[A] small but vibrant subculture of language geeks, one made possible only by the Internet.
The linguist Michael Erard, in a recent book called “Babel No More: The Search for the World’s Most Extraordinary Language Learners,” describes these autodidacts as a “neural tribe,” joined not by common language but by a restless linguistic promiscuity. As English dominance has made it possible to navigate more and more of the world with just one language, these hyperpolyglots are no longer isolated in their passion for learning dozens or more. …
Do you know what ergativity is?” he asked her, referring to a property of some languages, including Hindi, by which a verb’s subject changes case when the verb is intransitive. [mjh: damn!] …
One day, discussing Turkish, he asked a visitor if he knew what an agglutinative language was. (It is a language in which new words are created by adding prefixes and suffixes.) …
Hyperpolyglots have been the objects of curiosity at least since the 19th century, when Cardinal Giuseppe Mezzofanti of Bologna was said to have mastered more than 50 languages. For nearly as long, people have debated whether their ability was innate or learned.
In the interest of fairness, Rush Limbaugh released his own sex tape today. “Who wants to watch a lumpy wanker shake is limp wang at a JC Penney’s ad while chanting, ‘Come on, Viagra!’?,” wrote the one volunteer brave enough to watch the video, in his suicide note. Overnight, the Internet crashed as ditto-heads uploaded their own wank-flicks.
When I was 10, I read a comic book in which an unusual solar flare struck earth and transformed everyone but the hero into a caveman. As I write this, a huge flare is hitting earth. Wait! Gah! Brow thickening. Knuckles dragging. Drooling. Liking Limbaugh. It’s already happening. Me vote Santorum good.
You might be seeing more planes flying in and out of Albuquerque in routes you’re not used to.
That’s because a major runway at the Albuquerque Sunport is closing for repairs for about a month.
Construction started Monday on the east/west runway.
All commercial traffic will use the northeast/southeast runway in the meantime.
Airport officials say Nob Hill and Southeast Heights neighborhoods could be affected by the runway closure – but say it all really depends on air traffic at the time of landing.
Crews will be installing more efficient LED center-line lights and replace sections of the concrete.
The study measures blood levels of a compound from rosemary; presumably eating it also raises those levels. I add rosemary to my roasted veggies (brussel sprouts, onion, garlic, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potatoes, etc, tossed in olive oil, curry, red and black pepper, and salt). The smoke from rosemary twigs on the barbeque enhances grilled meats (and *may* reduce mutagens).
The original Margarita was invented in 1948 by socialite Margarita Sames. According to the legend it was during a party at her cliffside hacienda in Acapulco that Margarita began experimenting with ‘the drink’. Looking for something to cut the dust of a hot afternoon, she mixed Tequila Herradura, Cointreau and fresh lime juice. Her cocktail kept the party going for two weeks and today the Margarita is the #1 most popular cocktail in the U.S.
Little item in the paper today about a dye used in CT scans leading to thyroid failure, for which there are other drugs, which surely lead to other conditions for which there are other drugs and tests and treatments. See a pattern emerging?
I think the vast majority of people in health care who have direct contact with patients are hard-working saints who put up with a lot of unpleasantness. I think the farther one gets from direct contact, the more it’s about money. And there is a lot of money to be made throwing tests and drugs and surgery at problems created by tests and drugs and surgery.
Exercise daily, eat smartly, sleep well, and say no to drugs. Stay out of the System as long as you can. Get out of the trap as quickly as possible.
"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams