Memorial Day 2006
On this Memorial Day we should all remember all the servicemen and women who have given their lives for the freedoms we enjoy .
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Memorial Day
Memorial Day 2006
On this Memorial Day we should all remember all the servicemen and women who have given their lives for the freedoms we enjoy .
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Al Gore - polluter
I read this on Drudge.
GROUP: New Video Exposes Behind-the-Scenes Story of Gore’s Own Energy Use
Wed May 24 2006 17:59:00 ET
As former Vice President Al Gore’s documentary on global warming fears debuts today, a new video from the Competitive Enterprise Institute tracks Gore’s own “carbon footprint.” CEI’s 70-second video points out that Gore himself is a big user of the hydrocarbon fuels that produce carbon dioxide when combusted.
Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” asks, "Are you willing to change the way you live?" The Gore documentary and new book of the same name go on to suggest ways that people can reduce their carbon footprint, yet Mr. Gore has clearly not taken his own message to heart. He even says in the documentary that he has given his global warming Power Point slide show more than 1,000 times all around the world.
The CEI video, which may be viewed at This Spot , includes footage of Gore and his constant air travel with two CO2 meters running at the bottom of the page that compare Gore’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions with those of an average person.
"All the evidence suggests that Mr. Gore is an elitist who passionately believes that the people of the world must drastically reduce their energy use but that it doesn't apply to him,” said Myron Ebell, CEI's director of energy and global warming policy and the creator of the video.
Developing...The Drudge Report
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Saturday, May 20, 2006
National Language
English
From A Way With Words
"Department of Motherhood & Apple Pie:
Official, no wait, National, no wait, Common and Unifying
Is English the national language or is it a common and unifying language? In
a fit of linguistic demagoguery the U.S. Senate would have it both ways.
Within the span of a few minutes the Senate declared English to be the
national language and then the common and unifying language. Not a single
senator voted against both wordings. (Three were not present for the vote.)
On Wednesday, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) submitted an amendment to the
immigration reform bill pending action in the Senate that would make English
the "national language" of the United States. The United States has never
declared an "official" or "national" language, although several of the
individual states have. The amendment passed the Senate on Thursday in a
63-34 vote.
The amendment declared that "English is the national language of the United
States." The original version had "official language," but Inhofe changed it
because a number of senators balked at supporting the amendment with that
wording."
From A Way With Words
"Department of Motherhood & Apple Pie:
Official, no wait, National, no wait, Common and Unifying
Is English the national language or is it a common and unifying language? In
a fit of linguistic demagoguery the U.S. Senate would have it both ways.
Within the span of a few minutes the Senate declared English to be the
national language and then the common and unifying language. Not a single
senator voted against both wordings. (Three were not present for the vote.)
On Wednesday, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) submitted an amendment to the
immigration reform bill pending action in the Senate that would make English
the "national language" of the United States. The United States has never
declared an "official" or "national" language, although several of the
individual states have. The amendment passed the Senate on Thursday in a
63-34 vote.
The amendment declared that "English is the national language of the United
States." The original version had "official language," but Inhofe changed it
because a number of senators balked at supporting the amendment with that
wording."
Tar baby
From A Way With WordsDepartment of Foot in Mouth
I don't see much wrong with Snow using this expression , but some in the Politically Correct crowd do .
"Tony Snow, the new White House press secretary, got off to an inauspicious
start at his first press briefing on Tuesday by using the term tarbaby when
asked about the government collecting phone records on millions of
Americans:
I don't want to hug the tarbaby of trying to comment on the program, the
alleged program, the existence of which I can neither confirm nor deny.
The term has a history of use as a derogatory term for African-Americans.
Snow was using the term in its sense meaning an intractable problem that
brings discredit to those who attempt to solve it and undoubtedly did not
intend any offense, but he did display significant insensitivity in using
it.
