Monday, April 30, 2012

A Palpable Absence . . .



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WORD FOR TODAY

palpable [pal-puh-buhl]
adjective
1.
readily or plainly seen, heard, perceived, etc.; obvious; evident: a palpable lie; palpable absurdity.
2.
capable of being touched or felt; tangible.
3.
Medicine/Medical . perceptible by palpation.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Born April 30,1933

ALSO



Born April 30, 1908
Died Nov. 12, 1990


Eve Arden played the part of English teacher Connie Brooks in Our Miss Brooks on radio from 1948 to 1957, and in a television version of the program from 1952 to 1956. I remember both... I remember them well.



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The difference between death and taxes is that death does not get worse every time Congress meets.
--George Will

Sunday, April 29, 2012

If Something Seems To Be Missing . . .


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The text of today's blog entry was deleted because it was so esoteric that even I could neither decipher its meaning nor assign any value to it. I'm off now to watch the Sunday morning TV news shows.

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WORD FOR TODAY

intransigent
Adjective
Unwilling or refusing to change one's views or to agree about something.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Born April 29, 1954

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Pedantry is the dotage of knowledge
 --Holbrook Jackson

Saturday, April 28, 2012

What Am I?


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Yesterday afternoon I allowed myself an hour off from my usual routine to view an hour-long YouTube video wherein Professor Richard Dawkins reveals how he came to write his explosive first book The Selfish Gene, a work that was to divide the scientific community and make him the most influential evolutionary biologist of his generation. He also explores how this set him on the path to becoming an outspoken spokesman for atheism.

I found this BBC presentation to be both entertaining and informative, a combination of personal pleasures not often granted me. I enjoyed it immensely.

The Selfish Gene

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WORD FOR TODAY

spiritual
adj.
1. Of, relating to, consisting of, or having the nature of spirit; not tangible or material.
2. Of, concerned with, or affecting the soul.
3. Of, from, or relating to God; deific.
4. Of or belonging to a church or religion; sacred.
5. Relating to or having the nature of spirits or a spirit; supernatural.


The word 'spiritual' denotes a concept I am unable to comprehend. Whenever I read its definition or hear it described the idea will not take concrete form within the sphere of my understanding. I cannot separate some imaginary mental-only me from the solid mas of the physical me. All is one.

At Wikipedia I am told:

Most Christians understand the soul as an ontological reality distinct from, yet integrally connected with, the body. Its characteristics are described in moral, spiritual, and philosophical terms. According to a common Christian eschatology, when people die, their souls will be judged by God and determined to spend an eternity in Heaven or in Hell.

Nonsense.

To me, my spirit, my soul, are merely synonyms for my self.

Simple as that.

Wikipedia also tells me: When modern scientists speak of the soul outside of this cultural and psychological context, they generally treat soul as a poetic synonym for mind.

Well, hurrah for the scientist.

"What then is human life?" I ask.

And I answer:

"Life is an accumulation of chemical elements and compounds that combine and react together in a natural manner for a specific duration and then disperse."

Simple as that.

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At what exact moment does death occur? When the heart stops beating? When brain waves go flat? When breathing stops?

An intriguing article in Salon addresses the question.



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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Born April 28, 1926

Author of To Kill A Mockingbird


ALSO 




Born April 28, 1948

Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre.

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There is nothing so ridiculous but some philosopher has said it.
--Cicero

Friday, April 27, 2012

That Was Then, This Is Now



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WORD FOR TODAY

demagogue
a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular passions and prejudices

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Samuel Finley Breese Morse

Born April 27, 1791
Died April 2, 1872

American contributor to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs, co-inventor of the Morse code.


Original Samuel Morse telegraph


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“I've known countless people who were reservoirs of learning, yet never had a thought.”

--Wilson Mizner

Thursday, April 26, 2012

What's In A Word?

     

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Early this morning I discovered a promising new blog. Well, the blog is not new, just new to me, but it certainly does appear to be promising. Promising as in interesting.

Sarah "Mowgli" Moglia says she is a Professional atheist, Feminist, liberal, and part dinosaur. What she actually is, is a producer of well-written thoughts that she shares freely. Anything else I might say about her could be misconstrued, so I won't say anything else, except that if you take a look at what she has to say you will probably not be disappointed.

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In a recent NASA announcement was this statement: "During the weeks following the arrival, Enterprise will be demated from the 747 and placed on a barge that will be moved by tugboat up the Hudson River to Intrepid in June."

