Table of Contents
inter alia
05 May 1998
In Today's Issue
1. A Word A Day
2. On This Day . . . 05May
3. Cool Fact of the Day
1. A Word A Day
confabulate (kuhn-FAB-yuh-layt) intr.verb
1. To talk casually; chat.
2. Psychology. To replace fact with fantasy unconsciously in memory.
[Latin confabulari, confabulat- : com-, com- + fabulari, to talk (from
fabula, conversation.]
"`Memoir in Two Voices'" is as abstract and frequently as lofty as one
of Plato's dialogues. It seems to set nowhere; there are no chairs, no
gestures, no food or drink or any physical or emotional detail to suggest
that two flesh-and-blood figures are in the room. It could be the bust of
Wiesel confabulating with the bust of Mitterrand."
Richard Eder; Of Monsters, Saints and Rivers, Los Angeles Times, 07-07-1996
2. On This Day . . .05May
Birthdates which occurred on May 05:
1813 Síren Kierkegaard Denmark, philosopher, founded Existentialism
1818 Karl Marx philospher (Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital)
1900 Spencer Tracy actor (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner)
1908 Rex Harrison England, actor (My Fair Lady, Cleopatra)
1913 Tyrone Power actor (Mark of Zorro, Alexander's Ragtime Band)
1942 Tammy Wynette Redbay Alabama, country singer (Stand by your Man)
1943 Michael Palin comedian (Monty Python, Fish Called Wanda)
On this day...
553 2nd Council of Constantinople (5th ecumenical council) opens
1814 British attack Ft Ontario, Oswego, NY
1867 Battle of Pueblo; Mexicans defeat Maximilian's forces (Cinco de Mayo)
1912 5th modern Olympic games opens in Stockholm
1912 Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda begins publishing (4/22 OS)
1916 US marines invade Dominican Republic, stay until 1924
1925 John T Scopes arrested for teaching evolution in Tennessee
1925 Ty Cobb goes 6 for 6, (16 total bases)
1942 US begins rationing sugar during WW II
1961 Alan Shepard becomes 1st American in space (aboard Freedom 7)
1965 1st large-scale US Army ground units arrive in South Vietnam
1973 Secretariat wins Kentucky Derby in record time (1:59.4)
1987 Congress begins Iran-Contra hearings
2000 conjunction of Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn & Moon
WORLDWIDE HISTORIC DATES & EVENTS brought to you DAILY by : Scope Systems
3. Cool Fact of the Day
Lunar Rotation
The same side of the moon always faces Earth because the
moon rotates on its axis at the same rate as it revolves around
the Earth -- about once a month. This is called "synchronous
rotation".
Long ago, the moon's rotation rate was much faster, but it
was slowed down by an interesting tidal effect. The Earth
caused a tide on the moon -- that is, the part of the moon
closest to Earth tended to bulge outward. Over time, the
attraction between the Earth and the moon's moving tidal
bulge caused its rotation rate to slow down.
The same thing is now happening to the Earth, but much
more slowly -- attraction between earth tides and the moon is
slowing down the Earth's rotation. Eventually, it will match
the moon's revolution rate, and a day and a month will
become equal.
To see way cool pictures of the moon and learn more about it
visit this site:
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/luna.html
--
From the Learning Kingdom:
http://www.LearningKingdom.com/coolfact/coolfact.html
Table of Contents
inter alia
13 May 1998
In Today's Issue
1. A Word A Day
2. Humor
3. Cool Fact of the Day
1. A Word A Day
farrago (fuh-RAW-goh or fuh-RAY-goh) (n.) (pl. -goes)
-Definition(s): 1. an assortment or medley; a conglomeration; a confused
mixture
-Samples:
"Ancient surgery was. . . loaded with a
farrago of external applications."
--Percival Pott, *Chirurgical Works*, 1783
(*chirurgeon* (ky-RUR-jen) is an archaic
word for "surgeon")
"A tingling undercurrent of tension and terror
courses through the bold, bohemian sound of
Soul Coughing's sophomore disc, a nearly
indescribable farrago of hip-hop, beat poetry,
funk, jazz, rock and lounge music."
--Edna Gundersen, *USA Today*, 1996
-Side Dishes: Farrago comes from the Latin *farra go*, "mixed fodder for
cattle" (from *farr-*, "a kind of grain"), and therefore often suggests
a confused mixture (once again, notice how most of these words
originally applied to a mixture of food). It also provides us with a
useful adjective for this group of words, *farraginous* (fuh-RAJ-uh-
nus): "composed of a variety of substances, miscellaneous."
"Bailey was one of the farraginous fools of
the unscientific science."
--Thomas Reade, *All Year Round*, 1863
"The farraginous doctrine inculcated upon the
minds of helpless children in the public
schools does give lip service to the theory
of biological evolution."
--*Liberty Bell*, June 1987
-Dessert: A similarly useful, and more common, adjective is *multifarious*
(mul-ti-FAIR-ee-us), "having great variety; diverse."
"His reading, though his favorite authors
are not known, appears to have been
sufficiently extensive and multifarious."
--Samuel Johnson, 1779
"The American Nuclear Society. . . has
since developed a multifarious membership
composed of approximately 13,000 engineers,
scientists, administrators, and educators."
--American Nuclear Society Web
page (http://www.ans.org/)
May the rest of your day be happily farraginous.
__
From Tim Bottorff's Word Du Jour at http://www.rsl.ukans.edu/~garrett/wdj
2. Humor
Will the Real Dummy Please Stand Up?!
AT&T fired President John Walter after nine months, saying he lacked
"intellectual leadership". He received a $26 million severance
package. Perhaps it's not Walter who's lacking intelligence...
With a Little Help from Our Friends!
Police in Oakland, California spent two hours attempting to subdue a gunman
who had barricaded himself inside his home. After firing ten tear gas
canisters, officers discovered that the man was standing beside them,
shouting to please come out and give himself up...
And What Was Plan B?
An Illinois man pretending to have a gun kidnaped a motorist and forced him
to drive to two different automated teller machines. The kidnapper then
proceeded to withdraw money from his own bank accounts...
And These Nitwits Are Teaching Our Children?!!
A 9-year-old boy in Manassas, Virginia received a one-day suspension under
his elementary school's drug policy last week - for Certs! Joey Hoeffer
allegedly told a classmate that the mints would make him "jump higher."
(Comment: Yes this happened in beautiful downtown Manassas)
And a student in Belle, West Virginia was suspended for three days for
giving a classmate a cough drop. School principal Forest Mann reiterated
the school's "zero-tolerance" policy...not to be confusedwith the
"zero-intelligence" policy...
Some Days, It Just Doesn't Pay to Gnaw Through the Straps...
Fire investigators on Maui have determined the cause of a blaze that
destroyed a $127,000 home last month - a short in the homeowner's newly
installed fire prevention alarm system. "This is even worse than last
year," said the distraught homeowner, "when someone broke in and stole my
new security system..."
And for the Main Course...
A man in Taormina, Italy was hospitalized after swallowing 46 teaspoons, 2
cigarette lighters, and a pair of salad tongs.
The Getaway
A man walked in to a Topeka, Kansas Kwik Shop, and asked for all the money
in the cash drawer. Apparently, the take was too small, so he tied up the
store clerk and worked the counter himself for three hours until police
showed up and grabbed him.
Do-It-Yourself Brain Surgery?!
In Ohio, an unidentified man in his late twenties walked into a police
station with a 9-inch wire protruding from his forehead and calmly asked
officers to give him an X-ray to help him find his brain, which he claimed
had been stolen. Police were shocked to learn that the man had drilled a
6-inch deep hole in his skull with a Black & Decker power drill and had
stuck the wire in to try and find the missing brain.
Have I Got a Deal for You!
More than 600 people in Italy wanted to ride in a spaceship badly enough to
pay $10,000 a piece for the first tourist flight to Mars. According to the
Italian police, the would-be space travelers were told to spend their "next
vacation on Mars, amid the splendors of ruined temples and painted deserts.
Ride a Martian camel from oasis to oasis and enjoy the incredible Martian
sunsets. Explore mysterious canals and marvel at the views. Trips to the
moon also available."
Authorities believe that the con men running this scam made off with over
six million dollars...
Too Well-Educated
In Medford, Oregon, a 27-year-old jobless man with an MBA blamed his
college degree for his murder of three people."There are too many business
grads out there," he said."If I had chosen another field,all this may not
have happened..."
Did I Say That?!
Police in Los Angeles had good luck with a robbery suspect who just
couldn't control himself during a lineup. When detectives asked each man
in the lineup to repeat the words, "Give me all your money or I'll shoot,"
the man shouted, "That's not what I said!"
Ouch, That Smarts!
A bank robber in Virginia Beach got a nasty surprise when a dye pack
designed to mark stolen money exploded in his Fruit-of-the-Looms. The
robber apparently stuffed the loot down the front of his pants as he was
running out the door. "He was seen hopping and jumping around," said
police spokesman Mike Carey, "with an explosion taking place inside his
pants." Police have the man's charred trousers in custody...
....Are We Not Communicating?
A man spoke frantically into the phone: "My wife is pregnant and her
contractions are only two minutes apart!" "Is this her first child?" the
doctor asked. "No, you idiot!" the man shouted. "This is her husband!"
....Not the Sharpest Knife in the Drawer!
In Modesto, CA, Steven Richard King was arrested for trying to hold up a
Bank of America branch without a weapon. King used a thumb and a finger to
simulate a gun, but unfortunately, he failed to keep his hand in his
pocket. Hmmm...wonder what he uses for a knife?
3. Cool Fact of the Day
Giraffes' Necks
A large giraffe can have a neck as long as two meters (seven
feet), yet its neck still has only seven vertebrae like most other
mammals (including humans). The vertebrae are just spread
out more.
Giraffes are the tallest living animals. Adult giraffes stand 18
feet (5.5 m) tall and weigh about 4000 pounds (1800 kg).
Despite their height, giraffes can run almost 30 miles per hour
(50 km/hr)!
Giraffes are found in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, living
in open woodlands or wooded grasslands. They feed mainly
on the leaves of the acacia tree, eating about 30 pounds (14
kg) of acacia leaves a day.
For more about Giraffes (and their 18 inch tongues ;>), visit:
http://www.birminghamzoo.com/animals/giraffe.html
Table of Contents
inter alia
14 May 1998
In Today's Issue
1. A Word A Day
2. HotSites -- shopping online
3. Cool Fact of the Day
1. A Word A Day
pasticcio (pa-STEE-choh or pa-STEE-chee-oh or paw- ) (n.) (pl. -ci)
pastiche (pa-STEESH or paw-STEESH) (n.) (pl. -s)
-Definition(s):
pasticcio: 1. a work or style produced by borrowing fragments,
ingredients, or motifs from various sources; a potpourri
pastiche: 1. a dramatic, literary, or musical piece openly imitating
the previous works of other artists, often with satirical intent
2. a pasticio of incongruous parts; a hodgepodge
-Samples:
"What a pasticcio of gauzes, pins, and
ribbons go to compound that multifarious
thing, a well-dressed woman."
--Richard Cumberland, *The Natural Son*, 1785
"Fernlea Autumn Fair. . . had ended up as a
crummy, screaming pasticcio of brash lights
and belching noise."
