L’Idiotie Quotadine
Peter Berg told a story on the Joe Rogan Experience. A newspaper printed an obituary, saying Alfred Nobel had died. (It was Ludvig Nobel, Alfred’s brother, who died.) Alfred Nobel had accumulated a fortune by inventing dynamite.. The obituary called him a “merchant of death.” Mr. Nobel decided he wanted to be known for something else, and established the Nobel prize. Alfred Nobel died December 10, 1896, eight years after Ludvig died. … This is a repost. In a recent episode with Peter Thiel, Joe Rogan repeated the Nobel story.
I was in skeptic mode, and decided to talk to Mr. Google. A story came up. It had a photograph of the headline … in English … in a newspaper called L’Idiotie Quotadine (Quotadine Idiocy.) History.com has another take. “The newspaper incident is often cited as the driving force behind Nobel’s philanthropy, but historians have yet to find an original copy of the “Merchant of Death” obituary.”
A google search for Quotadine led me to Kathy “Kathy Loves Physics” Joseph. She has an article, and two videos, (one two) about the Nobel urban legend. Apparently, the word quotadine, with that spelling, does not exist in either french or english.
The short version: The term “Merchants of Death” was coined in 1932, 43 years after the death of Ludwig Nobel. “The term seems to have been coined by an author of an article written in 1932 about a real character named Basil Zaharoff who was known for his ruthlessness, selling munitions to anyone who had enough money. In fact, Zaharoff was even known to encourage conflict and then sell arms to both sides! This article was poetically titled, “Zaharoff, Merchant of Death”
In later years, a pair of biographies (Fant Halasz) applied the MOD tag to Mr. Nobel, along with the festive origin story. The truth seems to be a bit more romantic. Mr. Nobel befriended a lady named Bertha Von Suttner, who seems to be a be a bit of a character. As time moved on, Mrs. Von Suttner became involved in a peace movement, and recruited Mr. Nobel to the cause. “In 1905, Bertha von Suttner was awarded the 4th Nobel Peace prize.”
Peter Berg is the JRE guest who told this tale. Mr. Berg is promoting a tv show, Painkiller, about the Oxycontin tragedy. At least some of what he is saying about opioids is the truth. It is a shame he needs to embellish that tale with Quotadine Idiocy. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Famous Last Words
The elephant in the room is a popular internet cliche. In this picture, the elephant looks like the ghastly wallpaper, both of which are best ignored. I wanted to make a comment. The only appropriate thing to do, in a situation involving wallpaper and an elephant, is to quote Oscar Wilde, on his deathbed. “This wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. Either it goes or I do.”
When discussing Oscar Wilde, elephants, and wallpaper, it is important to get the correct quote. Mr. Google has a great deal to say, on the subject of last words. Peggy Lee sang about it. Unfortunately, the chanteuse was in very bad health at the end of her life. Peggy Lee probably did not say “Is that all there is?” on her deathbed.
On October 14, 1977, Bing Crosby “… finished 18 holes of golf carding an 85 … After his final putt Bing … remarked “It was a great game.” As he was walking to the clubhouse … he collapsed from a massive heart attack. … “We thought he had just slipped,” said one of his golfing companions.”
Adelaide Eugenia Bankhead “… first child, daughter Ada Eugenia, was born on January 24, 1901. The following year, Tallulah was born on their anniversary. Ada died tragically of blood poisoning just three weeks following Tallulah’s birth. On her deathbed, she told her sister-in-law to “take care of Eugenia, Tallulah will always be able to take care of herself”. This, like many other legendary last words, may too good to be true.
The Atlantic had a tasteful feature, “What Are the Best Last Words Ever?” Here are a few.
John Adams July 4, 1826 “Thomas Jefferson survives.”
Unbeknownst to Mr. Adams, Mr. Jefferson had died about five hours earlier.
Richard Feynman “I’d hate to die twice—it’s so boring”
O. Henry appeared to have stopped breathing, but was he really dead? Touch his feet, suggested one of the mourners clustered around his bed: Nobody ever died with warm feet. Whereupon, the short-story writer raised his head from the pillow, mumbled “Joan of Arc did,” and fell back dead.
Dylan Thomas “I’ve had 18 straight whiskeys. I think that’s the record.”
Union Major General John Sedgwick “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.” Said while reprimanding his men for ducking for cover, just before he was killed at the Battle of Spotsylvania.
Ludwig Von Beethoven “I shall hear in heaven.”
An unverified tumblr contributes a few more zingers.
Edgar Allan Poe “Lord help my poor soul.”
Thomas Hobbes “I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap into the dark.”
Alfred Jarry “I am dying…please, bring me a toothpick.”