Demated? Is demated grammatically appropriate usage in the above phrase? I was not sure so I tried to look it up via Google, but the only definition I found was: The word demated is derived from dematerialized = cease to be physically in existence.

I doubt that the shuttle Enterprise will be dematerialized from the 747, but then who knows what the Enterprise is capable of?

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WORD FOR TODAY

problematic [prob-luh-mat-ik]
adjective
of the nature of a problem;  doubtful; uncertain; questionable.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Born April 26, 1933




Born April 26, 1942

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“History is a set of lies agreed upon.”
--Napoleon Bonaparte
 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Change For The Sake Of Change



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Well, Blogger has suddenly changed its method of formatting my blog. So now I have to get used to a whole new process.

DAMN!

Why can't they leave things alone. There is nothing improved by the change that I can see. And now some of the new things do not work as well as did the old ones.

DAMN!

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I am having a problem coming up with meaningful content for this blog. It might just be that I an tired of writing it day after day after day. Or, perhaps my cognitive abilities are growing weaker with  advancing age. Or maybe it's both.

Time will tell, I suppose.

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WORDS FOR TODAY

portentous [pawr-TEN-tuhs]
 adj.
1.   of momentous or ominous significance
2.   miraculous, amazing, or awe-inspiring; prodigious
3.   self-important or pompous

Often confused with:

pretentious [pri-ten-shuhs]
adj.
1.
full of pretense  or pretension.
2.
characterized by assumption of dignity or importance.
3.
making an exaggerated outward show; ostentatious.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY



 
April 25, 1874 - July 20, 1937

This Italian scientist's discoveries led to the invention of radio




 
April 25, 1908 - April 27, 1965

Radio and TV journalist during WWII, I can remember (just barely though) when I was about five years old and lying curled up on the carpet listening to the radio and nodding off to sleep while listening to the war news. Not that I knew what was going on. My dad knew all about it, though, and I was listening to the news with him.





 
Born April 25, 1940

Intense actor in "The Godfather" and "Dog Day Afternoon"

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“Originality is the art of concealing your sources”

--Benjamin Franklin
    

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Be Wary. . .




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I ran across a YouTube video:


I don't get it.

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WORD FOR TODAY

divagate [dahy-vuh-geyt]
verb
1.
to wander; stray.
2.
to digress in speech.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY



Born April 24, 1934

About Shirley Maclaine, Clint Eastwood, once said, "It's hard to feel any great warmth to her. She's too unfeminine and has too much balls. She's very, very hard."


AND




Born April 24, 1942

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Books have led some to learning and others to madness.
--Petrarch

Monday, April 23, 2012

Tote That Barge, Lift That Bale



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The Expansion Of The Universe

I keep hearing and reading about how the universe is expanding and that all stellar objects are accelerating away from each other. And no one has yet determined why or how this is occurring.

It seems simple to me.

Something unimaginably MASSIVE exists outside the universe . . . and its gravitational component is attracting toward itself the entire contents of the universe.

Simple.

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Birth celebrated April 23, 1564

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WORDS FOR TODAY

fardel
noun
a burden (figuratively in the form of a bundle).


bodkin
noun
1.
a small, pointed instrument for making holes in cloth, leather, etc.
2.
a long pin-shaped instrument used by women to fasten up the hair.
3.
a blunt, needle-like instrument for drawing tape, cord, etc., through a loop, hem, or the like.
4.
a small dagger; stiletto.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY



Born April 23, 1954




ALSO



Born April 23, 1858
Died Oct. 4, 1947

German physicist who discovered quantum physics, initiating a revolution in natural science and philosophy. He is regarded as the founder of quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.


ALSO



April 23, 1942 – February 20, 2005

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"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."
--William Shakespeare

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Anal Grammar Nazi Foolishness


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Earth Day is now a day each year on which events are held worldwide to increase awareness and appreciation of the Earth's natural environment. Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year.

The first Earth Day was held in April 1970, which was coincidentally the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Lenin.




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For the last couple of days I have participated in an online discussion regarding the meaning of the term "Grammar Nazi." Some believe it to be pejorative and therefore an insult. Others accept it as being a badge of honor and indicative of one who valiantly wars against the improper usage of English words.