The term comes from 1881 Joel Chandler Harris story of Uncle Remus, where
Brer Fox smears a doll with tar in hopes of using it to ensnare Brer Rabbit:
Brer Fox..got 'im some tar, en mix it wid some turkentime, en fix up a
contrapshun what he call a Tar-Baby.
>From this original use, the term was extended to its metaphorical sense of a
difficult problem. But by the 1940s, the term was being used as a racial
epithet. From Sinclair Lewis's Kingsblood Royal of 1948:
"I didn't know she was a tar-baby." . . . "Don't be so dumb. Can't you see
it by her jaw?"
Sometimes people take offense at words and phrases like nitpicking, picnic,
or call a spade a spade, falsely believing there to be a history of racist
usage in them. In such cases, people should not be afraid to use the term in
question-if someone takes offense, one can simply point out their error. But
in this case, the term does have a long history of racist usage. Snow would
have been better served choosing a more neutral metaphor like playing in
traffic or touch the third rail."
I don't see much wrong with Snow using this expression , but some in the Politically Correct crowd do .
"Tony Snow, the new White House press secretary, got off to an inauspicious
start at his first press briefing on Tuesday by using the term tarbaby when
asked about the government collecting phone records on millions of
Americans:
I don't want to hug the tarbaby of trying to comment on the program, the
alleged program, the existence of which I can neither confirm nor deny.
The term has a history of use as a derogatory term for African-Americans.
Snow was using the term in its sense meaning an intractable problem that
brings discredit to those who attempt to solve it and undoubtedly did not
intend any offense, but he did display significant insensitivity in using
it.
The term comes from 1881 Joel Chandler Harris story of Uncle Remus, where
Brer Fox smears a doll with tar in hopes of using it to ensnare Brer Rabbit:
Brer Fox..got 'im some tar, en mix it wid some turkentime, en fix up a
contrapshun what he call a Tar-Baby.
>From this original use, the term was extended to its metaphorical sense of a
difficult problem. But by the 1940s, the term was being used as a racial
epithet. From Sinclair Lewis's Kingsblood Royal of 1948:
"I didn't know she was a tar-baby." . . . "Don't be so dumb. Can't you see
it by her jaw?"
Sometimes people take offense at words and phrases like nitpicking, picnic,
or call a spade a spade, falsely believing there to be a history of racist
usage in them. In such cases, people should not be afraid to use the term in
question-if someone takes offense, one can simply point out their error. But
in this case, the term does have a long history of racist usage. Snow would
have been better served choosing a more neutral metaphor like playing in
traffic or touch the third rail."
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Ain't
Wikipedia article
Examples of linguistic prescription
For example, a descriptive linguist (descriptivist) working in English would describe the word "ain't" in terms of usage, distribution, and history rather than correctness; while acknowledging it a nonstandard form, the descriptivist would accept the broad principle that as a language evolves it often incorporates such items and thus would not didactically reject the term as never appropriate. A prescriptivist, on the other hand, would rule on whether "ain't" met some criterion of rationality, historical grammatical usage, or conformity to a contemporary standard dialect. Frequently this standard dialect is associated with the upper class (e.g., Great Britain's Received Pronunciation). When a form does not conform — as is the case for "ain't" — the prescriptivist will condemn it as a solecism or barbarism or common in the sense of vulgar, prescribing that it not be used. In short, the door is absolutely barred to nonstandard forms.
Examples of linguistic prescription
For example, a descriptive linguist (descriptivist) working in English would describe the word "ain't" in terms of usage, distribution, and history rather than correctness; while acknowledging it a nonstandard form, the descriptivist would accept the broad principle that as a language evolves it often incorporates such items and thus would not didactically reject the term as never appropriate. A prescriptivist, on the other hand, would rule on whether "ain't" met some criterion of rationality, historical grammatical usage, or conformity to a contemporary standard dialect. Frequently this standard dialect is associated with the upper class (e.g., Great Britain's Received Pronunciation). When a form does not conform — as is the case for "ain't" — the prescriptivist will condemn it as a solecism or barbarism or common in the sense of vulgar, prescribing that it not be used. In short, the door is absolutely barred to nonstandard forms.
