Nakoula Basseley Nakoula

It does look gold but it’s supposed to be orange. Orange reflects New York’s Dutch heritage. Blue and orange are also the colors of the Mets for that reason.

Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov, published in 1859, was a popular novel about a lazy man that is still referenced in Russian popular culture.

The Indian women’s winning 4×400 relay team at the Delhi games was inspirational at the time. Unfortunatley most of the team was later suspended for doping violations.

Video Link

The Olympics are an unreliable measure of a country’s athletic prowess. The USA has plenty of Olympic caliber athletes who aren’t competing because of the limits put on participants from each nation. Our selection process often results in the world’s best athletes not competing. Donovan Brazier is a case in point this year. The US States are often larger and with a greater population than European nations. If each US State was allowed to field it own Olympic team then the american medal count would be much much higher.

It’s interesting to me to hear that “ferreting for rats” was a pastime for rural boys. I remember my Grandfather (born 1888) explaining that his family in Donegal kept ferrets to put down rabbit holes. The fleeing rabbits were shot and ended up as dinner meat that evening. I suppose most families kept ferrets in those days. That activity is also the origin of the idiom “ferret out” meaning to find the truth.

I grew up in Boston and NYC in the fifties and sixties. In lieu of “Camarillo” it was “Danvers” in Boston and “Bellevue” in NYC.

FWIW Ann Coulter wrote a takedown this month of an Edsall column:

https://anncoulter.com/2021/07/07/nyt-why-are-all-these-racist-losers-so-angryx/

3M has developed a product specifically for this new line of furniture. It’s called Crotchgard (TM).

3M has developed a new product specifically for this new line of furniture. It’s called Crotchgard (TM).

I’m old enough to remember watching Harmon Killebrew getting severely injured stretching for a throw at first base in the 1968 All-Star game. It hurts just remembering that play.
http://classicminnesotatwins.blogspot.com/2018/12/when-harmon-killebrews-career-almost.html

I’d bet that Hatfields and McCoys had clan characteristics and could tell one another apart.

I grew up in New York City and have Presbyterian cousins in Ulster. I visited my cousins back in 1974. It was apparent to me that they could easily distinguish between Catholics and Protestants on sight. I never asked how they could do this but it was not something I was not capable of doing.

Very well done! One minor correction: I don’t believe “Rohanian” exists in Tolkien’s world. I wish it did as my Mother’s family name is Rohan. The correct word is “Rohirrim”.

Steve – You advance some good arguments for the increase of obesity. I’m older than you and think you have overlooked an important factor and that is the air conditioned environment we inhabit today. When I was a youngster I sweated profusely all day (and night) long. It wasn’t considered uncomfortable because it was completely normal. There was no escaping the summer heat. People would sometimes sleep down by the river or on balconies and fire escapes to mitigate the heat but the bottom line is that we sweated constantly. We also drank a lot more water to replace the lost fluids. I believe this way of living in the era before air conditioning contributed a lot our relative lack of obesity.

I’m old enough to remember when actual man versus gorilla fights were staged as circus sideshows. The gorilla would be wearing boxing gloves and be muzzled. I remember talking to an old hardened miner in Pennsylvania who actually fought a gorilla in the early 50s. He was a trained boxer and actually thought he stood a chance. He said that when he entered the cage the gorilla pretty much ignored him. But when he landed a punch to the gorilla’s head the gorilla grabbed him and bounced him off the top of the cage. He immediately knew hew was in over his head and screamed for help at which point the fight was ended.

A very overlooked black guitarist is Eddie Hazel of Parliament/Funkadelic. His 10 minute solo in Maggot Brain is remarkable.

A staple of old TV and movies was that a blow to the head would result in a short period of unconsciousness from which the victim would recover minutes later as if nothing happened. No bump or blood and the action carries on to the next head blow a few minutes later.

In the documentary about the Ali-Foreman fight there is a segment with Ali sitting in the cockpit with the black African pilots. The sight of black men flying the plane was an inspiration to Ali. He shouts how American blacks are taught from birth not to expect to be able to do this kind of job. He praises the pilots for their skill and their ability to speak multiple languages. It’s quite a heartbreaking scene IMO. Sorry I couldn’t find the clip online.

Isn’t safety just a euphemism for authority?

