Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"Serious question: If masks and social distancing don't work, then what the hell happened to the flu?" -- Sam Ghali, M.D. (EM_RESUS), 2021-02-27

"This is a testament to just how infectious and deadly Covid19 is. The mitigation measures (masks, distancing) have essentially eliminated the flu, yet Covid is still killing people. It is shocking to think how much worse Covid would be without these measures." -- Al Romanski (skirom25), replying to Dr. Ghali

"People who smile while they are alone used to be called insane, until we invented smartphones and social media." -- Mokokoma Mokhonoana

[Today is National Update Your Damn Profile Day]

"An Associated Press wire story Thursday kicked off the ridiculousness, misleadingly claiming that Mr. Potato Head would be going 'gender neutral' and be known going forward simply as 'Potato Head.'

[...]

"According to the original Hasbro press release about the name change, it was the product line, which consists of both Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, that was getting a rebrand. So Mr. Potato Head still theoretically has a dick, although I think it's very weird that allegedly serious political thinkers spend time thinking about the potential genital shape of an inanimate plastic potato toy.

"But don't worry, Mr. Potato Head is keep his metaphorical tater dick."

-- Katelyn Burns (transscribe), "No, Mr. Potato Head isn't going 'gender neutral'", 2021-02-26

"The miracle of Purim is very different from the miracles mentioned in the Torah. While the latter were overt miracles, such as the ten plagues in Egypt and the splitting of the Red Sea, the miracle of Purim was covert. No law of nature was violated in the Purim story [...] Covert miracles will never cease to exist explains the Torah Temimah. In fact, they take place every day. The midrash on Proverbs is not suggesting that the actual festivals mentioned in the Torah will be nullified in future days. Rather we should read the midrash as follows: Overt miracles, which we celebrate on festivals mentioned in the Torah, no longer occur. But covert miracles such as those celebrated on Purim will never end; they continue to occur every day of the year." -- Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo, 2015

"You need both Alexa and Siri so they can talk to each other because even bots need company." -- Ashley Zacharias (AshleyBDZ), 2021-02-06

[To my friends observing Ta'ani Esther today and Purim tonight and tomorrow: may you have an easy fast today, and as merry a Purim as safely possible considering the covid-19 risks wherever you are!]

"Diversity is America's superpower. Hate and prejudice, its Achilles heel." -- Glenn Kirschner (glennkirschner2), 2021-02-21

"Before February 12, Republican mantras about law and order and respect for the Constitution had become threadbare. After the acquittal, there is no reason to believe anything McConnell and the 42 other Republican Senators for acquittal say about the rule of law now. Their pleas for bipartisanship are a bitter joke." -- Jeffrey Herf, "McConnell's decision to condemn Trump after voting for his acquittal wasn't just an act of cowardice", 2021-02-22

[Ceterum censeo Grandis Vetus Factio esse delendam.]

"Example, whether it be good or bad, has a powerful influence." -- George Washington (b. 1732-02-22^[], d. 1799-12-14; President of the US 1789-1797), in a letter to Lord Stirling, 1780-03-05

[] Recorded as 11 Feb. 1731-32 in the Julian calendar, which England and her colonies used at that time; retconned to the equivalent Gregorian date, 22 Feb. 1732, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1752. See a calendar for September 1752 for the changeover (on a Unix/Linux computer, type "cal 9 1752"). Note that different countries adopted the Gregorian calendar in different years.

"The fear o' Hell's a hangman's whip
 To haud the wretch in order;
 But where ye feel your honour grip,
 Let that ay be your border:
 Its slightest touches, instant pause --
 Debar a' side-pretences;
 And resolutely keep its laws,
 Uncaring consequences."
  -- Robert Burns (b. 1759-01-26, d. 1796-07-21), from Epistle To A Young Friend

"We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!" -- Vroomfondel, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (b. 1952-03-11, d. 2001-05-11)

"This was clearly intended to be drudge work, but to any Corti biologist with a functioning sense of excitement--and Nofl's was scandalously overactive--the opportunity to study class twelve microbes in any capacity was a privilege. Especially ones that were native to a human's personal biome. Humans were less a species than a sprawling sapient ecosystem." -- from Deathworlders by Hambone3110, ( chapter 37)

"Speak kindly of the dead is a fine idea for your uncle who was an okay dude who maybe had a messy divorce and wrecked his car that one time and seemed to always be broke but was honest and cool.

"It's a ridiculous standard for people in positions of power and stature."

-- Mx. Amadi (amaditalks), 2018-12-01

"Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is 'timing,' it waits on the right time to act, for the right principles and in the right way." -- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (b. 1895-05-08, d. 1979-12-09)

[A blessed Lent to everyone celebrating Ash Wednesday today!]

"the cis people who constantly post takes on "everyone should always have to use their real name online!" are fae in disguise, don't fall for it and don't eat anything they give you" -- Cliff Jerrison (pervocracy), 2021-02-15

"Quanto alla prima domanda generica di Madama Serenissima, parmi che prudentissimamente fusse proposto da quella e conceduto e stabilito dalla Paternità Vostra, non poter mai la Scrittura Sacra mentire o errare, ma essere i suoi decreti d'assoluta ed inviolabile verità. Solo avrei aggiunto, che, se bene la Scrittura non può errare, potrebbe nondimeno talvolta errare alcuno de' suoi interpreti ed espositori, in varii modi: tra i quali uno sarebbe gravissimo e frequentissimo, quando volessero fermarsi sempre nel puro significato delle parole, [...]" -- Galileo Galilei (b. 1564-02-15, d. 1642-01-08) letter to Benedetto Castelli, 1613-12-21

The English translation I found says "edited by Antonio Favaro" but does not explicitly say who translated it: "In regard to the first general point of the Most Serene Ladyship, it seems to me very prudent of her to propose and of you to concede and to agree that the Holy Scripture can never lie or err, and that its declarations are absolutely and inviolably true. I should have added only that, through the Scripture cannot err, nevertheless some of its interpreters and expositors can sometimes err in various ways. One of these would be very serious and very frequent, namely to want to limit oneself always to the literal meaning of the words, [...]"

"Oh, did you expect me to play fair?" Cupid laughed. "I am the god of love. I am never fair." -- Rick Riordan, The House of Hades

"Lol I just realized that researching for a living means I get paid to fuck around and find out." -- Dominique Jean-Louis (DominiqueJL15), 2021-02-04

"It has so happened in all ages of the world, that some have laboured, and others have, without labour, enjoyed a large proportion of the fruits. This is wrong, and should not continue. To each labourer the whole product of his labour, or as nearly as possible, is a most worthy object of any good government." -- Abraham Lincoln (b. 1809-02-12, d. 1865-04-15, President of the US 1861-1865)

[Happy Chinese New Year (year of the Metal Ox)!]

"Radio is a wonderful technology. It lets you hear pleas for help you can't answer." -- from "The First Trebuchet on Mars" by Marie Vibbert (mareasie)