Best books of 2013 #1-10 from Publishers Weekly http://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2013/top-10
Best Books of 2013 #1-25 from BookPage http://www.bookpage.com/the-book-case/2013/12/02/best-books-of-2013-1-25/
The Best Children's Books of
the Year, 2013
from Bankstreet College of Education Link by age group at http://bankstreet.edu/center-childrens-literature/childrens-book-committee/best-books-year/best-books-year-2013/
Holiday Gift Ideas 2013 Guide to 100 best books for readers young and
old from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/books/holiday-gift-ideas-2013-guide-to-100-best-books-for-readers-233655871.html
A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg
Terms that
have their origins in cartoons or were popularized by them
curate's egg (KYOOR-itz eg)
noun Something having both good
and bad parts.
From a cartoon in Punch magazine (London, UK) in which a
timid curate (a junior clergy member), when served a stale egg at a bishop's
table, tries to assure his host that parts of the egg are edible. Earliest documented use: 1905. gerrymander (JER-i-MAN-duhr) verb. tr. To repartition an area in order to create electoral districts that give an unfair advantage to a political party. noun 1. An instance of gerrymandering. 2. One or more electoral districts, widely differing in size or population, created as a result of gerrymandering. A blend of Elbridge Gerry and salamander. Massachusetts Governor Gerry's party rearranged the electoral district boundaries and someone fancied the newly redistricted Essex County resembled a salamander. A cartoon showing the district in the shape of a salamander appeared in March 1812 issue of the Federalist newspaper. Earliest documented use: 1812.
McCarthyism (muh-KAHR-thee-iz-uhm) noun The practice of making unfounded accusations against someone. After US senator Joseph McCarthy (1909-1957) known for making unsubstantiated claims accusing people of being Communists, spies, and disloyal. Earliest documented use: in 1950 in a cartoon by Herbert Block.
Rube Goldberg (roob GOLD-buhrg) adjective Absurdly complex or impractical. After cartoonist Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) who was known for his intricate drawings showing fantastically impractical contraptions to accomplish simple jobs. Earliest documented use: 1928. The British equivalent of the term is Heath Robinson.
blimp (blimp) noun A pompous reactionary with out-of-date views. After Colonel Blimp, a cartoon character created by David Low (1891-1963). Blimp was a satirical look at the self-important and ultra-nationalistic attitudes of officials in the British army and government. Earliest documented use: 1934.
Feedback to A.Word.A.Day
From: Derek
Noonan Subject:
Gerrymander
In Ireland the word tullymander
is used to describe a failed attempt at gerrymandering. The word is a
portmanteau of the surname of the responsible minister James Tully with your
word of the day gerrymander. This
redrawing of constituencies was intended to secure the re-election of Tully's party,
but instead backfired disastrously resulting in a landslide victory for their
main opponents.
From: Alex
Novak
Subject: Gerrymander
Coincidentally, last
Saturday (Nov 23, 2013) was the 99th anniversary of Elbridge Gerry's
death. As it turned out, the stinging
portmanteau of "gerrymander" did little to ruin his political
career. The year after his namesake was
coined, Gerry was chosen to be the fifth vice president of the United States,
under James Madison.
From: Richard
Stallman Subject:
Rube Goldberg
A Swiss movie, Der Lauf Der Dinge,
presents a real-life series of Rube Goldberg machines. It is a tour de force, a fascinating movie
with no characters real or imaginary.
History of Prohibition in Washington
State Eighty years ago, the drinking light was on
-- finally -- in Washington. Prohibition
had ended nationally. Prohibition was proposed in 1854 when the first territorial
Legislature met. It failed. After
all, the territory had its share of trappers, miners and other hard livers.
Besides, all the voters were men. But
the territory kept piling on laws: no sales to Native Americans, no sales to
minors, no sales to native Hawaiians. Booze
sales were banned in 1879 in parts of Spokane and some other Eastern Washington
counties, where legislators wanted the crews building the Northern Pacific
Railroad to stay sober. At City
Hall, Seattle had Mayor George Cotterill, another supporter of prohibition. He became mayor in 1912 and, before that, in
the state Legislature helped push through a local-option law that voters would
approve, according to Historylink.org. The 1909 law let local communities adopt
prohibition. Some rural ones did. In November 1914, voters passed Initiative 3,
which banned the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. It took effect in 1916 and made Washington one
of 33 states that banned booze before the 18th Amendment did so across the
nation in 1919. At midnight Dec.
31, 1915, the last dram of alcohol had to be drank in bars
and restaurants. But it was hardly
the end of booze in the state. Making
and selling were illegal, but not drinking. And not, it turned out, was ordering booze by
mail. Mail-order houses in Montana were
at the ready to slake the thirsts of Washington drinkers, Historylink says. "The law actually allowed an individual
to import from outside the state as much as two quarts of hard booze or 12
quarts of high percentage beer each 29 days, but he had to get a permit from
his county auditor in order to do so," a Historylink article states. "The Spokane County auditor reported in
1917 that, in a county of only 44,000 registered voters, he had issued
34,000 permits." The local history site also notes that pharmacies could
provide you with your cocktail makings of choice. "Drug stores, where prescription liquor
could be obtained, boomed. A 1985
master's thesis comparing the effects of prohibition on various West Coast
cities states that 65 new drug stores opened in Seattle between January and
March, 1916." In November
1932, they overwhelming repealed all liquor laws except sales to minors. The next year, national prohibition
was repealed. In the days before state liquor outlets, local drug stores invoked
an old law that allowed them to sell booze and did so. No prescription was required. Since Congress had already approved the sale
of beer before prohibition was repealed, Seattle already had had a chance to
take a drink. Scott Sunde
Education is the most
powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.
If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.
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