http://www.theawl.com/ Be Less Stupid Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:26:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-20496 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-20496#comments Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:26:19 +0000 lawyergay http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-20496 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-20496/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19848 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19848#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:58:47 +0000 TerseNursePornstein http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19848 inamorata's death by drowning in a river; and so forth. Some Catholicism, too! Many of the same questions arise: How much can one know about a crime, when there are no witnesses? What we can know of a person's state of mind through observation of his words and actions, etc., etc.? And when Oates writes, "it might be argued that Senator Kennedy's career as one of the most influential of 20th-century Democratic politicians... was a consequence of his notorious behaviour at Chappaquiddick bridge in July 1969," later "that innocent individuals figure almost as ritual sacrifices," it calls to mind Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the minor characters whose death, if memory serves, served as a plot device for Shakespeare, in the guise of a lifeline for Hamlet--who was honored upon his own.]]> inamorata's death by drowning in a river; and so forth. Some Catholicism, too! Many of the same questions arise: How much can one know about a crime, when there are no witnesses? What we can know of a person's state of mind through observation of his words and actions, etc., etc.? And when Oates writes, "it might be argued that Senator Kennedy's career as one of the most influential of 20th-century Democratic politicians... was a consequence of his notorious behaviour at Chappaquiddick bridge in July 1969," later "that innocent individuals figure almost as ritual sacrifices," it calls to mind Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the minor characters whose death, if memory serves, served as a plot device for Shakespeare, in the guise of a lifeline for Hamlet--who was honored upon his own.]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19848/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19835 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19835#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:26:13 +0000 HiredGoons http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19835 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19835/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19819 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19819#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:22:37 +0000 mitchellowens http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19819 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19819/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19809 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19809#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:01:04 +0000 GiovanniGF http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19809 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19809/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19807 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19807#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:58:00 +0000 kitten_witawip http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19807 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19807/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19806 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19806#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:56:58 +0000 oudemia http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19806 Jack Anderson in the St. Petersburg Times, about a month after the incident.]]> Jack Anderson in the St. Petersburg Times, about a month after the incident.]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19806/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19805 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19805#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:55:52 +0000 kitten_witawip http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19805 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19805/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19804 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19804#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:54:45 +0000 kitten_witawip http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19804 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19804/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19803 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19803#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:50:56 +0000 KarenUhOh http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19803 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19803/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19801 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19801#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:49:36 +0000 GiovanniGF http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19801 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19801/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19796 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19796#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:23:35 +0000 Krugmanic Depressive http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19796 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19796/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19795 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19795#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:22:50 +0000 Krugmanic Depressive http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19795 There are no second acts in American lives'â€" this dour pronouncement of F Scott Fitzgerald has been many times refuted, and at no time more appropriately than in reference to the late Senator Ted Kennedy, whose death was announced yesterday And this is the first sentence! Pedantry alert! There are no second acts in American lives': cliche â€" this dour pronouncement: unsonorous; also, dour means something else. FSF was not dour. Also: pronouncement. shudder. of F Scott Fitzgerald: either "of F. Scott Fitzgerald's" (it's his pronouncement) or "by FSF" has been many times refuted,: passive for no reason, and bad, and only proves that the opposite of the cliche is still cliche. and at no time more appropriately: why all the negative? What is an "appropriate refutation"? (you'd already forgotten that you were refuting something, hadn't you?) How about definitively? Also, suck it all you slightly-less-appropriate-refutators out there! than in reference to: humans say "than in Ted Kennedy's case"; we usually use "in reference to" for things that are not animate, and, yes, Kennedy is no longer animate, but it's his soul, not his corpse that we're judging here. Vulcans might say "in reference to Dr. McCoy..." the late Senator Ted Kennedy, whose death was announced yesterday probably the editors redundancy. How many times do we need to know he's dead? I stopped reading here, but I bet it goes on like this...]]> There are no second acts in American lives'â€" this dour pronouncement of F Scott Fitzgerald has been many times refuted, and at no time more appropriately than in reference to the late Senator Ted Kennedy, whose death was announced yesterday And this is the first sentence! Pedantry alert! There are no second acts in American lives': cliche â€" this dour pronouncement: unsonorous; also, dour means something else. FSF was not dour. Also: pronouncement. shudder. of F Scott Fitzgerald: either "of F. Scott Fitzgerald's" (it's his pronouncement) or "by FSF" has been many times refuted,: passive for no reason, and bad, and only proves that the opposite of the cliche is still cliche. and at no time more appropriately: why all the negative? What is an "appropriate refutation"? (you'd already forgotten that you were refuting something, hadn't you?) How about definitively? Also, suck it all you slightly-less-appropriate-refutators out there! than in reference to: humans say "than in Ted Kennedy's case"; we usually use "in reference to" for things that are not animate, and, yes, Kennedy is no longer animate, but it's his soul, not his corpse that we're judging here. Vulcans might say "in reference to Dr. McCoy..." the late Senator Ted Kennedy, whose death was announced yesterday probably the editors redundancy. How many times do we need to know he's dead? I stopped reading here, but I bet it goes on like this...]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19795/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19793 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19793#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:16:57 +0000 SarahHeartburn http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19793 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19793/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19792 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19792#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:12:31 +0000 Lionel Mandrake http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19792 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19792/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19785 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19785#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:53:34 +0000 sigerson http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19785 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19785/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19783 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19783#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:48:25 +0000 kitten_witawip http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19783 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19783/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19772 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19772#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:01:42 +0000 amuselouche http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19772 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19772/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19770 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19770#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:57:44 +0000 kitten_witawip http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19770 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19770/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19766 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19766#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:45:32 +0000 sorry your heinous http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19766 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19766/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19764 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19764#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:31:01 +0000 TerseNursePornstein http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19764 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19764/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19763 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19763#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:30:45 +0000 SarahHeartburn http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19763 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19763/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19762 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19762#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:28:27 +0000 Choire Sicha http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19762 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19762/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19759 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19759#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:08:37 +0000 bb http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19759 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19759/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19757 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19757#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:04:51 +0000 zidaane http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19757 eventually get sacrificed. So, Teddy also gave us that.]]> eventually get sacrificed. So, Teddy also gave us that.]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19757/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19756 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19756#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:01:31 +0000 formerly it takes a lot etc. http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19756 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19756/feed 0 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19755 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19755#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:56:03 +0000 SarahHeartburn http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19755 http://www.theawl.com/2009/08/joyce-carol-oates-on-ted-kennedy#comment-19755/feed 0