There are a few reasons why I decided to dig into my family tree on my mother’s side. My dad’s is pretty well documented back to the Middle Ages, so no need there. I’m as British as the King on his side. Yeah, I am thinking about it. Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor make that comment even more interesting. Er, inclusive…
The first was the hope that I might dig up some Loyalists. While that still remains a possibility since I do have some ancestors who were in the South prior to the War for Independence, and they were also in strongly Loyalist areas. That unfortunately is undocumented, so my application to the United Empire Loyalists is also on hold.
I did find I am eligable for some other groups which don’t make me too happy: Mayflower descendant, Sons of the American Revolution, The Society of the Cincinnati,and a few others. I’m not going to boast about the last one since I prefer the vets who were on the Pennsylvania Line at Morristown to the ones running the show: especially given the latter really effed things. And I am sorry that my ancestors didn’t land on Bermuda instead of Virginia.
I’m sure my whatever iteration of Great Grandmother was not too happy to find out she was going to the Bermuda Hundred in VIRGINIA…
My mother’s family were pioneers in a lot of states. As I like to say, her family is the American Experience. Given I am first generation American–I guess that applies to me as well. Even though I would go back to Europe in a heartbeat, but it has to be EUROPE.
Le Brexit a été une putain de grosse erreur.
There were a bunch of photos lying around that I had no idea who they were of as well.
So, there you have it. Like it or not, I have a connection to North America.
I just received a letter from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania telling me I was not compliant for the current CLE period. That was a little unnerving. So, I decided to call them up and make sure I was done with ever having to think about that subject.
I am.
The amusing thing is that there is a non-resident exemption, which I considered trying for, but I am currently in a nomadic state. I have returned my driver’s licence to Philadelphia, but it’s not really my residence. I’m not sure where exactly I am residing. Well, other than my EU residence, but that is another thing since I am not there as much as I would like. Which is too bad since my friends are sending me all sorts of pictures that make me want to be there.
Unfortunately, I have other business to take care of right now.
Let’s toss in that the US considers your last “residence” to be where you are “domiciled” once you emmigrate/return to another country. Which has me wondering whether it was a good thing that I was registered to vote in Philadelphia despite my not asking to be.
Well, at least they didn’t register me as a Democrat…
I’m trying to locate that picture of the fierce Varangian warrior with the dead hamster on his shoulder and came up with:
As we mentioned before, the Varangian Guard was initially formed mostly of warriors and adventurers from Rus who tended to have Swedish lineage. However, by the late 11th century, these ‘Scandinavians’ were gradually replaced by the Anglo-Saxons from Britain. There was a socio-political side to this scope since most of England was overrun by the Normans under William the Conqueror (post-1066 AD).
As a result, the native Anglo-Saxon military elites of these lands had to look for opportunities elsewhere – thus kick-starting mini waves of migration from Britain to the Black Sea coasts, and then ultimately to Eastern Roman Empire.
I knew there was a lot more movement between places in early history, but this is sort of a surprise for me. On the other hand, my heritage is pretty much Northern European with about a quarter being from the southern Mediterranean. Or Varangian stomping grounds.
My DNA isn’t really tied to a nation, unless it’s something like the Holy Roman Empire. Actually, the Hanseatic League pretty much covers where my ancestry comes from, which gets really interesting. I like where I have residency even if I don’t speak the language. Or at least much beyond my “Hello”, “Goodbye”, “How are you?”, “Please”, “Thank you”, “Where is the WC?”, and “Do you speak English/French/German?” The last one tends to be superfluous.
I made a comment about how people in Europe kill each other over what religion they practise or language they speak. Slavic languages have the added factor of varying alphabets, which is interesting when you deal with the pan-Slavic crowd. They sort of have a point in that the languages are similar enough that you can be understood about the way most Scandanavians can understand each other. Then you get to the Alphabets. The former Yugoslavia was torn apart by religion and differences in Alphabets. Likewise, Polish and Ukrainian are fairly similar until you get to the Alphabet.