A few years back when I lived in North Palm Beach, Florida I answered a classified Help Wanted ad from a local book publisher that wished to hire a detail oriented proofreader. After a brief interview I was given a single page of typewritten text, a red pencil, and was told to proofread the page to the best of my ability. The time limit was thirty minutes.

Although I easily found and corrected most of the more flagrant punctuation violations, I failed miserably at identifying the many misuses of words. Such as:

1. " . . . the data shows . . ." [should be show, since data is plural not singular]

When I questioned the "data" thing, saying that due to popular usage, data has come to mean "the totality of data" which is singular -- well, I released a thunderstorm in that the job interviewer hotly told me that: "We expect our proofreaders to go by the book and correct ALL mistakes in grammar, and never to bow down to popular usage."

As you may have guessed, I did not get the job.

Ever since that time I have seen myself as having become a sort of domesticated grammar nazi.

There have been some who sneer at my tendency to correct their grammar mistakes, saying that English is a "living language" and is strengthened by changing the meanings of words by popular usage.

To which I say "CRAP!"

For example:

The word "unique" has always been defined as "one of a kind" -- not unusual, not strange, not exceptional -- and it therefore cannot be modified by degree. A unique object cannot be said to be "most unique" or "highly unique" just as it cannot be said to be "most one-of-a-kind" or "highly one-of-a-kind." But I hear it used that way often, especially by politicians, newscasters, and celebrities. Popular usage has denigrated it to the extent that the word's true meaning has almost disappeared. And that's sad. There is no other word to use in its place when one wishes to denote an object as being one of a kind.

And, if I am labeled a grammar nazi or an anal grammarian, all I can say is that I really don't care.

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WORD FOR TODAY

pejorative
adj.
Disparaging, belittling or derogatory.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Born April 22, 1937

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Keep the church and state forever separate.
--Ulysses S. Grant

Saturday, April 21, 2012

I'm Not An Atheist, Dammit!



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Recently, after explaining that it was President Eisenhower in 1954 who added the words "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance, I was told via email, "All you damned atheists are so f***in' stupid it was our Lord who wrote that."

Well, in the first place, I am not an atheist, as I have said over and over again here in this blog. An atheist believes and announces that there is no god, while I merely doubt the existence of the personal god who created all things as described by most religious organizations. And that is a big difference. I do not flaunt my intelligence by arrogantly proclaiming, "There is no god" -- nor do I decry the faithful when they repeat some of the fantastic and unreasonable things that they feel compelled to say in defense of their chosen dogma.

The phrase "under God" was incorporated into the Pledge of Allegiance June 14, 1954, by a Joint Resolution of Congress.

'nuff said.

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As mentioned yesterday I walked across the street to the styling salon and asked for a GI haircut.


This is how I look now.


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WORD FOR TODAY

canny
adj.
showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others
Synonyms:
sly - astute - artful - prudent - crafty - wily - wary

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Born April 21, 1951

Known for playing the character Tony Banta on TAXI and later as Tony Micelli on Who's The Boss.

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“Poetry is a language that tells us, through a more or less emotional reaction, something that cannot be said.”
--Edwin Arlington Robinson
(3 time Pulitzer Prize winner)

Friday, April 20, 2012

Temperatures Rising In Arizona



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In preparation for the upcoming summer season filled with 100 plus temperatures, I went over across the street and got my hair cut this morning. And I mean cut. I still have some hair on my head but each individual hair is only about one-quarter inch long. It's what is called a GI haircut. I should take a picture of my head (and face too) and post it here on the blog. I just might do that.

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WORD FOR TODAY

Achillean
adj.
Invulnerable; invincible;
Resembling Achilles, the hero of the Iliad.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Born April 20, 1889
Died April 30, 1945

In September, 1939, when I was four months old, Hitler's Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II.


On a happier note . . .


HAPPY BIRTHDAY


Born April 20, 1937

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Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
--General Omar Bradley

Thursday, April 19, 2012

The World Is Fading Away



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Betty White's Off Their Rockers last night was so funny I laughed out loud all through it.... but Good Lord, I had to sit through what seemed to be more than 100 inane and asinine commercials. Don't know if it was worth it or not.

Yeah, it was.

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WORDS FOR TODAY

abstruse
adjective
Dealing with matters difficult to be understood.


recondite
adjective
1.
dealing with very profound, difficult, or abstruse subject matter: a recondite treatise.
2.
beyond ordinary knowledge or understanding; esoteric: recondite principles.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

(with husband Mickey Hargitay)

Born April 19, 1933
Died, June 29, 1967

The two people pictured above are the parents of Mariska Hargitay, talented star of Law And Order SVU.

