One does not simply slither into Mordor

[only_human]

D.H. Lawrence has a poem about confronting a snake on a hot day in July and I'm dedicating this month's thread to anything snake related.

The last entries submitted are declared the winners; this minimizes selections by the original poster and avoids bumping the thread with a necro-update. The winning results are:

Snake Award Thread Title:
My hovercraft is full of eels
(this is actually a Monty Python reference)

Snake Award Title:
"reptilian"

Snake Award Recipients:
Mega-lobbying Firms

Prime Snake Wangler:
LaurV
(This was an implicit entry and the only entry involving an actual snake wrangling story.)

Thread titles so far:

• Soap Box Snake Month Awards
• Slippery Slope Sidewinder Snake Successfully Scales Scorching Sandscape
• Why'd it have to be Snakes?
• Do Snakes go to Heaven?
• It's okay for snakes to not eat for long periods of time
• Snakes are people, my friend
• Perfect Snake
• My hovercraft is full of eels in many languages
• ...

Anyone can win!
Make your suggestions for a thread title, an award title and an award recipient. I may or may not choose arbitrarily but anybody's self-nominations are acceptable and I'm open to other suggestions for deciding winners. Please feel free to campaign for entries or match-ups early and often.

Snake Award Titles:

• Snake Oil Salesman
• Slippery as a Snake
• The Stainless Steel Rat
• Slick Willie
• "reptilian"
• ...

Snake Award Recipients:

• Donald Trump
• James Bolivar DiGriz, alias "Slippery Jim"
• Slick Willie
• Mega-lobbying Firms
• ...

Almost anything goes and I don't think my cats are aggressive snake wranglers. Any post that contains the word "snake" will automatically be considered on-topic.

LaurV has been so far ahead of the pack on Snake Wrangling that the following additional award has been named in honor of his adventure. The reptile rendezvous told in his words: http://mersenneforum.org/showpost.ph...postcount=1246

Prime Snake Wanglers:

• Harold Peters Inskipp
• ...

If you live in Canada, you may legally read D.H. Lawrence's poem Snake here. This says it's ok. But this makes me unsure: Copyright comes a cropper in the digital age

The DH Lawrence estate, for example, commissioned a brand new, scholarly edition of Lawrence's work, effectively to re-copyright its texts.

The poem I mentioned by D.H. Lawrence has similarities to LaurV's wrangling adventure as this poem evaluation shows:
http://www2.latech.edu/~bmagee/201/lawrence/snake.htm

Through this poem, Lawrence has illustrated his point about strife and the clash of opposites. The snake slithering away, "convulsed in undignified haste," and Lawrence standing in pajamas, rather ridiculous, with his empty water jug in hand--they both "have their being" and are made very real for us. The snake is first on the scene and the first to leave--regal and lordly throughout. Lawrence wonders why "petty" mankind always tries to rob the dignity from all Godly creatures.

Of course our forum member was more successful.

[jasonp]

There are copyrights on collections, where the act of copying the entire collection is protected, but that does not change the public domain status of the underlying works.

[only_human]

Originally Posted by jasonp

There are copyrights on collections, where the act of copying the entire collection is protected, but that does not change the public domain status of the underlying works.

Well it is a good thing that the individual work is already in the public domain in Canada then. Had it not already entered the public domain there, it would soon have been affected by TPP copyright extensions. It currently is copyright until 2019 in the USA.
Negotiators Burn Their Last Opportunity to Salvage the TPP by Caving on Copyright Term Extension

New reports indicate that Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiators have agreed to language that would bind its 12 signatory nations to extend copyright terms to match the United States' already excessive length of copyright. This provision expands the reach of the controversial US Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (or the “Mickey Mouse Act” as it was called due to Disney’s heavy lobbying) to countries of the Pacific region. Nations including Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Canada would all be required to extend their terms and grant Big Content companies lengthy exclusive rights to works for no empirical reason. This means that all of the TPP's extreme enforcement provisions would apply to creative works for upwards of 100 years.

