Chocolate Weeds
Nov. 4th, 2005 03:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rain_gryphonIs Paris Burning?
For those who've not followed it, the Moslems are rioting in Paris for the eighth straight day. This started when two doofuses fleeing the police (who apparently weren't even after them) decided that an electrical substation would be a really good place to hide, with predictable results. What holds my attention in all of this is how much discussion the French seem to devote to the issue of whether the police were chasing the boys or not. I get the distinct feeling that to the French, if it were proven that the police were chasing the young Darwinbaits, that would somehow place the police at fault.
I do love Fark's suggestion that the New Orleans riots are best seen as a reflection of the city's Frenchness.
Edit: And in a wholly unexpected development, the New York Post offers a serious and insightful analysis piece.
*****
The Cargo Cults are in the news again. For some reason I just enjoy the fact that they even exist. There's something that captures my imagination in people sitting out in the jungle, carving radios from wood and pretending to be Americans as a religious observance. Were I not poor, I'd hire a plane to fly over every few years and drop some stuff, just to keep them going.
The Prophet Fred seems to have dropped out of sight, though. Pity, that.
A fairly thoughtful editorial on the subject of witchcraft and the Cargo Cults. And they're right, I have a very hard time taking any of it seriously.
*****
This was bound to happen sooner or later, I suppose. For people that aren't really into the whole unsolved murders thing, it's hard to explain just how fascinating the Ripper murders are. They're a veritable wilderness of mirrors, where any clue can point in several directions at once. About all anyone's ever managed to agree upon is that the "From Hell" letter, the one they're apparently going to test, really did come from the murderer, and some dispute even that.
Perhaps the test will fail. The fun always lay in suspecting, not in knowing. I can't really blame the fellow, though. Had I that tool, I'd apply it.
http://www.casebook.org/ is pretty much the definitive online resource, if people are interested.
*****
And, Congress seems to be set to remedy the abuse of eminent domain. I'm pleased to see that. I'm pleased as well that it's being done through the legislature, as it proper, instead of by judicial activism.
For those who've not followed it, the Moslems are rioting in Paris for the eighth straight day. This started when two doofuses fleeing the police (who apparently weren't even after them) decided that an electrical substation would be a really good place to hide, with predictable results. What holds my attention in all of this is how much discussion the French seem to devote to the issue of whether the police were chasing the boys or not. I get the distinct feeling that to the French, if it were proven that the police were chasing the young Darwinbaits, that would somehow place the police at fault.
I do love Fark's suggestion that the New Orleans riots are best seen as a reflection of the city's Frenchness.
Edit: And in a wholly unexpected development, the New York Post offers a serious and insightful analysis piece.
*****
The Cargo Cults are in the news again. For some reason I just enjoy the fact that they even exist. There's something that captures my imagination in people sitting out in the jungle, carving radios from wood and pretending to be Americans as a religious observance. Were I not poor, I'd hire a plane to fly over every few years and drop some stuff, just to keep them going.
The Prophet Fred seems to have dropped out of sight, though. Pity, that.
A fairly thoughtful editorial on the subject of witchcraft and the Cargo Cults. And they're right, I have a very hard time taking any of it seriously.
*****
This was bound to happen sooner or later, I suppose. For people that aren't really into the whole unsolved murders thing, it's hard to explain just how fascinating the Ripper murders are. They're a veritable wilderness of mirrors, where any clue can point in several directions at once. About all anyone's ever managed to agree upon is that the "From Hell" letter, the one they're apparently going to test, really did come from the murderer, and some dispute even that.
Perhaps the test will fail. The fun always lay in suspecting, not in knowing. I can't really blame the fellow, though. Had I that tool, I'd apply it.
http://www.casebook.org/ is pretty much the definitive online resource, if people are interested.
*****
And, Congress seems to be set to remedy the abuse of eminent domain. I'm pleased to see that. I'm pleased as well that it's being done through the legislature, as it proper, instead of by judicial activism.
