Since we seem to have quite a few poetry lovers here…check out this unlikely and beautiful poem by Jeff Sypeck.
Month: March 2010
“Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Zooey Deschanel has a kind of classic Thirties, Old Hollywood, comedic actress vibe – that is still, somehow, very modern….
This is a sweet video and song.
Book Review: Between Silk and Cyanide, by Leo Marks
We have a little time left
The wise doctor said
Unless there’s a miracle
Which is another man’s trade
Selfish as always
I’ve started missing you now
Want to say so
Don’t know how
Want to hug you
Don’t know if I should
Hope you understand
I’d take your place if I could
In 1942, at the age of 22, Leo Marks joined the secret British agency known as Special Operations Executive, and soon became the organization’s Codemaster, responsible for the security of communications with SOE’s resistance and sabotage agents in occupied Europe. He usually briefed these agents…soon-to-be-legendary individuals like Violette Szabo and Forest Yeo-Thomas…before their departures and they all left indelible impressions on him. His memoir is a very emotional book: frequently heartbreaking, sometimes very funny. There is a lot about the technical aspects of cryptography, but these sections can be skipped or skimmed by those who are primarily interested in the powerful human story. Poetry, much of it written by Marks himself, played an important part in SOE’s cryptographic operations and hence plays an important role in this book.
Racist Is As Racist Does
Glenn linked to this post at the Amazon.com food blog.
The author was shocked (shocked!) to find out that the tuna she has been using wasn’t from Italy, even though it has a vaguely Italian-sounding name. In fact, the tuna is caught in the middle of the ocean, and packaged by an American company.
So what does she do? The author swears off that particular brand of tuna! It was perfectly good when she thought it was from Italy, but it isn’t worthy enough to pass her lips now that she knows that a company based in the US is involved. Only tuna caught in the waters off Sicily, and packaged in that country, will be used from now on.
Most of the comments at the post accuse the author of being a snob, which certainly seems to be obvious. But I think it shows a much darker and vile tendency than simple snobbery. Isn’t the author exhibiting blatant racism?
Turn it around. If someone refused to use perfectly acceptable tuna from Sicily, just because it came from Sicily, they would be accused of being racist. How could they not? There isn’t anything wrong with the product, after all. They just can’t stomach the idea that those people touched the food.
So isn’t it racist to do the same thing, just because the tuna is sold by an American company?
As of this writing, the author hasn’t bothered to respond to the criticism. I doubt she will. Racists usually have a lack of backbone, after all.
How Can This Be An Issue?
A measure put to the vote recently in Switzerland was to give abused animals their own lawyers. It was handily defeated.
I’m at a loss here. How did this get on the ballot? Isn’t there a global economic crises going on right now? So, of course, money has to be spent on expanding another bureaucracy. There are already laws on the Swiss books to protect animals, so why not hire lawyers to represent them in court?
Yeah, yeah, I know. I hate the helpless little furry children, and want to see them suffer. The reality is rather different.
Special interest groups will drain us all. Luckily the voters in Switzerland told them to get lost.