RedStateEclectic

MoveOn.org to Gitmo Prisoners: Stop Torturing President Obama

Wow.  Just.....wow.

 

 

 

Yeah, drat those House Republicans, who managed to keep Gitmo open even when they were in the serious minority. 

 

 

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The Story of Tulips

Last time it was roses. This time it is tulips for Laura.

 

 

House Judiciary investigating whether Holder lied under oath

“In regard to potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material -- this is not something I’ve ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy,” Holder said during the hearing.

However, NBC News reported last week that Holder personally approved a search warrant that labeled Fox News chief Washington correspondent James Rosen a co-conspirator in a national security leaks case.

The panel is investigating whether NBC’s report contradicts Holder’s claim that he had not looked into or been involved with a possible prosecution of the press in a leaks case.

via thehill.com

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain....

Congratulations, Jayel!

BORDC is proud to present Jayel Aheram with the May 2013 Patriot Award. Jayel’s work also employs many media, combining his ability to capture a visual experience with journalistic expertise, a broad range of experiences and activism and organizing work across several social movements. In addition to its inspiring breadth, Jayel’s work also reminds us that creative expression can dramatically strengthen political activism by making the issues more accessible, and the concerns more powerful, to public audiences.

via www.bordc.org

I'm always happy to see great freedom lovers get noticed! Congratulations, Jayel, from your RSE family!

The Origins of High Heels

High heels point back to an unlikely source: men. For centuries, high heels were worn as a form of riding footwear, according to Elizabeth Semmelhack of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto. The heel helped a rider secure his stance in the stirrups so he could shoot arrows more effectively; this was useful particularly in Persia (modern-day Iran), where the fighting style relied a great deal on good horsemanship.

[...]

"In the 1630s you had women cutting their hair, adding epaulettes to their outfits. They would smoke pipes, they would wear hats that were very masculine. And this is why women adopted the heel - it was in an effort to masculinise their outfits."

Eventually, though, the unisex heel branched into a low, stacked heel for men and a slender heel for women, and when the Enlightenment rolled around, men’s dress became more sensible and understated. The distinction between classes was vanishing, and women—seen as silly, vapid, and overly sentimental—became the curators of the high heel and other pretentious, impractical fashions. By 1740, men stopped wearing high heels entirely.

Once functioning as sensible footwear for horseback riding, high heels evolved into stilettos and pumps, impractical but irresistible signifiers of femininity and wealth.

The source.

See also The Violent Left.

How about a Walk?

I love going for walks.

 

Richard Wagner’s 200th anniversary

Mark Twain, who thought that "Wagner's music is better than it sounds," humbly proposed to improve the master's operas by performing them in the manner of pantomime plays.

Mark Twain on Parsifal:

The entire overture, long as it was, was played to a dark house with the curtain down. It was exquisite; it was delicious. But straightway thereafter, or course, came the singing, and it does seem to me that nothing can make a Wagner opera absolutely perfect and satisfactory to the untutored but to leave out the vocal parts. I wish I could see a Wagner opera done in pantomime once. Then one would have the lovely orchestration unvexed to listen to and bathe his spirit in, and the bewildering beautiful scenery to intoxicate his eyes with, and the [silent] acting couldn’t mar these pleasures, because there isn’t often anything in the Wagner opera that one would call by such a violent name as acting; as a rule all you would see would be a couple of silent people, one of them standing still, the other catching flies. Of course I do not really mean that he would be catching flies; I only mean that the usual operatic gestures which consist in reaching first one hand out into the air and then the other might suggest the sport I speak of if the operator attended strictly to business and uttered no sound.

Woody Allen: “Every time I listen to Wagner, I get the urge to invade Poland.”

The controversial composer's music has never found its way to my heart.

I am not sure the below arrangements are likely to change my attitude much.

21 hours of Wagner music in a little over 4 minutes, this is what the below performance offers all those who have not been able to get tickets for the famous Bayreuth festival dedicated to Wagner.

 

Also interesting:

 

When Whacko Birds Attack: Rand Paul Lectures Congress

This is so awesome! For those of you just tuning in, Apple was called to testify before Congress, because Congress is offended that Apple didn't pay taxes they didn't owe.

Rand Paul seems to think that Congress is a bunch of holier-than-thou hypocrites:

 

 

Edited to add: Here's an editorial on the subject written by Paul.  If you want to know the history of Gorilla Glass, you'll have to click through.

 

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Break on through to the Other Side

Image credit.

Ray Manzarek, keyboardist of The Doors, may have finally broken on through to the other side, having passed away yesterday.

One of my absolutely favourite groups.

 

Also listen to this:

 

A Nice "Woman With Dog" Story From Oklahoma

 

 

I like this woman.  She's less traumatized by the tragedy than the reporter is.

And speaking of the reporter - why did this woman have to ask for help?  Afraid of breaking a nail?

 

 

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