The
romantic hero is called by a herald meaning a person or thing viewed as a sign
that something is about to happen. Heralds were originally messengers sent by
monarchs or noblemen to convey messages or proclamations
Welcome
John William Tuohy lives in Washington DC
Good words to have
Omnibus
AHM-nih-bus
1: of, relating to, or providing
for many things at once 2: containing
or including many items
The noun omnibus originated in
the 1820s as a French word for long, horse-drawn vehicles that transported
people along the main thoroughfares of Paris. Shortly thereafter, omnibuses—and
the noun omnibus—arrived in New York. But in Latin, omnibus simply means
"for all." Our adjective omnibus, which arrived in the mid-1800s,
seems to hark back to that Latin omnibus, though it may also have been at least
partially influenced by the English noun. An "omnibus bill"
containing numerous provisions, for example, could be likened to a bus loaded
with people.
Inexorable
(in-EK-suhr-uh-buhl)
Incapable of being persuaded,
moved, or stopped.
From Latin in- (not) + exorare
(to prevail upon), from ex- (out) + orare (to pray, beg).
The Chinese government is locking up writers, but it has favored nation status with the US....come on America, let sget out heads out of asses
Chinese Activists Send Cards to
Hundreds of Prisoners of Conscience
2017-01-26
Rights activists in China have
launched a greetings card campaign for political prisoners around the country
ahead of Chinese New Year celebrations on Jan. 30, as foreign diplomats paid
visits to embattled activists faced with eviction in Beijing.
The campaign started with the
mass mailing of some 200 greetings cards to jailed prisoners of conscience,
sent by around 100 fellow activists, they told RFA.
Cards were sent to detained
rights lawyer Li Heping, website founder Liu Feiyue and free speech activist Wu
Gan, among others, campaign organizer Wu Jixin told RFA.
"Chinese New Year is nearly
upon us, and so some of us petitioners here in Beijing wanted to wish a Happy
New Year and express our care for these innocent people who are now behind
bars," Wu said.
He said petitioners, people who
pursue long-running complaints against official wrongdoing, often to no avail,
are best-placed to understand what political prisoners stood for.
"[Many political prisoners]
used to help out vulnerable groups and petitioners, and made a definite
contribution to society, and to social progress," he said.
"If rights activists don't
stand up for justice, then nobody will, and the dark side of society would get
even darker," Wu said. "They cared about us, so we care about them,
and we want to support them."
He called on the ruling Chinese
Communist Party to release all political prisoners, and to protect citizens'
rights.
"They talk about the rule of
law, but they don't rule by law at all," he said. "They use that
slogan as a stick to beat people with instead."
An outrage 'getting worse'
In Hong Kong, pan-democratic
lawmaker and veteran activist Leung Kwok-hung said 2010 Nobel peace laureate
Liu Xiaobo is China's most famous political prisoner, but there are many more
besides, including human rights lawyers.
"Throwing people in jail for
what they say? It doesn't get much grubbier than that," Leung said.
"It's an outrage, and it's getting worse."
"We can see how they carried
out a massive series of detentions of rights lawyers all around the country,
starting on July 9, 2015," he said. "They went after anyone who
wouldn't do as they were told."
Meanwhile, diplomats from the
U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany and other E.U. countries visited beleaguered
women's rights activist and artist Ye Haiyan and poet Wang Zang in their homes
ahead of Chinese New Year.
Chinese artist and feminist Ye
Haiyan, known as "Hooligan Sparrow," the eponymous subject of an
award-winning documentary about her activism, is camping out in sub-zero temperatures
at her home in Beijing's Songzhuang artists' village after authorities cut off
her water, electricity and heating.
Ye had previously been issued
with the threat of eviction if she didn't stop posting on social media, but
refused to comply.
Similar treatment has been meted
out to her neighbor, the activist and poet Wang Zang, who has three young
children.
The authorities have put
increasing pressure on both households to move out in recent weeks.
Diplomats visit activists
Wang said he received a visit on
Wednesday from the diplomats, who came with veteran rights activist Hu Jia.
"They [all] expressed their
concern over our family's situation," he said. "When they were done
visiting us, they went over to Ye Haiyan's house, and expressed similar
concerns over their situation."
"The E.U. ambassador ...
said he wished me and my family a Happy Chinese New Year, and good health and
fortunes in the Year of the Rooster," he said. "I am extremely
grateful for their hard work for human rights."
Ye said diplomats from eight
different embassies had visited the artists' village.
"They brought me a New Year
greetings card," she said. "They thought it was very strange that my
water and electricity were cut off, and they asked me why it was."
"I told them that there is
no correct answer in the end, and that I don't really understand it
myself."
Ye has previously said her recent
troubles began after she penned an online article hitting out at China's
growing Maoist movement for its trolling of liberal intellectuals.
Beijing-based eviction activist
Ni Yulan said she had also received a visit.
"I had visits today from
three diplomats, from Germany, the E.U. and Sweden," Ni said. "They
said that some uniformed police tried to stop
them coming in at the door, and
asked them where they were going."
"They said they were coming
to see me, and they weren't prevented from doing so," she said. "They
brought me a card, signed by diplomats from eight different countries,
including ambassadors."
"They asked me about my
life, how I've been doing lately, and if they could offer me any
assistance," she said.
Ni said she remains under heavy
police surveillance, however.
"Somebody follows me
wherever I go, and the police have told my landlord not to let me rent this
place any more," she said. "It's very hard for us to find a [secure]
place to live right now."
