H. L. Mencken forecast our land of heart’s desire

The quote below from H. L. Mencken, from Nelson Nash’s newsletter just out today,  may help explain the phenomenon of legislative bowdlerization of American English that Connie Schultz brought to the fore yesterday, with the start of the “retardation” dialogues.

If the legislative take-aways and prohibitions continue, then, when the emperor truly has no clothes, or is helplessly impaired, we won’t be able to describe the situation accurately without running the risk of being politically incorrect. I wonder if “moron” has been legislated away already?

As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of
the people. On some great and glorious day the plain
folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last
and the White House will be adorned by a downright
moron.” -H.L. Mencken (July 26, 1920)

Connie Schultz may have a point: Purge Ohio law of a needlessly hurtful word

Connie may be right. I probably shouldn’t have referred to Frank Jackson, Jane Campbell, and Mike White as ‘tards a few posts ago. It was a thoughtless slur denigrating an entire class of retarded people, people who happen to be a certain way and have no control over that circumstance, and I apologize for it. Jackson et al. play country-bumpkin dumb and act stupid, but we suspect they can also act alternatively. We hope.

As Connie points out, our language is losing a lot of its color, strength, and power to the well-intentioned bowdlerizations of public servants who would aspire to be custodians of political correctness, and emasculators of public discourse:

"There was a time when the word 'retarded' was considered acceptable," Stewart [Republican State Sen. Jimmy Stewart, of Athens] said. "I think we all recognize that language changes over time. Words that didn't used to be seen as offensive now are. It was only recently that 'imbecile,' 'drunkard' and 'lunatic' were taken out of language in the Ohio code. . . . It's time to eliminate 'retardation,' too. It won't change everybody's mind, and it won't stop everyone from using the word in a derogatory way, but it's a start."

It's a good start, and way overdue. And what took us so long? I'd be quicker to lunge at the legislature if I weren't so embarrassed that it took me longer than it should have to recognize the injustice. As my 21-year-old daughter pointed out to me this week, calling someone a "reeee-tard" is still common among her peers, and always intended to deride.

In addition to the problem of the neutering of the language by proscription, we have coming at it from the other side the problem of word-hijacking—“gay” for instance as a reference to things homosexual, and “urban” as a near-synonym for the racial “black” (which used to be the polite and respectful “Negro”), adding nuances where they didn’t exist before, eclipsing original meanings. They’ve even hijacked the rainbow and made it so a man can’t wear a pink shirt without drawing some sort of commentary.

You just have to wonder what’s going to be left to language, colors, and symbols after a while, with all the expurgation and confiscation. Perhaps we can go an underground loaded-word-retention movement, or begin to speak in code, or in Latin: Semper ubi sub ubi. Ah, there’s a start!

What words would you like to keep? What words would you like to take back? What associations would you like to put to sleep?

Is there a basic imbalance in a culture where strong, loaded words get put away, yet common words are assigned loads, codes, and nuances they never had before?

Purge Ohio law of a needlessly hurtful word -- Connie Schultz - Connie Schultz, Plain Dealer Columnist - cleveland.com

ideas whose time has come: “Secession Is in Our Future” - Clifford F. Thies - Mises Institute

A few weeks ago, I was talking about separating Brooklyn Centre from the City of Cleveland, and having Ohio City and a few other viable entities do the same. Now, here’s a guy entertaining a similar idea, but relative to the states and the federal government.

Can states secede? There are three levels on which this question can be answered:

1. the inalienable right of secession,
2. the international law of secession, and
3. the US law of secession.

   All three say yes.

Things are heating up, at least in the world of ideas.

Secession Is in Our Future - Clifford F. Thies - Mises Institute

Dan Gilbert of the Cavs and other Ohio casino backers hire troubled California firm Arno Political Consultants

We’ve said “no!” to these clowns on numerous occasions, yet here they come again, using the same dishonest signature-collection firm as before. Anybody who has listened to the signature-gatherers misrepresentations with regard to gambling issues knows that there should be a law requiring them to tell the truth, but in this political climate, there are few standards.

It’s time to view Dan Gilbert in a different light, entirely. This is not a good-neighbor gesture, to attempt to inflict this fraudulent campaign on the community once again. We really don’t need bread and circuses, we really don’t need the underground economies that casinos bring with them, and we really don’t need any more low-paying no-skills-required part-time jobs. We also don’t need any more loans. Think about it.

The Ohio casino plan is being backed by Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert and Penn National Gaming, a casino operating company based in Pennsylvania.

The plan would require a rewrite of Ohio's constitution to allow casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo, if approved by voters. But to get on the ballot, the casino committee first must collect 402,275 signatures of valid Ohio voters by the end of June.

Ohio casino backers hire troubled California firm Arno Political Consultants - Metro - cleveland.com

Conde Bust: Why Portfolio folded. - By Daniel Gross - Slate Magazine

Bummer. Read all about it at the link below. Portfolio was probably my favorite monthly magazine, followed closely by WORTH, which also seems to have fallen strangely silent lately.

I wonder how they plan to fulfill the remainder of the subscription?

