Category Archives: humanities

a question of boundaries

If I were in charge of the partition of India, I’d do it bottom-up. Starting with the smallest practical districts, ask in each one: For each of your neighbors, would you amalgamate? Do the most favored mergers (skipping any that … Continue reading

Posted in geography, politics | 1 Comment

RDCB

A generation ago, it was reported that Readers Digest Condensed Books planned an edition of The Bible, provoking obvious jokes that it would cut three Commandments and four Apostles. Now that I’m reading the thing, though, I do see where … Continue reading

Posted in prose, religion | 1 Comment

qualified peeve

Not a week goes by when I don’t read that some trial court has “granted qualified immunity” to some criminal with a badge. That’s inaccurate. The aggressor was granted qualified immunity by the Supreme Court when it invented that doctrine … Continue reading

Posted in language, law | Leave a comment

my citizenship(s)

The fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States begins: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. I … Continue reading

Posted in law, me!me!me! | 1 Comment

adventures in language borrowing

In this episode of College Roomies from Hell!, there appears in otherwise Spanish dialogue (the author is Mexican, I believe) the word Sepa, which would be pronounced like French sais pas (“dunno”), which fits the context.

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concepts that are not quite writing

I was thinking about the notion of a brain interface that delivers text to a layer after vision: the user “sees” the letters at their most abstract, but not their graphic details. What would that experience be like? Could it … Continue reading

Posted in language, technology | Leave a comment

second-generation royal dukes

Prince Charles succeeds his father as 2d Duke of Edinburgh. There are now three living British princes with the title “2d Duke of…”; how often have there been even two?

Posted in history | 1 Comment