Yes and its corrollary “security”. Beware the Department of Homeland Security.

Although I haven’t paid attention to pop music since the 1970s I tend to agree with your comment. The reason is that I heard (on the car radio) a Natalie Merchant (unknown to me at the time) version of “Because The Night”. I am a big fan of the Patti Smith rendition. The Merchant version has the exact same arrangement. The only difference was the vocals which couldn’t hold a candle to Patti’s. I agree Merchant can’t “belt”. I don’t understand why she produced that particular song as it added nothing to what had already been done.

Years ago a show like In Living Color could make fun of wacky conspiracy theories: https://youtu.be/bwz9RAVou1U
Video Link

Nothing in her background explains why she was born in the United States. It must of been planned by her parents for the American citizenship benefit. I long for the day when American citizens can exercise some real discretion over who we allow to be a citizen.

Good gravy! She looks like Rachel Levine with a tan.

The article is written by Jelena Ciric – a Serbian immigrant to Iceland.

It was commonplace much earlier than forty years. The Philadelphia Museum of Art pediment recreated classical statuary in brilliant polychrome colors in 1932.

I’ve heard that the Rainbow Division will be based out of Fort Dix.

The name of the winning coach “Arians” must be mighty triggering to the woke crowd.

My Dad grew up in the same town as Galbraith. The only story I remember was that Galbraith was being teased by some city slickers for being a huge oafish farmboy. Galbraith got a hold of one of his tormentors whupped him good and threw him headfirst into a snowbank.

Distaff groin kicking competitions are known colloquially as “C**t Punts”.

The only thing missing from the article was the term “stray bullet”. As everyone knows the source of all criminal violence in the ‘hood are stray bullets which have incredible lethal aim.

Tony Soprano meets a female mob boss in Italy:

Video Link

Nikole Hannah-Jones wants to be taken seriously.

You have to first assume that he is telling the truth about not knowing the video was on. I don’t.

I remember hearing Hans Christian Andersen’s tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes” as a youngster. It didn’t make any sense to me. I thought it was idiotic. What did it mean that the adults couldn’t see that there were no clothes? Now that I’ve witnessed the mental illness of our chattering classes it makes perfect sense. Too bad this is a permanent human condition dating back to the beginning of time.

Good comment. That reminded me that the very gay and talented singer Johnny Mathis was an elite track and basketball player in the early 1950s.

Not earlier but I lost my eye doctor Richard Raskind in the mid-70s when he ran off to become Renee Richards.

Interesting. “Als Ik Kan” is the motto adopted by Gustav Stickley for his furniture company. I didn’t know the origin so thanks.

What I remember most about the ’68 World Series was the home run hit by Mickey Lolich.

Is your omission of Magic intentional or just an oversight?

Well, Tabitha, let’s start with the good news. Your eyeshadow matches your dress. But your lipstick is all wrong. Pink lipstick and purple eyeshadow can work together, but that shade is way too pale.

And your hair … ugh. Girl, I have two words for you: absolute disaster. It’s about as far from supercalifragilisticexpialidocious as you can get. You might as well get a wig. If you’re having trouble scrounging up enough change to buy beauty supplies, try Dollar Tree, where everything is still $1.

If you’re going to LARP as a female, Tabby – can I call you Tabby? – then at least do it right. There are thousands of tranny makeover videos on YouTube. Watch them and learn. You’ll thank me later.

I agree completely with your observation regarding jaywalking in NYC vs. Seattle. I grew up in the LES of Manhattan. I took my first trip to Seattle in the early 90s. Since I’m an early riser and because of the time difference I was shaving in the bathroom about 4 AM local time. I was staying in an older hotel with a bathroom window that could be opened. I noticed what looked like a family group (father, mother, 2 kids) standing motionless on a street corner in the dark all alone. There was no one else around and no cars. It was like a creepy Edward Hopper painting. I stared at them wondering what they were up to. After a few seconds they began to cross the street. I then realized they were waiting for the walk sign to come on. This was so far outside my own range of experience it was hard to process. It was both funny and strange to me.

How many jogged to the event? Good way to work up an appetite.

I say a silent prayer that this effort doesn’t distract from NASA’s primary focus of muslim outreach.

As an American with Irish born grandparents I guess I should take offense at the irish words in our language which, for the most part, have negative connotations. Consider “paddy wagon”, “hooligan”, “donnybrook”, and “shenanigans” but I don’t.

