pianogonzology

Saturday, August 18, 2018

The Lay . . .

. . . of the land evokes images, in my mind, of old cowboy movies replete with ten-gallon hat, many horses, six-shooters and lots and lots of wide-open spaces; the proverbial 'back forty.' In my current reality, the lay of the land means adjusting in terms of where to find what, and learning exactly how to get there. . .

(http://grammarist.com/idiom/lay-of-the-land-or-lie-of-the-land/)
Lay of the land is a phrase that figuratively or metaphorically means the current state of affairs, how something is organized. Literally, the lay of the land is the arrangement of features upon the land. One usually assesses the lay of the land in preparation for action. The idiom lay of the land is first recorded in 1819. A related idiom is the British phrase how the land lies, a usage that turns up in about 1700. According to Google Ngram Viewer, the use of the term lay of the land peaked in the early 1900s. Lay of the land is a North American phrase. . . Lie of the land is the British phrase that metaphorically means the current state of affairs, how something is organized. Literally, the lie of the land is the arrangement of features upon the land. In fact, lie of the land and lay of the land mean the same thing.

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Friday, August 17, 2018

Teams . . .

. . . and their complications . . .

(from The First Tycoon; The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles)

". . . The Bank War spun American politics in a centrifuge, concentrating the two impulses of the day into distinct parties. On one side were (Andrew) Jackson's followers, the Democratic Party - or the Democracy, as they called it - the party of individual equality and limited government. Under the slogan "Jackson, Commerce, and Our Country," they celebrated a market economy of real persons and republican simplicity. In opposition arose the Whigs, who were more trusting in the beneficial role of active government. At the time, the division between the two seemed as natural as a canyon. The Democrats had emerged out of the resistance to the eighteenth-century patricians and their culture of deference, out of battles against the limited franchise, aristocratic privileges, and mercantilist monopolies. Though their elected leaders often would make use of government's economic power, the most radical among them . . . championed laissez-faire as their definition of equal rights. . . "

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Thursday, August 16, 2018

Not . . .

. . . conflicted . . .

To be old enough to be able to afford it
But young enough to be able to enjoy it
Is a hell of a thing

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Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Are You . . .

. . . STILL a fan? . . .

(from http://washingtonsources.org/trump-if-soldiers-were-real-patriots-they-wouldnt-take-a-pay-raise/)
". . . Trump spoke to troops at Fort Drum in advance of a signing ceremony for the 2019 national defense authorization, which includes a 2.6 percent pay raise for the troops. . . “We are proudly giving our troops the biggest pay increase in a decade,” Trump said. “I know you don’t want it because you’re very patriotic. You’ll say, just save the money. We’re going to pay down debt.”. . . Then Trump awkwardly launched into what perhaps was supposed to be a joke. Except the crowd didn’t seem to find it funny at all. . .“Does anybody not want it? Please raise your hand,” Trump he said. After scanning the crowd, he added, “What’s going on here? Are these real patriots? I don’t know, General. I don’t know. . . Perhaps Trump should spend less time “joking” about our troops and questioning their patriotism, and more time showing them the respect they deserve. . .”

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Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Figment . . .

. . . of the imagination . . .

Imagined only
It truly was
But in its throes
It seemed so real
Desire or will
Whatever you name it
Gave life to a thing
So unreasonably wrong
That now, upon reflection
Seems absurdedly outrageous

Abstract
©2018 Raymond M. Jozwiak

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Monday, August 13, 2018

Other Aspects . . .

(from https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/manafort-trial-judge-snapped-mueller-s-team-because-they-re-ncna900001)
". . . Judge Ellis (presiding in the Paul Manafort trial) is certainly demanding: He is, as I’ve heard him say, “a Caesar in [his] own Rome,” (even if, as he also likes to say, “it’s a pretty small Rome.”) He is also among the best the federal judiciary has to offer. Judge Ellis has impressive credentials, perhaps eclipsing even Mueller’s, having served as a Navy F4 Phantom pilot after graduating from Princeton and adding a degree from Oxford as a Knox Fellow to his resume after graduating from Harvard Law School. . . Over the last 30 years or so on the bench, he has shown the remarkable intellectual acumen necessary to competently preside over cases many lawyers and judges would rightly try hard to avoid. . .While he’s accused of being pro-defendant in this trial, and has certainly held the government to high standards over the course of his career, he’s also been roundly criticized for being very pro-government. . ."

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Sunday, August 12, 2018

Shots . . .

. . . not in the dark

(https://www.parents.com/health/vaccines/controversy/vaccines-the-reality-behind-the-debate/)

". . . In some pockets of the country, a rising number of parents are delaying shots for their kids or skipping certain ones altogether, citing religious or philosophical exemptions from state laws that require kids to be vaccinated in order to attend school. As a result, there have been recent outbreaks of serious diseases that vaccines had virtually wiped out in the U.S., including measles, mumps, pertussis (whooping cough), and haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), which was once the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in kids under 5. . . Infectious-disease specialists say these cases are due to a breakdown of what's known as "herd immunity." In order for a community to be fully protected against a disease, 80 to 90 percent of its population needs to have been vaccinated, says pediatrician Lance Rodewald, M.D., director of the Immunization Services Division of the CDC. Whenever coverage drops significantly below that level, a school, a church, or a neighborhood becomes susceptible to the disease. Babies who aren't old enough to get the shot yet are at the greatest risk of becoming sick. . ."

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