System D
RB: In The Polish Officer, you introduce the word "debroullier"...- from an interview with Alan Furst.
AF: Yes, system D. Getting it done. It means to improvise. Life is so impossible, so confusing, everybody does everything wrong all the time. Somehow we are going to manage. The source was from the First World War with regard to railroad transport of troops and goods. To 'debroullier,' to muddle through. But it became known almost immediately as system D. And everybody in Paris says system D, "How am I gonna get this done, how are we going to find it, how are we going to buy it. Oh, don't worry about it, system D."
"'Political jokes weren't a form of active resistance but valves for pent-up public anger.'" And the understanding that inspired such humor makes the inaction that accompanied it all the more unforgiveable: "...the country wasn't possessed by 'evil spirits' nor was it hypnotised by the Nazis' brilliant propaganda, he says. Hypnotized people don't crack jokes."
Before you make the understandable misinterpretation, I think the Daily Show et al provide a valuable service in exposing the vapidity of current political discourse. But if it's a narcotic (it is) let it be an amphetamine, not an anaesthetic.
Before you make the understandable misinterpretation, I think the Daily Show et al provide a valuable service in exposing the vapidity of current political discourse. But if it's a narcotic (it is) let it be an amphetamine, not an anaesthetic.
a brief correspondence between Mahatma Ghandi and Count Leo Tolstoy on non-violence
A U.S. Marine (L) and sailor (R) hug loved ones aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard during a deployment at Naval Station San Diego December 6, 2004 in San Diego, California. About 6,000 U.S. Marines and sailors are deploying to Iraq aboard 6 ships and a submarine as part of a massive troop rotation. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)
I wonder what happened to the building materials salvaged from the World Trade Center site. They should send them around the country to be used in other buildings.
Common ancestors of all humans
mefi discussion
"It would seem possible that, even with a lot of geographical separation, the MRCA of the entire world is still within historical times, 3000 BC - 1000 AD. Quite likely the entire world is descended from the Ancient Egyptian royal house, c. 1600 BC...
Quite likely almost every Jew in the world today descends from the Prophet Muhammad, c. 600 AD ... it is interesting to think that every Palestinian suicide bombing attack on Israel is almost certainly some descendants of the Prophet killing other descendants of the Prophet."
mefi discussion
"It would seem possible that, even with a lot of geographical separation, the MRCA of the entire world is still within historical times, 3000 BC - 1000 AD. Quite likely the entire world is descended from the Ancient Egyptian royal house, c. 1600 BC...
Quite likely almost every Jew in the world today descends from the Prophet Muhammad, c. 600 AD ... it is interesting to think that every Palestinian suicide bombing attack on Israel is almost certainly some descendants of the Prophet killing other descendants of the Prophet."
player of the century
Broadside - Home of Nelson's Navy
British naval history for Aubrey / Maturin readers.
British naval history for Aubrey / Maturin readers.
whoa blogs are badass
That's a New Yorker columnist (since when have they had such a thing?) and bestselling author duking it out in the comments section, there. CRAZINESS.
Yeah, I know the New Yorker ain't all that. Still.
(No, I didn't pay any attention to the discussion of EMT.)
wooo rock and roll
That's a New Yorker columnist (since when have they had such a thing?) and bestselling author duking it out in the comments section, there. CRAZINESS.
Yeah, I know the New Yorker ain't all that. Still.
(No, I didn't pay any attention to the discussion of EMT.)
wooo rock and roll
LIFE EXISTED ON MARS
Maybe.
Maybe.
