There’s a weirdness in our society(1): the subject of IQ. I just got hit by a(nother) stream of emails and posts on the internet about the ranking of US Presidents by IQ. This happens about this time each election cycle — about 4 months in to the new president’s term Read more…
I want to propose a word that almost perfectly describes the actions of government bureaus and most government officials and an increasing percentage of so-called professionals: Specious Apparently good or right though lacking any real merit. Superficially pleasing only; no true content. A marvelous word, really, though a shame that Read more…
Why is there no psychological screening for folks hired, appointed (self, or otherwise) or elected to public or celebrity offices? From the DMV counter clerk, all the way up to the President of a nation or the hottest radio personality (who may have more actual power(1), over all, than any Read more…
Just a quick question: When (the heck!) did “family movies” become PG rated? To put it another way: when did violence and “questionable” content become “family” material? Try to find a “G” rated movie these days. G-rating seems to have gone the way of 8-tracks and floppy disks(1). Personally, I Read more…
There are a lot of things in this website that I complain about (point out, think over, mumble around, hope some of you will get enthused over helping to change and improve…), but here’s the fundamental question: How did all that happen? How could any thinking, rational, emotionally mature(1) person Read more…
You want to put an end of SPAM phone calls and emails? It’s simple. Never, ever buy anything, take any action, or even volunteer the time of day (literally) to anyone who called you out of the blue. Buy NOTHING from an unsolicited phone call. Even if (especially if!) it Read more…
I am able to use either hand for almost everything I do(1). Certainly I favor one hand or the other for some things, but even then I can usually switch at need. Handy… uh, so to speak. I bat left handed, bowl left handed, golf right handed, shoot pool either Read more…
It turns out I’ve been misusing the word “idiot.” Probably you have too. Turns out it doesn’t actually mean what I’d always thought, or what I’d been told some time it means, or what common usage suggests it means. Let’s take a look. Idiot Idiom Idioma (Spanish, means language) Idiomatic Read more…
Hey, Extroverts! You know that anxiety you feel after being locked up in the house for days on end? Pacing the floors, wanting to tear down the walls, bored, bored, bored! Many of you have never felt that until the recent “lock down.” Well, let me tell you something: that’s Read more…
I’ve been watching words I use everyday (more or less) gradually fall out of use during my life. This is fine; that’s how languages are. I’ve also watched the typical vocabulary go down over the same time span. Walter Cronkite used a far larger vocabulary than does even NPR these Read more…
“There’s nothing special about being old. It just takes a long time.” ~ Robert Heinlein (speaking as Lazarus Long) Our society worships youth to an absurd degree. Even when I was a “youth” (that is, enthusiastic and very dumb) I thought this was a pretty silly thing. I knew Read more…
Folks born since the end of the 1980’s have no idea (thank God!) what it was like living under the Cold War. Unfortunately, not too many who were there understood what was happening either, because they didn’t know any better, and because after a while it’s all just background noise. Read more…
So… here we are in a strange moment in history. One year ago, going around with your face covered would have gotten you stared at, approached by cops, etc. Today, not covering your face in public gets you stared at, ostracized, refused service. Heck… according to some news reports, even Read more…
Have you ever thanked your coffee pot for doing its job correctly? How about your house plant for being pretty? (You have house plants, right? You know, oxygen, color and life inside the house? Clean(er) air?) When did you last say a big Thank You to your Significant Other or Read more…
Once upon a time in America [which was a good movie, by the way, but unrelated here] folks had to go outside to the well or hand pump to fetch in a bucket of water for use in the house. This naturally, lead to a very conservative (in the real Read more…
We the People, in order to create a more perfect union… First two lines from the United States of America’s Constitution — the law of the land. Note: it says more perfect, acknowledging right there, right at the start, that a perfect form of government may be impossible, but can be striven Read more…