Homework for the Horde: Reading Assignment for September

Just to let the seven people following this blog know, Mr. Coates is asking the Horde to take part in a book discussion.  Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with it this time.

What we're reading this time is The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander.  With luck your local library owns a copy, or else is available through your library's Overdrive eBook lender.

Discussions should open up on September 17, so we've all got a few days to get some reading done and take some notes.

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Trying To Come Up With Replacement Logo For The Horde of the Lost Battalion

Or is that Lost Battalion of the Horde?  I think Lost Battalion of Platonic Conversationalists is too 2008... gotta update, gotta update...

I have dire need of a graphic artist.  I can do font design, but actual artwork is... well... I'm stuck at poorly rendered 2D figures.  Find me an artist, then we can get a 2014 Horde logo up that people will like.

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From Ta-Nehisi, Not Just For the Lost Battalion But For Every American, Every Son

If I could repost this article in its entirety I would.  But it's better to follow the link and read it yourself.

Ta-Nehisi Coates interviews the mother of Jordan Davis.  For the interview, he brings along his own son, 13 years old and black and pretty much in the same unsettling reality that Jordan and Trayvon lived (and died).

Last Thursday, I took my son to meet Lucia McBath, because he is 13, about the age when a black boy begins to directly understand what his country thinks of him. His parents cannot save him. His parents cannot save both his person and his humanity. At 13, I learned that whole streets were prohibited to me, that ways of speaking, walking, and laughing made me a target. That is because within the relative peace of America, great violence—institutional, interpersonal, existential—marks the black experience. The progeny of the plundered were all around me in West Baltimore—were, in fact, me. No one was amused. If I were to carve out some peace myself, I could not be amused either. I think I lost some of myself out there, some of the softness that was rightfully mine, to a set of behavioral codes for addressing the block. I think these talks that we have with our sons—how to address the police, how not to be intimidating to white people, how to live among the singularly plundered—kill certain parts of them which are as wonderful as anything. I think the very tools which allow us to walk through the world, crush our wings and dash the dream of flight.

I am white.  I grew up getting The Talk on how to behave with girls and how to obey the traffic laws and how to avoid drunken fights and that was it.  I was never lectured to be afraid of being hunted by my own neighbors or other adults the way Ta-Nehisi and his son had to be lectured.

I told her that I was stunned by her grace after the verdict. I told her the verdict greatly angered me. I told her that the idea that someone on that jury thought it plausible there was a gun in the car baffled me. I told her it was appalling to consider the upshot of the verdict—had Michael Dunn simply stopped shooting and only fired the shots that killed Jordan Davis, he might be free today.

She said, "It baffles our mind too. Don’t think that we aren’t angry. Don’t think that I am not angry. Forgiving Michael Dunn doesn't negate what I’m feeling and my anger. And I am allowed to feel that way. But more than that I have a responsibility to God to walk the path He's laid. In spite of my anger, and my fear that we won’t get the verdict that we want, I am still called by the God I serve to walk this out."

What happened to Jordan Davis wasn't Jordan's fault.  It's not Jordan's fault Michael Dunn was carrying his gun, it's not Jordan's fault that Dunn couldn't control his own anger when he called on Jordan's friends to turn down that loud music, it wasn't Jordan who pulled a trigger it was an angry man with a gun and a crazy broken law giving him license to open fire.  There are kids playing loud music everywhere.  They are driving in their parents' cars up and down these roads with the windows down and laying out a bass that shakes the surrounding car windows.  Some of them are white.  I don't see anyone at the gas stations shouting at them to turn the damn music down.

She stood. It was time to go. I am not objective. I gave her a hug. I told her I wanted the world to see her, and to see Jordan. She said she thinks I want the world to see "him." She was nodding to my son. She added, "And him representing all of us." He was sitting there just as I have taught him—listening, not talking.

