Omnium And Gatherum March 13 2016

What do we have "on tap" (as they say on the 6:00 PM news) today?

First, we have the Ominous and Gatherous number #1 topic:


1) Political Violence

'We Aren't Nazis' Says Husband Of Woman Who Gave Nazi Salute At Trump Rally
"If you're gonna bastardize history, at least know the history you're bastardizing."
Sebastian Murdock 03/12/2016 07:11 pm ET
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-rally-nazi-salute-husband_us_56e49dcde4b065e2e3d63576?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

... "They did their version of the Nazi salute and called us Nazis," Peterson said. He and his wife responded to the protesters: "'If you’re gonna do it, do it right, here’s the right way to do the Nazi salute.'"

And that's when Birgitt Peterson raised her arm, captured in a now viral image by Chicago Tribune photographer E. Jason Wambsgans.

"My wife was responding to them and making this a teaching moment," Mr. Peterson said. "I'm all for their right and support them for protesting, but you don’t call people Nazis, or say Trump or people who support him are the equivalent of Nazis -- that is asinine. That is ridiculousness."

"If they're going to make the comparison, they ought to at least know what the Nazi salute was and what it meant," he went on. "If you're gonna bastardize history, at least know the history you're bastardizing." ...

Then there is the informal salute, too:

and

Breitbart Spokesman Resigns Over Trump Aide Assault: 'This S**t Just Sucks'
He pointed to an "escalating pattern of behavior" at Trump rallies that is "incredibly dangerous."
Ryan Grim 03/11/2016 04:44 pm ET
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/breitbart-spokesman-resigns-over-trump-aide-assault-this-shit-just-sucks_us_56e33acfe4b065e2e3d607b7?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

...In Bardella's [Breitbart's spokeman] view, the violence on the campaign trail is getting out of hand and needs to be called out. "There is this escalating pattern of behavior that's only happening at Donald Trump events. It's incredibly dangerous. His rhetoric is unmistakable and it is calculated and it is intentional," Bardella said.

Asked why Breitbart seems to be siding with the Trump campaign over its reporter Michelle Fields, Bardella said he wasn't sure. "I think there certainly appears to be conflicting agendas at play here. Your guess is as good as mine," he said.

[...]

UPDATE: 11:40 p.m. -- Bardella told CNN's Don Lemon on Friday night that he disagrees with Brietbart's coverage of the incident with Fields and "how they have treated Michelle."

"I think they have been looking for a reason to disprove something," Bardella said.

"Are you saying they are lying?" Lemon asked.

"Yes, I am," Bardella answered.

Three things stand out here. The first is the fact that our Media is grotesquely taking up sides and is rapidly losing all pretense at being "fair and balanced", as previously noted about FOX's campaign against Donald Trump.
It is one thing to voice one's opinion. It is quite another to become enmeshed in the political campaign as a participant.

Second, Political Violence is a mortal Tango which requires two damned souls to pull it off.

Even though a campaign may be courting violence, those who are opposed and protest should not be sucked into the vortex of violence, for by doing so, they only provide the justification for the formation of para-military organizations to provide security at political rallies.
If these para-militaries were to wear Brown Shirts, the rest of us dimwits may begin to understand.

Third, although it does not deal with violence, the Supreme Court blockade is unprecedented and radical in nature.
That's right; it is not a conservative action; it is a radical action.
Thus, it undermines the Constitution in the same manner that violence does.

**

2) Lucius Beebe

Wikipedia entry: Lucius Beebe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Beebe

...Beebe wrote a syndicated column for the New York Herald Tribune from the 1930s through 1944 called This New York. The column chronicled the doings of fashionable society at such storied restaurants and nightclubs as El Morocco, the 21 Club, the Stork Club, and The Colony. Mr. Beebe is credited with popularizing the term "cafe society" which was used to describe the people mentioned in his column...

...Beebe was a noted gourmand. He had his own column "Along the Boulevard," in Gourmet, and wrote extensively for Holiday and Playboy about restaurants and dining experiences around the world. Some of the restaurants he covered include The Colony, The Stork Club,[6] The Pump Room, the 21 Club, Simpson's-in-the-Strand, and Chasen's. A noted wine aficionado, he was a member of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin...

I have always been interested in New York night life from the 1920s through the 1950s. Names like "The Mocambo" or "The Tropicana" - Ricky Ricardo's club - just sort of reverberate through my head.
What really got my attention was the last word in the quote above, "Tastevin" meaning "wine-tasting cup" ... you know, that little thing that Niles Crain tastes wine from and then expectorates it out into the silver wine-tasting spittoon... which I suppose is foppishly called the Crachevin!

I was surprised I guess because I had never used the word before. What I saw was that although French had many occasions of "vowel+s+t" -  such as beste meaning "beast, animal" - becoming "vowel+circumflex+t  - such as beste -> bête , and the word for "to taste", which is now tâter, used to have that s between the "a" and the "t".

However, the S remained in certain not very commonly used words, such as Tastevin.
I learned something today.


**

3) Daylight Savings
I have just learned that it is one hour later than I thought. I hate Daylight Savings.

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