Bird Flu !
Bird Flu !
The first cases of Bird Flu have been sighted in Florida and Alabama retirement communities and trailer parks .
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Curio Shop
Curio Shop
A man walked into a curio shop in Galveston Texas.
Looking around at the exotica, he noticed a very
life-like, life-size bronze statue of a rat.
It had no price tag, but it looked so striking
that he decided he must have it.
He took it to the owner and asked "How much is
the bronze rat?"
"Twelve dollars for the rat, a hundred dollars
if you bring it back,"
said the owner.
The man gave the shop owner twelve dollars.
"I'll take the rat; And I won't be bringing it back."
As he walked down the street carrying the bronze
rat, he noticed that a few real rats had crawled
out of alleys and sewers, and began following
him down the street.
This was a bit disconcerting, so he began to walk a
little bit faster. Within a couple of blocks,
the group of rats behind him grew to over a hundred,
and they began squealing.
He started to trot towards the Harbor. He took a
nervous look around and saw that the rats numbered in
the thousands, maybe in the millions, and they were
all squealing and coming towards him faster and
faster.
Terrified, he ran to the edge of the water and
threw the bronze rat as far out into the Harbor as he
could. Amazingly, the millions of rats all jumped
into the water after it, and were drowned.
The man walked back to the curio shop.
"Aha," said the owner, "You're bringing it back!"
"Actually no," said the man. "I came back to see
how much you want for that little bronze Mexican
over there".
A man walked into a curio shop in Galveston Texas.
Looking around at the exotica, he noticed a very
life-like, life-size bronze statue of a rat.
It had no price tag, but it looked so striking
that he decided he must have it.
He took it to the owner and asked "How much is
the bronze rat?"
"Twelve dollars for the rat, a hundred dollars
if you bring it back,"
said the owner.
The man gave the shop owner twelve dollars.
"I'll take the rat; And I won't be bringing it back."
As he walked down the street carrying the bronze
rat, he noticed that a few real rats had crawled
out of alleys and sewers, and began following
him down the street.
This was a bit disconcerting, so he began to walk a
little bit faster. Within a couple of blocks,
the group of rats behind him grew to over a hundred,
and they began squealing.
He started to trot towards the Harbor. He took a
nervous look around and saw that the rats numbered in
the thousands, maybe in the millions, and they were
all squealing and coming towards him faster and
faster.
Terrified, he ran to the edge of the water and
threw the bronze rat as far out into the Harbor as he
could. Amazingly, the millions of rats all jumped
into the water after it, and were drowned.
The man walked back to the curio shop.
"Aha," said the owner, "You're bringing it back!"
"Actually no," said the man. "I came back to see
how much you want for that little bronze Mexican
over there".
Monday, May 15, 2006
My son Patrick
My son Patrick graduated from Alvin Community college and here are some pictures . Patrick and Jess , Patrick and me , and Patrick and his mother .
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Randomview
Randomview
I read on several blogs about Steven Colbert's performance about his "red-hot, extra-powerful ass-whipping " of the President Saturday night during the White House Correspondents' Dinner .
I didn't see much funny or enlightening in the performance at all . I think someone in the planning group will probably lose a job or at least lose face over inviting him . I also have read that he actually likes President Bush and may even be a conservative .
I read on several blogs about Steven Colbert's performance about his "red-hot, extra-powerful ass-whipping " of the President Saturday night during the White House Correspondents' Dinner .
I didn't see much funny or enlightening in the performance at all . I think someone in the planning group will probably lose a job or at least lose face over inviting him . I also have read that he actually likes President Bush and may even be a conservative .
Randomview
RandomviewI have made improvements to my Forum by changing to vBulletin software . This will make it more user-friendly .Tool Talk
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)