I sent a short email to Mr. Auster earlier today regarding the 'Obamacare' initiative, the full text of which I include below:Ray G. wrote:
What if people didn't cooperate with it's (sic) mandates?
People like me won't cooperate with its mandates. And damn the consequences. I'm not particularly inclined to radicalism, but this has just gone too far already. Oklahoma is my country now.
Again I say to all of you, watch Oklahoma. We won't stand for this sh...crap. I may be an early casualty, but my state will eventually (and in short order) come along, hide and watch. It is just that simple. Secession draws ever nigh. And if my state isn't the first to do so, I'll be thoroughly disappointed ... from my prison cell.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Important announcement -- you feds take note
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
Yeah...I'm sure that they'll tell all the political prisoners that the revolution is starting. That's always the first thing on a tyrannical government's mind.
By the way, 'sic' usually goes in brackets when used in the middle of a quotation, not parentheses as happens following the quotation. There are plenty of rules of spelling and grammar that don't matter much one way or the other, but I don't really see the point of using 'sic' if one is going to deviate from standard punctuation.
Given the probable provenance of the usage in your post, I doubt there is much use telling you this, but I couldn't help but mention it. I almost did, but in the end my inner grammanazi just had to express itself.
I put 'sic' in parenthesis rather than in brackets? Well ain't that a peach! But thanks for pointing out the error.
Anyway, surely the internment/re-education camps will have H.D. satellite tv. I mean, even real criminals have access to CNN.
Wait, I may be misreading this. If the quote was from you originally, wouldn't that mean that someone else put the 'sic' in there? Or did you go and 'sic' your own usage when quoting yourself? Because that would be...kinda sick.
Though it does raise an interesting point...when quoting yourself, does the usual rule for using brackets to set-off commentary from the quoted material still apply?
I'm thinking there is a reason that no fixed convention exists for dealing with that particular situation.
Anyway, your 'confidence' in the government and the media is amusing and leads me to nominate your imprisonment a cause celebre. I will add it to my list of grievances in my own activities. Although strict attention to honesty impels me to admit that those actions are not motivated by my own grievances.
I am confused too, old chap. If you sent the message, why is it headed "Ray G. wrote"? Is Ray G. your alter ego? But I don't think you would be so sic as to write "it's" for a possessive.
Anyway, Sooners have what it takes to go eyeball to eyeball with the Washington Politburo and see the other blink. You've got oil (right on the state capitol lawn, if I recall), natural gas, wheatfields … and I bet if it came down to it, the Air Force at Tinker would defect to the Okie side.
Go, Sooners!
You're both right -- I added the 'sic', in parenthesis. I didn't realize I'd put it in parenthesis until I read Chiu's mention of the error. On the other hand, I wasn't aware that there is a distinction between adding 'sic' mid sentence and adding it at the end of a sentence. So I'm glad Chiu caught the error and decided to mention it. I don't recall being taught that in school, but that's very likely because I wasn't paying attention at least half of the time, not necessarily because my teachers neglected it.
I'm pretty sure I've written "it's" as a possessive before, only to change it once I realized my error. In this case the error was pointed out in a comment to the entry. Therefore I leave the error in place.
Rick, you're right -- Oklahoma can be as self-sufficient as any state in this 'union,' and more so than most I should think. You're also right about Tinker I imagine. And don't forget about Altus. We also have THE primary ammunition manufacturing plant in the country.
The brackets rule applies to all comments added into a quote, though "sic" is the most common comment added directly to a quote. You can also do the whole close quote and begin new quote shtick, but that's kinda a hassle, particularly if there isn't a natural punctuation break where you're wanting to put your comment.
Still, for you to sic your own tic, I never do that, and I have a lot of tics.
I'm also a self-proclaimed grammar-atheist, though. Meaning that I don't believe the rules of grammar have any eternal significance whatsoever. Syntax matters, grammar doesn't.
"inner grammanazi"? Good heavens! I'll be too nervous to comment if I'm to be monitored by Chiu's inner grammanazi. lol
I'll keep you in my prayers, Mr. Morris, as I assume you will do for me.
Post a Comment