The Art of Tetman Callis

Some of the stories and poems may be inappropriate for persons under 16

The Art of Tetman Callis header image 4

Entries from February 2018

Homeless and forlorn

February 28th, 2018 · No Comments

“Poverty is exile in one’s native land, While wealth will make a stranger feel at home.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

[Read more →]

Tags: Economics · Lit & Crit

Pick a recent example

February 27th, 2018 · No Comments

“What are the three things whose ugliness cannot be set aside? Stupidity, a mean nature, and lying.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

[Read more →]

Tags: Lit & Crit · Politics & Law

As for the others . . .

February 26th, 2018 · No Comments

“A king cannot be called a king unless he is bountiful and just, a good and generous ruler, who treats his subjects well, maintaining the laws and customs with which they are familiar. He should establish justice among them, avoiding bloodshed and protecting them from harm. He should be marked out by his constant attention […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Lit & Crit · Politics & Law

No alternative

February 25th, 2018 · No Comments

“While facts can be verified or refuted—and we should do so expeditiously and relentlessly—we must also recognize the possibility that more complex truths are often in the eyes of the beholder. This fact of human cognition doesn’t necessarily imply that relativism is correct or desirable; not all truths are equally valid. But because the particular […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Economics · Politics & Law

Go there

February 24th, 2018 · No Comments

Corpses float on the surface of the sea, While in the lowest depths are found the pearls. – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

[Read more →]

Tags: Lit & Crit

Get a move on

February 23rd, 2018 · No Comments

“Sorrow follows whoever thinks of himself as Time’s favorite.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

[Read more →]

Tags: Economics · Lit & Crit

Finders keepers

February 22nd, 2018 · No Comments

God has produced no finer sight than that Which shows two lovers on a single bed, Embracing one another in content, Pillowing each other with their wrists and arms. For when hearts are united in their love, It is cold iron on which their critics strike. You who blame the lovers for their love, Have […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Lit & Crit

Power potion

February 21st, 2018 · No Comments

“Wine has many uses. It helps you to digest food, dispels care, cures wind, purifies the blood, clears the complexion and restores the body. It emboldens cowards and encourages copulation.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

[Read more →]

Tags: Lit & Crit

Ghosts

February 20th, 2018 · No Comments

“If you look at the moon, you’ll dream of the animals, and they’ll tell you they’re sorry they died, and they miss you.” – Liam, Facebook, May 29, 2017

[Read more →]

Tags: Verandah

Hot off the presses

February 19th, 2018 · No Comments

“Implying that actual news is synonymous with truth is bound to be erroneous: In reality, journalism is the first, not final, draft of history—provisional, revisable, susceptible to mistakes and at times falsehoods, despite the efforts of even the most scrupulous reporters.” – Sam Tanenhaus, “Who Stopped McCarthy?”

[Read more →]

Tags: Politics & Law

Take me to the limit

February 18th, 2018 · No Comments

The Limits to Human Survival: The Four Threes 1. Three minutes without oxygen. 2. Three days without water. 3. Three weeks without food. 4. Three months without companionship. – from Christy Gutowski, “7 Days Lost”

[Read more →]

Tags: Verandah

A remarkable coinkydink

February 17th, 2018 · No Comments

“You know ‘journalist’ and ‘justice’ both begin with the same letter?” – Mister Caution, Alphaville

[Read more →]

Tags: Lit & Crit · Politics & Law

The default setting

February 16th, 2018 · No Comments

“When people do not understand something, they tend to take a negative view of it and assume the worst.” – Justice Michael B. Hyman, Wing v. Chicago Transit Authority, 2016 IL App (1st) 153517 (Dec. 29, 2016)

[Read more →]

Tags: Politics & Law · The American Constitution

Among other ways

February 15th, 2018 · No Comments

“A court abuses its discretion when it fails to exercise any discretion.” – Justice Mark Cady, State v. Hager (Iowa 2001)

[Read more →]

Tags: Politics & Law · The American Constitution

Priorities and interpretations

February 14th, 2018 · No Comments

“When the plain language of two statutes is conflicting, courts will attempt to construe them together if such a construction is reasonable. With that said, legislative intent remains paramount. To that end, the more specific statute controls over the general statute, and the more recently enacted statute prevails over the older statute.” – Justice Terrence […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Politics & Law · The American Constitution

Making every vote count

February 13th, 2018 · No Comments

“During a local election in Belgium in 2003, a single scrambled bit of information, almost certainly caused by an errant [subatomic solar wind or cosmic ray] particle, added 4,096 votes to one candidate’s tally. Since this gave an impossibly high total, the mistake was easily spotted. But had the particle hit a different part of […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Politics & Law

Not to be giving permission

February 12th, 2018 · No Comments

“Were it not for misdeeds there would be no forgiveness.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

[Read more →]

Tags: Lit & Crit

Good luck

February 11th, 2018 · No Comments

“Leave a place where there is injustice; Abandon the house to lament its builder. You can find another land in place of that one, But you will never find another life. Do not let the blows of fate concern you; Every misfortune will reach its end. Whoever is fated to die in a certain land […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Lit & Crit

Compare and contrast

February 10th, 2018 · No Comments

“Three things are better than three other things. The day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth, a live dog is better than a dead lion, and the grave is better than poverty.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

[Read more →]

Tags: Lit & Crit

The foundations of universal suffrage

February 9th, 2018 · No Comments

“Toil and hardship together with a lack of means teach a man bad manners and stupidity.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

[Read more →]

Tags: Economics · Lit & Crit · Politics & Law

Thank goodness for that

February 8th, 2018 · No Comments

“There is many a grave sin that only shame has kept me from committing.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

[Read more →]

Tags: Lit & Crit

Same as it ever was

February 7th, 2018 · No Comments

“A story is told that a powerful king of the Israelites was sitting one day on his royal throne when he saw a man coming in through the palace door with an appearance that was both unpleasing and awesome. The king shrank back in fear at this as the man approached, but then, jumping up […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Lit & Crit

In the old days

February 6th, 2018 · No Comments

“In the old days a certain king wanted to ride out one day with a number of his courtiers and officers of state in order to show off his splendid trappings to his people. He ordered his emirs and the great men of his state to prepare themselves to accompany him. He ordered the master […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Lit & Crit

Seized days

February 5th, 2018 · No Comments

“This is the age of the ugly and puffed-up, who are characterized by stupidity and cruelty, full of hatred and hostility.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

[Read more →]

Tags: Lit & Crit · Politics & Law

A limited time offer

February 4th, 2018 · No Comments

“Hasten to do whatever good deed occurs to you For generosity is not always possible. How many a man has held back from a generous action He could have done, and then has been restrained by poverty.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

[Read more →]

Tags: Economics · Lit & Crit

Cut him some slack

February 3rd, 2018 · No Comments

When a man is short of money, distressed and preoccupied, he cannot be blamed for what he says, as this does not come from his heart.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

[Read more →]

Tags: Economics · Lit & Crit

Keeping the citizens united

February 2nd, 2018 · No Comments

“If a rich man says something wrong, the people say: ‘You may be right, and what you say is not impossible,’ But if a poor man speaks the truth, they say: ‘You are a liar; what you say is wrong.’ Money invests a man with dignity and beauty in all lands. Money is the tongue […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Economics · Lit & Crit · Politics & Law

Let that be a lesson

February 1st, 2018 · No Comments

“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” – Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

[Read more →]

Tags: Lit & Crit