what's in a word?

[ish mailian]

The west? Is that, like California west, or the wild west, the wild west
end, the west is the best?

the NYT essay points out the obvious, that, while America may be called the
west, or part of it, it's not Europe. It's dangerous in America, in all, or
most of it, you might,as the lyrics go, "and you might get shot. Even the
hero gets a bullet in the chest once upon a time...in the West. Look at the
most dangerous places in America, from Alaska to Patagonia. Brazil is
dangerous. With a Capital D. America is where you might get shot. Not
Europe. So, no kidding. America is tough, full of gums and gangs and, well,
young people on the move. Though is much talk of the graying of America,
it's young, forever young with guns. And the hot button issue of the
primary, gun laws, ain't gonna do anything. It's so much more complex than
access to weapons. But go on, man I'm with you and that old Jeremiah was a
Bull Frog Guy, toss all the guns and make love, baby, but don't think
that's gonna make this wast over here like that west over there.

The United States is a far more precarious place.




Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate the outpouring of empathy and concern.
I really do. But if truth be told, I feel a whole lot more secure here in
the French capital -- or in any "terror-alerted" European city -- than in
just about any U.S. town or city these days, where the chances of falling
prey to a rabid, gun-crazed lunatic while you're going about your daily
business seems significantly higher.


On Fri, Dec 4, 2015 at 1:50 PM, rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:

> doesnt get much better than Delillo's loose definition from Mao II:
> *the language of being noticed, the only language the West understands.*
>
> rich
>
> On Fri, Dec 4, 2015 at 1:46 PM, Danny Weltman <danny.weltman at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> If "traditional" actually means "original," the "traditional" meaning of
>> the term is the intimidation undertaken by the government during the Reign
>> of Terror in the French Revolution. If by "traditional" we just mean "what
>> it has meant up until recently," then the "traditional" meaning has changed
>> over time, as is the case with most politically charged words (and with a
>> good chunk of less politically charged words, too). A good summary can be
>> found in section 1 of this article:
>> http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/terrorism/
>>
>> On Fri, Dec 4, 2015 at 10:38 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I always thought the core 'traditional' meaning of the word was to
>>> kill/attack citizens when not at war.
>>>
>>> On Fri, Dec 4, 2015 at 1:35 PM, Paul Mackin <mackin.paul at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> > This is the traditional meaning of the word, I always thought.
>>> >
>>> > Non-terrorist gun killing may be the greater threat in one sense, but a
>>> > lesser one in another.  Fear can change people in bad ways, but THAT
>>> ship
>>> > has sailed.
>>> >
>>> > On Fri, Dec 4, 2015 at 12:44 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> So, by this logic, the motive of the killer determines whether the
>>> >> violence is an act of terrorism.  Only if the intent is to instill a
>>> sense
>>> >> of danger/terror in the surviving populace would the act be properly
>>> called
>>> >> terroeism.
>>> >>
>>> >> David Morris
>>> >>
>>> >> On Fri, Dec 4, 2015 at 11:23 AM, Paul Mackin <mackin.paul at gmail.com>
>>> >> wrote:
>>> >>>
>>> >>> "
>>> >>> As one friend pointed out, Paris is not actually any more dangerous
>>> than
>>> >>> before Nov. 13. What's changed, dramatically, is our perception of
>>> imminent
>>> >>> danger. And that makes all the psychological difference."
>>> >>>
>>> >>> And that's what makes it TERRORISM.
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/12/03/does-motive-matter-in-mass-shootings-like-the-one-in-san-bernadino/even-in-paris-guns-look-like-a-greater-threat-than-terrorism
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> -
>>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>>>
>>
>>
>
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