself racial stereotyping.
3. I can see that Pollak resisted advising Obama to counsel black people not to riot, which would be the most egregious example of the problem I've cited in point #2, above. He says Obama should issue a reminder about the rule of law and the judicial process, but even that would be to say: I think you people might lack the self-control and intelligence to grasp the most basic fundamentals of the society we all live in. That's patronizing, and it relies on a racial stereotype that shouldn't be fed.
4. So I see no problem in Obama's silence. No statement in the face of no rioting is a whole lot of nothing of the very best kind. Have the perception to give credit for The Good Nothing. Some folks like to call Obama "Zero." Sometimes zero is the best number. Think of all the things we might try to count and feel delighted to find zero.
5. Obama's original statement in March 2012 — "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon" — should be remembered accurately, not for the way that it was used and is being used now by Joel B. Pollak. Obama didn't choose to go out and talk about the case. He was silent until he was asked about it. And what he said was measured and careful. Here's what I said at the time, which ends with "To my ear, his words have a calming, moderating effect, but we don't all hear him the same way, I've noticed time and again." [ADDED: Pollak's piece links to that post of mine for the proposition that the question was planted, but all I said was "he knew [the question] would be asked or at least anticipated it. (At most: his people planted it.)"]
6. If Obama were to speak, whatever he said would be exploited race hucksters and the Obama-haters alike. I think it's just fine for Obama to deprive these shit-stirrers of raw material.
7. Before hitting the publish button, I double checked a couple news sites to see if the predicted riots had broken out. Anyone who's disappointed at the lack of action should be ashamed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
