by liberal japonicus
Been on a little vacation and was planning on writing a post about how interesting it was that Trevor Noah was going to be the new host of the Daily Show. More below the break
Month: March 2015
back home in indiana…
by russell
as anyone who hasn't sworn off of TV, the internet, social media, print, and water cooler conversation knows, the state of Indiana passed their own version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
lots of religious conservatives are applauding it, lots of liberal / progressive folks are decrying it.
the feds already have an RFRA of long standing, many other states also have RFRA's, so why is this a big deal?
folks who are against it say it's a thinly disguised pretext for discrimination against gays, Mike Pence says it's a simple matter of extending the protections against federal overreach that are provided by the federal RFRA to the state level.
who's right?
more after the jump….
How to tell Classical from Neo-Classical sculpture
by Doctor Science
This picture has been going around tumblr:
sparking a discussion of “how do sculptors even *do* that?” and many pictures of Bernini works. Along the way, someone labeled this one “a Vestal Virgin, carved during the Roman Empire”. I immediately recognized that this was wrong.
The work is by Raffaelle Monti, a 19th-century Italian sculptor who created it in 1846-47.
I’m not sure what, exactly, makes me say the Monti sculpture is obviously 19th-C, while the Louvre statue of Aphrodite aka Venus Genetrix, also discussed in the thread, looks more authentically ancient.
Cut for images containing classical and artistic nudity — very likely to be NSFW.
Learning From Experience — Friday Open Thread
by wj Writing about the current mess in Yemen, Fareed Zakaria says, in part: This is the pattern that has produced terrorism in the Arab world. Repressive, secular regimes — backed by the West — become illegitimate. Over time they become more repressive to survive and the opposition becomes more extreme and violent. The space … Read more
that thing that margaret said…
by russell for some reason, I recently found myself looking into the famous Margaret Thatcher quote. You know the one: There is no such thing as society. It's a sort of counter-intuitive, and maybe disturbing, thing for the Prime Minister of a major nation to come out with. So, I wanted to understand what she … Read more
Ted Cruz Signs Up For Obamacare!
by wj You just can’t make upstuff like this. At least, my imagination can’t manage it. The Des Moines Register reports today that Senator Cruz will be signing up for Obamacare. http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/24/ted-cruz-health-insurance-obamacare/70384334/ It seems that his wife is taking leave from Goldman Sachs to support his campaign. So he can no longer be on her … Read more
Limes and Planes
by Doctor Science
Mister Doctor and I were driving down a winding road the other day, and he asked me what the beautiful shade trees along it were. “Sycamores”, I said, “what in Europe are called plane trees.” He confessed that when he was young and heard of “plane trees” he was befuddled, not knowing if the grownups were talking about “just plain trees”, or trees that had something to do with airplanes, or if they were flat, or grew on the plains, or what. We also talked about how confusing it can be when British and American English have two different words for the same thing, and I said I was confused for years by British books that referred to “limes” as large European shade trees. Mister Doctor had just assumed they meant citrus trees, but I said no, they’re actually linden trees.
I promised him I’d look up why sycamores are called “plane” trees, and how linden trees got to be “limes” — and so I did, and now I shall share with you.
Acculturation
by wj For the entire history of the United States, those who were already here have viewed with alarm that arrival of immigrants. In particular, the arrival of immigrants from new places. Currently, the focus is on Hispanics. Before that it was the Chinese and Japanese, before that the Italians and the Irish. In the … Read more
28th Amendment
by russell In another thread, bobbyp linked to the Wiki page for the Shelby County v Holder case. The whole voting rights act brouhaha suggests, to me, a good candidate for a 28th Amendment: No citizen of the United States of America being 18 years or older in age shall be deprived of the right to vote … Read more
Let’s Celebrate Faux Amateurism!
by Ugh I like the NCAA men's basketball tournament, I really do. Not as much as I used to for a variety of reasons. These days, it gives me yet another chance to beat the ever growing drum of folk* calling out the NCAA on its hypocrisy, greed, cartel-like behavior, and just general awfulness. Quite … Read more
Let’s Go To War Open Thread
by wj In today’s Washington Post: War With Iran Is Probably Our Best Option. The author, Joshua Muravchik, might be the poster child for the movement from the far left to the far right. Going from National Chairman of the Young People’s Socialist League in the late 1960s and early 1970s to a board member … Read more
Terry Pratchett goes forth
by Doctor Science Dammit. Terry Pratchett, one of the greatest writers of my lifetime, just died. Age 66, of early-onset Alzheimer’s. By baalakavii, based on the announcement on Pratchett’s twitter account: AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER. — Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015 Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the … Read more
an anecdote…
by russell A week or so ago, I went to my niece's son's 4th birthday party. He's a great kid, anything he thinks or feels immediately translates into enthusiastic chatter and facial expressions and some kind of 4-year-old interpretive gymnastics. I think the term of art is "expressive". When I go to my niece's, I … Read more
Obama’s Selma speech
by liberal japonicus Stunning. Discuss.
If Not Hilary, Who?
by wj I think it more likely than not that Hilary Clinton’s candidacy will survive this latest contremps over her using a private e-mail account during her tenure as Secretary of State. (Unless evidence turns up of a significant security breach. At that point, all bets are off.) There’s just too much history of the … Read more
Whither Iran
by wj I don’t know when the talks with Iran over nuclear weapons will conclude. Maybe they finish by the latest deadline. Maybe they go thru some more extensions. But eventually they will end. And there are only a few ways that they can end. In rough order of probability (as I see it): They … Read more
Coming soon!
by liberal japonicus Let me give a welcome to regular commentor wj, who will take up the gauntlet and do whatever one does with gauntlets. He'll probably be taking over the weekend open thread. Anyone else interested? Write the kitty!
Speeding tickets in Finland and Ferguson
by Doctor Science This article about Finnish traffic tickets has been viral on tumblr in the last few days: Finland’s speeding fines are linked to income, with penalties calculated on daily earnings, meaning high earners get hit with bigger penalties for breaking the law. So, when businessman Reima Kuisla was caught doing 103km/h (64mph) in … Read more
Leonard Nimoy, Spock, and fandom
by Doctor Science
A lot of people have talked very movingly in the past few days about how inspirational Leonard Nimoy and the character of Spock were in their lives. For me, Spock is a culture-hero on the level of Moses or indeed Abraham. My chosen subculture is transformative media/SF fandom; media fandom began with Star Trek — and Star Trek fandom began with Spock.
One to Beam Up, by feredir. Yeah, I’ve been crying.
Speechifying with the Netanyahu!
by Ugh Well, today's the day of the big speech. 10:45am Eastern I believe. Do I bring popcorn? As much as I find the U.S.-Israel relationship mystifying, peculiar, and ultimately a large net loss to the United States (IMHO), and as much as I find Netanyahu infuriating generally and his interference in U.S. politics even … Read more