Posted on by rjonakait

Snippets

How is “alack” different from “alas”?

The CVS anniversary card section had five “To My Wife” cards for every “To My Husband” ones. What does that signify?

Trump’s assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion seems to be based on the notion that whites have been discriminated against in hiring and that more whites should be hired in the future. To help accomplish this, grants and contracts have been suspended or canceled at universities and other institutions. In response, universities and other institutions have let people go or suspended hiring. In other words, the war on diversity, equity, and inclusion means that fewer people will have jobs, and therefore fewer whites will have jobs. Who thinks up these policies?

Is the arresting, non-human character in Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt right? He says, “Humans. For the most part, you are dull and blundering. But occasionally, you can be remarkably bright creatures.”

I picked up Trillin on Texas at a flea market. The book depressed me a little. Calvin Trillin is the writer I would like to be and never will be. The stories are dated, but I still loved them.

I gave up on another of my purchases from the flea market, Amish Front Porch Stories. I take a certain perverse pride in being the only person I know who has read several Amish romances. Who knew they even existed? Nevertheless, I learned something about the Amish from them, but perhaps most amazing to me is that there are many Amish romances, and they have sold millions. However, they are written at a sixth-grade level, and this time with Stories, I could not get past that and set the book aside. We have a weekly Amish greenmarket in the country. I was going to give the Amish cashier Annie some of the Amish romances, but I learned that the Amish don’t read them. But if you want to read Amish Front Porch Stories, it’s all yours.

I don’t think our current president ever sang along on the car radio with Buddy Holly, the Rascals, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, the Stones, or any other performers from his youth. If so, isn’t that sad?

“In that moment, silently, we agreed that we were indeed in the presence of an exceptionally delusional white man—which is, of course, one of the most dangerous things in the world.” Mat Jonson, Pym.

Nearly 90% of American students attend public secondary schools. Only three of the present nine Supreme Court justices did. None of the justices attended a public college, university, or law school.

“Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power.” George Bernard Shaw.

I am not proud that in scanning the obituaries I feel some satisfaction when I find that a vegan has died of cancer.

In a pseudonymous essay written as the American colonies moved towards independence, John Adams wrote that a republic is a “government of laws, not of men.” He was contrasting a system with a despotic emperor who is “bound by no law or limitation but his own will.” In contrast, Adams wrote, a republic “is bound by fixed laws, which the people have a voice in making.”

Posted on by rjonakait · 1 Comment

Snippets

That blue and red produce purple makes sense. That orange comes from yellow and red also seems right. But that green results from mixing blue and yellow always strikes me as an unintuitive miracle.

Why is it that sushi tastes better when eaten with chopsticks than when consumed with fork or fingers?

I never learned a musical instrument. Sometimes I regret that. If I were going to learn one now, I would choose the bagpipes. Listeners can’t tell if it is played well, if notes are missed, or even if it is close to the supposed tune.

A friend told me that he had just talked to his son who had settled in Australia. The son was pleased with his new Sydney apartment, but he told his father that his neighbors were weird. At nine every evening, the attractive, young woman in the next flat started moaning, “Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.” The distinguished, elderly gentleman on the other side of the son’s apartment sounded at that time as if he were pounding his head against the wall. The father asked, “What do you do?” The son responded, “I just ignore it and go back to practicing the bagpipes.”

Conservatives in many states have been passing a wide range of election “security” measures including requirements that voters show an identification to cast an in-person ballot. They do this even though instances of voter identity fraud have been shown to be rarer than rare. However, even though fraud problems have been few, showing an identification to vote has intuitive appeal, and polls have shown that voter ID laws are popular among the populace. Those concerned that the real goal of the legislators passing such laws is voter suppression should not spend capital opposing the laws. Instead, they should agree that the legislation could be a good thing as long as acceptable identification documents can be obtained easily and efficiently by all voters. Many forms of government identifications should qualify, such as public housing IDs as well as Medicare and Medicaid cards. (Why would I give you my Medicare card so that you could vote in my name? The card is precious, and normally I would use it myself to vote. What is the likelihood that such cards would be widely forged with fake names, and then people would register under those fake names, and then would vote under those fake names?) In addition, advocate for making it easier to get government IDs. Couldn’t we have mobile DMV offices traversing all parts of the state for the purpose of obtaining identification cards. In addition, college identification, employer identification, health insurance cards should all allow access to the voting booth. Those fervent for voter ID laws often express distrust of the government, and they should agree not to restrict the necessary identification documents to government ones. If you are concerned that voter identification laws will lower the number of voters but you know that the bills are going to pass anyway, support the proposals but advocate for a broad range of appropriate identification methods and find ways to make them easier to get.

“In that moment, silently, we agreed that we were indeed in the presence of an exceptionally delusional white man—which is of course one of the most dangerous things in the world.” Mat Jonson, Pym.

You can’t make some stuff up. Representative Kevin McCarthy who opposes a January 6 commission was a prime mover behind the 432 (or so it seemed) Benghazi hearings.