For those interested

For reference, here's the first line lyric meme items that no-one got:

• 2  Complacent, you're growing complacent (Assemblage 23, Complacent)
• 7.  Now chased by the shapes of your vows (The Church, Shadow Cabinet)
• 8.  Walking slowly helps your day (Saga, Give'em the Money)
• 10.  I spend half of each day just eyeing the clock (Saga, Time's Up)
• 15.  You know it's true we're both the same. (Voltaire, Parade)

The Chinese tomb curse

The stories about Tutankhamen's curse are fairly well known in archaeological circles, but what's less well known is that there's a well-documented case of cursed toimbs from China, as well.  The story comes from out near Guangzhou, where there are a large collection of tombs supposedly containing generations of nobility of the region.  When the tombs were first explored, though, during the 1920s, the expedition did not go well.

It started with the opening of the first tomb, when one of the assistants slipped into the first small opening with a flashlight to get a preview of the tomb and look at the condition of the interior.  After a few minutes, blood-curdling growls and terrified screams were heard, followed by scrabbling hands and feet.  Peering into the opening, the other diggers were able to see an outstretched hand barely within reach, and hauled their comrade out, to find him unconscious and bleeding profusely from a number of deep wounds.  Despite their best efforts, he bled to death before his wounds could be bandaged.

Speculating that there was already another entrance somewhere to this tomb and that some ferocious wild beast had taken up residence within, they moved on to another tomb, this time clearing the full entrance before anyone went in.  A group of three men went in, one staying slightly ahead, all three with flashlights and revolvers.  As a consquence, the rearmost two men were able to clearly see the shadowy, insubstantial form that rushed upon the leader from out of the darkness of the tomb, falling upon the lead man and rending him with terrible claw-like fingers.  They tried to shoot it, but the bullets passed through it harmlessly, and as it looked up from their compatriot's body to snarl hatred at them, they turned tail and fled in terror.

After this experience, the entire expedition withdrew to the nearest village to decide what to do.  There, when they told the locals what had happened, it was explained to them by the village priest that the tombs were haunted by the angry spirits of the dead buried within, and that while it was safe to study the outsides, everyone knew that to try to venture within was certain death.  However, he continued, legend said there was a way to defeat the curse:  Should anyone manage to successfully enter any one of the tombs and emerge alive, the spirits of the other tombs would fear him, and from then on would not venture to attack anyone traveling with him.  Thus, they could study the tombs in safety.  The priest had no idea, however, how such a feat might be accomplished.

Upon hearing this, the most senior and experienced archaeologist of the group sat deep in thought, then went back to the tombs to study them from the outside.  He examined the inscriptions on the outside of every tomb, and finally selected one tomb.

"Open this one," he said.  So they did, and once it was open, he boldly walked in, carrying nothing but a flashlight and his notebook.  Those watching at the entrance -- including the priest from the village -- saw the glow of his flashlight slowly disappear as he went deeper into the tomb, then they saw and heard nothing; until, a good hour later, they saw the glow brighten as he approached again, having filled a good score of pages with notes and diagrams.

"We should be able to open all the others now," he said, "it's safe."

"Miraculous!" said the priest.  "How did you do it?  Why didn't the angry tomb spirit attack you?"

"Oh, that was easy," the archaeologist replied.  "Once I knew the legend, it was just a matter of choosing the right tomb to open first.  There was no spirit in this one."  He pointed to the inscriptions at the tomb's entrance.

"There are twin brothers buried in this tomb -- look, here's their names, Wong Hsien and Wong Zhuong.  And everyone knows two Wongs don't make a wight."

A question of control

If real gun control is hitting what you aim at, is real birth¹ control tying up at the right slip on the FIRST try?

[1]  OK, OK, so technically it's berth control ......

Fixing a broken system

For those who haven't seen it yet, this essay on reforming the US political system makes a hell of a lot of sense.

Some of the author's key points:

• Absolute term limits for ALL high elected offices -- eight years in the House, the Senate, and/or the Oval Office, combined, and term limits for political appointees as well.  It's public service; it shouldn't be a lifetime career.
• No more lesser of two evils -- put a binding "None of the above" on ALL ballot choices, including for the Presidency.  If "None of the above" gets more votes than any candidate, nobody is elected for that office, and there has to be a new election for it with all new candidates.
• Shorter election seasons -- You get 60 days to get your message across, instead of spending two years of your first term working on getting elected for the second.
• Shorter congressional sessions -- Congress should sit for only 60 days at a time, then go home, "because nobody's life, liberty or property is safe when Congress is in session."
• Representative Congressional pay -- the pay you get as Congressman, Senator or President is the median income for the constituency you represent.  You say you represent average Americans?  Learn to live like one.