--J. Wainwright, *Touch of Malice*, 1973
"Next year Handel supplied. . . *Deborah*,
largely a *pasticcio* over which he took
little trouble."
--*Listener*, 28 Feb. 1974
"Mr. Burne-Jones is not accused. . . of
plagiarism, but of *pastiche*, which is a
very different thing."
--*Nation*, 24 Nov. 1892
"The obvious accusation against Betjeman is
that he is a pasticheur--and it is certainly
true that he has scarcely ever written a
poem which was not, quite consciously, in
the manner of someone else."
--*Observer*, 7 Dec. 1958
-Side Dishes: These words deserve to be presented together, as they
are so closely related. Pasticcio is the older of the two, deriving
from the Italian *pasticcio* and further from the Vulgar Latin
*pasticium* ("pasty"), first appearing in English in the early
1700's.
Pastiche comes from pasticcio and started appearing in English only
in the late 1800's. It is now in more general use than pasticcio,
though the two terms are generally interchangeable. The modern
tendency seems to be to employ pastiche when writing or speaking of
"a fragmented, imitative work" and either word when the sense is
"a hodgepodge, potpourri," but both words are still used in both
contexts.
-Dessert: Besides the words featured or mentioned passingly this week,
some of the other English nouns, adjectives, or phrases that share the
central meaning of "(of or pertaining to) a hodgepodge or a wide
variety of things" are: jumble, medley, conglomeration, miscellany,
hash, mishmash, montage, mingle-mangle, patchwork, stew, pie, mixed
bag,
grab bag, ana, and *olio* (OH-lee-oh), from the Spanish *olla*, "pot."
See a dictionary near you for more information on any of these fine
words.
"It is a mixture of self-indulgent prose,
sickening violence and unbelievable
happenings. The whole olio is, clearly,
a bid for Bicentennial attention."
--*Publishers Weekly*, 9 Feb. 1976
2. HotSites -- shopping online
The Internet Mall
http://www.zdnet.com/chkpt/adstlink/www.shopnow.com/is a popular
Buy IT OnLine, where I can quickly search more than 30,000
online stores. By category or by keyword. Then purchase via
secure servers.
http://www.zdnet.com/chkpt/adstlink/www.buyitonline.com
These sites let you compare features, prices, even
product reviews:
Excite's Jango-powered shopping site
http://www.zdnet.com/chkpt/adstlink/www.jango.com/xsh/index.dcg?
NetBuyer
http://www.zdnet.com/chkpt/adstlink/www.zdnet.com/netbuyer/
Specialty stores:
eToys
http://www.zdnet.com/chkpt/adstlink/www.etoys.com/
Virtual Vineyards
http://www.zdnet.com/chkpt/adstlink/www.virtualvin.com/
AutoWeb
http://www.zdnet.com/chkpt/adstlink/www.autoweb.com/
```````````````````````````````
3. This Day in History --14May
On May 14, 1607, the first permanent British
settlement in North America was established at
Jamestown, Virginia. "We landed all our men,"
George Percy wrote in his account of the event,
"which were set to worke [sic] about the fortification,
and others some to watch and ward as it was
convenient."
Jamestown was also the site of the first Anglican
church and the first representative assembly in the
New World. On July 30, 1619, the House of
Burgesses met there to establish a uniform
government over all the settlements established under
the provisions of the Virginia Company Charter.
Another event of momentous consequences took place the
same year, when a Dutch slave trader exchanged a cargo
of captive Africans for food. "The Africans became
indentured servants," according to A Brief History
of Jamestown, provided online by the Association for
the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, "similar in
legal position to many poor Englishmen who traded
several years labor in exchange for passage to America.
The popular conception of a racial-based slave system
did not develop until the 1680s."
Table of Contents
inter alia
15 May 1998
In Today's Issue
1. A Word A Day
2. Today in History . . . 15May
3. Cool Fact of the Day
1. A Word A Day
oriflamme (OR-i-flam, AWR-) noun
1. An inspiring standard or symbol.
2. The red or orange-red flag of the Abbey of Saint Denis in France,
used as a standard by the early kings of France.
[Middle English oriflamble, banner of St. Denis, from Old French, variant of
oriflambe, possibly from Medieval Latin aurea flamma, auriflamma : Latin
aurea, feminine of aureus, golden (from aurum, gold + Latin flamma, flame.),
or alteration of Old French *lorie flambe, from Late Latin laurea flammula,
laureled standard : Latin laureus, of laurel + Latin flammula, banner,
diminutive of flamma, flame.]
"Press where you see my white plume shine amidst the ranks of war,
And be your oriflamme to-day the helmet of Navarre."
Thomas Babington Macaulay, Ivry.
2. Today in History . . . 15May
Lyman Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was
born on May 15, 1856, in Chittenango, New York. Published in
1900, the book was an immediate success. The demand for more
stories about Dorothy and her friends was so great that Baum
wrote 13 more Oz books.
After Baum's death in 1919, the series lived on under the
authorship of others who had enjoyed the books as children.
Foreign writers also created sequels, often incorporating their own
children's tales. The tale debuted on the silver screen during the
silent era, long before the famous MGM musical of 1939.
The text of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and several more of
Baum's Oz tales are available from The Online Literature Library:
http://www.literature.org/Works/L-Frank-Baum/index.html
3. Weird Facts of the Day
Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address consisted of just 272 words.
At the equator the Earth spins at about 1,000 miles per hour.
Earth's atmosphere is, proportionally, thinner than the skin of an apple.
The surface area inside the human lung is about 375 square feet.
A large swarm of locusts can eat 80,000 tons of corn in a day.
Mr. Potatohead was the first toy ever advertised on television.
The average person consumes about 420 pounds of sugar per year.
Arctic terns migrate about 18,000 miles per year.
A person at rest generates as much heat as a 100-watt lightbulb.
Table of Contents
inter alia
18 May 1998
In Today's Issue
1. Today in History . . . 18May
2. A Word A Day
3. Quote of the Day -- Sinatra lyrics
1. Today in History . . . 18May
On May 18, 1896, the Supreme Court
ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson, involving
segregation of railroad passenger cars,
that "separate but equal" facilities were
considered sufficient to satisfy the
Fourteenth Amendment.
Ohio legislator and prominent cleric Benjamin W. Arnett
describes the caste system imposed by segregation in The Black
Laws, a speech delivered in the Ohio House of Representatives
on March 10, 1886:
I have traveled in this free country for twenty
hours without anything to eat; not because I had
no money to pay for it, but because I was colored.
Other passengers of a lighter hue had breakfast,
dinner and supper. In traveling we are thrown in
"jim crow" cars, denied the privilege of buying a
berth in the sleeping coach.
This foe of my race stands at the school house
door and separates the children, by reason of
color, and denies to those who have a visible
admixture of African blood in them the blessings
of a graded school and equal privileges... We call
upon all friends of Equal Rights to assist in this
struggle to secure the blessings of untrammeled
liberty for ourselves and posterity.
B.W. Arnett, "The Black Laws," March 10, 1886.
African American Perspectives, 1818-1907.
It was not until May 17, 1954, that the Court reversed
the Plessy decision, holding in Brown v. the Board of
Education of Topeka that segregation of public schools
is a denial of equal protection under the law.
2. A Word A DAy
exorcise (EK-sawr-size, EK-suhr-size) tr.verb
1. To expel (an evil spirit) by or as if by incantation, command, or
prayer.
2. To free from evil spirits or malign influences.
[Middle English exorcisen, from Late Latin exorcizare, from Greek exorkizein
: ex-, ex- + horkizein, to make one swear (from horkos, oath).]
WORD HISTORY: An oath is to be found at the etymological heart of exorcise,
a term going back to the Greek word exorkizein, meaning "to swear in," "to
take an oath by," "to conjure," and "to exorcise." Exorkizein in turn is
formed from the prefix ex-, "thoroughly," and the verb horkizein, "to make
one swear, administer an oath to," derived from horkos, "oath." Our word
exorcise is first recorded in English in a work composed possibly before the
beginning of the 15th century, and in this use exorcise means "to call up or
conjure spirits" rather than "to drive out spirits," a sense first recorded
in 1546.
"Hoping it has exorcised the bugs from its cc:Mail-to-Domino tool, IBM's
Lotus division last week unveiled the newest version of its Domino Message
Transfer Agent for cc:Mail 2.0."
John Fontana, News & Analysis: Lotus Hopes New MTA Is Bug-Free,
InternetWeek, 2 Mar 1998.
3. Quote of the Day
Words not written by, but made immortal by
Frances Albert Sinatra:
"I'll Be Seeing You"
Writer(s): Kahal/Fain
I'll be seeing you;
In all the old, familiar places;
That this heart of mine embraces;
All day through.
In that small cafe;
The park across the way;
The children's carousel;
The chestnut tree;
The wishing well.
I'll be seeing you;
In every lovely, summer's day;
And everything that's bright and gay;
I'll always think of you that way;
I'll find you in the morning sun;
And when the night is new;
I'll be looking at the moon;
But I'll be seeing you.
Table of Contents
inter alia
19 May 1998
In Today's Issue
1. Sad Truth of the Day
2. A Word A Day
3. Current Events --Barnes & Noble and obscenity
4. Humor
1. Sad Truth of the Day
Turning Kids Into Smokers
In 1991, Janet Mangini, a San Francisco family law
attorney brought suit against the RJ Reynolds (RJR)
tobacco company to end the Joe Camel cigarette advertising
campaign, becoming the first person to legally challenge
the tobacco industry for targeting minors with its
advertising. The case was settled prior to the December 1997 trial
date with RJR agreeing to terminate the Joe Camel campaign and
to publicly release internal documents regarding its youth
marketing strategies. The Joe Camel campaign had until then been
very successful, making Camel the brand of choice amongst
minors.
Over 2 000 pages of internal documents created by RJR are now
available on the web. "To make informed decisions regarding
current tobacco issues, the public must have access to this
information which illuminates the business practices of the tobacco
industry," said Robin L. Chandler, Head of Archives and Special
Collections at the University of California, San Francisco Library
(UCSF)/Center for Knowledge Management (CKM).
The documents outline some of the marketing strategies
considered by RJR, including the transformation of the Camel
symbol into "...a moving, talking, animated cartoon for children. It
can also include the actual footage of visiting live camels in the zoo
and in their native environment. Children love to watch animals
(repeatability) and this video can incorporate an
education/entertainment theme."
The Mangini documents join approximately 10 000 pages of
previously secret documents from the Brown and Williamson
Tobacco Company that UCSF posted on the web previously,
after the University successfully thwarted a lawsuit by Brown and
Williamson to prevent publication of the documents. "We hope to
continue UCSF's leadership in making tobacco documents
available to the public in a useful form" said Chandler.
The Mangini Documents:
http://www.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/mangini/report/index.html
2. Word of the Day
earwig (EER-wig) noun
Any of various elongate insects of the order Dermaptera, having a pair of
pincerlike appendages protruding from the rear of the abdomen.
earwig tr.verb
To attempt to influence by persistent confidential argument or talk.
[Middle English erwig, from Old English earwicga : eare, ear + wicga, insect.]
