Number
201
Jan wrote that she met a delightful Muslim family on a trip to Egypt, but she also told this story about a tour guide she called "the little pharaoh":
He took us to a Coptic
Christian Church being restored by the government and told us in a rather
persnickety tone we could hang out for a while and make our "wishes"
if we liked. I couldn't resist asking
him if the chanting I heard on the P.A. system over the city, three times a
day, was a call to "wishes."
Jan thinks fast on her feet. There's a big difference between a wish and a prayer.
By the way, you know I'm thinking of "on a wing and a prayer," explained in World Wide Words.
Priscilla Dunstan says that babies everywhere from birth to three months have the same language, or sound reflexes, in their cries. She has identified five specific sounds to help frustrated parents know what to do with them:
Neh = "I'm hungry"
Owh = "I'm sleepy"
Heh = "I'm experiencing discomfort"
Eair = "I have lower gas"
Eh = "I need to burp"
You can buy DVDs and learn the baby sounds, and listen to them on Oprah, where moms seemed to find this an accurate interpretation of baby sounds.
Memritv.org is a web site that carries hundreds of clips and transcripts from Middle East television, with translation, organized by subject:
Antisemitism / Arab-Israeli Conflict / Conspiracy Theories / Jihad and Terrorism / Reform in the Middle East / Islamic Leaders / Suicide (Martyrdom) Operations / U.S. and the Middle East / Christianity and the West / Women / Europe and the Middle East / Education and Cultural Issues / Minorities in the Middle East / Iran's Nuclear Program / Hizbullah / Al-Qaeda / Holocaust Denial / Hamas / 9/11 / Israel-Hizbullah War 2006
Here's a quote from a discussion of female genital amputation, sometimes called female circumcision, or female genital cutting by people who don't want to imply any criticism of a different culture (it's not bad, it's just different): "Reality is a mistake, we must rectify it." ~ says Dr. Muhammad Wahdan ~ the reality being that some girls don't want this operation (unlike the girls who want it, I suppose, and the good wives who want their husbands to beat them ~ that's in another one of the clips). A tough, angry little woman doctor was arguing with him, and the young female host wasn't too pleased either. In another clip, a man argued that polygamy was necessary because there are more women than men; the alternative would be for women to become "public property" and there is no third way. I can think of several other ways, and in fact have thought of them.
By the way, the U.S. is short on translators of Arabic. The native speakers, even if they are Americans, are sometimes, shall we say, unreliable. And the government stupidly dismissed some American linguists because they are gay.
By the way again, Elton John said religion should be banned because so often it's opposed to homosexuality, though he acknowledged it's never actually interfered with his pursuit of happiness. Perhaps all organized government and military forces should be banned too, but who would ban them? Some other organization. Organized gays maybe. Which would be an organized government.
By the third way, did you know in Turkey it's a crime to insult Turks as Turks? Of course there are governments and religions that outlaw criticism of themselves. Why not simplify things and make it illegal to insult anyone or anything? Of course that would pretty much destroy the American way of life.
And by a fourth way, Michael Richards, formerly Kramer of Seinfeld, put several feet in his mouth when he got heckled doing stand-up comedy. He used the n-word to some black hecklers. Someone on radio says he ought to pay out money as compensation for hurt feelings. Priceless.
Ever heard of psephology? It's the study of political elections, from the Greek word for pebble. They used pebbles to vote.
Someone on TV said, "But do not dismay!" It should have been, "Do not be dismayed." Dismay is a transitive verb, that is, the action must go to an object: something dismays someone. You can say, "Do not despair." Maybe that's what the TV person was thinking, but despair seemed to heavy or serious for a problem in making quilts.
APACHE
Bob O. noted that "another use of 'Apache' is in the Apache Software Foundation." The Apache web site FAQ says:
The name 'Apache' was chosen from respect for the Native American Indian tribe of Apache (Indé), well-known for their superior skills in warfare strategy and their inexhaustible endurance.
Mike Sykes wrote about "musical chops":
Of course! My dictionary
has *chop* as a variant of *chap*, one of whose meanings is "Either side
of the external jaw, a cheek. Usu. in /pl/".
FOOD INSECURITY
"Food insecurity"
could mean anything, but according to an editorial in the Columbus
Dispatch, this is what the Agriculture Department is now calling
hunger. The Dispatch says it's dehumanizing. I think it's stupid. Hunger is
physical, if unmeasurable, but insecurity is psychological. You can have plenty
of food and money and still be "insecure". People with food, fat, and
diet "issues" are insecure. This reminds me of a ditzy psychology
professor I had in college who told us that it's not "scientific" to
say an animal in a Pavlovian-type experiment responds to hunger; we don't know
the animal is hungry since that's a subjective experience.
...again. George Washington and Congress established the first Thanksgiving on November 26, 1789,
...to recommend to the
people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be
observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of
Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to
establish a form of government for their safety and happiness. Now therefore I
do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by
the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who
is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be ~
That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks
~ for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to
their becoming a Nation ~ for the signal and manifold mercies, and the
favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the
tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed ~ for the
peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish
constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the
national One now lately instituted ~ for the civil and religious liberty with
which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful
knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath
been pleased to confer upon us.
(signed)
G. Washington, The Massachusetts Sentinel, Wednesday, October 14, 1789
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