Washington Irving “I have to set my pillows one more night, when will this end already?”
Leo Tolstoy “But the peasants…how do the peasants die?”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe “More light.”
Karl Marx “Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough!”
Voltaire “Now, now, my good man, this is no time for making enemies.”
François-Marie Arouet was asked by a priest to renounce Satan.
James Joyce “Does nobody understand?”
A certain popup crazy website has a few more last words. Some of these were really said. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
James Dean “That guy’s gotta stop… He’ll see us.”
Henry James “So here it is at last, the expected thing.”
Marie Antoinette “Pardon me, sir, I did not do it on purpose.”
George Appel “Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.” Mr. Appel was executed by electric chair in 1928; these were his last words. Here’s two more: “Gents, this is an educational project. You are about to witness the damaging effect electricity has on Wood.” Said by Fredrick Charles Wood before he was electrocuted in 1951. “Hey, fellas! How about this for a headline for tomorrow’s paper? ‘French Fries!’” James French, 1966.
Weird Buzzing Sound
Dave Smith was on the Tucker Carlson show, “one coup and one assassination attempt” after his last appearance. The two are frequently called conservative, by people who use the c-word as an insult. It was rather surprising to hear this:
Tucker Carlson: “… there’s so many people in the Democratic party who are closeted including, in positions of real power. I know them, I don’t believe in outing people, and I’m not going to. I know that for a fact, and it’s like, on what grounds are you hiding it.”
Dave Smith: “I also have absolutely nothing against gay people. I do have an issue with people living a lie. … it’s also not just lying but living a lie. It’s a profound thing where you get used to every inch of your existence being a lie. The very nature of Who You Are is a lie. That just obviously leads to people who have the ability to totally lie about who they are. That I do have an issue with.”
The show went pretty much as expected. Smith is a vocal critic of Israel’s hideous conduct in Gaza, and Fox News fired Carlson for criticizing American support of Ukraine. Many sacred cows were slaughtered. At some points, a weird buzzing sound was heard, and the screen said they were discussing COVID. This is not allowed by youtube.
They both agreed that queers are better off out of the closet. When J. Edgar Hoover ran the FBI, saying that could get you killed. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Google Gotcha
The fbf posted this quote: “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” — W.B. Yeats. I was looking for something, in the public domain, to use in a graphic poem. I googled the quote, and one of the results was @QuoteResearch, aka Quote Investigator®.
Eden Phillpotts crafted the sentence. It is on page 19 of A shadow passes, a book of prose celebrating nature. “In the marshes the buckbean has lifted its feathery mist of flower spikes above the bed of trefoil leaves. The fimbriated flowers are a miracle of workmanship and every blossom exhibits an exquisite disorder of ragged petals finer than lace. But one needs a lens to judge of their beauty: it lies hidden from the power of our eyes, and menyanthes must have bloomed and passed a million times before there came any to perceive and salute her loveliness. The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.”
“God is in the details” is often attributed to minimalist German architect Mies van der Rohe, who probably co-opted the phrase from the German proverb ““Der liebe Gott steckt im detail”, which translates as “God is in the detail”. What this phrase neglects to mention is that many of these details are boring, even to an architect. That is certainly the case with Eden Phillpotts.
So the fbf was mistaken. My first impulse has been to play google gotcha, and immediately paste the contrarian evidence. This does get tiresome after a while. People like to find inspiration and entertainment where they can. The internet pedant can just find other ways to amuse himself.
Final confirmation comes from @BrainyQuote. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Revolution
REVOLUTION, n. “In politics, an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment. Specifically, in American history, the substitution of the rule of an Administration for that of a Ministry, whereby the welfare and happiness of the people were advanced a full half-inch. Revolutions are usually accompanied by a considerable effusion of blood, but are accounted worth it—this appraisement being made by beneficiaries whose blood had not the mischance to be shed. The French revolution is of incalculable value to the Socialist of to-day; when he pulls the string actuating its bones its gestures are inexpressibly terrifying to gory tyrants suspected of fomenting law and order.”
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce published The Devil’s Dictionary in 1906, when revolutions were evolving into what can only be termed good, clean fun. AGB served in the Union Army during the War Between the States. The Confederacy, among other things, was a revolution that did not work out very well. As with all conflicts, vast sums of money changed hands. The men who collected these sums are usually far away from the bloodshed.
Walt Whitman once said “That whole damned war business is about 999 parts diarrhea to one part glory.” The same mathematics can be applied to revolutions as well. Maybe we should just stop with this revolting discourse, and move on to other R-words in TDD. The next four … RHADOMANCER, RIBALDRY, RIBROASTER, RICE-WATER … hold little interest for today’s conversation.
