Monthly Archives: April 2002

orthoepy

Anybody in France: Is Le Pen pronounced like pin, pan or penne? Update: François Velde writes, “The last; it rimes with haine . . .” [‘hate’]

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Dear sir, I am the widow . . .

The Economist reports: In an out-of-court settlement between Nigeria’s government and the family of the late Sani Abacha, $1 billion that the military ruler looted from the central bank and stashed in banks worldwide will be returned to Nigeria. You … Continue reading

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my pet programming project

Over several years now I have worked sporadically to catalog hypothetical fullerenes — i.e. convex closed surfaces built of pentagons and hexagons. Last year I tossed out my old work in C to start over in Python, whose list primitive … Continue reading

Posted in mathematics, me!me!me!, neep-neep | 1 Comment

one desert is much like another

How about relocating Israel to Mexico?

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science in your kitchen

Finding the Speed of Light with Marshmallows

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du rififi chez les chats

Fluffie had an abscess in her tail, on the underside near the base, apparently caused by a bite. (What puzzles us is how the Other Cat got close enough to inflict it.) Several hundred dollars later, the base of her … Continue reading

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in search of monsters to destroy

Way the heck back in November one Jim Henley, of whose blog I have just now become aware, made a very interesting point about foreign intervention: And out of the preceding ingredients the final, general case against “humanitarian intervention” arises … Continue reading

Posted in blogdom, militaria | Leave a comment