I heard an interesting discussion on the radio the other day that the problem with modern policing in the urban core today is not only the matter of Pretend Police replacing real officers, but also one of the police distrusting the general public by considering everyone a danger instead of innocent, ordinary, people.
Continue reading → Policing and Loving the Ordinary Enemy Civilian
The Jena 6 happening brought nooses back to the mainstream mindset and we now seem to be in the midst of a media frenzy where nooses are seen everywhere and people are put on edge just waiting to be insulted by a length of knotted rope so they can express their indignant outrage.
I love words. I love writing words. I love reading words. I love hearing words. I have a new WordPunk blog that deals with “words in the wilds.” The power of words is in their definition. Words have meanings only because they are shared in context and understood between people. Dictionaries help bridge the fuzzy confusion between definition and meaning. Imagine, then, my delight and horror in receiving this email from a university professor friend of mine:
Word came down from above that we are no longer allowed to use “niggle” or “niggly” or any variety thereof in writing or speaking with students because “they sound and look too much like that other word” (the N-word) and we don’t “want to upset the student body.” I thought they were joking at first until I also saw a warning against using “spook” in class, too.
It has been a wild week and I am pleased to announce I will be writing three 
new books for Thomson/Cengage Publishing.
I recently finished my Google Apps Administrator Guide book for Thomson and we are now doing three more books together.
Two books will be published before the end of 2007 — that means I will have written four books in five months for Thomson and while that is a witty and wacky writing pace, that’s the publishing business: You’re either wanted now — RIGHT NOW! — or you suffer in silence.
When I was growing up, children were expected to get good grades in school because it showed they had a love of learning and were dedicated to being a proper part of society; however, that didn’t mean some Lincoln, Nebraska children with smart parents were not paid $200 USD for an “A” grade, $175 for a “B” and so on along a sliding scale in 1980’s dollars.
Okay, so I have David W. Boles’ WordPunk ™ up and running and Going Great Guns over at TypePad. Now there’s the problem of identity and branding.
I came up with this simple logo. I love logos that look like text but are really images. Here’s the single-line logo:
Any big blog that’s been around awhile — like Urban Semiotic — has its share of rejected sycophants who just won’t go away after violating our publication policy or for being a personal nuisance.
Continue reading → Sycophants in Rejection: Making Terroristic Threats
Sanctioned violence and public beatings have always been the intended, unofficial, delight for those who follow Bloodsport that started with fox hunting and cock fighting and progressed into major mainstream sports like American football, hockey and boxing.
Continue reading → Mixed Martial Arts: The Bloodthirsty Bloodsport
We have discussed why it is important to use your real name on the internet; we have also dissected the difference between Hate Mail and Spam and concluding there is no difference. Now the New York Times explains the research behind Web Rage.
Continue reading → Impulsive Web Rage and the Online Disinhibition Effect
“Quod me nutrit, me destruit” is a kitschy Latin phrase that generally translates into “What nourishes me, also destroys me.” Young people love to spout that phrase because they relate the idea of “nourishment” to sex, drugs, alcohol and probably, at one time, Rock and Roll.
Angelina Jolie has “Quod me nutrit, me destruit” tattooed on her lower abdomen along with a thick, black, cross — making one wonder if the “destruction” is in the semiotic cross or what the bottom of the cross is pointing to while she sucks her thumb.
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