Negotiators have been made well aware [PDF] that there is no economic rationale that can justify this extension. The fact that they have chosen to ignore what is a clear consensus among economists points to the fact that this agreement has not been driven by reason, but by the utter corruption of the process by lobbyists for multinational entertainment conglomerates, who have twisted what is notionally a trade negotiation into a special interest money-grab.

This article is from February. I have no idea what those snakes have been up to recently.

[only_human]

Trump's recent derogatory remarks are asinine (late 15th century word from Latin asininus, from asinus ‘ass.’) and nothing precludes him from being designated as a snake.
Mexico's Coat of Arms:

The current coat of arms of Mexico has been an important symbol of Mexican politics and culture for centuries. The coat of arms depicts a Mexican golden eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus devouring a snake. To the people of Tenochtitlan this would have strong religious connotations, but to the Europeans, it would come to symbolize the triumph of good over evil.

The Seal of the United Mexican States is the seal used by the government of Mexico in any official documents issued by the federal, state or municipal authorities. It is a modified version of the national coat of arms, with the addition of the full official name of the country Estados Unidos Mexicanos, in a semi-circular accommodation in the upper part of the seal. Current and past Mexican peso coinage have had the seal engraved on the obverse of all denominations.

UPDATE: All 32 bars where you can drink the beer 5 Rabbit pulled from Trump Hotel

5 Rabbit founder Andres Araya said the brewery made an easy drinking golden ale for Rebar that was to be available exclusively at the Trump building throughout summer. It has been on tap for at least a month, he said.

However, 5 Rabbit will redirect the approximately 50 remaining kegs to various Chicago bars. Araya said the beers will not be formally named, though "(Expletive) tu Madre" is acceptable, as is "(Expletive) tu Pelo," which translates to "(Expletive) Your Hair." A Trump reference? Seems a safe bet.

Will Trump blink? Are his remarks dog whistle politics? Is he busking for bigots?
Time will tell but there is a snake in the grass.

My vote for today:

Snake Oil Salesman
Donald Trump

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by only_human

Almost anything goes and I don't think my cats are aggressive snake wranglers.

Perhaps because 'snake wrangler' strikes them as having onanistic connotations? Don't think cats are into the 'Onan the Masturbarian' thing - the claws, you see. (But I expect being able to lick oneself all over may compensate).

Originally Posted by only_human

Will Trump blink? Are his remarks dog whistle politics? Is he busking for bigots?
Time will tell but there is a snake in the grass.

How about an ironically-meant 'Don't tread on me' award?

[only_human]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

Perhaps because 'snake wrangler' strikes them as having onanistic connotations? Don't think cats are into the 'Onan the Masturbarian' thing - the claws, you see. (But I expect being able to lick oneself all over may compensate).

I was thinking more on the lines of this exchange:

Actually there is a reason I've been practicing saying more than one thing at once. In one of my Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher, his character internally monologues a rant about the five layers of conversation that he'd read somewhere that women simultaneously invoke when communicating. He says to himself something like "Just tell me what to kill, dammit!!..." Anywho, I decided why should the chicks get all the fun? So I've been practicing... see...; recently I saw an interesting picture drawn by a blind person so I'm encouraged to stretch my reach."

To show that your humorous is not amis, I will relate a joke told to me by a Philippine girlfriend over two decades ago. Some background: This joke involves a house elevated on stilts, perhaps this:

The Bahay Kubo, Balay, or Nipa Hut, is a type of stilt house indigenous to most of the lowland cultures of the Philippines.[1][2][3] It often serves as an icon of broader Filipino culture, or, more specifically, Filipino rural culture.[4]

Anyway the joke has some set-up involving how the daughter sneaks some intimate time with her boyfriend while she is sitting on a strategic knot-hole of the wooden floor, while the boy has snuck under the house...
One day during their usual rendezvous, the mother who is ironing clothes says "bring me some more water for the ironing." The daughter says "in a minute." Then the mother says "and grab me the other basket of clothes to iron." Again the daughter says "in a minute." The mother turns around furiously, hot iron in hand and says "Get Them NOW!" The daughter leaps up whereupon the mother screams "Snake!" and slams the hot iron on the the revealed spot on the floor.

