My spies tell me that an Alternate Pledge has become fashionable in some circles:
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all.
John Cowan writes:
All transliteration systems for Arabic are shite in one way or another. When T.E. Lawrence was writing Seven Pillars of Wisdom, he made a point of being as inconsistent as possible throughout.
On my favorite list, someone observed:
It’s embarrassing when Iraq continually makes our professional, Fletcher/Kennedy schooled career diplomats look like bloody fools.
Kevin Maguire responded:
How surprising is this, really? To attain their positions, the Iraqi diplomats have had to be good at getting results in a political system where poor diplomacy gets you killed.
Our diplomats have honed their skills in an environment where lack of skills gets an extra 3% tariff on California wine entering Spain.
Randall Parker goes after the bioLuddethicists at some length.
If there’s ever a charity dedicated to rejuvenating the poor, might I suggest that priority be given to those whose native language is dying out?
Two brief articles from New Scientist about external costs of agriculture. Subsidies in the form of cash and irrigation are obvious, but I never thought of the cost of cleaning pesticides etc out of tap water.
Another lustrum, another haircut. A lustrum is a period of five years; I’ve known that for about three lustra, but until now I never thought to look up why it’s so called and what the Romans used it for (which are the same question).
The first meaning given for lūstrum is ‘a purificatory sacrifice’ – which seems appropriate for a haircut.
Recently noticed a flaw in my car: I am tall enough that the main mirror blocks an important part of my view (where there are ramps). If I cannot contrive to mount it a couple of inches higher (or on the dash!), I may be safer without it.