And “job.”

Everyone in America is agitated and depressed by the Culture War. We all feel like we’re losing all of the time, because we all are. Conservatives are always losing to liberals, and liberals are always losing to reality. It is depressing. It’s depressing as hell.

They’re angry and they’re shrewish,
They’re lying and me-too-ish,
They’re also partly Jewish,
The Smollett Family.

Their house is full of nooses,
Which they put to shady uses,
They take us all for gooses,
The Smollett Family.

It won’t work if you sue ’em,
You’re tempted to say, Screw ’em,
We’re gonna interview ’em,
The Smollett Fa-mi-ly.

Snap, snap.

So 548 is trying to cozy up with the establishment.

That’s cute.

I’m guessing that blogging about political stats doesn’t pay well and Nate wants a full time job at CNN.

“All the homicides in Chicago occur in about 8 percent of the city’s census tracts,”

Census tracks? Is that what we are calling Black areas?

And a recent study suggests that Trump’s words could have an effect.

Trump is to blame. Definitely pushing for a cushy CNN or MSNBC position.

The trouble is that fear about crime isn’t rational, and it’s hard to convince people to think differently about a problem that they don’t experience on a day-to-day basis anyway.

So this isn’t a rational concern?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/new-york-city-shootings-rose-177percent-in-july-data-shows/ar-BB17yxRZ

Next up 538 will blog about how guns make you less safe and without any breakdown by race.

I think you’re being a bit tough on Secretary Reich. His cookie baking operation was located in one of the felled trees.

In the old days when White Privilege was a thing the Jews were all over it like white on rice. A lot of the jewishy family names were anglicized as well as the first names drawn in many instances from famous writers such as Milton, Irving, Herman etc.

My great-grandfather in Canada had smart driverless transport in the 19th century. He was a doctor and would make house calls sometimes in the middle of the night. He had the luxury of sleeping on the way home because his horse invariably knew the way without any guidance from Great Grandpa.

I’m going from memory here so I could be wrong but the story of John composing “A Hard Days Night” is fascinating. From what I remember John was asked for a song for the new Beatles movie and it was needed right away. A pissed off John took a Ringo saying “A Hard Day’s Night” and fashioned a song overnight. John had it written and recorded in something like a day. He angrily turned it over to whoever requested it and said “No more!”. And as you say it’s a great song.

This problem is not limited to blacks. I have roots in west central PA which is among the whitest parts of the country. I am appalled at the number of parents who are preparing their kids for a supposed tuition-free ride playing Penn State football and then NFL stardom. Of course 99.99 % of them never earn a dime from football and usually end up in dead end careers. I’ve known many of these kids and their football prowess is extraordinary yet they are still unable to make the big leagues. It’s hard for the average TV viewer to realize just how talented NFL athletes have to be to make it.

My father (born 1923) was a doctor at the NYU Medical Center and knew Dr. Baden well. My father was mild mannered and almost always saw the good in people. The one exception I recall was his antipathy towards Dr. Baden who he considered a presstitute fraud of the first order.

Such an outdoor sculpture garden already exists at my Alma Mater’s former campus in the Bronx. I’m an NYU grad and the Bronx campus featured the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. This was created back when the Bronx was civilized. You have recently commented on your blog how the Bronx has descended into savagery over the last 60 years. NYU sold the Bronx campus but the Hall of Fame continues as part of Bronx Community College. Feast your eyes on the notables admitted to the Hall a long time ago:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_of_Fame_for_Great_Americans

There was no intent to harm. The poor hapless victims were “in the wrong place at the wrong time” and hit by “stray bullets”. Doesn’t every neighborhood have a population of “stray bullets”?

“Negro College Fund should change its motto from ‘Mind is a terrible thing to waste’ to ‘Black feelings are a terrible thing to hurt’… esp as they be rioting and shi*.”

I work cleaning up hazardous waste sites. Our motto is: “Waste is a terrible thing to mind.”