Why Portfolio folded. - By Daniel Gross - Slate Magazine

my first craigslist posting: Art Deco Baroque Rococo 3-piece Bedroom Set - $300 (Cleveland, Ohio, in Brooklyn Centre)

What more can I say than, tadaaaaa! I had trouble with the size of the photo files until I got hold of a freeware utility from Fookes Software called EZ Thumbnails, and then everything just seemed to fall into place.

---

Date: 2009-04-26, 4:46PM EDT

This is sort of the FlubADub of bedroom furniture; there's some design element here for everybody, so long as you're into exuberance. We think it's from the 1920s or 1930s. It's definitely old; it was originally designed for those metal springs. It's very well built. It is massive. It is huge. It is heavy. It casts its own unique spell. It holds a lot. Our daughter the artist was entranced by it a few years ago on a trip to a furniture shop in Wooster. She has since moved to Savannah, but had not sent for the furniture to accompany her, and now tells us it won't. It's not our style. We're in downsize mode; we'd like rush mats, perhaps on a tasteful, minimalist platform.

Cash, please. Take it away. All three pieces must move out of here together. We're near the zoo, and all the major freeways, I-71, I-90, I-480, and so forth. Live long and prosper. Sleep well, surrounded by quality construction. Wake up in another era.

If these thumbnail photos don't do the three pieces justice, I can send you larger files with better resolution by email.

• Location: Cleveland, Ohio, in Brooklyn Centre
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 1141281045; posting can be seen at http://cleveland.craigslist.org/fuo/1141281045.html.

craigslist

here’s an idea whose time has come

This is the 12th ethics complaint filed against Sarah Palin, and I think it should have wide application, cutting across all party lines and governmental entities. These political types are servants to the public and must be held to basic standards relative to our employment of them; if we feel discomfort or unease, they should feel more, sooner. They are not leaders, they are not celebrities, they are not players, they are not developers; they are help, and should be paid and treated accordingly. We need them less and less. They are becoming impediments to progress and wasters of our common, pooled assets.

The complaint will be filed this afternoon asserting that Palin's involvement with SarahPAC constitutes "outside employment" and "misuse of official position."

Anchorage resident Sondra Tompkins, child disability advocate and mother of a special needs child, is filing the complaint after observing Governor Palin repeatedly display "a pattern of unethical behavior." Sondra believes that the tipping point for her was Sarah Palin's most recent abdication of her role as Governor and apparent conflict-of-interest when she spoke at two outside events in Indiana rather than work with the Alaska Legislature during the most critical time, the end of the session.

The complaint alleges:

a) Governor Palin has entered into a contract outside of her official duties with the donors, employees, partners and any or all other participants involved in SarahPAC.

b) The recent partisan trip to Indiana by the Governor was purely to benefit personal interests, had no benefit for the State of Alaska and was in direct conflict with her official duties.

c) The Governor left the State to participate in these events during the most critical end-of-session Legislative activities, at a time where the legislators themselves are not permitted to leave

AKMuckraker: Palin's Dirty Dozen -- New Ethics Complaint Filed

Marc Canter: How to build the Open Mesh | Book Preview of a treatise on what it's gonna take for us all to make a living off the crumbs left behind by the behemoths

Gloria and I spent some time with Marc Canter last night over at Paul’s place on Edgecliff, and he has  many, many ideas that augment and add tons of value to the dialogues we’ve been having around here these past 5 years. You can buy this book here in softcover or in hardcover with dust jacket or imagewrap, or, as George Nemeth has pointed out, you can download components.

Explore. Expand. Exhale. It’s all gonna be all right. Marc works in right fine with all the rest of what’s happening around here, in a context of infinite abundance.

How to build the Open Mesh | Book Preview

swashbuckling venture capitalists—veritable corsairs--or welfare queens?

You be the judge. 

JumpStart receives 52 percent of its funding from federal and state government, including a significant portion from Third Frontier, a statewide program aimed at creating industries and jobs in high-tech areas.

See related article, Average pay in Cleveland area in 2007 was 3.3 percent below U.S. average,  and its telling *.pdf,.

From the *.pdf,  note that 16.4% above in 1969 and 3.3% below in 2007 is a spread, a fall, of 19.7%; do you think things have improved, relatively, since 2007? And look at the state overall…

JumpStart Inc. invested 29 percent more in early-stage companies last year - Cleveland.com

new Cleveland blog: Helen Miller's Weight Loss Diary, or, “Here's How I Lost 47 lbs of Body Fat in Just 2 Months With These 2 FREE* Diet Products I Saw on T.V.”

I really can’t tell you how I stumbled across this new offering from Cleveland, but here it is, for your delectation, a new blog on the NEO scene as of April 8th:

Dear fellow weight-struggler,

   Hi, I am Helen, and I'm from Cleveland, Ohio. I know there are many diet ads around that tell you their product really works. I just thought I would share my story with you in the hopes of inspiring you with a real example, and not just the lies that companies use. This is the true story of how I went from depressed and overweight to having an amazing body with the help of a few free weight loss products*.

read more at Helen Miller's Weight Loss Diary