This is the Polish alphabet.
The Ł is pronounced like Elmer Fudd saying the letter “W”. So, Wrocław is pronounced like Vroswav. In my opinion, the German transliteration of Breslaw (with a German accent) works better for non-Poles. The alphabet is a romanised version of Ukrainian/cyrillic.
Ukrainian and Russian both use the Cyrillic alphabet, but slightly different versions. There are four letters in Ukrainian missing from Russian (ґ, є, і, ї), and four letters in Russian missing from Ukrainian (ё, ъ, ы, э). Also:
One frequently cited figure is that Ukrainian and Russian share about 62% of their vocabulary. This is about the same amount of shared vocabulary that English has with Dutch, according to the same calculations. If you expand your sample by scraping internet data to compare a broader range of words than just those 200 ancient “core” words, the proportion of shared words declines. One computational model suggests that Russian and Ukrainian share about 55% of their vocabulary.
Using that higher figure of 62%, though, a Russian with no knowledge of Ukrainian (or vice versa) would understand roughly five in eight words. To understand this, have a friend cross out three out of every eight words in a newspaper and see how much of the text you can follow.
Anyway, the Cyrillic alphabet also was a force which prevented Russians from invading a good part of Western Europe. I mean, can most people read Cyrillic? Now, turn it around to the Roman alphabet for the average Slavic language speaker. You don’t need guns to prevent a Russian invasion–Road signs work quite well.
I usually just write. Even in the days when I did have comments, I never bothered with them. WordPress has become such a pain to use that I had no idea where the comments were. In fact, I just stumbled onto the settings. May as well shut them off since I never read them.
Qu’est que c’est? OK, that’s the subject of a recent French Together post. Sure, most of the online French learning sites are below my level, but there are a lot of good ones out there: such as French Together and Comme un françiase (but she has a really thick accent). I’m into refreshers as well.
The article about Qu’est que c’est has a section: “A risky alternative to Qu’est-ce que c’est: C’est quoi (ça) ?”
You can guess where this is going.
’est quoi is easy to use: just add an article and noun, or a verb (or in certain cases an adjective) after it, like so:
C’est quoi l’amour ? (What is love?)
C’est quoi la philosophie ? (What is philosophy?)
C’est quoi ce bordel ? (What’s this mess/What’s this shit?)
Except C’est quoi ce bordel ? translates more like “what the fuck???” And the author advises:
Now you may be thinking, C’est quoi ce bordel ? (What’s this shit?). But by listening to enough French people, whether in real life or in movies and TV shows, you’ll quickly be able to differentiate between a rude C’est quoi and a neutral one.
There are a few standards which started out as French songs, such as “These Foolish Things” was “Ces petits choses”, “The Falling Leaves” was “Les feuilles mortes”, and so on. But I bet you didn’t know that “my way” started out as this song.
French pop/rock artist (also known as “yé-yé or “yeah-yeah”), Claude François, released this emotional song about a couple growing apart in November 1967 not suspecting that Comme d’habitude would become an international hit thanks largely to its English cover, “My Way,” written by Paul Anka and popularised by Frank Sinatra. To date, Comme d’habitude has been covered 1327 times by more than 570 artists and remains the most exported French song of all time.
I wasn’t going to post the original lyrics, but they are so different from the Sinatra/”My way” ones.