WORD HISTORY: In an Anglo-Norman text written around the beginning of the
15th century we are told that elephants guard their ears diligently against
flies and earwigs. Elephants have good cause to protect themselves against
these insects if, as folklore has it, earwigs go through the ear into the
head. The earwig, however, prefers to dine on things such as flowers, fruit,
and small insects rather than brain tissue. Folklore is responsible, though,
for the insect's name, which was formed in Old English from eare, the Old
English source of our word ear, and wicga, "insect," a word presumably
related to our word wiggle.
"Suppose he was to do all this, and besides to blow upon a plant we've
all been in, more or less- of his own fancy; not grabbed, trapped, tried,
earwigged by the parson and brought to it on bread and water,- but of his
own fancy..."
Dickens, Charles, Oliver Twist, 1850.
3. Current Events
Barnes & Noble Settles Obscenity Charges
7.49 a.m. ET (1149 GMT) May 19, 1998
FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Books with nude photographs of children will be kept
where kids can't get to them under an agreement between the Barnes & Noble
bookstore chain and a local prosecutor.
The deal settles obscenity charges in Williamson County Criminal Court
stemming from the display of three books at a Barnes & Noble store in
Brentwood. If the store complies for a year, the charges will be dropped.
"We retired the case, and they agree to comply with the display statute which
has to do with material that may be harmful to children,'' prosecutor Joe Baugh
said Monday. "All they have to do is keep those books at least 5 1/2 feet
above the floor.''
The books that led to the charges are "The Last Day of Summer'' and "Radiant
Identities,'' both by photographer Jock Sturges, and "The Age of Innocence''
by photographer David Hamilton.
The cover of "Radiant Identities'' features a young girl, naked from the waist
up, while the cover of "The Age of Innocence'' shows a girl's face. The books
contain nude photos of children and adults.
The books have sparked nationwide controversy, with protests in Kansas and
New Hampshire last fall. Two grand juries in Alabama have indicted Barnes &
Noble, accusing the nation's largest bookseller of breaking child pornography
laws.
Under Tennessee's obscenity law, materials considered harmful to minors must
be placed in racks above the reach of children or with wrapping that covers
questionable images. Violating the law is a misdemeanor.
The Brentwood store was indicted last November after a customer complained
to prosecutors that the books were displayed in easy reach of children.
4. Humor
A little boy, wearing a big red fire hat, was riding a toy fire truck
down the street. The truck was being pulled by a beautiful Labrador
Retriever. Unfortunately, the rope was tied around the dog's privates,
and as a consequence, the truck was going very slowly. A man walking down
the street noticed how slowly the boy was being pulled and gently said to
him, "You know, son, that truck would go a lot faster if the rope was
tied around your dog's neck." The boy nodded in agreement and said, "But
then there wouldn't be a siren."
Table of Contents
inter alia
20 May 1998
In Today's Issue
1. This Day in History . . .20 May
2. A Word A Day
3. Current Events -- Theft in Rome
4. Quote of the Day
1. This Day in History . . . 20 May
The Homestead Act went into effect on May 20, 1862. It provided settlers
with farms of 160 acres of surveyed public land after five years of continuous
residence and payment of a filing fee, or $1.25 an acre fee after six months'
residence.
By 1900, homesteaders had filed 600,000 claims for 80 million acres. Most of
these homesteaders were experienced farm families from nearby states or
from Europe.
2. Word of the Day
lucre (LOOK-uhr) noun
Money or profits.
[Middle English, from Latin lucrum.]
WORD HISTORY: When William Tyndale translated aiskhron kerdos, "shameful
gain" (Titus 1:11), as filthy lucre in his edition of the Bible, he was
tarring the word lucre for the rest of its existence. But we cannot lay the
pejorative sense of lucre completely at Tyndale's door. He was merely a link,
albeit a strong one, in a process that had begun long before with respect to
the ancestor of our word, the Latin word lucrum, "material gain, profit."
This process was probably controlled by the inevitable conjunction of profit,
especially monetary profit, with evils such as greed. In Latin lucrum also
meant "avarice," and in Middle English lucre, besides meaning "monetary gain,
profit," meant "illicit gain." Furthermore, many of the contexts in which the
neutral sense of the word appeared were not that neutral, as in "It is a
wofull thyng ... ffor lucre of goode ... A man to fals his othe [it is a sad
thing for a man to betray his oath for monetary gain]." Tyndale thus merely
helped the process along when he gave us the phrase filthy lucre.
"Lucre is not of overriding importance, Merchant claims, though he is
known in the industry as a shrewd businessman."
Pia Ganguly, Celluloid Merchant: A candid conversation with Ismail
Merchant, India Currents, 31 May 1994.
3. Current Events -- Theft in Rome
Two Van Goghs and a Cezanne stolen from Rome
museum
7.47 a.m. ET (1148 GMT) May 20, 1998
ROME (AP) — Masked bandits made off with three of the National Gallery of
Modern Art's most important works: two paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and
another by Paul Cezanne.
Although no estimate of the paintings' value was given, works by the two modern
masters command prices in the millions. Museum curator Bianca Pinto said today
that the paintings would be almost impossible to sell because of their fame.
Three robbers, armed with pistols, apparently mingled with visitors, then stayed
behind when the museum closed at 10 p.m. Tuesday. They forced the unarmed
three night guards to disable the alarm system, then locked them in a bathroom.
Along with the paintings, the ski-masked bandits took the video cassette from the
closed-circuit surveillance system, the ANSA news agency said.
Pinto told state radio that the robbery took place about two hours after closing time.
Police were alerted when someone noticed the museum's door was open.
Pinto said the thieves might be filling an order from a secretive private collector or
perhaps they planned to make a ransom demand.
The Cezanne is one of the modern master's last works, painted in 1906, the year of
his death. Although unfinished, "Cabanon de Jourdan'' has immense historical
importance, the ANSA news agency said.