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Science is organized common sense where many a beautiful theory was killed by an ugly fact.
--Thomas Huxley

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

No Title Yet



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I have not yet finished this entry, but
perhaps a good idea might strike me.

Text will start here:



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That's enough for now, I reckon.
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WORD FOR TODAY

abjure [ab-JOOR]
verb
1.
to renounce, repudiate, or retract, especially with formal solemnity; recant: to abjure one's errors.
2.
to renounce or give up under oath; forswear: to abjure allegiance.
3.
to avoid or shun.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Born April 18, 1857
Died March 13, 1938

In 1925, Darrow defended John T. Scopes in the State of Tennessee v. Scopes trial. It has often been called the "Scopes Monkey Trial," a title popularized by author and journalist H.L. Mencken. The trial pitted Darrow against William Jennings Bryan in an American court case that tested the Butler Act, which had been passed on March 21, 1925. The act forbade the teaching of "the Evolution Theory" in any state-funded educational establishment in Tennessee.

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“Life's hard. It's even harder when you're stupid.”
--John Wayne

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Best Laid Plans . . .



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NASA and the Library of Congress have just announced the selection of David H. Grinspoon to be the first Baruch S. Blumberg NASA-Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology.

Astrobiology is the study of the origins, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe. It addresses three fundamental questions: How did life begin and evolve? Is there life elsewhere? What is the future of life on Earth and beyond?

Grinspoon will examine the choices facing humanity as we enter the Anthropocene Era, the epoch when human activities are becoming a defining characteristic of the physical nature and functioning of Earth. His research will include studies of the role of planetary exploration in fostering scientific and public understanding of climate change and the power of astrobiology as a model of interdisciplinary research and communication.

More about Astrobiology . . .

Good Golly Miss Molly! "...fostering scientific and public understanding of climate change..." Will this include Ice Ages and an understanding of how, when, and why huge portions of the Earth's surface periodically become covered by ice?

Somehow, I doubt it.

Answering the question "What is the future of life on Earth and beyond?"

A bit of hubristic gobbledegook, I'd say.

Oh well . . .

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WORD FOR TODAY

Hubris {HYOO-bruhs}
Extreme pride or arrogance. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence or capabilities, especially when the person exhibiting it is in a position of power.
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The TV news anchor yesterday told me that this year no Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded. What does that mean? That there was no fiction written deserving of the prize, or... what?

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


(Anarchist)

Born April 17, 1854
Died June 22, 1939
(1 month after I was born)

From August 1881 to April 1908, from age 27 to 54, Tucker published the periodical, Liberty, widely considered to be the finest individualist-anarchist periodical ever issued in the English language.

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It is not wise warfare to throw your ammunition to the enemy unless you throw it from the cannon's mouth.
--Benjamin Tucker

Monday, April 16, 2012

I Kinda Like This Hiatus Thing



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While reading a fine essay about human rights I came across the word manyfold which I don't remember ever having encountered before, so I decided the author meant manifold, a word with which I am familiar. To my surprise, I discovered that both of those words are listed in all of the popular online dictionaries and that their meanings are identical.

manyfold
By many times: Example: The state's population has increased manyfold.

manifold
: many times : a great deal Example: will increase your blessings manifold.

As always, I live and learn.

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WORD FOR TODAY

afflatus (uh-FLAY-tus)
noun
1. inspiration; an impelling mental force acting from within.
2. divine communication of knowledge.


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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Born April 16, 1889
Died Dec. 25 1977

Charlie Chaplin had 12 children; the last child was son Christopher who was born when Charlie was 73. Hm. I will be 73 next month.

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"The books that everybody admires are those that nobody reads."
--Anatole France

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Starting A New Week



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For the past two days I have been On Hiatus which means in this instance that I have been otherwise occupied and thus have ignored my self-assigned task of filling this blog with words, phrases, and whatever bits of information that seemed fit for me to inject into it. Instead of writing, I have been reading. Reading not to be educated but to educate myself. And I count myself as having succeeded pretty well within the confines of a two-day fling.

To be continued . . .

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Still On Hiatus, But . . .



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WORD FOR TODAY

palimpsest
Noun
1. A manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing.
2. Something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form.


