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| The Winner |
The Georgia Senatorial Run-Off Election
Rev. Raphael Warnock won re-election yesterday to a full six-year term in the Senate by an almost two percentage point margin, defeating the totally unqualified Hershel Walker in a close run-off election.
This will strengthen the Democratic hold on the Senate, now 51 to 49 in their favor, helping to make President Biden's task of dealing with the House, with its tiny Republican edge, a bit easier. It will make the appointment of judges easier and possibly even bring about action to weaken the filibuster as a weapon. It even weakens the influence of questionable Democrats like Senator Joe Manchin.
But Walker, in losing, received over 1,700,000 votes. Do not forget that. Many of those Republican voters did not cast their ballots for him, but rather, despite him, holding their noses as they voted. Besides his total lack of fitness to be a Senator, Walker's candidacy was in effect sponsored by the defeated former president, whose reputation, already sullied by his associating with white supremacists, antisemites, and fascists, his willingness to 'terminate' parts of the Constitution, and the likelihood of his devoting the rest of his life to figuring out ways of staying out of jail, was hopefully dealt a fatal blow with Walker's defeat. It would be too much to hope that he would now just go away.
But those 1,700,000 votes for Walker, and whatever motivated those who cast them, should remind Democrats of the fragility of democracy, and the tender, loving, care with which it should be treated.
More on Newspapers
Continuing the newpaper ‘kick’ I was on in the previous posting, I suspect that I have always been a fan of newspapers. When I was a kid, my dad brought home the Newark Evening News, a solid conservative paper, every day and went down to the corner at about ten each evening to pick up the New York Daily Mirror for the late sports results and Walter Winchell’s column. On Sundays, he went out to pick up the New York Herald Tribune, (sort of a right-wing version of the Times) that he preferred to the Sunday version of the Newark Evening News, which was labeled the Sunday Call. In those pre-TV days in my home, newspapers were read thoroughly.My Art Work
Added to the blog today is a
feature showing my most recent painting. Besides writing, I also paint
with acrylics for recreation. It will be periodically revised to show
earlier paintings. Look for it off to the right, at least on desktop and
laptop devices. I don't know if it will show on phones and tablets.
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* * *
I took this picture the other morning from my
patio, capturing some ibises having breakfast as I sipped my coffee. It occurred to me that there might be a collective
term specifically applicable to ibises, and I found that there are several, one being ‘a
congregation of ibises.’ (I don’t know
what religion such a congregation involved, however.) That's the one I prefer.
There are a lot of such words, like a ‘gaggle of
geese’ describing birds. If this whets
your appetite, here’s a brief twelve-year-old article on the subject that comes
from Utah Public Radio:
‘Birds of a Feather Bird
Collective Nouns’
The word flock is a collective noun that refers to
a natural grouping of any kind of bird.
Certain bird species
commonly flock together to feed, to travel or to help defend themselves. Flocks
are usually thought of as composed of just one species but mixed species flocks
also occur. A mixture of species can take advantage of a variety of abilities
to find food or detect predators.
When you are talking
about a group of single species–birds of a feather so to speak– there exist
specific and sometimes eloquent terms that can be used instead of the word
flock. We’ve all heard the term “gaggle of geese.” But did you know that earlier
this spring, we saw a “season” of
tanagers come through the
valley? I have never seen a flock of owls, but if there were one, we could call
it a “parliament” of owls. More common than a parliament of owls is a “congress” of
crows. You can also call
this same group a murder of
crows.
(At this point in the article, a photo appeared of a “pod”, “scoop”, or “squadron” of American Pelicans with Black-necked Stilts & White-faced Ibis.) Another photo was accompanied by the notation that collectively on the ground, ibises might be a 'stand,' but while flying, a 'wedge.'
Check out the full illustrated article and its audio link by visiting https://wildaboututah.org/birds-of-a-feather-bird-collective-nouns/ or by CLICKING HERE.
Conceivably,
The word siege can apply
to either bitterns or herons. A congregation may refer to plovers,
egrets or ibises. A bouquet connotes warblers, hummingbirds or pheasants.
However, for hummingbirds I prefer the collective terms shimmer or charm.”
(Punsters might
appreciate a seasoning of
cinnamon teal, a
chain of bobolinks a ladle of
dippers or– my husband’s
favorite—an outfield of
flycatchers.)