The two paintings by Van Gogh — "The Gardener'' and "L'Arlesienne'' — are also
late works, ANSA said. Van Gogh painted L'Arlesienne in early 1890, the year of
his suicide; the painting was exhibited in the historic Van Gogh retrospective in
Amsterdam in 1990.
He painted "The Gardener'' the year before he died, while he was a patient at an
asylum in St. Remy, France.
The National Gallery of Modern Art is in central Rome on the edge of the Villa
Borghese, a large centrally located park that is the site of several museums.
4. Quote of the Day
"Teaching a child not to step
on a caterpillar is as valuable
to the child as it is to the
caterpillar. " --Bradley Millar
Table of Contents
inter alia
21 May 1998
In Today's Issue
1. HotSites
2. A Word A Day
1. HotSites
Ocean Planet
The Smithsonian Institution's "Ocean Planet" exhibit
admirably tries to make the leap and lands, if not
with a splash, at least on reasonably solid ground.
The online exhibition contains all the text and most
of the panel designs and images found in the travelling
exhibition (currently ensconced at the Chicago Museum of
Science and Industry). Navigation is a bit obscure at first,
but once inside exhibition halls, it's quickly apparent that
text lists of exhibit subjects are the route to follow. While
Ocean Planet online necessarily lacks the intimacy and immediacy
of the real thing, it makes up for that shortcoming with sometimes
huge quantities of links to sites for more expansive information on
specific subjects. If you can't get to Oceans in Chicago, this is
obviously the next best thing.
http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ocean_planet.html
Mangroves and coral reefs
Mangroves and coral reefs worldwide are rapidly being destroyed.
Some scientists estimate that this winter's El Nino alone will
result in a 10-20% coral reef die-off. This site describes a
well funded three-year study by the IBM International
Foundation and the Australian Institute of Marine
Science. The study is aimed at finding ways to
better manage and protect these econiches.
In addition to thorough scientific
reports and links to related resources,
you can view some dynamite .mpgs, such as
fish larvae plume simulation at Bowden Reef.
(They're in a nonstandard format, but the site
provides pertinent technical instructions and links.)
http://ibm590.aims.gov.au/
Where's the ring?
Every now and again the rings of Saturn simply
appear to disappear during periods dubbed "ring
plane crossings". The last of these occurred in 1995
and 1996 when Saturn's rings were seen edge-on from
the Earth's perspective on three occasions. Ring
plane crossings offer astronomers unique observation
opportunities as the glare from the rings drops and faint
objects near the planet are far easier to see; 13 of
Saturn's moons have been discovered during these
events. For a gallery of images from the 1995-96
crossings, plus a trove of information and images
on Saturn, visit the Saturn Ring Plane Crossings
page at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. The links are
extensive, some of the images stunning, and the
information solid. Be warned that there's an odd
mix of verb tenses here - some text written in
anticipation of the event, some in review of
the event. Still, given that you'll have to
wait until 2038 for the next triple ring crossing,
that's hardly a reason for not stopping by.
http://newproducts.jpl.nasa.gov/saturn/
2. Word of the Day
kaput also kaputt (ka-put, -poot, kah-) adjective
1. Having been destroyed; wrecked.
2. Having been incapacitated.
[German kaputt, from French capot, not having won a single trick at piquet.]
WORD HISTORY: The games people play can become deadly serious, as exemplified
by the word kaput. Our word is an adoption of the German word kaputt, whose
senses are similar to those of the English word. German in turn borrowed this
word from the French gaming tables, where capot as an adjective meant "not
having won a single trick at piquet." Devastating as this might be to a
piquet player, it would surprise kibitzers to see how widely the word's range
of meaning has been extended in German and English, in which it is first
recorded in 1895. For example, one's car can be kaput and so can oneself. As
for the ultimate source of French capot we cannot be certain, but it seems to
go back to a modern Provencal word, of which the first element is cap,
"head.".
"But flying to Mars has proved particularly hazardous. A total of five
missions to the planet have gone kaput since the space age began."
Blazing a trail to Mars. The Economist, 9 Nov 1996.
Table of Contents
inter alia
26 May 1998
In Today's Issue
1. HotSites
2. A Word A Day
3. On This Day . . . 26May
1. HotSites
ScienceNet
You may have thought that only presidents, billionaires, and 007's megalomaniacal dversaries had access to a staff of, say, 11 scientists and over a 1000 volunteers eager to research and answer any imaginable question. Now that power is within your grasp! ScienceNet is an organization with such resources, ready to respond to your questions - provided that they fall within the general areas of archeology, paleontology, biology, medicine, chemistry, engineering, technology, environmental science, geography, earth science, mathematics, computer science, physics, astronomy, social science, or psychology. You may also query or browse over 5500 on-line documents that answer questions already asked. Answers are geared to the education level of the inquirer, so you needn't fear embarrassment. Articles, interviews, and radio programs are also provided for your perusal. So was that, "add water to acid" or "add acid to water"? Don't take a chance! Ask the experts!
http://www.campus.bt.com/CampusWorld/pub/ScienceNet/first.html
2. A Word A Day
ombudsman (OM-budz-man, -buhdz-, -boodz-) noun
1. A man who investigates complaints, reports findings, and mediates fair
settlements, especially between aggrieved parties such as consumers or
students and an institution, an organization, or a company.
2. A government official, especially in Scandinavian countries, who
investigates citizens' complaints against the government or its
functionaries.
[Swedish, from Old Norse umbodhsmadhr, deputy, plenipotentiary : umbodh,
commission : um, about; + bodh, command. + madhr, man.]
