Octopodial Chrome

In 1894 James Parker published his Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry. In certain respects it is incomplete, but it remains still a valuable resource for the student of that noble science.

No-one who has followed recent American politics can be ignorant of the recent calls for blue-state (i.e. Democrat) secession. The New York Times has an article concerning Yankee secession. The best quote comes from a Southerner, in regards to the rather remotely possible War of Southern Aggression: We could go up there and get back some of the stolen silverware they looted from our ancestors 140 years ago.

Although I believe that secession is a fundamental right of a state, it would be nice to give the God-bedamnéd Yankees a taste of their own medicine.

Three hundred thousand Yankees,
Lie stiff in Southern dust,
We got three hundred thousand,
Before they conquered us,
They died of Southern fever,
And Southern steel and shot,
And I wish it was three million,
Instead of what we got.

It’d be quite satisfying to conquer them for a change.

Given the choice between having his wedding ring or his finger cut off, a US Marine chose to lose the finger in order to honour his wife. Unfortunately, the ring was lost nonetheless in the chaos of it all. I hate to say this, but the guy was unwise. Any physical thing is recoverable or replaceable: had the ring been cut off, he could have saved the fragments and had them remade into a new ring; even had the pieces been lost, he could have simply gotten a new ring. But now he’s lost his finger and his ring together—he can still replace the wedding band, but his finger will never return.

Still, one must respect a man who pays homage to his wife and his marriage in such a manner. A man who will give his finger for his wedding ring is surely a man who would give his life for his wife. he may have been unwise, but perhaps sometimes it’s best to be unwise.