I don’t really have much to add other than to say that I moved to Chicago around the same time as you. In my case it was 1982. I came from a few month stay in Baltimore. While in Baltimore I remember a sleepy-eyed TV newscaster named Oprah Winfrey who re-located to Chicago at about the same time. I remember running into her in a department store in Baltimore. Regarding Chicago politics I met and befriended Martin Sandoval who was starting his first job. He rose in the ranks of Chicago/Illinois politics and became the Barack Obama of the mexican west side. I left Chicago after a few years but stayed in touch with Martin. I was saddened to hear of his recent conviction on corruption charges but I guess that just goes with the territory.

Nice old cobblestone street in that video. Paris paved over their cobblestones because they were used by the soixante-huitards as weapons against les gendarmes. I don’t want to give antifa any ideas.

“I think she spends a lot of money at her beauty parlor trying to look like she hasn’t spent any money there.”

Reminds me of Dolly Parton’s quote speaking of herself: “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap!”

I commute to work on the DC Metro subway. About two years DC Metro had an advertising campaign pitched at being courteous to Metro employees. The ads featured photos of actual Metro employees. Metro went way out of its way to find and feature the few Whites and Asians among its ranks for the ads. The deception was breathtaking.

I’m an anti-influencer regarding cars. If I buy one that manufacturer will either leave the US market or go out of business. I bought Renault in the eighties and Saturn in the nineties and aughts. I just had the clutch replaced on my 2003 Saturn. Soon I’ll have to curse another company when the Saturn dies.

How times have changed! As a student in Paris in the 70s I worked as a fruit and vegetable vendor at an outdoor market in the 16th arrondisement. My boss was an elderly Spanish immigrant married to a French woman. I remember one day a lady of african descent was handling the produce too long for the bossman’s patience. He grabbed whatever it was in her hand and put it back on the table, slapped her hand and shouted:”On’est pas au Congo ici!”.

Sandra Haggerty predated Kaplan as the Los Angeles Times first african-american columnist by several decades working in that position from 1969 to 1977.

Growing up in NYC in the 50s and 60s I used to drive by a massive construction project known as Bruckner Boulevard. It was under construction for years and years. Noted NYT architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable titled her collection of essays “Will They Ever Finish Bruckner Boulevard?”. Well worth the read if you’re a NYC architecture buff.

I lived in Chicago in the early eighties. A homeless person forced his way into a friend’s car and promptly died (probably from the cold). The police assumed the dead guy was my friend and notified his mother of his passing. Interesting times.

I’m a few months away from retiring from the federal government in which case I’ll be an Ex Fed.

The Atlantic treat the porch privates as doing victimless crimes. That Amazon will be on hook to ship replacement shipments. This is the wrong headed approach.

AmazonFlex drivers beware! 5 lost packages and you are kicked off.
byu/zackiebinkes inAmazonFlexDrivers

The so-called “reporter” at The Atlantic really should interview numerous Amazon Flex couriers who are “deactivated” from the platform, fired in other word, because they “lost” more than 5 packages within their last 500 packages. Some no doubt due to Fairley’s actions.

Some how, someone who is desperate enough to work gig economy, but still doing honest work, are not worthy of consideration/sympathy by “elite” journalists.

I grew up in the LES of Manhattan in the 50s and 60s and generally agree with your characterization of NYC accents. I went to parochial school in Greenwich Village and a lot of my classmates sounded like Leah Remini from “King of Queens”. The Italians had their own accent (think Tony Soprano). The older generation had a now extinct accent that was used by Mickey Rooney in Little Lord Fauntleroy. After third grade I went to a posh catholic school on the UES and boy did I feel out-of-place. What you describe as “rather British” was what was called “Long Island Lockjaw”. Bill Buckley was the foremost practitioner of that accent.

BTW Martin Scorcese had Daniel Day-Lewis using the NY accent in “Gangs of New York”. I doubt that accent existed in the mid-19th century but who knows for sure?

Benny Hill had a waitress with a tag on her uniform that said “Pat” as well:

Video Link

I challenge anyone to name one false belief that Americans had due to a Russian disinformation campaign?

Going back to soviet days the belief that Sacco and Vanzetti were framed.

I was a patient of Dr. Raskind before he transitioned.

A boiling steaming cauldron was a staple of mid 20th century witch doctors:

Bob Marley drove a BMW. To him the initials meant “Bob Marley and the Wailers”.

I grew up in NYC in the fifties and sixties and played american quoits when visiting friends in the suburbs. I don’t think kids are playing the games I grew up with such as ringalevio, red rover, punchball and stickball. I could be wrong but that’s my impression.

