bhorh nazgu

Posted on Wednesday, 2002 February 20 by Anton

Lalaith offers:

Bhorh nazgu burdatuluk. Bhorh nazgu thrakatul.
Bhorh nazgu dupatuluk agh Lúthrongdush-shi krempatul.

Five Rings to lure them all. Five Rings to bring them.
Five Rings to dope them all and in Salt Lake City deceive them.

Posted in language, politics, prose | Leave a comment

Abraham the Afghan

Posted on Wednesday, 2002 February 20 by Anton

Victor Davis Hanson, in an otherwise splendid defense of Americanism and the melting pot, says:

Mr. Karzai needs something like the U.S. Constitution and an Abraham Lincoln a lot more than he needs $15 billion.

Would this be the same Lincoln who said violent secession was legitimate but peaceful secession was not, whose lifelong dream was to complete American unity by deporting the Negros, who turned what might be friendship (as between us and Britain) into generations-long resentment? Or some other Abraham Lincoln?

Posted in history, politics | Leave a comment

boobs

Posted on Wednesday, 2002 February 20 by Anton

I caught myself staring at a stranger’s cleavage, and averted my eyes, because nice boys don’t stare. Then it occurred to me that, as the shirt around the breasts in question was emblazoned HUSTLER, she probably didn’t mind. But by then she had turned away.
(Let’s see what searches this entry brings!)

Posted in California, eye-candy | Comments Off on boobs

Tom, Dick and Harry

Posted on Tuesday, 2002 February 19 by Anton

This afternoon I went to South Hayward BART station. When I reached trackside, a train was stopped in the station, and a handful of Hayward police were present (more soon showed up; but, I think, no BART police).

A large Black man in handcuffs was objecting on the grounds that he had not been on the train, and appealed to me to confirm that I had just seen him outside, and that we talked about my umbrella.
Continue reading →

Posted in California | Leave a comment

inscrutable

Posted on Monday, 2002 February 18 by Anton

A shirt with a cheerful message. See Engrish.com for caption. Does the yellow sign say “two for ¥2k” (about $15)? Just the thing for couples, and such a deal! To think they say prices are high in Japan!

Posted in humanities | Leave a comment

Calamity Jane Austin

Posted on Monday, 2002 February 18 by Anton

A small collection of articles about “Calamity” Jane Austin, author of such novels as Winchester Park . Check it out.

Posted in fandom, prose | Leave a comment

duty to retreat

Posted on Monday, 2002 February 18 by Anton

Bill Quick complains:

The notion that one cannot protect one’s property with deadly force, if necessary, essentially means that the entire concept of property ownership is a farce. It means that if a man with a knife demands my car, even though I am armed with a firearm, I must allow him to take my vehicle. Even worse is the enshrinement of state-ordered cowardice inherent in the notion that you have a “duty” to retreat from “situations that might escalate into using deadly force.” This places the balance of social power entirely in the hands of any lawless desperado willing to threaten to use deadly force.

I’m not convinced that it’s that bad. As I see it, if your thug shows you a knife with the implied threat to use it, he has already escalated to deadly force; if I’m wrong on that point, then your showing a gun is not deadly force either. Either way, you’re not obligated to assume that he’ll put his knife away if you give in.
Disclaimer: That’s logic, but I can’t promise that it is law!

Posted in politics, weapons | Leave a comment