Lila @ 204: Store something in your brain that gives you a decent chance of making a living under a wide variety of circumstances. Food prep skills? Medical/nursing skills? Electrical, plumbing, carpentry, auto repair skills?
This reminds me of another thing I heard a German refugee say, one of the wisest things I think I've ever heard: They can take everything away from you, but they can't take away what you know. So learn everything you can.
This was more about how to live as a person rather than how to make a living, though. Though skills are good, of course.
Rob Oldendorf @ 144: The day after Hindenburg broke the electoral deadlock and awarded the chancellorship to Hitler, Leo Szilard left Germany for England.
This was pretty unusual, though. (Well, you said he was smart.) I've talked to people who stayed in Germany for a surprisingly long time, who couldn't believe what was happening to their country. I've even talked to someone who left only when the Gestapo came to their house to ask some questions.
Which, of course, doesn't answer the question of when it's time to leave a country. Going by some historical examples the question could be called alarmist; going by others you're just being cautious. Keep an eye out, would be my advice, and work to see to it that the question doesn't become more urgent.
Raven @ 262 -- Thank you! The original is not nearly as interesting, I assure you.
I don't see it here -- probably in Part 2 -- but he did a parody of the last speech in Dr. Faustus for the Death of Dumbledore contest (and didn't win, IMO, because the judges didn't get the reference). Anyway, it struck me that part (and only part) of the actual speech applies, sadly, to Ford himself:
Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight,
And burned is Apollo's laurel bough,
That sometime grew within this learned man...
I suppose I only remember this post because it was one of the few references I did get.
My God, this is terrible. And, selfishly, I want all those books I'm never going to get a chance to read. Condolences to Elise and everyone else.
So I told the children's librarian about the pirate books I'd collected for Talk Like a Pirate Day, and she loved the idea. Apparently they'd been talking about this in a children's librarian meeting, but no one could remember which day it was supposed to be celebrated. We did a big display in the children's room, and for the rest of the day I heard parents reading pirate stories to their kids, "Arrr" and "Matey" floating out into the room ...
Serge -- On Stranger Tides is not a good idea for this crowd -- this group of kids will put lit matches in their hair at the slightest provocation.
Lizzy -- No illustrated Treasure Island, unfortunately. Hey, if you're in the neighborhood (the library is down the hill from Charles) stop by. No, better call first -- I'm leaving at the end of the month.
#49 (Article from the Washingon Post about UN nuclear inspectors) -- I see the tiniest bit of a possible glimmer of hope here. If the Post is reporting this then at least someone is actually publishing real facts this time, not just repeating the Bush party line. Part of the problem with the last big mess was that no one in the media came forward and said, "You know, it looks like there might not really be WMD in Iraq, and could you explain again why we're invading?"
Well, I said it was a small glimmer. But maybe some people in the media don't want to get fooled again.
Aye -- Talk Like a Pirate Day -- I work in the library that day, so I'm going to take all the kid's picture books about pirates and put them on display, working on the theory that it's never too early to warp their little minds. So far I have:
Little Badger, Terror of the Seas
Pirate Girl
Rabbit Pirates
How I Became a Pirate
and a book by Jane Yolen that is still %$#@#% checked out but had better come in by tomorrow.
(Unfortunately, suggestions won't be helpful -- this is dependent on what books we have in the collection at the time.)
Jim -- Can I recycle some of your letter to send to my own Congresspeople? This gets me so mad I can't really think straight, and anyway you say it better than I could.
NelC @ 51 -- Oh, good -- I'm glad someone's doing it. People need to be reminded that it's been five years and this guy still hasn't been caught. And according to Michael Moore, there's a possibility he's on dialysis, so how hard can it be?
Dena@48 -- Anyone who wants the idea is welcome to it, free and clear.
I keep waiting for someone to come out with a Where's Osama? book, along the lines of Where's Waldo? Or has someone already done this and I'm behind the times as usual?
Re: the A.N. Wilson particle -- I don't care what it's an anagram of, I love the name "Eve de Harbin." I see her as somewhat mysterious, a world traveler, a wearer of wide-brimmed hats...
Fran Lebowitz once said that she saw a restaurant called "Bonjour Croissant!" It made her want to go to Paris and open a restaurant called "Hello, Toast!"
Rich at 114 -- Oh, gosh. Thanks.
And back to the discussion -- I always thought there was something really mean-spirited about the whole Bush family. Remember that famous scene where Bush was making a speech at ground zero, and someone in the crowd yelled, "I can't hear you!", and Bush yelled back, "Well, I can hear you!" It sounded to me as if he was saying "Yeah, well, what's wrong with you, moron?" Then everyone started applauding, and Bush (again, it seemed to me) looked surprised and then realized what he had said and started playing to the crowd. And so an iconic moment was born.
Here's another inappropriate name -- apparently Operation Iraqi Freedom was first called Operation Iraqi Liberty. Check the initials.
Re: the sugar substitute question asked a long time ago -- I started using this thing called Stevia extract, which is, it says here, "an herbacious plant that is grown in countries such as Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico and China .. used for more than a millennium." (Hey, a tie-in to the 1491 thread!) I can't say that it's as sweet as sugar, or that it'll give you that sugar rush, but it's pretty good on its own terms. Trader Joe has it.
Rob Rusick @ 158 -- I'm glad to see this theory shows up in other places -- I was beginning to think I'd made it up. I wonder if it's so popular because it says something people would like to believe about the strong bond between dogs and humans. Too bad there's all that pesky evidence about brain mass and bone density. (Though I'm glad to hear actual facts about this -- I don't like spreading misinformation. Like the person at Worldcon who informed me that James Tiptree had helped found the CIA.)
Marie @ 148 -- I think you've convinced me -- unfortunately, because it was such a fine theory. I suppose the point I'm trying to make is that while dogs were certainly changed by their domestication, so were people. There's another theory* that people may have learned important things from dogs, like how to better hunt in packs.
* Don't you just hate unfootnoted citations? Can't remember where I read this, though.
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| 2006 | 69 |
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