Je me lève Et je te bouscule Tu ne te réveilles pas Comme d’habitude Sur toi je remonte le drap J’ai peur que tu aies froid Comme d’habitude Ma main caresse tes cheveux Presque malgré moi Comme d’habitude Mais toi tu me tournes le dos Comme d’habitude
Et puis je m’habille très vite Je sors de la chambre Comme d’habitude Tout seul je bois mon café Je suis en retard Comme d’habitude Sans bruit je quitte la maison Tout est gris dehors Comme d’habitude J’ai froid je relève mon col Comme d’habitude
Comme d’habitude Toute la journée Je vais jouer à faire semblant Comme d’habitude Je vais sourire Oui comme d’habitude Je vais même rire Comme d’habitude Enfin je vais vivre Comme d’habitude Et puis le jour s’en ira Moi je reviendrai Comme d’habitude Et toi tu seras sortie Et pas encore rentrée Comme d’habitude Tout seul j’irai me coucher Dans ce grand lit froid Comme d’habitude Mes larmes je les cacherai Comme d’habitude
Comme d’habitude Meme la nuit Je vais jouer à faire semblant Comme d’habitude Tu rentreras Comme d’habitude Je t’attendrai Comme d’habitude Tu me souriras Comme d’habitude
Comme d’habitude Tu te déshabillera Comme d’habitude Tu te coucheras Comme d’habitude On s’embrassera Comme d’habitude
“My Way”
And now, the end is near And so I face the final curtain My friend, I’ll say it clear I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain I’ve lived a life that’s full I traveled each and every highway And more, much more than this, I did it my way
Regrets, I’ve had a few But then again, too few to mention I did what I had to do And saw it through without exemption I planned each charted course Each careful step along the byway And more, much more than this, I did it my way
Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew When I bit off more than I could chew But through it all, when there was doubt I ate it up and spit it out I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way
I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried I’ve had my fill, my share of losing And now, as tears subside I find it all so amusing To think I did all that And may I say, not in a shy way Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way
For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught To say the things he truly feels And not the words of one who kneels The record shows I took the blows And did it my way
I’ve known about it for a couple of days since I was greeted by a banner announcing that when I went to the FNAC site to research Apple Macs. Another thing I would have posted about if I were still on Fesses de Bouc. Although, Belmondo is one of the famous French Film stars, he’s more associated with the Nouvelle-Vague. Or “New Wave” in English, but the “vague” seems to carry over since those films tend to be something a certain sort of viewer likes.
He did do some things that were more mass market, but Bout de Souffle tends to be his most famous work. Borsalino is another one he did, but I think of Alan Delon more than Belmondo. In fact, I need to go and watch some of Belmondo’s classics to remember him. I have seen his films, but he’s one of those actors who is an actor and becomes the role so much that you forget about who is playing and pay more attention to the character.
Belmondo will be a definite part of French Culture even if he may never reach the controversiality of a Serge Gainsbourg or bring out the divided feelings Gainsbourg or Johnny Hallyday will raise if you mention them to a French person.
Although, my guilty pleasure is to speak English. It always has despite my confusion as to what exactly is “mon langue maternelle”. German, English, and French are all in the running for that title, which is obvious if you either speak to me or read my writing with a knowledge of those three languages.
At least I don’t use German syntax, but I do capitalise like one. Especially when typing. Although, my choice of computer keyboards is UK English and I have used other languages. French keyboards drive me nuts. US English, not so much, but they still can get annoying.
Oh, and French is actually a difficult language, which even the French will admit once you get to know them. One literally will spend all one’s life learning the language. There’s a nice big book called “Grand dictionnaire des difficultés et pièges de la langue française” (ISBN: 978-2035898227) which translates as “large dictionary of the difficulties and traps of the French language“. A search of ”pièges langue française” results in quite a few books.
I can get into why French isn’t totally my language of choice (and neither is German), which most of the arguments will be shot down by some French speakers. Others will agree with me.
Actually, French isn’t that hard, but I think French teachers have an agreement to make it hard. There are something like 17 French verb cases, of which not all of them are used. I have had a few French teachers tell me not to bother with passé simple since it isn’t used that much in real life. On the other hand, teachers of French love it. That and Tout/Toute/Tous/Toutes.
Karen O’Toole wrote a pretty accurate book on French verbs called “How To Cheat at French Verbs” (ISBN: 978-0982901946). Futur passé anyone? I agree with her in that one doesn’t need to study lots of verb cases for conversational French. Written French is another thing.