Now she addressed him, "You exist," she told him. "You matter. You have value. You have every right to wear your hoodie, to play your music as loud as you want. You have every right to be you. And no one should deter you from being you. You have to be you. And you can never be afraid of being you."

She gave my son a hug and then went upstairs to pack.

The only difference between me at 13 and Ta-Nehisi's son at 13 is the color of our skin.  That and maybe whatever geek thing he's into that I'm not.  The only difference between me and Trayvon Martin at 17 was the skin color, and that he preferred Skittles over M&Ms.  The only difference between me and Jordan Davis was the skin.  And that I had Led Zeppelin blasting at top volume instead of Beyonce.

I didn't have to live with the fear of some angry adult blasting away at me because of who I was.

What the hell is wrong with us as a nation that we let fear dictate what we do?  That we let our anger get the better of us?  That we have some people who think themselves privileged enough to sell that fear and anger to get away with it?

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Pictures Of a New York Weekend

I'll have to ask the Horde first if it's alright to repost some pictures here.  In the meantime I can post the ones for myself:

 Coming in via the subway from JFK.

  The Flatiron building, also known as the operational HQ of Damage Control!

 I'm a librarian.  A visit to the New York Public Library is freaking mandatory.

 Selfie.  Witty and the Lions.

 En route to The Cloisters.  That's the Hudson.  The picture does not do the scenery any justice.

 One of the gardens at The Cloisters. It's a museum of classical Catholic architecture and artwork.

  I got lost on the second day.  How lost?  I was supposed to go to Brooklyn to The Commodore for dinner.  I ended up in southern Manhattan.  At least I got to see the new Tower...

More pictures forthcoming once I get some okays.

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Just Flew Back From New Yawk City

...and boy are my arms tired.

Actually, it's my legs.  Damn but there's a ton of walking through Manhattan and Brooklyn.  To the people of New York City, two words: moving walkways permanently installed into the sidewalks.

"Look you moron," say 9 million New Yorkers, "that's seven words.  Damn tourists can't count..."

I'll answer that 1) I'm tired from all that walking and 2) I'm really tired from all that walking.

All I'm asking is a massive construction project across the whole city that will tie up everyone's ability to get around for the next 10-15 years before any usefulness becomes apparent., tied into open-air electronically-run equipment that's doomed to break down every three months for costly repairs.  In short, something that will keep the local unions busy and happy for decades.

I'll see about photos from the trip uploaded later today.  The Horde - wow, a lot of us showed up for this weekend, it was great seeing you all! - has already seen a few of them.

Also, sore throat.  Gotta go see a doctor this morning...

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Flying to New Yawk City

(typed at Tampa International Airport around 9:45 am, but failed to post)
Been awhile since I've had a personal vacation.

Traveling to meet The Horde Of the Lost Battalion.

See you there.

(typed at Mid-Manhattan NYPL branch around 4:05 pm)
Damn, it takes forever to find a public workstation!

Pictures will be forthcoming.

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Re-Designing The Horde's Lost Battalion Logo

To all the Ta-Nehisi followers on this thin raft...  I am looking to update the Lost Battalion of Platonic Conversationalists' logo for the swag getting sold on Cafepress.com.

To that end I am working on the next Font to use for the logo design (the artwork will take longer...unless I can get a graphic artist who's good with drawing Elves' Tools (DAMN YOU DISQUS!)).

These are the fonts I've chosen for the moment.  They are in order from top to bottom:

• AntiGrav
• Autodestruct
• LibertyD
• RedFive
• ThirteenOClock
• VillageIdiot
• WinterInGotham

If anyone's got a better Font to use as the "For the Horde!" battlecry, please name it and let me know if it's free downloadable somewhere.

And hey, Mr. Coates, would it hurt to have an Open Thread at Noon again?  Just for... old times' sake?

