Sunday, May 24, 2015

depredation \dep-ruh-DAY-shun\, noun:

1. An act of plundering or despoiling; a raid.
2. [Plural] Destructive operations; ravages

Depredation comes from Late Latin depraedari, "to plunder," from Latin de- + praedari, from praeda, "plunder, prey."

 

Manufactured Outrage 

• A falsified righteous outrage at things that are basically unimportant and meaningless, frequently employed by politicians, political activists, or the media. Politicians and talking heads use it to garner support for their causes, to claim the moral high ground and to tar their opponents; the media often just uses it in a cynical bid to increase ratings.
• Manufactured outrages of note include Nipplegate, the Monica Lewinski scandal, the 2009 tea partys, backmasked satanic lyrics, lapel pin, hoodies, race controversies...

Just about any time you hear any politician, activist, or radio show host getting outraged about anything, really. The louder and angrier they get, the harder they're working at manufacturing it.

History

• "What hath God wrought?": inventor Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the first telegraph message; it went from Washington, DC, to Baltimore and it quoted Numbers 23:23 (1844)
• Brooklyn Bridge: engineering marvel linking Brooklyn and Manhattan opened to traffic (1883)
• Crosley Field: hosted MLB's first nighttime game played under lights; Cincinnati's Reds beat Philadelphia's Phillies, 2-1 (1935)
• Concorde: supersonic passenger aircraft began flying to Washington, DC (1976)
• James Jeffords: Republican senator became an Independent, giving control of the US Senate to the Democrats (2001)

Birthdays

• Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit 1686 - Physicist, engineer, he determined the temperature scale named after him
• Emanuel Leutze 1816
• Queen Victoria (Britain) 1819
• Samuel I. Newhouse 1895
• Tommy Chong 1938 - Comedian (Cheech and Chong)
• Prince Buster 1938
• Lilli Palmer 1914
• Bob Dylan (Robert Zimmerman) 1941 - Traveling Wilburys
• Derek Quinn 1942 - Musician (Freddie and the Dreamers)
• Gary Burghoff 1943 - Actor ("M*A*S*H")
• Patti LaBelle (Patricia Louise Holte) 1944 - Singer
• Priscilla Presley 1945 - Wife of Elvis Presley
• Steve Upton 1946
• Judy Kahan 1948
• Jim Broadbent 1950 - Actor
• Alfred Molina 1953 - Actor
• Rosanne Cash 1955 - Singer
• Larry Blackmon (Cameo) 1956
• Kristin Scott Thomas 1960 - Actor ("Under the Cherry Moon")
• Joe Dumars 1963
• Gene Anthony Ray 1963
• Vivian Trimble 1963 - Singer (Luscious Jackson)
• John C. Reilly 1965 - Actor
• Heavy D 1967
• Erin Close 1967 - Actor ("Without a Trace")
• Tommy Page 1967
• Rich Robinson 1969 - Musician (The Black Crowes)
• Brad Penny 1978 - Baseball player
• Billy L. Sullivan 1980