PRONOUNS Q. Why do you
think that "their" should be acceptable for ambiguous singulars? To me, pronouns are already the most confusing
and difficult part of our language. Sentences
with multiple nouns become horrible so quickly. The rules of pronoun agreement are thus
crucial to communication. I prefer the chauvinist "him," or
"her" if I want to feminize the noun. So, communicative power--the point of
language. But anything but
"their," which is truly horrible. Your thoughts? A. The
singular "they/them/their" is hardly new, and it's clearly the best
among the imperfect solutions. Bill
Walsh
name-dropping the studied but seemingly casual mention of prominent
persons as associates done to impress others
price-dropping the frequent mention of high prices paid for
possessions and meals even though you don't need or want that information
"We need much less than we think we need." "I've
learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel." "Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant." See other Maya Angelou quotes at
In New York City, there are roughly 10,000 doormen
working in 3,200 buildings. The changes
in recent years have reset the relationships they have with the residents who
pass them by each day. To keep up with
changing demands, some older upscale buildings are training staff members,
updating uniforms, installing concierge desks and adding high-tech
communication systems. Read about a "white-glove" state of mind at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/22/realestate/a-white-glove-state-of-mind.html
Pursuant to its authority under the Telephone Consumer
Protection Act (TCPA), the FCC established, together with the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC), a national Do-Not-Call Registry. The registry is nationwide in scope, applies
to all telemarketers (with the exception of certain non-profit organizations),
and covers both interstate and intrastate telemarketing calls. Commercial telemarketers are not allowed to
call you if your number is on the registry, subject to certain exceptions. Find out how to register and how to file
complaints at http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/do-not-call-list Calls
that are still permitted include those from:
political organizations, charities, telephone surveyors, some insurance
situations,
organizations with which
you have a relationship.
Thales of Miletus (c. 620 BCE – c. 546 BCE) The ancient
Greek philosopher Thales
was born in Miletus in Greek Ionia. Aristotle, the major source for Thales’s philosophy and science,
identified Thales as the first person to investigate the basic principles, the
question of the originating substances of matter and, therefore, as the founder
of the school of natural philosophy. Thales
was interested in almost everything, investigating almost all areas of
knowledge, philosophy, history, science, mathematics, engineering, geography,
and politics. He proposed theories to
explain many of the events of nature, the primary substance, the support of the
earth, and the cause of change. Thales
was much involved in the problems of astronomy and provided a number of
explanations of cosmological events which traditionally involved supernatural
entities. His questioning approach to
the understanding of heavenly phenomena was the beginning of Greek astronomy. http://www.iep.utm.edu/thales/#H8
Q.
What do trial attorneys and professional basketball players have in common?
A.
They are actors.
QUOTES by
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824) “Those who never retract their opinions love
themselves more than they love truth.” “To teach is to learn twice.” “Never cut what you can untie” http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/313376.Joseph_Joubert
Obama library: Bidders
settle on sites by
June 11, 2014
The South Side lakefront jewel where Barack and Michelle
Obama held their wedding reception vs. a rare, open downtown field set against
Chicago's majestic mountain range of skyscrapers. The home of the 1893 world's fair, near where
Frederick Law Olmsted dredged his intricate lagoons, vs. parking lots on a West
side medical campus near the Polk Street Pink Line station. Or vacant blocks near the University of
Chicago that back up to the Garfield Green Line station vs. incorporating
public transit, a Metra station, into the building itself on a far South Side
college campus. These are just a few of
the preliminary offerings area universities plan to present to the president,
the first lady and the few confidants helping them as they begin to weigh where
to locate the Obama presidential library and museum, according to multiple sources. Although Chicago is considered the
front-runner, other bidders — from New York City's Columbia University to the
University of Hawaii and a private Chicago developer — plan to submit offerings
ahead of a June 16, 2014 deadline for initial proposals set by The Barack Obama
Foundation. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-obama-library-sites-biz-20140611,0,3954065.story
A high-profile food blogger has launched a petition to persuade major beer
companies to list their ingredients. Vani
Hari, known as the “Food Babe,” has started an online campaign urging
Anheuser-Busch and Chicago-based MillerCoors to disclose a full set of
ingredients for consumers to see. While
food and drinks have strict nutrition labeling standards, beer, wine and pure
alcohol are generally not required to list every ingredient. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-beer-ingredients-petition-20140611,0,86312.story
A
sharp-eyed muse reader pointed out a mistake
in this sentence from the Washington Post:
"Eugene was one of
five supercomputers who entered the 2014 Turing Test." Who else will
tell me what's wrong with this sentence?
Charles
Wright
once said, “I want to be the anonymous author.” But for 44 years this modest Southerner has
been publishing poetry, and the accolades have kept arriving: a National Book Award, a Pulitzer Prize, a
National Book Critics Circle Award, a Bollingen Prize. Sorry, Charlie — more bad news: The Librarian of Congress has named Wright the
next poet laureate of the United States.
Wright, a former professor at the University of Virginia and the author
of 24 collections of poetry, will begin his one-year appointment with a public
reading of his work at the Library of Congress in late September. “I guess I’ll have to wear my suit,” he says
by phone from his home in Charlottesville, Va. “I’ve only worn it for weddings and funerals.” Wright’s extraordinary humility doesn’t rhyme
with his prominence in the poetry world. His celebrated work, inflected with influences
from ancient China, Ezra Pound and his native Tennessee, has continued to
evolve and fascinate critics for decades.
Librarian of Congress James H. Billington made his selection in
consultation with about 50 people, including 10 previous poets laureate.
Speaking by phone this week, he said, “As I was reading through the finalists,
I always kept returning to this man who
wrote so beautifully and movingly about important things without
self-importance but with extraordinary skill and beauty.” Ron Charles http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/charles-wright-former-u-va-professor-and-author-is-named-new-us-poet-laureate/2014/06/11/98a2b974-efee-11e3-9ebc-2ee6f81ed217_story.html?tid=hpModule_ef3e52c4-8691-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394&hpid=z11
http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com Issue
1161 June 13, 2014 On this date in 1774, Rhode Island became the first of Britain's North
American colonies to ban the importation of slaves. On this date in 1805, Lewis and Clark
Expedition: scouting ahead of
the expedition, Meriwether Lewis and four companions sighted the Great
Falls of the Missouri River.
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