RICH, adj. “Holding in trust and subject to an accounting the property of the indolent, the incompetent, the unthrifty, the envious and the luckless. That is the view that prevails in the underworld, where the Brotherhood of Man finds its most logical development and candid advocacy. To denizens of the midworld the word means good and wise.”
RICHES, n. “A gift from Heaven signifying, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” John D. Rockefeller · “The reward of toil and virtue.” J.P. Morgan · “The savings of many in the hands of one.” Eugene Debs · To these excellent definitions the inspired lexicographer feels that he can add nothing of value.” Pictures today are from The Library of Congress · selah
Wonder Drug
“everyone Demand front hole sex NOT generic single the last time” The well intended sign was designed to help queers avoid getting HIV through butt sex. The idea is to take prophylactic drugs 2-24 hours before you drop your drawers. Then, for the next 48 hours, you dose out on the wonder drug. The message was cheerfully illustrated with pill pictures, and included the delightful phrase front hole, which most people call vagina. A haiku was hidden in the burning bush. The reduction was posted to x, and not facebook. Some fbf are not ready to hear about butt sex.
The Ten Commandments Of Donald J. Trump: Thou Shalt not have any other President before thee. Thou shalt not pay the graven image makers. Thou shalt not use the name of the Donald in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it bigly. Honor thy father, and thy mother, and thy money. Thou shalt kill. Thou shalt steal. Thou shalt commit adultery. Thou shalt bear false witness. Thou shalt foreclose on thy neighbor’s house. … This idea for a poem had been floating around for a while. At this point, it is just more words, about a boring person. Sad.
The tweet had an image, consisting of several people meeting celebrities under bad circumstances. The phrase “Shane MacGowan vomited” jumped out at me, along with “book launch typo queue.” Those five beats were not in the image, but rather a first haiku line condensation. I saw an opportunity for haiku reduction. Unfortunately, the snippets were pasted into the collection at peculiar angles. Selecting the parts I need would be a gigantic pain in the butt. The next problem was bits of the text in the upper line encroaching upon the lower line. The whole enterprise degenerated into too much work. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Wash Your Hands
Lately, I have been walking. I try to go for a couple of miles, in the morning before the heat becomes obnoxious. Today, I went out New Peachtree, until the MARTA line goes overhead, and I can walk under to another Peachtree. … The spell check suggestion for Peachtree is Peacekeeper.
This is the last remnants of Peachtree Road, before it collides with Peachtree Boulevard. Many oldtimers still say Peachtree Industrial, which has a fifties retro feel to it.
When you cross the road, you find a sidewalk in front of Peachtree Country Club. During the MARTA construction era, my mother was fond of saying that the golf course was willed to the Catholic Church in perpetuity. Of course, a few feet were shaved off to accomodate another lane on Peachtree.
A few hundred yards down the sidewalk, I came to a half eaten bagel, a fork, a plastic box lined with old food, and a lid for a box. I carry plastic bags in my pack, and I got one for this detritous. There is not a trash can between here and the school dumpster. The bag will be full when I get there.
There is a law in Georgia. Whenever you hear someone say “wish” in a sentence, you are required to say a bit of commodity wisdom. “You can shit in one hand, and wish in the other, and see which hand gets full faster.” You should wash your hands no matter whether you hope or defecate.
There is a more useful version. You can wish in a plastic bag. Or, you can pick up trash, and put it in the plastic bag. One bag will get full before the other. Washing your hands is still a good idea. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!
This is a repost from 2021. Morgan Spurlock passed away May 23, 2024. … Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! was recently the featured presentation at a documentary discussion group. Morgan Spurlock, is the auteur. In Super Size Me, Mr. Spurlock lived on a McDonald’s diet, and survived. SSM was successful enough to justify a sequel.
SSM2HC is not as much a documentary, as it is a “reality” show. Mr. Spurlock wants to open his own restaurant, with healthy food. A consultant sells him a bite of reality. “You know, consumers crave this food. They’re not willing to sacrifice the taste. But there’s this interesting shifting definition of health, so it’s not necessarily 100% healthy for you. It may be bad for you, it’s fried, but it’s got some vegetables in it, so you feel better about it. -So it’s a perception.” Another consultant tells him about the “health halo.” A pinch of lettuce, under the bun, makes the burger taste healthy.
Mr. Spurlock decides to go with chicken, and raise the birds himself. Mr. Spurlock will take the poultry that he raised, and feature them at his own restaurant: Holy Chicken. Nobody knows where he gets the capital, not to mention the time to make it all happen. Mr. Spurlock even has time to call the FDA, on camera, and ask about the rules are for labeling chickens “free range.”
