The Angry Exile: Common sense (a critically endangered species in some areas).

The Hangman

Into our town the Hangman came,
Smelling of gold and blood and flame.
And he paced our bricks with a diffident air,
And built his frame in the courthouse square.
The scaffold stood by the courthouse side,
Only as wide as the door was wide;
A frame as tall, or little more,
Than the capping sill of the courthouse door.
And we wondered, whenever we had the time,
Who the criminal, what the crime
That the Hangman judged with the yellow twist
of knotted hemp in his busy fist.
And innocent though we were, with dread,
We passed those eyes of buckshot lead --
Till one cried: "Hangman, who is he
For whom you raised the gallows-tree?"
Then a twinkle grew in the buckshot eye,
And he gave us a riddle instead of reply:
"He who serves me best," said he,
"Shall earn the rope of the gallows-tree."
And he stepped down, and laid his hand
On a man who came from another land.
And we breathed again, for another's grief
At the Hangman's hand was our relief
And the gallows-frame on the courthouse lawn
By tomorrow's sun would be struck and gone.
So we gave him way, and no one spoke,
Out of respect for his Hangman's cloak.
The next day's sun looked mildly down
On roof and street in our quiet town,
And stark and black in the morning air
Was the gallows-tree in the courthouse square.
And the Hangman stood at his usual stand
With the yellow hemp in his busy hand;
With his buckshot eye and his jaw like a pike
And his air so knowing and business-like.
And we cried, "Hangman, have you not done
Yesterday, with the foreign one?"
Then we fell silent, and stood amazed,
"Oh, not for him was the gallows raised."
He laughed a laugh as he looked at us:
"Did you think I'd gone to all this fuss
To hang one man? That's a thing I do
To stretch a rope when the rope is new."
Then one cried "Murder!" and one cried "Shame!"
And into our midst the Hangman came
To that man's place. "Do you hold," said he,
"with him that was meant for the gallows-tree?"
And he laid his hand on that one's arm.
And we shrank back in quick alarm!
And we gave him way, and no one spoke
Out of fear of his Hangman's cloak.
That night we saw with dread surprise
The Hangman's scaffold had grown in size.
Fed by the blood beneath the chute,
The gallows-tree had taken root;
Now as wide, or a little more,
Than the steps that led to the courthouse door,
As tall as the writing, or nearly as tall,
Halfway up on the courthouse wall.
The third he took -- we had all heard tell --
Was a usurer, and an infidel.
"What," said the Hangman "have you to do
With the gallows-bound, and he a Jew?"
And we cried out, "Is this one he
Who has served you well and faithfully?"
The Hangman smiled: "It's a clever scheme
to try the strength of the gallows-beam."
The fourth man's dark, accusing song
Had scratched our comfort hard and long;
"And what concern," he gave us back.
"Have you for the doomed -- the doomed and Black?"
The fifth. The sixth. And we cried again,
"Hangman, Hangman, is this the man?"
"It's a trick," he said. "that we hangmen know
For easing the trap when the trap springs slow."
And so we ceased, and asked no more,
As the Hangman tallied his bloody score.
And sun by sun, and night by night,
The gallows grew to monstrous height.
The wings of the scaffold opened wide
Till they covered the square from side to side;
And the monster cross-beam, looking down,
Cast its shadow across the town.
Then through the town the Hangman came,
Through the empty streets, and called my name --
And I looked at the gallows soaring tall,
And thought, "There is no one left at all
For hanging, and so he calls to me
To help pull down the gallows-tree."
So I went out with right good hope
To the Hangman's tree and the Hangman's rope.
He smiled at me as I came down
To the courthouse square through the silent town.
And supple and stretched in his busy hand
Was the yellow twist of the hempen strand.
And he whistled his tune as he tried the trap,
And it sprang down with a ready snap --
And then with a smile of awful command
He laid his hand upon my hand.
"You tricked me. Hangman!," I shouted then,
"That your scaffold was built for other men...
And I no henchman of yours," I cried,
"You lied to me, Hangman. Foully lied!"
Then a twinkle grew in the buckshot eye,
"Lied to you? Tricked you?" he said. "Not I.
For I answered straight and I told you true --
The scaffold was raised for none but you.
For who has served me more faithfully
Then you with your coward's hope?" said he,
"And where are the others who might have stood
Side by your side in the common good?"
"Dead," I whispered. And amiably
"Murdered," the Hangman corrected me:
"First the foreigner, then the Jew...
I did no more than you let me do."
Beneath the beam that blocked the sky
None had stood so alone as I.
The Hangman noosed me, and no voice there
Cried "Stop!" for me in the empty square.