How about an ironically-meant 'Don't tread on me' award?

Good call on those flags; I was thinking about them too.

[ewmayer]

@above:

"Hey, watch where you're pointing that hot flatiron - you could put an eye (but just the one) out with that!"

-------------------

Snake skin inspired surfaces smash records, providing 40 percent friction reduction | PhysOrg

Ergo, a "slippery as a snake" award. Weasel-wording politicians would dominate the category, no doubt.

[only_human]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

Snake skin inspired surfaces smash records, providing 40 percent friction reduction | PhysOrg

Ergo, a "slippery as a snake" award. Weasel-wording politicians would dominate the category, no doubt.

I notice that unctuous oil causes additional friction on snake skin textured surfaces.

Your award entry has been added to the list in the first post.

Today I'm adding:

James Bolivar DiGriz, alias "Slippery Jim" and "The Stainless Steel Rat", is a fictional character and the protagonist of a series of comic science fiction novels written by Harry Harrison.

For a wrangler, I'm adding from the same canon:

Harold Peters Inskipp is the director of the Special Corps and one of the most powerful men in the Galaxy. He recruits the Rat, but is frequently infuriated by his insubordinate attitude and tendency to "go rogue" and commit independent crimes for sheer enjoyment. Ironically, the Special Corps is composed almost entirely of former criminals—Inskipp himself was a legendary fugitive known as "Inskipp the Uncatchable" before being recruited and eventually becoming the Corps' commander.

[only_human]

Today's snake inspired post shamelessly uses the snake rule to be considered on-topic. It does not offer suggested title entries because the deck is overstacked by this contributor.

Court orders Florida’s congressional districts redrawn

In a precedent-setting ruling Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court overturned the state’s congressional districts drawn by the GOP-led Legislature and ordered a new map with eight districts redrawn in time for the 2016 election.

In the 5-2 ruling, with Justices Charles Canady and Ricky Polston dissenting, the court provided unprecedented and specific direction to the Legislature, such as redrawing the snake-shaped district of Congressional District 5, now held by Congresswoman Corrine Brown, in an east-west direction.

The ruling is likely to shake up Florida’s political landscape as incumbents face the prospect of a new set of boundary lines close to the 2016 election.

GOP political consultant Frank Terraferma and other political operatives testified how proposed maps with shadowy names such as “Sputnik,” “Schmedloff” and “"Frankenstein” were created and then secretly shared during the months legislative staff were also drawing maps.

For the first time in state history, sitting legislators were called to testify and they admitted to routinely deleting redistricting records. A legislative staffer admitted to giving a flash drive of maps to a GOP political operative two weeks before they became public.

Testimony showed that the Legislature’s professional staff drew the maps and, their lawyers argued, “were not part of the conspiracy.” They noted that plaintiffs could not point to anyone who admitted using the fraudulent map to create the final congressional plan.

The plaintiffs, however, urged the court to conclude that the process constituted an “intentional violation by the Legislature” because GOP leaders “disproportionately relied on maps secretly drawn by the same operatives to whom it provided special access, and destroyed any evidence revealing what it had done.”

In other news a water snake receives, ahem, honorable mention:

Tom Selleck stealing water for Calif. avocado ranch?
Fox News‎ - 9 hours ago
A water district has sued Tom Selleck, claiming the star of the crime shows "Magnum, P.I." and "Blue Bloods" stole truckloads of water from a ...

Tom Selleck Investigated for Stealing Water for His Estate Amid ... Gizmodo

Tom Selleck's sex appeal isn't having a drought - New York Post

Actor Tom Selleck Accused of Taking Water From Thousand Oaks ... - KTLA

[only_human]

Today's snake is Hancock for graffiti

[ewmayer]

The Augean Stables – How Corruption Has Amended the Constitution | naked capitalism

Important. The sheer size of the mega-lobbying firms described here boggles the mind.

No explicit mention of snakes, but Helmer does use the word "reptilian", which gets us close.