The Great Law of the Iroquois holds it appropriate to think sevengenerations ahead (about 140 years into the future). Slavery ended 155 years ago if you use “Juneteenth”.
There are many legal doctrines which hold a claim to be void if it is made too long past the event (e.g., Laches in equity). Statutes of limitations preclude a legal case being made past any time in which it could be seen as being valid.
Any argument for reparations for slavery would require a serious demonstration that said reparations would make sense. On the other hand we would have to give money to people like Oprah Winfrey, Ursula Burns, and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.
I’ve been weaning myself from “social media” for a while. Blogging has never really been a thing for me the way some people do it. Now, WordPress has decided to change their editor, which is driving me nuts.
Maybe I’ll still post at Penigma if there is something I need to vent about.
There isn’t a consensus on what exactly that firearm would be. I’ve learned more than I have ever cared to know about the AR-15 in the past month or so. The AR15 definitely qualifies since it was designed by an American, Eugene Stoner. Enough of them are out there in the US that any chance of an “assault rifle ban” would be really difficult. And that’s even with a buyback.
I feel the same way I do about the AR15 that I do about Margaret Thatcher: I don’t like either of them, but I respect what they are in relation to their respective country’s culture. The AR15 is probably more symbolic toward US culture than Margaret Thatcher will ever be to Britain’s.
It is a symbol of militarism since it was designed over 60 years ago for the US military, with variants used by military forces worldwide. Part of its attraction is that it is the civilian version of the US military’s weapon. And its deadliness is one of its attractive features. It is proven in combat and mass shootings.
The AR15 platform allows for it to be built in a myriad of different ways. It is also fairly easy to build with various kits being sold; from complete upper and lower receiver assemblies to the parts for making a ghost gun. Although, ghost gun means a firearm made “80%” lower receiver and parts. It is the AR15’s ability to be built by anyone which should cause people to pause.
I personally would not want to invest the time and effort into making an actual ghost gun. Complete stripped lower receivers are also available, which is the lower receiver block without the parts. That allows someone to create their custom gun. It’s easy to customise a completed lower receiver as well. Just look up a video on how to do that mod to your gun.
And there are the AR15 pistols as well, which I am mentioning since there is the debate as to how often these weapons are used in crime:
Given the amount of variations on the AR15, there are a fair amount of pistol versions. One manufacturer lists barrel lengths from 8 inches to 20 inches for their upper receiver assembly. An interesting riff on all this since Orlando, Florida, authorities revised their initial description of one of the weapons used in the June 2016 attack at Pulse nightclub. After initially describing it as an “AR-15-type assault rifle,” police said it was a different type of firearm, the Sig Sauer MCX.
One the the variants of the MCX is the Rattler SBR (short barrelled rifle)[1]. While SBRs are NFA weapons, it’s pretty easy to bang one up using the AR15 platform. I would also toss in that semi-auto pistols that accept high capacity magazines are banned in some places. Additionally, a submachinegun is a machinegun that fires pistol calibre ammunition. That means that submachineguns are basically pistols that can have a very high rate of fire.
But the main reason I would say that the AR15 is America’s gun is that it will probably never be regulated despite the carnage it is capable of causing. Despite the deadly shooting in Las Vegas to the 20 toddlers killed at Sandy Hook, these weapons are more than freely available to anyone who wants one. You can buy an 80% receiver with no background check to build whatever version of an AR15 you want.
That means that anyone who is adept with metalworking tools, or just adept with tools if it’s a polymer 80, can crank out a weapon intended for the battlefield.
That should cause you to pause and think no matter what your opinion of these weapons happens to be.
[1] Short barrelled rifles are another topic which I am not going to get into.
Laci the dog's Blog 
I usually just write. Even in the days when I did have comments, I never bothered with them. WordPress has become such a pain to use that I had no idea where the comments were. In fact, I just stumbled onto the settings. May as well shut them off since I never read them.