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I'm Calling It: Third Craziest Week In American History

UPDATE: The second bomber reportedly captured alive.  This is important.  Alive means we get answers.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE (9:35 pm EDT): Andrew Sullivan at his Dish site linked an Onion article that is 5000 times funnier than what I wrote here but yeah, the sentiment's about the same.  Oh man, the Onion got that article out yesterday... Lord knows what Friday's crazy would have made that article...

As a student of history, moments like these stir the need to look back at other times to compare and contrast.  To be fair, there's been a lot of crazy days, and there's been weeks and months of bad/good/violent/weird things happening, but narrowing it down to the Craziest of the Crazy takes some doing.

For this week of April 15 - April 20 2013, this is the evidence at hand.

Monday April 15: the tragedy of the Boston Marathon Bombings.  The media and social media - Twitter and Reddit especially - go into overdrive covering this all week long.  It builds up in the background until late Thursday night.

Tuesday April 16: A Senator gets mailed a letter laced with ricin, a lethal poison that's favored by low-grade extremists, usually militia types.  Other letters - especially one to President Obama - get intercepted with ricin as well.  Authorities are quick to point out this has nothing to do with the bombings in Boston.

Wednesday April 17: A fertilizer plant in West, Texas (the comma is not a misprint) catches on fire and explodes, killing at least 14 (most of them volunteer firefighters).  Rumors of arrests or imminent arrest buzz about Boston.  An attempt to get a gun control measure setting near-universal background checks fails to clear a Cloture vote.  An arrest is made on the ricin letters: the suspect is a third-rate Elvis Impersonator with a conspiracy obsession.  (What does it tell you when a Elvis Impersonator attempting ricin terror attacks is the THIRD-most talked about story of the week?!)

Thursday April 18: Boston remains on edge as reports get louder that enough pictures and video have been found of the suspected bomber(s).  Obama comes to town to join in memorial services for the three killed on Monday.  That afternoon law enforcement releases official photos of the two men they suspect planting the bombs.  By 10:30 pm there's a shooting at the MIT campus, the bombers rob a 7-11, they carjack somebody, get chased out to Watertown - a suburban town west of Boston - where a prolonged shoot-out ends with one of the bombers dead and the other fleeing into the night.

Friday April 19: The entire nation is abuzz.  Boston goes into lockdown mode - people advised to "stay in shelter" - as a massive man-hunt for the second bomber gets underway.  News about the bombers get out: they're brothers, immigrated nationals from Kyrgyzstan but with Chechnya parentage, the oldest (the one shot) a wanna-be Golden Glove/Olympic boxer the other (19) a college student.  They'd been in the United States legally since 2002 when they moved here with their parents, having gained permanent resident/naturalized status.  As of 7:45 pm EDT, the 19-year old is still on the loose.  EDIT: Just as I post this, there's a shoot-out at a boat on the river in Watertown which may involve the second bomber.  May.  News is breaking constantly right about now...

So there you have it for this being the Third Craziest Week in U.S. History.  There's still Saturday to go...

My Number Two candidate is the week of October 14 to 19th in 1987: although it starts Wednesday and goes into Monday, it's long enough to count.  During which we had the Baby Jessica "down a well" saga, an increase in hostile action between the United States and Iran where the US Navy blows up two Iranian oil platforms, and the stock market crashes on one of its worst Black Mondays ever.

For the Number One... I have to go with the craziness that started on Tuesday September 11 2001, but in some respects that was one huge day and everything else that came after - invading Afghanistan, occupying Iraq, the use of torture and prolonged detention - one big ongoing thing.

I've had a fellow Horder on Anibundel's site - efgoldman - suggest the week of March 31 to April 6 1968, during which LBJ announced he will not seek a second elected term as President, Reverend King is assassinated which stirred nationwide riots, and a sporting goods gunpowder explosion killed 51 in Indiana.  Got to admit, that's a lot of stuff.  It might be Number One.

There's also the time period between July 1 to July 4th in 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, when Vicksburg fell and the Union army stood at Gettysburg.  But as part of a massive event like the Civil War itself it might not count: and such events are intense, but not truly crazy (albeit war itself a crazy and messy deal on its own).

