“Enormous numbers of people are taken in, or at least beguiled and fascinated, by what seems to me to be unbelievable hocum, and relatively few are concerned with or thrilled by the astounding—yet true—facts of science, as put forth in the pages of, say, Scientific American.” — Douglas Hofstadter
Twenty-one things to be thankful for in no particular order Antibiotics Dentists Doctors (real ones) The secular state Anti-fungal ointments Vaccines Movies The internet Comedians Literacy Science Foreign correspondents Dogs Crows Modern sewage systems Cities Sex Autumn Grandchildren Whiskey Ignasz Semmelweis
“I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.” ― Jon Stewart
Harper: Thank you for the Niqab issue. I really doubted it would work. CA: Why did you doubt it, Stephen? Have I steered you wrong before? Harper: No, it’s just that… CA: You didn’t think voters would be so stupid? Harper: Exactly. CA: Never underestimate the appeal of racism and xenophobia. Harper: The voters aren’t … More Stephen Harper Talks to his Chief Adviser
“If God lived on Earth, people would break his windows.”–Yiddish Proverb
We used to talk real good instead of well We said gee, llamas are the cat’s pyjamas The bee’s knees, the big cheese and gosh, that’s swell Now it’s what the fuck is with the llamas? Totally awesome, but don’t be a knob Llama shit is gross and will barf you out It used to … More Usage
“In the life cycle of a theory, it starts off simple and then gets fancier and fancier, as brainy thinkers mount objections and the theory’s proponents develop more subtle, complex, and well-defended theory to stave them off. Then it dies. Actually, before it dies, it lives in a special preserve for theories too complicated to … More Quote of the Day
Rabbi Robert Alper of Vermont beat out more than 4,000 people from 47 different countries who submitted jokes in a contest organized by the Pontifical Missions Society called “Joke With the Pope.” The contest was supposed to promote engagement with the Pope leading up to his visit to the U.S. Here’s Rabbi Alper’s joke: “My … More Harper’s Comedic Adviser
Linguists—not polyglots who speak many languages, but scholars who study language—are concerned with describing how a language works. That’s descriptive grammar. Those who teach English are concerned with prescriptive grammar, that is, with teaching the grammar and usage rules of Standard English. But who made the rules? We can easily forget that grammar does not … More Descriptive vs. Prescriptive Grammar
When I was a kid, my widowed mother rented out two upstairs rooms in our house to help make ends meet. One of the rooms was occupied by Homer, a short-order cook in a small café a few blocks from our house. Homer was a very slight man with a glass eye that looked very … More Saturday Chores in a Different Time
No Harm Spilt 