Sometimes, a bunch of
birds in the water is different from a bunch of birds in the air. You’ll find a
paddling of ducks in the water but a team of ducks flying overhead. Likewise a gaggle of geese
is swimming, while a skein of geese
is airborne.
One collective phrase
is so evocative that it became the title of an entire book on collective nouns
for birds and other animals. In An Exaltation of Larks, (now in its 3rd printing) author
James Lipton explains that many collective nouns were hunting terms that
originated in the 15th century or earlier. Nevertheless, the collective terms
are correct and appropriate for use today.
Jerseys Without Names, the Yankees, USC, and the
Transfer Portal
Whenever I watch a sporting event on TV, and one
of the teams does not have its players’ names on the back of their jerseys,
just their number, I always root for the other team.
To me, it’s a sign that the team that doesn't identity its players on their uniforms feels that their excellence puts them so far above having to bother with that, even if that is not the case, that it's not worth the trouble. (For those who love words, this
more or less defines ‘hubris.’) That’s why I have always disliked the New York Yankees, whose nameless
jerseys seem to tell those fans who cannot recognize Yankee players by sight
that their support isn’t as welcome as that of those who know the players by
sight or number.
So it was that when I watched the PAC12 football
championship the other night between Utah and Southern Cal, I immediately chose
to root for the Utes against the Trojans of the University of Southern
California when I saw that their jerseys only carried numbers. And Utah won, knocking the Trojans
out of the top four college football teams that would compete for the national
championship. Hurrah!
 |
| This is the nameless USC quarterback, who played last year for Oklahoma. Who knows where he'll be next year. |
Another reason for my dislike of USC’s football
program, besides their nameless jerseys, is the fact that USC takes tremendous
advantage of the ‘transfer portal,’ which enables college football players to
switch schools during their college playing career. According to a New York
Times article that you can find at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/11/sports/ncaafootball/usc-football-transfers-lincoln-riley.html or by
CLICKING HERE, USC leads the nation with 26 such transfers on
its football roster!
I am sure that their eyes tear up when they sing the words to USC’s famous ‘Fight On’ song, that is, if they even know the name of the school they are (ahem) attending. You've heard the song before.
‘Fight On, For old
SC, Our men Fight On, To Victory! etc. etc.
Who knows what school they will be enrolled at
next season? The Times article includes
a quote referring to USC as ‘Carpet Bagger
U.’ and adds that ‘What is happening at U.S.C. is an extreme example of what the
professionalization of college sports has wrought.’
In
earlier blog postings, I have condemned the ‘transfer portal’ as a major step
in the destruction of college football, and instrumental in turning our major
colleges into something other than educational institutions, something like
triple A baseball teams, devoted to preparing players for the next step up, the
major leagues, or in football, the NFL, where the big money is.
Ultimately,
such corruption can infect the entire college, motivated by greed. My alma mater, Rutgers University, for example, is willing to be the Big Ten's football doormat, so long as they get a share of the conference's TV revenues to finance their athletic programs, money the Big Ten is willing to dole out for east coast media exposure. Mention the University of Alabama for
example, and what comes to mind? The
excellent State university it is, or consistently excellent football teams? I would bet 90% of Alabamians can name that school’s
football coach, but 99% cannot name its president.
Once a student enrolls at a college, even though they can subsequently transfer elsewhere for a variety of reasons, that original college should be the only place where they might be part of a college athletic team. I'm not even touching on the effect legalized online wagering will have on the destruction of college football, but the unavoidable scandal that will eventually occur will only add to the damage being done to the college sport by the 'transfer portal.'
Brady !!! (Football can still be inspirational.)
With 180 seconds left to play, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (whose uniform jerseys include their players' names) trailing the New Orleans Saints by thirteen points, 44-year-old quarterback Tom Brady (who spent four years at one college, the University of Michigan) ran a clinic Monday night for all quarterbacks present and future.
With the aid of glue-palmed receivers, an inspired offensive line, a defense which made quick work of the Saints after his first TD, and a heaven-sent 'pass interference' penalty, he led his team to a 17 to 16 victory! He even had to pass for the winning touchdown twice, due to an untimely holding penalty by a Buccaneer's offensive lineman. You had to see it to believe it. The Buc's winning touchdown, 'a short pass to a rookie receiver who ran one yard into the end zone,' came with only three seconds remaining on the clock!
JL
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