WORD HISTORY: The word ombudsman looks as if its constituents would be
familiar, judging from the element man, but it is difficult to think of what
ombuds could mean. Ombudsman is from Swedish, a Germanic language in the same
family as English, and man in Swedish corresponds to our word man. Ombud
means "commissioner, agent," coming from Old Norse umbodh, "charge,
commission, administration by a delegacy," umbodh being made up of um,
"regarding," and bodh, "command." In Old Norse an umbodhsmadhr was a "trusty
manager, commissary." In Swedish an ombudsman was a deputy who looked after
the interests and legal affairs of a group such as a trade union or business.
In 1809 the office of riksdagens justitieombudsman was created to act as an
agent of justice, that is, to see after the interests of justice in affairs
between the government and its citizens. This office of ombudsman and the
word ombudsman have been adopted elsewhere, as in individual states in the
United States. The term has also been expanded in sense to include people who
perform the same function for business corporations or newspapers.
"Seventh, although many viewers are passive and reluctant to formally
express their dissatisfaction with TV programs, there is a need to
strengthen the ombudsman system which enables viewers to convey their
dissatisfaction with programs to the broadcasting companies or to the
Korean Broadcasting Commission."
Lee, Choon-ah, Women's Reception of Mass Media: Attitudinal and
Behavioral Characteristics, Women's Studies Forum, 1 Jan 1996.
3. On This Day . . . 26May
Birthdates which occurred on May 26:
1877 Isadora Duncan SF, free form/interpretative dancer
1886 Al Jolson jazz singer/silent film actor (Mamie, Swanee)
1907 John Wayne "Duke", [Marion Michael Morrison] actor (True Grit)
1910 Laurance S Rockefeller CEO (Chase Manhattan Bank)
1920 Peggy Lee Jamestown ND, singer (Is That All There Is?)
1923 James Arness actor (Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke, The Thing)
1926 Miles Davis Alton Ill, jazz artist (cool jazz)
1946 Stevie Nicks Phoenix Az, rocker (Fleetwood Mac-Bella Donna)
1949 Hank Williams Jr country singer (Honky Tonk)
1951 Sally Kristen Ride LA Calif, 1st US woman astronaut (STS-7, STS 41G)
On this day...
1864 Territory of Montana organized
1868 President Andrew Johnson avoids impeachment by 1 vote
1876 HMS Challenger returns from 128,000-km oceanographic exploration
1896 Dow Jones Industrial Average adopted
1896 Last Czar of Russia, Nicholas II, crowned
1937 San Francisco Bay's Golden Gate Bridge opens
1946 Patent filed in US for H-Bomb
1969 Apollo 10 returns to Earth
WORLDWIDE HISTORIC DATES & EVENTS
brought to you DAILY by: Scope Systems
Table of Contents
inter alia
27 May 1998
In Today's Issue
1. HotSites
2. A Word A Day
3. Weird Fact of the Day
1. HotSites
Excellent legal resources:
http://www.llrx.com/
http://njlawnet.com/w3lawyer/
http://www.legal.gsa.gov/
http://www.netlawlibrary.com/
2. A Word A Day
iconoclast (eye-KON-uh-klast) noun
1. One who attacks and seeks to overthrow traditional or popular ideas or
institutions.
2. One who destroys sacred religious images.
[French iconoclaste, from Medieval Greek eikonoklastes, smasher of religious
images : Greek eikono-, icono- + -klastes, breaker (from Greek klan, klas-,
to break).]
WORD HISTORY: An iconoclast can be unpleasant company, but at least the
modern iconoclast only attacks such things as ideas and institutions. The
original iconoclasts destroyed countless works of art. Eikonoklastes, the
ancestor of our word, was first formed in Medieval Greek from the elements
eikon, "image, likeness," and -klastes, "breaker," from klan, "to break." The
images referred to by the word are religious images, which were the subject
of controversy among Christians of the Byzantine Empire in the 8th and 9th
centuries, when iconoclasm was at its height. Those who opposed images did
not, of course, simply destroy them, although many were demolished; they
also attempted to have the images barred from display and veneration. During
the Protestant Reformation images in churches were again felt to be
idolatrous and were once more banned and destroyed. It is around this time
that iconoclast, the descendant of the Greek word, is first recorded in
English (1641), with reference to the Greek iconoclasts. In the 19th century
iconoclast took on the secular sense that it has today, as in "Kant was the
great iconoclast" (James Martineau).
"Years later, Annie's train ride transports her to London, where Hannah
the abrasive iconoclast has become Hannah the reluctant executive,
complete with power wardrobe and nifty little flat."
Marin, Rick, Bandwagon.(movie reviews), Harper's Bazaar, 1 Sep 1997.
3. Weird Fact of the Day
In terms of resources used and pollution
contributed in a lifetime, one citizen of the
United States is the equivalent of about
eighty citizens of India.
Table of Contents
inter alia
28 May 1998
In Today's Issue
1. HotSites
2. A Word A Day
3. Cool Fact of the Day
1. HotSites
'Tis the season (1 June through 30 November):
Everything cyclonic:
http://www.taifun.org/atlantic.html
---
The latest hurricane news and information with
constant special reports including our Florida
Focus reports. We feature real-time info with
reference and a channel.
http://hurricanes.hypermart.net/index.htm
Stan's Weather and Hurricane Page:
--The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.
--Latest Hurricane Warnings from the National Weather Service
http://www.intrepidsoftware.com/weather.html
---
More:
http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jnese/chap11_2.htm
<
2. A Word A Day
typhoon (tye-FOON) noun
A tropical cyclone occurring in the western Pacific or Indian oceans.
