Talking

There is a saying often uttered by characters in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones on TV) which I find very apt for the world today: "Words are Wind."

Recently, I overheard a conversation where two people were discussing the "rape problem" our society has. You know the one, where every girl out there has been raped by guys repeatedly since she was old enough to talk? Well, their solution to this societal problem is to "talk about it more". This struck me as absurd, talking about things will not fix anything; but in the minds of these socialists that is the solution to everything.

I wonder why they think this way? Is it because our news organizations focus our attention on what is being said instead of what is being done? Let's take a quick look at todays headlines:

• Trump talks with Macron and Merkel - Talk!
  
• Stephen Colbert Explains Trump Tweets - Talk!
  
• Michael Cohen Has Said He Would Take a Bullet for Trump. Maybe Not Anymore. - Talk!
  
• Stormy Daniels' Lawyer Michael Avenatti Challenges Sean Hannity to On-Air Face-Off - Talk!
  
• Yeti calls NRA claims 'inaccurate' says it has 'unwavering' belief in Second Amendment - Talk!

I just want to put it out there, somebody saying something is not news. I do not want to read quotes from twitter in a newspaper. News should cover actions, things that happen, things people do. If somebody uses twitter to announce a change of government policy, that is news but still a horrible choice of venue for the announcement.

And of course, the honorable mention of the worst set of offenders is given to Reddit, where people sit around talking about what other people said about what some other people said. And then my co-worker comes by and tries to start a conversation about what he read those guys on Reddit saying, and I really have to hold down the urge to break into the action of smashing his computer over his head.

-

Allowable Boy and Girl Names

From the Logs:

Mircea Popescu: Names like "Trace Mayer" SHOULD be obsolete. Get a fucking human name why don't you. What is this Mug Costanza and Rifling Jones bs. Unless of course there's some King Trace in the glorious history of that great nation of Africa that I'm unfamiliar with.
Asciilifeform: Hey, if we had a Joe Stack, why not king trace. (is there a, e.g., Henry Heap?)
MP: Joe is fine. what the fuck reason did Mrs Mayer have to eschew calling her boy Rachel or whatever the fuck they do in her tribe.

PeterL: What kind of funny name is "Mircea"?
MP: PeterL ah, but in the god forsaken country of Romania, there's a bunch of kings called that.

PeterL: So you can only name people after kings?
MP: PeterL yes. You may only name kids after famous dead people. Either kings or saints. Pick.

PeterL: How about family members?
MP: PeterL well family members were named through the same process, so...

So, to build on the wisdom of Mircea Popescu, I figure it would be nice to have a baby name book made not with definitions of the names but with historical instances of the names. Here I list all the boy names which are presidents of the US, Kings of England or Scotland (which is where my family came from before moving to the US), governors of Michigan (where I currently live), and my own family names. The girls are mostly wives of those listed above, the list would only be about three names else-wise.

Here is a complete list of the boy names of my tribe:

Aaron Abraham Albert Alexander Alfred Andrew Arthur Austin
Barak Benjamin Brigham
Calvin Charles Chester
Dalin David Donald Duncan Dwight
Edgar Edmund Edward Edwin Elliott Elwood Ezra
Franklin
George Gerald Gordon Grover
Harold Harry Heber Henry Herbert
James John Joseph Josiah
Kenneth Kinsley
Lorenzo Lyndon
Macbeth Malcomb Martin Maurice Millard Moses
Peter
Reed Richard Robert Ronald Russel Rutherford
Spencer Stephen
Theodore Theron Thomas
Ulysses
Ward Warren Wilber Wilford William Woodrow
Zachary

And here is a complete list of the girl names of my tribe:

Abigail Adelaide Alexandra Anna Anne Augusta
Barbara Bess Beth Betty
Camilla Caroline Catherine Charlotte Clara Clarissa Cora
Dantzel Diane Dolley
Edith Eleanor Eliza Elizabeth Ellen Elva Emily Emma
Frances Flora Florence
Grace Gretchen
Hannah Helen Henrietta Hillary
Ida Ila
Jane Janeen Jacqueline Jennifer Jill Julia
Lady Laura Lou Louisa Louise Lucia Lucretia Lucy
Mamie Margaret Maria Marjorie Martha Mary Melania Michelle Miriam
Nancy
Patricia
Rachel Rosalynn
Sarah Sophia
Theresa
Victoria
Wendy

You may note that this list is segregated by boys/girls. I do not agree with the current trend of having gender neutral names.

If you think of an obvious name I missed, please comment and I will add it to the list!

-