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What will it be, a Latte or Socialism?
“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” — George Orwell, Politics and the English Language I was doing a search in WordPress on the PSL (a common initialism for the Party of Socialism & Liberation) and I got posts about Pumpkin Spice Lattes–a frou-frou espresso drink that usually pops up on coffee house chalkboards… Read more
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Trip to Vancouver: A Travelogue in Pictures and (a few) Words
I just got back from a vacation in Vancouver British Columbia. I got to see my son, his wife and their daughter. They live in Beijing so it is a rare treat when we can meet. There was some business the young family had to conduct and we were happy to offer any service possible… Read more
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A History of an Unlikly Wordsmith
I remember when my terminally ill father asked me if I was happy with the career I had chosen. That might have been a good time to lie and make him feel assured that I was doing something I enjoyed–as in the way he enjoyed making boats and my brother presumably enjoyed running a lumber… Read more
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Horrible Sports Team Names
It will be nice to see the Chief Wahoo logo finally phased out since the initial removal of the offensive logo from the players’ caps and batting helmets back in 2014. Here’s a timeline from Mother Jones of offensive sports mascots. Some of them are quite unbelievable. Before the Washington [Redacted], there were the Duluth… Read more
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Backing Out of Facebook
Last Tuesday a friend stopped me in the lobby where we both work and told me a political meme that I had posted the day before was false–or at least Snopes.com claims it was false. That was good enough for me. In reflection the quote Vice President Pence supposedly said was crazy. Now, he has said… Read more
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More Bread for Mopping: Eating with Jimmy
“Two fat guys walk into a restaurant…” I don’t know what the punchline of that joke would be. It’s been so long since I lived the actual setup. The last time I had lunch with my friend Jimmy was over seventeen years ago. I miss our time together, our unhealthy attraction to food, my guilt… Read more
