Today in History: March 18

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Laurence Sterne (seen above) died on this date in 1768. At the time of his death, he was one of the most famous writers in England, having written two comic novels, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy. His reputation flagged a bit after his death—Samuel Johnson complained about Shandy’s many storytelling tricks that, “Nothing odd will do long. Tristram Shandy did not last”—but by the 20th Century Sterne was once again a beloved novelist whose works were thought to be worth study.

His body was stolen soon after the funeral and sold to a medical school for dissection, which was a fairly common occurrence at the time, but in a Sternian bit of comedy, someone recognized the body on the anatomy class slab and did what he could to have the author of Tristram Shandy re-buried. In another Sternian bit of comedy, all the confusion this engendered meant that he was buried in an unmarked grave and each person who ought to have known where he had been buried pointed to different spots.
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Off the Shelf

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

My girlfriend says it is like watching a kid in a candy store when we visit a book store. I suddenly appear to have multiple arms, like a Hindu deity, and my stride becomes a purposeful lurch.

Any purpose to my stride can be attributed to my knowing that she is not much of a fan of shopping at all, and less of a fan of browsing, of idling, in a store whose shelves are taller than six feet and could crush us.
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Personal Statement: Do not cry wolf! #OpNimr

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Here is an update to my column from earlier this week: https://thegadabouttown.com/2016/03/13/savethe3-the-world-is-watching/

My source Raymond Johansen writes:
“UPDATE: I was proven right. All three contacted their families [as we reported] and one of the mothers even got to visit her son on Sunday. I have however, received information, that four men was indeed executed on Sunday. The source is highly placed in the US State Department and cannot be named. My theory, repeat theory, is that they are not publishing this yet – simply waiting for a more opportune time to go public. The other theory is that nobody, but the murderer executed Sunday morning, was killed.

“UPDATE 2, March 17: Last night Saudi Press Agency confirmed the 73rd execution in 2016. Omar al-Rabie was killed yesterday. My thinking is that we can expect two more executions of ‘criminals’ in the near future.”

‪#‎OpNimr‬ ‪#‎SaudiArabia‬ ‪#‎Executions

Raymond Johansen's avatarhacktivist culture

Sunday March 13th: Personal statement regarding the recent article in the Saudi state newspaper Okaz on Friday March 11 about four men condemned to death


From Dubai I hear the following: Death sentences against four Saudi men convicted of terrorism have been confirmed by 13 judges, a Saudi newspaper reported, raising the possibility of a new round of executions two months after 47 people including a prominent Shi’ite cleric were put to death.

To me this clearly says that on Thursday or Friday a court upheld and earlier verdict. The three juveniles, including Ali al-Nimr, had their verdict upheld last year by the SCC (Specialized Criminal Court). There is no reason why the 5 judges in the Supreme Court would again hear their cases. (As far as I know.)

Therefore logic dictates that these four executions have absolutely nothing to do with the Quatif juveniles. There is simply no way…

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