Table of Contents
inter alia
04 November 1998
In Today's Issue
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1. A Word A Day -- plebeian
2. Cool Fact of the Day -- Ocean Surface Shape
3. Quote of the Day -- Dowd
4. HotSites -- Travel (and BONUS)
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1. A Word A Day
plebeian (ple-BEE-uhn) adjective
1. Of or relating to the common people of ancient Rome: a plebeian
magistrate.
2. Of, belonging to, or characteristic of commoners.
3. Unrefined or coarse in nature or manner; common or vulgar: plebeian
tastes.
plebeian noun
1. One of the common people of ancient Rome.
2. A member of the lower classes.
3. A vulgar or coarse person.
[From Latin plebius, from plebs, pleb-, the common people.]
"AMADEUS abounds with skillfully played supporting roles - Roy Dotrice as
the austere, forbidding Leopold Mozart, Jeffrey Jones as the amusingly
vapid Emperor Joseph II, a man of plebeian tastes whose judgments
nevertheless sway public opinion - and each frame is filled with colorful
faces which add to the flavor and atmosphere of the scenes."
AMADEUS, Magill's Survey of Cinema, 15 Jun 1995.
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2. Cool Fact of the Day
Ocean Surface Shape
The surface of the ocean has hills and valleys almost 500 feet
high! Using a satellite called TOPEX/Poseidon, scientists have
measured these shapes and made maps of them.
The water humps up over undersea mountains and lies lower
where there are no big undersea masses. The wind and the
currents also have their effects, as does the water temperature
(warm water is less dense and bulges up more as it experiences a
smaller gravitational pull toward the earth).
Of course, there are also the lunar tides, which cause a moving
bulge that circles the whole planet every 24 hours!
More about the TOPEX/Poseidon project:
http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov/education/tutorial1.html
Another interesting satellite ocean measurement page:
http://www.oce.orst.edu/po/satellite.html
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3. Quote of the Day -- Dowd
November 4, 1998
Day of the Dauphins
By MAUREEN DOWD in the NY Times
For Gore, the best thing might have been a huge Republican
victory last night. Then he could have run for President
on the persuasive platform of Don't-let-the-lunatics-take-
over-every-wing-of-the-asylum.
George W., on the other hand, is better off with a good
Democratic night. That way it's the liberal, libertine
Democrats who are scary again. He can run on a platform
of Bush family values, railing against the permissive 60's.
(George W.'s equivalent of "I didn't inhale" is his admission
that he liked the Beatles, but only before they got into
a "kind of a weird psychedelic period.")
Complete column:
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/oped/04dowd.html
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4. HotSites -- Travel
"The hottest travel deals on the net."
http://www.bestfares.com/
"Lowest Airfares available on the Web.
20% - 70% off lowest published regular
airfares available direct from airlines."
http://www.tiss.com/
Hot hotel deals. San Francisco's
Union Square for $99.95!
New York's First-Class
Moderne for $159.95
First-Class Opera Cadet in
Paris' 9th District
from $129.95!
http://www.180096hotel.com/track/netfind.html
"Tens of Thousands of the Best Travel Websites!"
http://www.travel.com/travel.htm
---
BONUS for Paul and Marc Cordes, new netsurfers:
"This page was created for the pleasure and use of Julia
Ramsey and Julia L'Hoste and all who wish to visit."
http://lhostelaw.com/ia/julia.htm
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Table of Contents
inter alia
10 November 1998
In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- emote
2. Cool Fact of the Day -- Glaciers
3. Quote of the Day -- Ivins
4. HotSites -- Sites for educators and parents +
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1. A Word A Day
emote (i-MOHT) intr.verb
To express emotion, especially in an excessive or theatrical
manner.
[Back-formation from emotion.]
"(Ford) Coppola's own style, which set the tone for '70s movies,
was called operatic -- meaning that the characters moved slowly,
died grandly and emoted at the top of their lungs."
Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel, Cinema: Schemes and Dreams
for Christmas On Santa's list: a Mafia don, a Master of the
Universe and a De Niro Oscar?, Time, 24 Dec 1990.
