Archive for Popular Culture
Accidents Happen
Posted by: | Comments4 injured after firearms go off at N.C., Indiana gun shows
Raleigh yesterday:
CNN reports:
Meanwhile, in Indianapolis, a man walking out of the Indy 1500 Gun and Knife Show shot himself in the hand as he was loading his .45-caliber semi-automatic firearm, Indiana State Police said in a statement.
UPDATE: Oh yeah, NSFW.
Silencer Night, Holey Night: “Think of the children”
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Because at this special time of year every all-American kid dreams of being an assassin.
Semiauto handgun? Check. Bushmaster? Check. (Picked it up at Walmart’s everyday low prices.) High-capacity magazines? Check. Silencers? Doh!!
Not to worry, though. The NRA — yes, Wayne LaPierre’s NRA — is hoping to get silencers deregulated as wholesome, kid-friendly, essential firearm accessories. As seen in Newtown! Salon reports:
In case you’re wondering, the answer is yes, the gun lobby’s grand strategy rests grotesquely on fake concern for child hearing health. Among the opening shots in the campaign was a feature in the February 2011 issue of Gun World, “Silence is Golden,” penned by the veteran gun writer Jim Dickson. “One only has to look at children in the rest of the world learning to shoot with silencers, protecting their tender young ears, to see what an innocent safety device we are talking about here,” writes Dickson. “To use an overworked propaganda phrase, legalize silencers ‘for the sake of the children.’” [Emphasis Salon's]
Random Wednesday Variousness
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s 12.12.12. Do with that what you will. In the past 24 hours there have been approximately 153,400 deaths world-wide ( with approximately 356,201 births, do with that what you will), one of those deaths belonged to Ravi Shankar, again, do with that what you will. Also, several people were shot and killed at a mall in Portland, by a man wearing a white mask and brandishing a semi-automatic rifle. He killed himself. Also, North Korea shot something off, and had a parade. They are fond of parades.
Here’s some random stuff to read/discuss/ignore (after the break):
Random Tuesday Variousness
Posted by: | Comments‘Tis the season and all that crap. Hopefully you’ve been partaking in the great consumerist holiday that is Christmas by buying stuff for the sake of buying stuff, or perhaps you feel guilty about not spending enough time with that (not so?) loved one so you’ve attempted to make up for it by purchasing a waffle iron. I don’t know what you people do in your spare time, so I won’t venture any more guesses. To the point!
Here’s some random stuff to read/discuss/ignore (after the break):
On the Origins of Hooligans
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Via the Atlantic Cities’ Arts and Lifestyles pages, The Original Hooligans:
Dating back to at least the 1880s, the word “hooligan” was actually the name of a family of cartoon characters who, during the 1890s, frequently graced the cover of the English comic literary journal Nuggets – “A Serio-Comic Budget of Pictures & Stories.” The Hooligans were a family of Irish immigrants living in London, but not quite fitting in. Drawn by T.S. Baker and captioned with thick Irish accents, the Hooligan family typically displays odd and buffoonish behavior that’s juxtaposed against the properness of English culture.
Deriving from the Irish surname Houlihan, says the Online Etymological Dictionary, “which figured as a characteristic comic Irish name in music hall songs and newspapers of the 1880s and ’90s.”