I'd put it to all seven of my readers here: which week truly deserves the Craziest Week in US History title?  Is there another contender?  Please comment.  Seriously.  I live for commentary... :whimper:

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A Slight Follow-up To Name Changing

So I asked my fellow Coatesian Lost Battalion Horders about suggested new titles for this blog.

Wartenblog?

/headdesk

(four more blogs to 400)

UPDATE (3/23/13): Good news, everybody!  Wartenblog is already taken!  In both English AND German!  Bwhahaha. Wait, is that really French language...?

(with the current Presidential blogging, now up to 397, three more blogs to go)

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For Emily! You wanted a t-shirt in favor of Elves using Tools on Disqus...

Emily L Hauser wants it, she gets it!

I created a Logo for your t-shirt!

 

I hope you like!

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Because No One Demanded It... A Revised Lost Battalion Logo

Never heard back from Ta-Nehisi if he was gonna use the logo I crafted to start his own t-shirt line (damn Sully, stealing my ideas!), so out of boredom I went and carved out a variation on the logo.

I changed the fonts around, using Stencil as the primary font and BattleLines for the secondary font.

So who wants this on a t-shirt!

EDIT (1/21): So far I got one vote for, one vote against.  The against vote objects to the use of military imagery for what is supposed to be a platonic group.  So... I need an image of book readers charging against the defenses at Balaclava?

EDIT PART TWO: Okay.  I got the Cafe Press store up.  I have no idea if it will work until people attempt to waste their money on it.  Address is http://www.cafepress.com/TNCLostBattalion

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Screw It. Here's more Lost Battalion Badges

This day has gone to hell real damn quick and I have no other recourse but to ignore the stress and mess around on my CorelDraw 9 to create more Badges for TNC's Lost Battalion:

Revamped GAMER Badge: for all those who Discuss the Value and High Priority of Video Gaming in these troubled times.

 Also known as the Rock of Chickamauga Appreciation Badge.  I found a photo of Gen. George "Pap" Thomas and mixed it with a concrete fill pattern available on CorelDraw.  What, you think I'm gonna use confederate flags for artwork? HA!

The LIKE Badge.  Awarded to those who click at least five LIKES.






The REPLY Badge.  Awarded to those who REPLY to at least five Posts.  To make it harder to get, the REPLY must be a first-tier Reply, NOT a Reply to a Reply.






What do you think, sirs?

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Lost Battalion Gamer Badge

It's not much to look at:

The artwork software I'm using is 12 years old (CorelDraw 9).  If anyone's got a better idea for the badge, and a better means of crafting one, feel free to design your own...

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For TNC's Lost Battaltion

Ta-Nehisi Coates is patient and forgiving enough of us commenters to give us daily space to drop issues and compliments and grievances.  He's taken to labeling us as The Lost Battalion (with the added tag of Platonic Conversationalists) and the group of regulars have taken to it.

This past week, however, TNC had taken to calling us Team Commie (there had been trolls going after us using such insults), but it caused some rifts among the chatters (myself included).  So when he went back to calling us the Lost Battalion I posted "Does this mean we can break out the t-shirts again?"

After a few LIKES and some LOLs following, I decided to see about creating a logo for a Lost Battalion t-shirt.

This is just a suggestion.








MASSIVE UPDATE (3:26 PM EST 11/15/2010): so far the response to this logo has been overwhelming... but I'll leave it to TNC to place it on Cafe Press or such like, as it's his blog we're just dancing there.

Although the other demand is now for Badges to go along with the t-shirts.  The list so far is:

• Civil War Badge,
• Gaming Badge,
• Music Culture Badge,
• History Nerd Badge,
• Poetry Badge,
• Troll Hunter Badge,
• Graduate Student Accountability Badge,
• and now that I'm thinking about it, LIKE and REPLY Badges.

Any other suggestions before I start messing on CorelDRAW?

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