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HAPPY BIRTHDAY


Born April 14, 1935

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“The trouble with being in the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.”
--Lily Tomlin

Friday, April 13, 2012

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Info From The Web


Tucson Weather Today

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Grammarphobia points out that good writers ought to be aware that an adjective should not be used before a series of nouns unless it applies to them all. A phrase like “her late father and mother” will be understood as meaning that both parents are dead, but if only one is deceased, the order should be reversed: “her mother and late father.”

I'm not sure that I was ever aware of that grammar rule, but it makes sense and I intend to remember it.

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There is a website named American Doctors 4 Truth that presented a Youtube video that is supposed to be funny.

It ain't.

(Well, not much, anyway)

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A Help Wanted Ad at Prostitution Research might be helpful if you are in need of more income.

But probably not.

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WORDS FOR TODAY

antidisestablishmentarianism
the movement or ideology that opposes disestablishment

disestablishment
the separation of church and state

I did not know that . . . did you?

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BORN THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Born April 12, 1947

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Mr. President, the buzz saw that your healthcare bill ran into wasn't lobbyists and special interests it was tens of millions of Americans who were saying, 'Stop!'
--John Boehner

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Mormonism, Politics, And Insanity



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Question: What Is Mormonism?

Answer: The doctrines and practices of the Mormon Church based on the Book of Mormon.


The Latter Day Saint movement, including Mormonism, originated in the 1820s in western New York. Restored by Joseph Smith, Jr., the faith drew its first converts while Smith was dictating the text of the Book of Mormon.


This book described itself as a chronicle of early indigenous peoples of the Americas, portraying them as believing Israelites, who had a belief in Christ many hundred years before his birth. Smith claimed that he translated over 500 pages in about 60 days, and that it was an ancient record translated "by the gift and power of God". During production of this work in mid-1829, Smith, his close associate Oliver Cowdery, and other early followers began baptizing new converts into the Christian primitivist church, formally organized in 1830 as the Church of Christ. Smith was seen by his followers as a modern-day prophet.

The following Articles of Faith were taken from mormon.org:

13 Articles of Faith

1.
We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
2.
We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.
3.
We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4.
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
5.
We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
6.
We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
7.
We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
8.
We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
9.
We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
10.
We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
11.
We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12.
We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
13.
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.


Okay . . . but what is Faith?

According to Dictionary.com --

faith
noun
1. Strong or unshakable belief in something, esp without proof or evidence.
2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.

So, faith then is believing a thing without any logical reason for believing that thing.

How can I, a person who believes in logic, vote to put a candidate who professes to believe things without any logical reason for believing them into The White House as President of the United States of America?

And yet I suspect that voting for President Obama will merely help to continue the nation's current direction toward a government that will soon grow so big and so powerful that a future unscrupulous leader can (and will) be elected who then will turn that government into the most dangerous and unstoppable dictatorship the world has ever known.

And there will be no God The Holy Father to step in and miraculously intervene, no Mighty Moses to lead the oppressed people out of bondage into some glorious promised land.

There will be only Big Brother.

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WORD FOR TODAY

hallucinate
Verb
Experience a seemingly real perception of something not actually present, typically as a result of a mental disorder or of taking drugs.

__________

Faith: not wanting to know what is true.
--Friedrich Nietzsche

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Just A Quick Thought



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Nude Woman with a Necklace


It is reported that Pablo Picasso said,
“Everything you can imagine is real.”

I have mused upon that statement and just can't seem to understand what he meant by saying it. Perhaps he meant to reinforce the overused proverb: reality is perception, which I have heard spouted many times. Many times. I've never been sure what that means, either.

I have read that Picasso took up writing as an alternative outlet and that between 1935 and 1959 he wrote over 300 poems. I have never read even one of those poems. I am now going to do some research and if possible read some of his poems.


For nearly half an hour I have been reading the poems of Pablo Picasso -- and as I suspected, I can make no more sense of them as poems than I could for his seemingly self-indulgent paintings and sculptures.

Why should it be that I can never seem able to grasp the meanings from the material outpourings of any proclaimed genius? Are their mental processes so vastly different from mine? It is always so, or so it seems to me. Perhaps all artistic geniuses are genuinely insane. And I am not.

