Category Archives: humanities

layers of language

In the chaos that is my mind at this hour — Brain damage such as stroke can take away the symbolic processing ability known as language. I wonder: does the most obvious kind of sign-language, pointing and miming, go with … Continue reading

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partial translation

I see that in Yahoo’s Chinese translation my name is “安東 Sherwood”, i.e. Anton becomes ‘peace+east’ (which in Japanese is pronounced antō, unfortunately).

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a symptom of something or other

Each member of the California State Bar Association (which is a state entity) has a number, and the Bar’s website lets you search by number or by name. Barrister No. 1 was William Harrison Waste, admitted in June 1894. The … Continue reading

Posted in law, politics | 2 Comments

the purloined telegram

Thirty-odd years ago I read Alvin’s Secret Code by Clifford B. Hicks (1963), which begins when a puzzling telegram falls into the hands of two boys. The only sentence in it that makes any kind of sense to them is … Continue reading

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Horatio Bunce and Davy Crockett

A friend asked me why Ron Paul voted against a hurricane relief bill; was there something poisonous in it, or did he think it would be ineffective? I replied that I would expect Dr Paul to vote against any such … Continue reading

Posted in constitution, history | 2 Comments

one lobe of the brain is dedicated to old advertising

Watching Pillow on patrol, guarding the hearth against MLO (mouse-like objects), stirs a tickle in my mind: About thirty years ago was there a long-running ad campaign, for some luxury good, that featured a black panther? Or have I imagined … Continue reading

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the definite article

You don’t need me to tell you that the case of Maher Arar (cited by Charlie Stross) has gloomy implications. So instead I’ll remark that I’m pleased to see in the article the phrase “a Qaeda member.” If any American … Continue reading

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