Power to the People!
Fox News have *finally* given up on their annoying idiosyncratic practice of using "G" to denote 1000s, and gone to "K" like everyone else. One supposes it stood for "grand", like people say in old gangster movies.
*****
Easily the most improbable assassination plot I've ever heard of. I'm including the guy who tried to shoot Truman with a bazooka, as well as the 19th C rioters who set a cannon outside the mayor of Cleveland's door, then rang the doorbell, like a live-action Yosemite Sam cartoon.
*****
As a general rule, I'm opposed to civic disorder of all types. That being said, I find myself quite sympathetic to the French rioters. They're trying to preserve their country, and their standard of living, against a government that seems to want to destroy both. There are very few things that can justify civil unrest, but a government that deliberately acts counter to the interests of the productive classes is one. I would love to see the Macron government overthrown by the people.
*****
So, in reading through old news, I found this... The summary version - it's 1896, and a lady set her dress on fire trying to light a stove. A horrible accident, but not really an uncommon one for the age. Having set herself on fire, she then, for reasons that are not a bit obvious, grabbed up her two toddlers, who both caught fire, then the flaming trio ran across the hall to the neighbor's apartment for help. The neighbor tried to either beat out the fire, or pull off the burning clothing, setting herself on fire in the process. She then promptly grabbed HER two toddlers, setting THEM both on fire. This breaks my brain. One person doing something unaccountable in a blind panic is not that shocking. Two people doing the exact same counterproductive thing, though...
Original posted at https://rain-gryphon.dreamwidth.org/62739.html
*****
Easily the most improbable assassination plot I've ever heard of. I'm including the guy who tried to shoot Truman with a bazooka, as well as the 19th C rioters who set a cannon outside the mayor of Cleveland's door, then rang the doorbell, like a live-action Yosemite Sam cartoon.
*****
As a general rule, I'm opposed to civic disorder of all types. That being said, I find myself quite sympathetic to the French rioters. They're trying to preserve their country, and their standard of living, against a government that seems to want to destroy both. There are very few things that can justify civil unrest, but a government that deliberately acts counter to the interests of the productive classes is one. I would love to see the Macron government overthrown by the people.
*****
So, in reading through old news, I found this... The summary version - it's 1896, and a lady set her dress on fire trying to light a stove. A horrible accident, but not really an uncommon one for the age. Having set herself on fire, she then, for reasons that are not a bit obvious, grabbed up her two toddlers, who both caught fire, then the flaming trio ran across the hall to the neighbor's apartment for help. The neighbor tried to either beat out the fire, or pull off the burning clothing, setting herself on fire in the process. She then promptly grabbed HER two toddlers, setting THEM both on fire. This breaks my brain. One person doing something unaccountable in a blind panic is not that shocking. Two people doing the exact same counterproductive thing, though...
Original posted at https://rain-gryphon.dreamwidth.org/62739.html