Or is it that I do not appreciate fine art because I have not been properly educated -- have not sufficiently committed the myriad of details to memory, have not retained all the details not imparted to me by those who have dutifully retained them from those who earlier shared the most arcane of mysteries with classes of open-mouthed, open-minded students.

Perhaps . . .

And I wonder if Pablo Picasso could have ever understood my thoughts had I worked hard enough to give him the opportunity to encounter any of them.

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WORD FOR TODAY

grok
Verb
1. Understand (something) intuitively or by empathy.
2. Empathize or communicate sympathetically; establish a rapport.

Used in a sentence: "I do not grok works of art."

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BORN THIS DAY IN HISTORY

(Colonel Potter)

Born April 10, 1915
Died Dec. 7, 2011

__________

“It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not.”
--André Gide

Monday, April 9, 2012

Some Sincere Soul Searching



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For want of a better term, I have been indulging in a bit of what the religious tend to call soul searching, -- asking myself . . . what is really and truly important to me?

The first thing that occurred to me was my proclivity for judging others. To observe other people and compare their overt activities to what I, within my secret thoughts, believe to be proper or correct. As in...

Yesterday I was able to once again watch one of my all-time favorite movies, Gigot (pronounced JEE-go, I think) and was once again reminded of how easily a person (myself included, myself especially) can be lulled into self-righteousness. How we, unless always alert to human failings, sneer at the (zany antics, we call them) unfortunate foibles of those we brand as inferior to ourselves.

Gigot (Jackie Gleason) is, in this movie, a Parisian janitor who is mute and docile, a noble simpleton kicked around by uncaring society. Yet he is tenderly human: He frequents all local funerals and never fails to cry. When he finds a local prostitute (Katherine Kath) and her bright-eyed daughter Nicole (Diane Gardner) sheltering in his doorway he takes them into his home. The lumbering giant and wee Nicole become fast friends, and Gigot finally has a family. But how long will this happiness last?

I had seen this 1963 film only one time before, and thought that it was one of the most bittersweet movies I'd ever seen.

And I then remembered another time I had seen Jackie Gleason in an extremely sad role... that of an aging Army Master Sergeant Maxwell Slaughter in the Steve McQueen movie, Soldier In The Rain.

For those who have never seen it, below is a review of this oldie but goodie.

Film critic Craig Butler wrote about the film's theme, "An absorbing film that deserves to be much better known, Soldier in the Rain is a sometimes uneasy blend of comedy and drama that doesn't always quite come off, but has so much going for it that one is glad to overlook its flaws. A buddy picture set in the peacetime Army.

Soldier is concerned with how a strong friendship can develop between two people of differing personalities and aims. Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen are different types, and the fact that they have such a strong bond may at first seem unlikely, but as the film progresses it somehow seems natural and inevitable. Blake Edwards and Martin Richlin have done an excellent job of adapting William Goldman's novel, and together with director Ralph Nelson have opted to emphasize the character aspects of the material over the plot.

Anyway, my soul-searching led me to the above thoughts, and for some reason I decided to include them in today's blog entry.


I had entered my seventies before I realized, with a surprising flash of insight, that I had spent a lifetime in ignorance of how I appeared through the eyes of most of the people interacting with me day by day, or at least week by week.

Less than two years ago, and for no apparent reason, I suddenly came to know without a doubt that the man (let's call him George) who delivered our wintertime heating fuel for most of my young adult years not only did not like me (though he successfully pretended to) but he actually disliked me... despised me. I was, you see, the antithesis of himself. He was a steady, hard working, church going, law abiding citizen everybody in town liked and respected.

I was not.

More to come at another time . . . in one form or another.

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WORD FOR TODAY

soul
noun
A soul -- in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions -- is the incorporeal essence of a person.

I think of soul as being the basic me of my self. And that's all. I do not equate it with the idea of spirit as do some people, but merely the core of myself. No more than that.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Born April 9, 1926

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A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.
--Oscar Wilde

Sunday, April 8, 2012

What's Easter All Abut?


Yummy! Chocolate Candy Easter Eggs . . .

According to CNN, this year, Americans
will spend $2.1 billion on Easter candy.
That's 120 million pounds of the stuff.





The Way Things Are . . .



















HAPPY EASTER


Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace

You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world

You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one


written by John Lennon

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Word For Today

pretentious
Adjective
Attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY


Born April 8, 1938



Also




Born April 8, 1918

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Forget love; I’d rather fall in chocolate.
--Anonymous