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2. Quote of the Day - Ivins
"When I think of Newt Gingrich, the words that come to mind
are `sick, pathetic, traitor, ideological, cheat, steal, insecure,
bizarre' and `radical.'
The reason those particular words come to mind is because they are the
ones that Gingrich himself recommended to his fellow Republicans. In a
1990 advisory put out by GOPAC, Gingrich's political action committee,
Republican candidates were advised to use these words to describe their
Democratic opponents -- no matter who the Democrats were or what their
records. The memo further advised that many aspired to the effectiveness of
Gingrich's rhetoric and that these were the favorite words that he `always'
used against his opponents.
That's really quite special, when you think about it."
--Molly Ivins, Nov. 9, 1998 ,"Newt Gingrich: So many words,
so little space" © 1998 Star-Telegram
Entire column: http://www.startext.net/today/news/columnist/ivins2.htm
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3. Cool Fact of the Day
http://www.glacier.rice.edu/
Only about two percent of Antarctica peeks through the thick
sheets of ice that blanket the continent. In the winter, the
lowest recorded temperatures (without wind chill!) have reached
-89°C (-129°F). The continent averages 2.4 kilometers in height
(1.5 miles) above sea level, making it 1.5 kilometers (almost a
mile) higher than the global average land height! Each year the
South Pole receives less than an inch of water......in the form
of snow, of course! This amount of precipitation is similar to that
of another desert, the Sahara! Katabatic winds, reaching 300
kilometers per hour (185 miles/hour), blow out of the contiental
interior and make the Antarctic coastal regions rather breezy.
Antarctica is an important part of Earth's system. By acting as
a global heat sink, it helps control our climate and weather. The
stability of the Antarctic ice sheets is of concern to those living
in low-lying areas; they contain enough water to raise global sea
level almost 70 meters. Antarctica holds 70% of Earth's freshwater,
and 91% of Earth's ice! Antarctica influences our global ocean. Cold,
dense, oxygen-rich waters originates in Antarctica and replenishes
the ocean's supply of bottom water, helping to drive ocean circulation.
The sea surrounding Antarctica supports marine life from tiny
ice-dwelling algae to the great whales. Through investigations of
Antarctica we will develop a better understanding of how this vast,
ice-covered continent responds to environmental change. This
knowledge will better enable us to predict the response of all of
Earth's systems to future environmental changes.
http://www.glacier.rice.edu/
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4. HotSites
===Educational Resources for Teachers and Parents===
http://ericir.sunsite.syr.edu/
http://www.edweek.org/
http://www.ala.org/parentspage/
http://www.ed.gov/
http://www.classroom.com/
===Glaciers=== way COOL site!
http://www.glacier.rice.edu/
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Table of Contents
inter alia
18 November 1998
In Today's Issue
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1. A Word A Day -- accrete
2. Quote of the Day -- Dowd
3. Graphic of the Day -- YB Cuckoo
4. HotSites -- Hate Groups
5. QOTD2 - POEM -- Stafford
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1. A Word A Day
accrete (uh-KREET) tr.verb
To make larger or greater, as by increased growth.
accrete intr.verb
1. To grow together; fuse.
2. To grow or increase gradually, as by addition.
[Back-formation from accretion.]
"As testimony dragged on and on, slowly accreting detail and complexity,
the drama in Judge Ito's courtroom began to remind me of nothing so much
as an overstuffed 19th century novel, one of those ripping, 800-page
doorstops from college, a real cinder block of a narrative."
Bruce Handy, Essay: Our Mutual Houseguest, Time, 16 Oct 1995.
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2. Quote of the Day - Dowd
November 18, 1998
LIBERTIES / By MAUREEN DOWD
So Don't Like Me
WASHINGTON -- The joke about Bill Clinton is: When he drives
through a car wash in aconvertible with the top down, somebody
else gets wet.
The President turned the White House into Motel 1600 for rich
donors, but Al Gore was the first one to get into trouble for
making a few fund-raising calls from his office.
The President had his way with a young intern, but it was Newt
Gingrich who got tossed out.
The President told one of the biggest, fattest lies in history,
but the public wants to impeach the press.
Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company
Entire column: http://www.nytimes.com/library/opinion/dowd/111898dowd.html
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3. Graphic of the Day
Wing of Yellow-billed Cuckoo
by David J. L'Hoste
http://lhostelaw.com/ia/ia2/gotd/cuckoo.htm
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4. HotSites -- Hate Groups
http://www.bcpl.net/~rfrankli/hatedir.htm
http://www.hatewatch.org/
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5. QOTD2 - POEM -- Stafford
Notes for the Program
Just the ordinary days, please.
I wouldn't want them any better.
About the pace of life, it seems best to have
slow, if-I-can-stand-them revelations.
And take this message about the inevitable:
I've decided it's all right if it comes.
William Stafford
Tar River Poetry
Volume 38, Number 2
Spring 1998
Copyright © 1998 by East Carolina University.
All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents
inter alia
27 November 1998
In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- meshuga
2. Quote of the Day -- Starck
3. Graphic of the Day -- King Rail
4. HotSite -- American Memory from LOC
5. Cool Fact of the Day -- Hypersonic Airliner
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1. A Word A Day
meshuga also meshugga (muh-SHOOG-uh) adjective
Slang. Crazy; senseless.
[Yiddish meshuge, from Hebrew mesugga'.]
"`The rumors come from paranoid sources,' he (Judge Mikva) said at first.
Then he decided there was a better adjective: `They're not paranoid.
They're meshuga.'"
Ira Stoll, More Than a Lawyer, Forward, 6 Oct 1995.
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2. Quote of the Day - Starck
Job No. 75-14
for Ron Boyce
Drive stakes, shoot grades,
get a big Cat to scalp and scrape and gouge:
contour the site for proper drainage.
Berm and swale.
Rough-grade it then, with
a blade, and hope
it don't rain. Set hubs,
haul in base rock, grade it again, then
pave it with a thick crust of blacktop
to make a parking lot.
I'm building
a new Safeway, in West Salem,
for some religious millionaire,
and we will all buy our groceries there.
"Well, tomorrow's Friday," I say
to the guy who looks like Jesus driving stakes
and rod-hopping for me,
and he says "Yeah, then two!
and then five and then two and then five..."
Seven being a magic number
and the earth having a thin skin,
we make motions to bow
ceremoniously, but instead, a couple of
unmasked accomplices, confederates
on a losing planet,
we look at each other
and grin --
which means: "to draw back the lips
so as to show the teeth
as a dog in snarling,
or a person in laughter or pain."
--
Clemens Starck
Journeyman's Wages
Story Line Press
Copyright © 1995 by Clemens Starck.
All rights reserved.
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3. Graphic of the Day
Wing of King Rail
by David J. L'Hoste
http://lhostelaw.com/ia/ia2/gotd/kingrail2.htm
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4. HotSite -- American Memory
National Digital Library from the U.S. Library of Congress
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ammemhome.html
Examples of collections:
Baseball Cards--2,100 early baseball cards dating
from 1887 to 1914
Northern Great Plains--900 photographs of rural and small
town life at the turn of the century
Civil War Photos--1,100 Civil War encampments, battlefields,
and portraits as captured by Mathew Brady and other
photographers.
Browse collections by title:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amtitle.new.html
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5. Cool Fact of the Day -- Hypersonic Airliner
Researchers at NASA have designed a new kind of engine
called a scramjet that will make possible a Mach 10
(ten times the speed of sound) airliner!
The new Hypersoar aircraft will be able to fly between
San Francisco and Tokyo in only an hour and a half,
instead of ten hours. It will fly at ultra-high altitudes,
over 100,000 feet. During the flight, the Hypersoar will
repeatedly "skip" off the top of the atmosphere, like a
stone skipping on the surface of a lake.
Each skip will cover 1200 miles. The plane's engines will
fire only at the bottom of the cycle, while it is in the
atmosphere. The passengers will experience about 1.5
g's (one and a half times normal gravity) at the bottom,
and about two minutes of weightlessness at the top of the arc.
A short article about the hypersoar:
http://channels.reed-elsevier.com/ScienceRTW/ElsevierScience/docs/n8091111.htm
Lawrence Livermore's page, with good pictures:
http://www.llnl.gov/PAO/photos/Hypersoarcap.html
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