The practices of “Big Chicken” get worked over. (An eye-rolling shot of Marietta’s Big Chicken was cut from the finished film.) It is tough to get real facts here. The giant poultry suppliers have some shady practices. It is in their best interest to keep the story from getting out. A warning letter is sent out by Thomas Super, “Senior Vice President Communications the National Chicken Council.”
The story rolls on. Mr. Spurlock finds an old Wendy’s, in Columbus OH, to house Holy Chicken. The place is decorated, employees are hired, and the media is alerted. Starting a new restaurant is another capital intensive, 25-hour-a-day job. Except for Morgan Spurlock. He takes time out, from his chicken farm, and his restaurant start up, to go to Washington DC. Mr. Spurlock goes, without an appointment, to the National Chicken Council. The plan is to invite Thomas Super to the Holy Chicken grand opening. Mr. Super declined the invitation.
SSM2HC is a joke. The consultants used are real. One wonders why they would participate in something like this … it must be true, there is no bad publicity. CCD Innovation, in $an Francisco, is a real company. Their story took a sad turn. “Kimberly Egan, CCD Innovation Partner, loses battle with breast cancer.” Ms. Egan is the other lady at the table in this clip.
No discussion of Morgan Spurlock is complete without his Me Too story. In December 2017, with the release of SSM2HC eminent, Mr. Spurlock released a statement about his problem. It is uncertain why he chose to do this, but it had consequences. It puts a different spin, on SSM2HC, to know about Morgan Spurlock. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
The Uterus Collector Part Two
Judge says Maddow, other MSNBC hosts made ‘verifiably false’ statements about doctor suing for defamation. This is how one outlet covered the latest Maddow-pants-on-fire story. At first glance, this is not newsworthy. However, curiosity got the best of me, and I looked into the story. I soon realized that I had written a blog post about the story.
When I hear that something I wrote four years ago might be relevant, my instinct is to look for it. Unfortunately, Google advanced search was not helpful. Even a post titled The Uterus Collector is missed by the algorithm, when searching for “uterus” at chamblee54.wordpress. It is almost as if someone did not want me to find it. Fortunately, I have other methods for finding old posts. Here is what the chamblee54 post found.
“The story broke with a report from Project South. The whistle blower was Dawn Wooten. video video Ms. Wooten, a single mother of five, worked at ICDC (Irwin County Detention Center) until her hours were cut, after a dispute about Covid-19 infection. As is the case with many workplace stories, there are conflicting accounts.” …
“The focus of the complaint is inadequate safety measures, taken with regard to Covid-19. “Priyanka Bhatt, staff attorney at … Project South, told The Washington Post that she included the hysterectomy allegations because she wanted to trigger an investigation. …”
“If ICDC did not have the resources to provide adequate safeguards against Covid-19 infection, how are they going to have the resources to provide hysterectomies? … a hysterectomy can cost thousands of dollars and both ICE and the private companies that contract with the agency to oversee its detention centers notoriously provide dangerous and substandard medical care to cut costs and maximize profits.”
There are more problems with TUC narrative, which you can see at the post. This post was thrown together by an old white guy with too much free time. Why was he able to see this better than a major news organization? Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Is Facial Recognition Technology Racist?
Wrongfully Arrested Because Face Recognition Can’t Tell Black People Apart This headline. posted on facebook, led to a discussion of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT). The headline pushed a lot of my buttons. People are aroused, to the breaking point, about racism. The person who posted the story disagrees. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
The reply posted by person #1 featured some other links. One was for a video, Wrongfully Arrested Because of Flawed Face Recognition Technology. To me, this is more reasonable, and less inflammatory, than “… Can’t Tell Black People Apart.” It is also easier to believe. I can accept that FRT has more problems with POC, than with PWOC. To make a blanket claim like “… Can’t Tell Black People Apart” seems like an dangerous exaggeration.
The conversation sat still for the rest of the day. Person #1 is an attorney, who used to live in Atlanta. This is where I met him. Person #1 is an intelligent, thoughtful person, someone you should listen to. I might disagree with person #1 on this issue, while still having respect for him.
Then person #2 entered the conversation. I have never met person #2. All he knows is what he sees on her facebook page. It shows pictures of a vacation in Havana. Person #2 is clearly white. The fact that she took a vacation in Havana indicates that person #2 enjoys a certain amount of privilege. Here is what person #2 added to the conversation:
“”…flawed face recognition technology” sounds like there was a glitch, not like the entire technology was designed in a way that supports white, male normativity (aka white supremacy). Your suggestion that this is the same message is false and suggests we should avoid being more upset by avoiding the actual issue here—because we should frame matters in ways that obfuscate the real problem. We can’t begin to solve these problems if we are afraid to actually say what they are. Yeah, people are going to be upset. THEY SHOULD BE.” … “If you are following the protests and the recent changes that have happened, you know exactly what the anger has led to. If Black anger makes you uncomfortable, address your white fragility. Try to let go of your tone policing and actually engage with the issues. That’s work you have to do on your own.”
University Avenue cleared of barricades near property where Rayshard Brooks was killed. This was the story I posted in response to “you know exactly what the anger has led to.” In the aftermath of the Rayshard Brooks killing, an armed gang took over the burned out Wendy’s on University Avenue, where the incident occurred. “Residents of the south Atlanta neighborhood in the area had grown frustrated by the blockade that formed – guarded by what they described as armed citizens who they said were not protesting but using the space for their own gain. Residents said that the people would block the street and sometimes not allow them to get in or out of their neighborhood.”
This is one of many examples of where the anger caused by current events has spilled over to harm people. Often, the “collateral damage” did nothing to deserve the abuse they are getting. In many cases, it is POC who are suffering the brunt of the damage. When a privileged white person, like #2, rabble rouses people into action, this is what can happen. University Avenue is the first exit on i75/i85 south of downtown, and is an important access point for many neighborhoods. Many of the people affected by the turmoil on University Avenue are white.
After hearing talk about “white fragility” and “tone policing,” I am inclined to dismiss person #2 as a cliche spouting idiot. Unfortunately, that seems to be the approach many people have to complex issues. The idea that FRT is designed to reinforce white supremacy would be very amusing to the Chinese government. They are major players in FRT, using it to enable Asian hegenomy.
Lets examine the notion that FRT is racist by design. If this were the case, the developers would go the extra mile to make fewer mistakes with POC. If the goal of FRT is to keep the lawless POC masses under control, then it would help if the system actually worked on POC.
One of the articles cited by person #1 mentioned announcements by some major tech industry players that they were not going to sell FRT services to police. The article linked above mentions concerns about race/gender bias. However, the greater focus here is the overall privacy concerns about FRT.
Is it really a good idea to focus on the racial problems with FRT? There have long been overall privacy concerns about Big Brother. Unfortunately, many people will see an headline about racism and either tune it out, or think that it does not affect them. (“If you are tired of talking about racism, how would you like to live with it”) The human rights concerns about FRT affect everyone. To dismiss these concerns as “white fragility” is counterproductive, insulting, and insane.
This feature is approaching the attention limit of many readers. The facebook thread, and the identity of persons #1 and #2, were hidden out of respect for the privacy of the people involved. Even a cliche-spouting SJW deserves privacy.
Fiction Issue
@NYerFiction “New fiction by Sally Rooney, in The New Yorker’s annual Fiction Issue.” Back in the corner newsstand days, the AFI was a lot of fun. I miss dead tree magazines, and decided to go out and get a copy. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Barnes & Noble is still open on Perimeter Center W. The bookstore aroma that greets you is the same. The price is going to be ridiculous, but it is time for a foolish extravagance.
The periodicals were against the western wall. I looked carefully in every section, but did not see TNY. A second examination of the magazine rack yielded the same result.
A lady said that some magazines were in a rack by the front. In the second rack we perused, TNY was for sale. The cost was $8.99, before tax. It was not the annual Fiction issue.
Broken Pencils Are Pointless
I tried to catch some Fog. I mist.
When chemists die, they barium.
Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.
Venison for dinner? Oh deer!
A soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
I know a guy who’s addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop any time.
How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.
I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.
This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I’d never met herbivore.
I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. I can’t put it down.
I did a theatrical performance about puns . It was a play on words.
They told me I had type A blood, but it was a Type-O.
Earthquake in Washington obviously government’s fault.
Why were the Indians here first? They had reservations.
Be kind to your dentist. He has fillings, too.
Class trip to the Coca-Cola factory. I hope there’s no pop quiz.
Energizer bunny arrested. Charged with battery.
I didn’t like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.
Did you hear about the cross eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn’t control her pupils?
What does a clock do when it’s hungry? It goes back four seconds.
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me!
Broken pencils are pointless.
What do you call a dinosaur with a extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.
Velcro – what a rip off!
England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.
I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.
I dropped out of communism class because of lousy Marx.
All the toilets in New York’s police stations have been stolen. Police have nothing to go on.
I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.
Haunted French pancakes give me the crepes.
I used to think I was indecisive, but now I’m not so sure.
Cartoonist found dead in home. Details are sketchy.
Chamblee54 
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