Archive for the ‘All’ Category
Oh! Those Poor, Poor Ligatures
Last week I was reading a novel — can't remember which one so its publisher will be spared the embarrassment — when I was distracted by ugly typesetting. The occasion was the author's use of the word "affiliated". There was a period, a brief dark ages of pseudo-typesetting. generally thought of vulgarly as "output", when […]
In: All, Books, Feeling Peevish
Faster or slower?
A few days ago I ordered prescription refills. They will be delivered to our house from some remote location. The medications on my list come in two types: 1) plain old pills, requiring no special handling; and 2) temperature-sensitive insulin, which is usually sent in special packaging containing cold packs via expedited delivery. I got […]
In: All, Curious Stuff, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Friday Soirée V: Elizabethan Excitement
Today it was rainy and gray around here and for some reason that's put me in an Elizabethan mood for tonight's program. However, it may not be the weather since I'm frequently in the mood for Elizabethan music: music from around 1600, particularly the English Virginalists, always delights me. How fortunate we are to have […]
In: All, Friday Soirée, Music & Art
Rep. Joe Wilson: Republican VP Hopeful?
So we have the curious case of Representative Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina, shouting at the President during the latter's remarks to a joint session of congress last night. In the midst of reporting on that in today's press (e.g., the New York Times), some mention was made of the President's speech. As I […]
In: All, Current Events, Splenetics, Will Rogers Moments
Like a Laser Beam
A few days ago I read a piece by one Ellen Sterling;* I don't know who she is but I know a bit more about her after reading what she wrote. Her subject was someone else unknown to me named Lior Suchard. Of Suchard she says At 27, Suchard is the heir apparent to Uri […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Beard of the Week LXXXV: An Early Conservationist
This week's historic beard belongs to Congressman John Fletcher Lacey (1841 – 1913).* Mr. Lacey came to my attention while I was writing a short article on the introduction of starlings to North America ("Starlings Arrive in North America"), of all things. Just how his name came up should become clear shortly. Here is my […]
In: All, Beard of the Week, Wanderings
Friday Soirée IV: Eureka!
With tonight's program we're out for some thrilling exoticism and discovery — in an intimate setting: harpsichord music by one of my favorite Baroque guys and stimulating conversation with a great scientist and thinker. Soler: Sonata in F-Sharp Major Padre Antonio Soler (1729–1783) was a Catalan composer who studied music from the time he was […]
In: All, Eureka!, Friday Soirée, It's Only Rocket Science, Music & Art
Achieving Health-Care Competition
The other day I happened to have lunch near one of my lunchtime friends, which also meant being in close proximity to her arch-conservative husband. Naturally, as arch-conservatives are wont to do, he immediately wanted to talk about constitutional rights and what's wrong with liberal government. It's almost as predictable as those "Would you like […]
In: All, Current Events, Eureka!
The Atoms in Watermelon
I did not plan to become the expert on such an arcane topic–although I can answer the question as it arises–but once I had written a blog posting called "Atoms Are Not Watermelons",* my web was spun, my net set, the trap was ready for the unsuspecting googler who should type such an interesting question […]
In: All, Food Stuff, It's Only Rocket Science
When Forgiveness Happens
It’s easy to understand Mr. Cheney’s aversion to the investigation that Attorney General Eric Holder ordered last week. On Fox, Mr. Cheney said it was hard to imagine it stopping with the interrogators. He’s right. The government owes Americans a full investigation into the orders to approve torture, abuse and illegal, secret detention, as well […]
In: All, Current Events, Reflections
Hate your Job Much?
[Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, speaking of a "public option" in health-care reform, said,] "every time the government gets involved in something it doesn't work." [Dave Zirin: Michael Steele: Meet Amanda Duzak, Huffington Post, 2 September 2009.] Which is worse, Politicians who want positions in government while protesting that government is an awful idea; […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Snake Oil--Cheap!
Moyers on Universal Health Care as Moral Imperative
Bill Moyers speaks my mind in a discussion with Bill Maher on health-care reform: "We're all in the same boat." That would be the metaphor that would change this [health-care "debate"], that's the moral message that America would send by adopting health care as a human need, which everybody should have access to. The moral […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Current Events, Personal Notebook
Learned Heredity?
I tried to believe in nothing. And I failed. It was simply too difficult for me to let go of a belief in God that is as innate to me as the English language. [Lauren Cahn, "Why I Failed As an Aethist", Huffington Post, 31 August 2009.] I find this last statement very odd. The […]
In: All, Such Language!, Will Rogers Moments
Penn & Teller on Marriage Equality
As I have mentioned, Isaac and I do not have our finger on the pulse of American popular culture, in large part because we don't have cable television because we never watch television anyway. Thus, I didn't know that Penn & Teller have a series on Showtime called "Bullshit!". They do and I know it […]
In: All, Current Events, Laughing Matters
Healthcare: Society and Economy
"Over the last 12 years the number of people visiting America's emergency rooms has soared. Yet here's what's surprising: The number of low-income people going to ERs has not increased. The increase has come almost entirely among middle-class people and many of them have insurance." — Maggie Mahar "We live in a society not just […]
In: All, Current Events, Personal Notebook
Morris on Schopenhauer on Winning Arguments
Errol Morris, the film maker who made one of my all-time, top-ten favorite films ("The Thin Blue Line"), writes a blog ("Zoom") for the New York Times. Recently he wrote a multi-part essay on lying ("Seven Lies about Lying"). In a post-essay essay ("More Lying") he discusses some ideas about truth and lies with his […]
In: All, Plus Ca Change..., The Art of Conversation
Friday Soirée III: Dangerous Ideas
I'm not certain that "dangerous ideas" is exactly right, but I'm not certain that it's not, either. Tonight's program is a bit longer so let's get right to it. One of the "dangerous ideas" is due to Darwin, to use the phrase that Daniel Dennett used in his excellent book Darwin's Dangerous Idea, a book […]
In: All, Friday Soirée, Music & Art, The Art of Conversation
Friday Soirée: Mensuration Canons
Oh dear. What started as something simple again becomes complicated and a bit circular* without my intending it, but that may be suitable because the subject is the musical canon, specifically the "mensuration canon". Let's keep it simple. Perhaps you recall that a "canon" is a musical device in which one musical line, or "voice" […]
In: All, Friday Soirée, Music & Art
Beard of the Week LXXXIV: Astrology Revealed
This week's beard belongs to the youthful Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), who established the intellectual starting point for this short discussion. In Galileo's day [c. 1610], the study of astronomy was used to maintain and reform the calendar. Sufficiently advanced students of astronomy made horoscopes; the alignment of the stars was believed to influence everything from […]
In: All, Beard of the Week, It's Only Rocket Science
Cautious Play is Bad Strategy
Today's headlines on stories that interest me brings a curious convergence between 1) health-care reform and 2) marriage equality. Advocates of both have for far too long played a strategy of holding back and not moving as quickly, boldly, and energetically as they can until they feel that "the votes are there". Alas, the votes […]
In: All, Current Events, Reflections