The prominent archway in that painting is more roman than greek. I doubt any such archway existed in the Athens of Socrates.

Do you think Donald Trump knows any amusing affirmative action anecdotes?

https://www.indy100.com/article/trump-racist-video-1993-native-americans-testimony-watch-9008226

Margaret Hamilton had extensive past experience in flight:

Yes. The Official Preppy Handbook came out in 1980 and was a huge hit launching a wave of all things preppy in the pop culture.

I agree that the Mills victory was an exciting moment in USA track and field history but does it beat Dave Wottle’s 800 meter win in Munich?

That time arrived decades ago. Read (if you can bear it) Michelle Obama’s senior thesis while at Princeton. Pure gibberish. Barack didn’t even have to write a word while editor of the Harvard Law Review.

My guess is that the twin is fraternal. Matthew looks like Dad and the twin looks like Mom.

Some people are more sensitive to hair characteristics than most. Barbers obviously are part of those some people. I knew an African-American man who says that the first time he went to his barber in Oakland CA that the barber knew he was from East Texas by his hair. My Irish grandparents, aunts and uncles, born in the 1880s, claim they could identify Irish protestants by their hair which they called “presbyterian hair”.

One theory is that syphilis was introduced to Europe by the returning crew of Christopher Columbus from their first contact with the Americas.

Kinda on topic I’m gonna tell a story from that era that I think is kinda funny. My brother was a big music fan and subscribed to Billboard magazine. He studied the domestic and foreign charts relentlessly. He was aware that The Squeeze had a new album out in the UK that wasn’t scheduled for release in America for a few weeks. Our parents were going on a vacation to the UK so my brother asks them to get the new Squeeze LP. Our Mom has it in her carry-on on the plane heading back to the States. My Dad has the aisle seat and is oblivious to our Mother’s mission regarding the LP. Dad strikes up a conversation with the guys sitting across the aisle. Turns out it was The Squeeze bandmates heading to an American tour. Dad never mentions this to Mom during the flight. So we pick up the parents at JFK and Mom triumphantly gives the new Squeeze album to my very grateful brother. At this point my Dad chimes in “The Squeeze?! They were sitting next to us on the flight!” That set my Mother off as she demanded to know why he didn’t tell her. He insisted he did. Well you can imagine a big row ensued. I thought it was hilarious and still chuckle about it to this day. The Squeeze would have been flattered if this senior American couple had produced the album mid-flight for autographs.

My cousin Rosemary Mahoney lived to write a book about her solo trip down the Nile.

ihttps://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/2195/Down-the-Nile

Agree about the Polish names. I don’t think anyone even tries to pronounce Mike Krzyzewski’s name properly.

Back in the day the idea of a female pilot was truly radical. Remember this Candid Camera episode?

Video Link

Pretty amazing when you consider that Clovis is considered the first permanent site of humans in North America dating to over 12,000 years ago.

Or were all those old-west sheriffs actually jews??

Don’t know about the sheriffs but Wyatt Earp’s wife was jewish.

Brooke Shields’ named her daughters Grier and Rowan which happen to be the family names of my father and mother respectively. I find that extremely coincidental.

I agree but would extend that to all large male dogs. Almost all male dog pets are neutered. If you have a large male dog and forego the neutering be prepared to kick its ass or you’re in for a world of trouble.

I like to study contemporary photos of Bill Gates. He and I were born on the same day so I like to compare our aging process. It looks like we’re on comparable paths but he has much better hair.

The one factoid I recall about Ry Cooder is that his 1979 album “Bop ‘Till You Drop” was the first major studio effort made using all digital recording technology.

I got tested about two years ago and was surprised by having a reported 6% Iberian Peninsula component. My ancestry, as far as I knew, was all from the British isles. Then about a month ago I got a message from Ancestry dot com saying they’ve updated my ancestry based on new and better information. Poof! just like that the Iberian disappeared and my ancestry is all English/Irish/Welsh/Scots.

I agree that the howling instinct is still there. About 2 years ago I was walking next to a professional dog walker in Washington DC who had maybe 7 or 8 dogs on leashes. An ambulance with the siren wailing sped by and every single dog in that pack started howling. Quite an event to see and hear.