“Them as can do has to do for them as can’t. And someone has to speak up for them as has no voices.” -Granny Aching (attributed), The Wee Free Men
[Terry Pratchett has a way of saying things that resonates. This reverberated with my soul.]
Observations from an IRWS owner living in Oregon.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Forest Grove Police Log excerpt, 30 May 2018
This week includes two weeks' log excerpts. Last week the log just wasn't available in time. But this week's came out on time. So, here're the selections from the log of local police activity.
Check out previous entries in the series by looking at the preceding entry from two weeks ago.
Tuesday, May 15• Officers responded to a domestic disturbance where an argument escalated to a physical altercation in which one party allegedly threatened the other with an axe. The subject dropped the axe upon being confronted by bystanders and was arrested on multiple charges.Holy cow! I am so glad that nothing other than an arrest came of this. How do you even get to the point where you are brandishing an ax at anyone?
Monday, May 21• Officers contacted a woman who had reported a suspicious man walking through her yard. The woman advised that the man may have entered the residence prior to steal undergarments and had at one point left a note. Police are investigating.This is just creepy. If I ever encounter a situation like this, I am unsure of what will happen. A call to the police is the minimum of what will happen, though.
Check out previous entries in the series by looking at the preceding entry from two weeks ago.
Quote of the Day: 30 May 2018
“So are human beings capable of generous, selfless, even heroic behavior? Absolutely. Are they also capable of heartless acts of apathy? Absolutely.” -Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
[Attempts to pigeonhole all of humanity will always fail. Some of us are able to overcome base desires and drives, while others succumb to them at the slightest provocation.]
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Podcast Recommendation: The History of English Podcast
Over about the past month and a half I have been listening to The History of English Podcast produced by Kevin Stroud. As I have listened I have discovered the answers to questions I have had about English for many years without knowing how to find out the answers. The content has been fascinating, and I am grateful to have discovered this collection of information.
I still have three released episodes that I have not listened to (109 - 111), but I feel confident enough to make this recommendation despite not having heard those episodes.
As Stroud explains in the first episode, plans to deliver essentially four volumes of the podcast, and is currently in the third of those volumes. The first is the ancient forebears of the English language from the Indo-European language through to the Germanic language spoken by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes who settled in England after conquering the Celtic peoples who had been living there. The second is an examination of Old English. Third is the Middle English period. And the fourth is planned to be a discussion of the Modern English period.
Many of my favorite episodes came from the pre-English and Old English episodes. But I continue the enjoy the middle English episodes as well.
One example of something I have learned from by listening to this podcast: I studied French in Junior High, and I have been studying Spanish for about a year and a half. These are both latin languages, and yet their words for cheese are drastically different. Queso in Spanish, and fromage in French. Of the two, queso is closer to the English word cheese despite French influencing English much more than Spanish has. Spanish is an older derivative language of Latin than French is, and took the word for cheese prior to the introduction of formed cheeses. English also had contact with Latin, and borrowed the same word around the same time. Later, formed cheeses were distinguished from unformed cheeses in Latin, and French adopted the word for formed cheeses as its generic word for cheese. This explains why the two latin languages have such different words for cheese, and why Spanish has a more closely related word for cheese than French does despite the greater influence of French on English overall.
I really cannot recommend this more highly. You will be edited by listening to this series. Please do check it out.
I still have three released episodes that I have not listened to (109 - 111), but I feel confident enough to make this recommendation despite not having heard those episodes.
As Stroud explains in the first episode, plans to deliver essentially four volumes of the podcast, and is currently in the third of those volumes. The first is the ancient forebears of the English language from the Indo-European language through to the Germanic language spoken by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes who settled in England after conquering the Celtic peoples who had been living there. The second is an examination of Old English. Third is the Middle English period. And the fourth is planned to be a discussion of the Modern English period.
Many of my favorite episodes came from the pre-English and Old English episodes. But I continue the enjoy the middle English episodes as well.
One example of something I have learned from by listening to this podcast: I studied French in Junior High, and I have been studying Spanish for about a year and a half. These are both latin languages, and yet their words for cheese are drastically different. Queso in Spanish, and fromage in French. Of the two, queso is closer to the English word cheese despite French influencing English much more than Spanish has. Spanish is an older derivative language of Latin than French is, and took the word for cheese prior to the introduction of formed cheeses. English also had contact with Latin, and borrowed the same word around the same time. Later, formed cheeses were distinguished from unformed cheeses in Latin, and French adopted the word for formed cheeses as its generic word for cheese. This explains why the two latin languages have such different words for cheese, and why Spanish has a more closely related word for cheese than French does despite the greater influence of French on English overall.
I really cannot recommend this more highly. You will be edited by listening to this series. Please do check it out.
Quote of the Day: 29 May 2018
“A reliable way to make people believe in falsehoods is frequent repetition, because familiarity is not easily distinguished from truth.” -Daniel Kahneman
[As propagandists through history have discovered or known. So, how do we guard against internalizing the lies repeated so frequently?]
Monday, May 28, 2018
Quote of the Day: 28 May 2018
“The assertion of human rights is naught but a call to human sacrifice. This is yet the spirit of the American people. Only so long as this flame burns shall we endure and the light of liberty be shed over the nations of the earth.” -Calvin Coolidge
[Happy Memorial Day! Please enjoy those rights that have been secured for you at so great a cost.]
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Quote of the Day: 27 May 2018
“[I]f the Lord Himself were to ask you to help one of His sons or daughters—which He has done through His servants—would you do it? And if you did, would you act as His agent, ‘on the Lord’s errand,’ relying on His promised help?” -Dallin H. Oaks
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