[Probably alteration of Chinese (Cantonese) toi fung : Mandarin tai, great +
Mandarin feng, wind.]
i
WORD HISTORY: Perhaps few words better illustrate the polyglot background of
English than typhoon, with its Chinese, Arabic, East Indian, and Greek
background. The Greek word typhon, both the name of the father of the winds
and a common noun meaning "whirlwind, typhoon," was borrowed into Arabic (as
was many a Greek word during the Middle Ages, when Arabic learning both
preserved the classical heritage and expanded upon it, passing it on to
Europe). Tufan, the Arabic version of the Greek word, passed into languages
spoken in India, where Arabic-speaking Muslim invaders had settled in the
11th century. Thus the descendant of the Arabic word, passing into English
(first recorded in 1588) through an Indian language and appearing in English
in forms such as touffon and tufan, originally referred specifically to a
severe storm in India. China, another great empire, gave us yet another word
for a storm, in this case the hurricane that occurred in the waters around
China. This Chinese word in its Cantonese form, toi fung, was similar to our
Arabic borrowing and is first recorded in English guise as tuffoon in 1699.
The various forms coalesced and finally became typhoon.
"Research has shown that one way to make peers feel inferior is to deny
them the opportunity to have their say. Which is why getting trapped by a
talking typhoon can leave you feeling defeated and dominated."
Thomas, Rochell Denise, Putting the brakes on a motormouth: listen up
carefully to these tips on how to avoid being oratorically mugged!,
Cosmopolitan, 1 Dec 1996.
3. Cool Fact of the Day
Stolen Stingers
Colorful shell-less saltwater mollusks called Aeolid nudibranchs arm
themselves with stinging cells stolen from the hydroids they eat!
When an Aeolid nudibranch eats a hydroid (a small polyp
something like a sea anemone), its digestive system carefully
separates the living sting cells from the hydroid and delivers them
into dozens of soft tentacles that project from the nudibranch's
back.
Predators who try to eat the nudibranch are rewarded with a sharp
sting!
Visit the following pages to see pictures of Aeolid nudibranches and
learn more:
http://home.mem.net/~zipper/index.html
http://www.cybereef.com/Archives/Pages/Info%20Pages/aeolid.htm
Table of Contents
inter alia
29 May 1998
In Today's Issue
1. HotSites
2. Quote of the Day -- Treaty with the Cherokee 1792
3. Cool Fact of the Day
1. HotSites
Avalon Project, from Yale University
Full-text digital documents in the fields of law,
history, economics, politics,diplomacy and government
arranged chronologically with browsable author/title index.
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm
2. Quote of the Day
Excerpt from Treaty with the Cerokee Nation in 1792 (from Avalon Project)
A Treaty of Peace and Friendship made and concluded
between the President of the United States of
America, on the Part and Behalf of the said States,
and the undersigned Chiefs and Warriors, of the
Cherokee Nation of Indians, on the part and Behalf
of the said Nation.
* * *
ARTICLE VI.
It is agreed on the part of the Cherokees,
that the United States shall have the sole
and exclusive right of regulating their trade.
ARTICLE VII.
The United States solemnly guarantee to the
Cherokee nation, all their lands not hereby ceded.
ARTICLE VIII.
If any citizen of the United States, or other
person not being an Indian, shall settle on any
of the Cherokees' lands, such person shall forfeit
the protection of the United States, and the Cherokees
may punish him or not, as they please.
ARTICLE IX.
No citizen or inhabitant of the United States, shall
attempt to hunt or destroy the game on the lands of the
Cherokees; nor shall any citizen or inhabitant go into
the Cherokee country, without a passport first obtained from the
Governor of some one of the United States, or territorial
districts, or such other person as the President of the United
States may from time to time authorize to grant the same.
ARTICLE X.
If any Cherokee Indian or Indians, or person
residing among them, or who shall take refuge
in their nation, shall steal a horse from, or
commit a robbery or murder, or other capital crime,
on any citizens or inhabitants of the United States,
the Cherokee nation shall be bound to deliver him or
them up, to be punished according to the laws of the
United States.
* * * *
(excerpt of signatories)
Kanetetoka, or Standing Turkey, his x mark.
Yonewatleh, or Bear at Home, his x mark,
Long Will, his x mark
Kunoskeskie, or John Watts, his x mark,
Nenetooyah, or Bloody Fellow, his x mark,
Chuquilatague, or Double Head his x mark,
Koolaquah, or Big Acorn, his x mark
3. A Word A Day
sarcophagus (sar-KOF-uh-guhs) noun
A stone coffin, often inscribed or decorated with sculpture.
[Latin, from Greek sarkophagos, coffin, from (lithos) sarkophagos, limestone
that consumed the flesh of corpses laid in it : sarx, sark-, flesh + -phagos,
-phagous.]
WORD HISTORY: A gruesome name befits a gruesome thing, as in the case of
sarcophagus, our term for a stone coffin, often a decorated one, that is
located above ground. The word comes to us from Latin and Greek, having been
derived in Greek from sarx, "flesh," and phagein, "to eat." The Greek word
sarkophagos meant "eating flesh," and in the phrase lithos ("stone")
sarcophagos denoted a limestone that was thought to decompose the flesh of
corpses placed in it. The Greek term used by itself as a noun then came to
mean "coffin." The term was carried over into Latin, where sarcophagus was
used in the phrase lapis ("stone") sarcophagus, referring to the same stone
as in Greek. Sarcophagus used as a noun in Latin meant "coffin of any
material." This Latin word was borrowed into English, first being recorded
in 1601 with reference to the flesh-consuming stone and then in 1705 with
reference to a stone coffin.
"There are wonderful paintings ... and important archaeological finds
including the alabaster sarcophagus of an Egyptian pharaoh ... and a
pilaster capital from the Pantheon in Rome."
Filler, Martin, Soane and the stars. House Beautiful, 1 Jun 1996.
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