Reported by Lee Lai for RFA's
Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long for the Mandarin Service. Translated and
edited by Luisetta Mudie.
What became of journalism? When did it become advocacy?
Need
inspiration to fight Trump? Look to Bayard Rustin, the man who organized MLK’s March on Washington
Los Angeles Times
Good words to have
Ab
Ovo
ab-OH-voh
From the beginning
"Ab ovo usque ad mala."
That phrase translates as "from the egg to the apples," and it was
penned by the Roman poet Horace. He was alluding to the Roman tradition of
starting a meal with eggs and finishing it with apples. Horace also applied ab
ovo in an account of the Trojan War that begins with the mythical egg of Leda
from which Helen (whose beauty sparked the war) was born. In both cases, Horace
used ab ovo in its literal sense, "from the egg," but by the late
16th century it had been adapted to its modern English meaning of "from
the beginning," perhaps for the first time by Sir Philip Sidney in his An
Apology for Poetry: "If [the dramatic poets] wil represent an history,
they must not (as Horace saith) beginne Ab ouo: but they must come to the principall
poynt of that one action."
Ineffable
(in-EF-uh-buhl)
1. Incapable of being expressed:
indescribable. 2. Not to be expressed: taboo.
From Latin in- (not) + effari (to
speak out), from ex- (out) + Latin fari (to speak). Ultimately from the
Indo-European root bha- (to speak), which also gave us fable, fairy, fate,
fame, blame, confess, and infant (literally, one unable to speak), apophasis,
and confabulate.
Good words to use
Sanction
SANK-shun
1: To make valid or binding
usually by a formal procedure (such as ratification)
2: To give effective or
authoritative approval or consent to
The Latin sancire, meaning
"to make holy," is an ancestor the word.
Vanguard
VAN-gahrd
1: The troops moving at the head
of an army
2: The forefront of an action or
movement
Vanguard and avant-garde both
derive from the Anglo-French word avantgarde, itself from avant, meaning
"before," and garde, meaning "guard." In medieval times,
avantgarde referred to the troops that marched at the head of the army. English
speakers retained that meaning when they adopted vanguard in the 15th century.
Whimsical
WIM-zih-kul
1: Full of, actuated by, or
exhibiting capricious or eccentric and often sudden ideas or turns of the mind:
relating to whims
2 a: Resulting from or
characterized by whim or caprice; especially: lightly fanciful
Whimsical and the related nouns
whim and whimsy all ultimately derive from whim-wham, a noun from the early
16th century that originally referred to an ornamental object or trinket. Later
whim-wham, with its fun sound, came to refer to a fantastic notion or odd
fancy. The word's origin isn't clear, but it's worth noting that the
similar-sounding flimflam had, in its earliest use, a similar meaning referring
to an odd or nonsensical idea or tale
Eli AKA the Houdini of Labradors,
Eli AKA the Houdini of Labradors, slipped out of his pen and took an investigative cruise around the house, stopping by Mary’s office to snoop around, where he found a piece of paper that apparently offended him for some reason and he killed it. He is always amazed when I call out his name from upstairs where my office is.
Good words to use
Abstemious
ab-STEE-mee-us
Marked by restraint
especially in the consumption of food or alcohol; also : reflecting such
restraint
From the Latin prefix
abs-, meaning "from" or "away." But abstain traces to the
Latin abstinēre, a combination of abs- and the Latin verb tenēre ("to
hold"), while abstemious comes from the Latin abstēmius, which combines
abs- with tēm- (a stem found in the Latin tēmētum, "intoxicating
beverage," and tēmulentus, "drunken") and the adjectival suffix
-ius ("full of, abounding in, having, possessing the qualities of").
Hegira
(hi-JY-ruh,
HEJ-uhr-uh)
A journey or migration,
especially when taken to escape an undesirable situation.
From the flight of
Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE to escape persecution. From Arabic
hijra (departure), from hajara (to depart). Earliest documented use: 1590.
Paladin
PAL-uh-din
1: a trusted military leader (as for a
medieval prince)
2: a leading champion of a cause
In ancient Rome, the
emperor's palace was located on the Palatine Hill, known as Palatium in Latin.
Since the site was the seat of imperial power, the word palatium came to mean "imperial"
and later "imperial official." Different forms of the word passed
through Latin, Italian, and French, picking up various meanings along the way,
and eventually some of those forms made their way into English. Paladin is one
of the etymological heirs of palatium; another descendant is the word palace.
Satori:
(suh-TOR-ee)
Sudden enlightenment or
intuitive understanding.
From Japanese satori
(understanding), from satoru (to know or understand). Earliest documented use:
1727.
I made this
I'm on a high protein diet and its working well, 18 pounds in three weeks, blood pressure is down to 120, blood count is at 125....but breakfast is getting monotonous so I went to the store to buy some creamed chip beef but reading the package it was just one chemical after another. So I made my own. If I had know it was so simple and so very very very good, I would have done this years ago. It took three or four minutes to make. I substituted coconut floor for regular flour, put in Irish butter and used cream instead of coconut milk....wow, fantastic.
Martinsburg Chamber of Commerce
We had a wonderful time at the Martinsburg chamber of commerce auction the other night.
Mary bid $40 on a clock that turned out to be worth $400
This is my friend Hans, he's an interesting guy. A Choate -Columbia lawyer, he was the broker who sold us our home...he is also VERY easy to crack up
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