Maurice Ogden

Wednesday, 1 September 2010

Common sense (a critically endangered species in some areas).

The mind boggles.

An American student whose heart stopped after he deliberately electrocuted himself in a science class is suing his teacher for not warning him it was dangerous.
Kyle Dubois, 18, is also taking legal action against the school district and the city of Dover in New Hampshire.
Dubois and his parents claim teacher Thomas Kelley did not tell him and other students of the dangers of the demonstration power cords in their electrical trades class.

Are they seriously saying that an 18 year old needs this spelled out to him?

Dubois attached an electrical clamp to one nipple...

Oh no, nononononono, don't do that.

... while another student attached another clamp to the other.

This is getting wronger by the minute.

A third student plugged in the cord.

Neither of whom, it seems, thought to suggest to Kyle that what they were doing was probably not a sensible idea, and neither of whom, we can safely bet, are being sued. Unlike the teacher who was apparently expected to say something like, 'Now then class, you'll notice these electrical clamps are spring loaded and quite grippy, so please be careful not to attach them to any part of your body, especially nipples and other erogenous zones, because they will leave a mark. And if you do do that you should certainly not get a friend to plug you in. It's not safe, see? Yes, Jennifer, I realise it's patently fucking obvious and people are generally aware of this before their age reaches double digits but we do have Kyle in the class.'

Okay, now it is reported that the teacher suggested he attach the clamps to his nipples, but for Christ's sake it doesn't take too much thinking about to realise that it's fucking dangerous. At school I had conversations with teachers that (because I was being an annoying little shit) ended with them saying something like 'Well, Exile, why don't you put your finger/hand/head/face/foot/arm/the boy next to you in it and find out?' And d'you know what? I never ever did.
'Er, no, sir. I think it's a bit dangerous.'
'No, sir, indeed. And you can write two sides on why it would be a bad idea, including equations, and bring it to me by next lesson.'
'Yes, sir.'

Dubois was critically injured and his legal team claim he has suffered permanent brain damage.

I'm amazed anyone thinks they could tell.

3 comments:

microdave said...: And that's a good reason for NOT using 115v A/C.
If the Yanks had 230 volts like the rest of us, this pillock would now be history, instead of a likely drain on the health service for the rest of his life.

And think of the savings in copper....; 1 September 2010 at 23:53
Anonymous said...: I thought I had read in my distant past that the American electrical system at 110-120 volts was less likely to be fatal and this was a determining factor in the choice of this voltage.

http://askville.amazon.com/difference-110-volt-220-Europe-Asia-Pro-Con/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=724312

It seems, as always, there were a number of factors determining voltage and frequency with subsequent ramifications.

However, I'm with you, and treat all electricity as dangerous and prefer not to find out what sort of tingle it can give me.

Some people are just too stupid for words.; 1 September 2010 at 23:57
microdave said...: I was being rather cynical - I'm in that sort of mood today...

"less likely to be fatal" - true, but as this pillock demonstrated it still depends on the path said voltage takes....

Many generators can be easily configured from 2 pole to 4 pole operation, and this is why the related voltages are in multiples of two. Centre tapped transformers also come into this.

I'm not entirely sure why 60 Hz was chosen instead of 50? It's directly related to shaft speed, and along with the 2 or 4 pole generators means engines driving them run at 1500/3000 rpm, or 1800/3600 rpm. Ever wondered why the (American) Briggs & Stratton engine on your mower is rated at 3600 rpm. Now you know!

Make the same engine/generator set work at 50Hz, and it produces less power...

"and prefer not to find out what sort of tingle it can give me." - I found that out when I was eight....; 2 September 2010 at 01:40

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Wednesday, 1 September 2010

Common sense (a critically endangered species in some areas).

3 comments:

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