DUELING APHORISMS

Dave DaBee sent another pair of dueling aphorisms (his term):

Strike while the iron is hot

BUT

haste makes waste.

And he wrote a little verse about the concept ~ as yet unfinished:

I was thinking of the lessons

taught to me by mother dear,

those simple wee reminders

that assist us year by year. ...

....

But then I thought "Oh my!"

because I realized at once

my mother also gave me

more reminders NOT to ..... [sorry, the rhymer ran out]

Very promising. Keep working on it, Dave.

DISCUSSION NEVER OVER

Who would have thought that the link Herb H. sent would stir up so much excitement? I've heard from several people who never write to PO.

Harry H. sent a link to "Al Gore's AlGorithms Sparking Junk Science Revival" by an old friend of his named Joe Clarke. I thought "AlGorithms" was clever.

Mike Sykes sent a link to an article by James Randi, Mea Somewhat Culpa, which says he's ready to look at varied sources of information and opinion about global warming, after being wildly enthusiastic about the Gore film. Worth reading.

The key issues for PO are rhetoric and the freedom to continue a discussion, no matter who turns out to be correct. According to Walter E. Williams, Timothy Ball, a former climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg, received five death threats since he started questioning the popular global warming theory. Heidi Cullen, climatologist of the Weather Channel, says that broadcast meteorologists should lose professional certification if they disagree with the theory of man-made global warming. The government blog linked here at her name is worth reading. She also interviewed someone who thinks that there should be Nuremberg-type trials for people who disagree on any points of the popular theory.

This extreme emotionalism is appropriate to people who think they are facing death, but my opinion is that the anger and fear are displaced. If you really think human carbon emission is the culprit, you don't buy "carbon credits", you stop bailing water into the lifeboat. So it's hard for me to think that some people really believe what they say they believe.

Who was it who said "the discussion is over" about global warming? I don't think that's a scientific attitude. Anyway, few to no discussions are ever over for me.

AMERICANISMS

Go here for a list called Americanisms, little jokes that incorporate names of states or cities. One is the "full Cleveland", which is a man's outfit that includes a white belt and white shoes with a polyester double-knit suit of the kind popular 20 or 30 years ago. (There's also a very short list of Canadianisms.) Cleveland detective novelist Les Roberts wrote a book called The Full Cleveland, which is set in Cleveland. I like Roberts' books, and if you like detective novels you will too.

BIG DEAD PLACE

Nicholas Johnson wrote a book called Big Dead Place (with Eirik Sonneland) about his year working in the Antarctic. Johnson always takes unusual jobs because he says if he can't come home after a day's work with a good story to tell to his mom or his friends, he doesn't stick with the job. (That's kind of my view on work too. Perhaps a good story is mostly in the eye or ear of the observer, though, rather than in the job.) His web site lists nicknames the workers have given to machines, although he says the NSF recently banned the Antarctic tradition of naming vehicles. Why? To prevent excessive emotional attachments and fraternizing with machines? (It's not clear if the machine names Johnson lists are vehicular machines.)

DAKOTA

The Phraselator P2, a translating device developed by Foxtec International for use by the US military, is also being used to preserve the Dakota language, which is known by only a few remaining members of the Mdewakanton Sioux tribe in Minnesota. It costs $3,300 so you probably aren't going to pick one up at Radio Shack. An article in the March 29, 2007 USA Today says some translations aren't so easy, even with the gadget. For example, "the University of Minnesota" becomes "in this land they now call Minnesota, there's a place for higher learning". And even the word "student" is complicated, because the Dakota language might render it as "boys and girls that are attending school" or "that person seeking knowledge", but you need to know the gender and the number of students, and what they are learning, in order to say "student". Dakota was written down by missionaries in the 1840s, and has no profanities or insults. See the USA Today link for sound clips of some phrases.

WHAT'S IN A NAME, ANYWAY?

I like to compare movie remakes with the original, and the other day watched a 1973 version of the 1944 film noir classic Double Indemnity. The script was almost identical to the original, but for some reason the name of a secondary character, Nino Zachette, was changed, I think to Donald Franklin or some similarly Anglo name. Why? Zachette was an unpleasant character but not a criminal, unlike the protagonists, so no defamation was involved, and in fact The Godfather had already come out in 1972.

EASTER GREETINGS

I just learned that the name "Israel" means "wrestling with God". You know the joke, if there are two Jews in a room, there are three opinions; I admire the way they argue things out to a fine point. "Islam" means "submission" ~ to God, but apparently that's just for starters. Well, I'm not the only person I know who digs in her heels at the "submit" button on a web page, let alone at the idea of sharia law. "Buddhism" comes from the Buddha which comes from budh, meaning to know, thus enlightenment. "Christianity" is of course named for the person Jesus (the) Christ; "Christ" comes from Greek, meaning anointed, from which also comes "charisma". I used to think the word "Christ" might be related to "Krishna" but that word comes from the Sanskrit for "black"; why, I don't know, since Krishna is often depicted in art with blue skin.

THIS WEEK IN FREE SPEECH

As you know, the six flying imams are suing the airline that put them off the plane after passengers reported their suspicious behavior to the pilot. They also wanted to sue the passengers and the pilots. New York Rep. Peter T. King proposed a bill to protect anyone who reports suspected terrorist activity, analogous to whistle-blower protections. The bill passed 304-121.

EDUCATION FRONT

And I do mean front. The latest is that in Britain, teachers are not teaching about the Holocaust because it would conflict with what Muslim students are learning in their Islamic schools, namely, that it didn't happen. They're also not teaching about the Crusades, for fear of offending. I'm not sure if this is state educational policy or just a decision on the part of some intimidated schools or teachers. On the other hand, a Burlington, New Jersey school staged a mock hostage crisis, with local police, casting a fictitious group called the "New Crusaders" ~ i.e. Christians ~ as the terrorists. How useful is this for citizen preparedness and threat identification?

ON-BOARDING

It's no longer enough for companies to train new employees, or to give them an orientation. Now they are on-boarding them.

VERMONT

I heard somebody from Kentucky say VER-mont instead of Ver-MONT. I've heard names such as Fremont and Tremont pronounced with the stress on the first syllable; I suppose there's no particular reason we ended up with Ver-MONT.

______________________________________________

HUR HERALD

Parvum Opus is now being carried by the Hur Herald, a web newspaper from Calhoun County, West Virginia. See Editor Bob Weaver's interview with me (February 10, 2007 entry), and the PO every week in Columns.

NEW! SHORT ORDER

Short Order is a new series of my short stories in 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" booklet format. The first two are available now for $5 each (includes mailing).

/// In Carl Kriegbaum Sleeps with the Corn, a young computer guy who dreams of becoming a big-time gambler sets up web sites for his role model, a real big-time gambler, Stockyard Stan of Kansas City. But when Carl comes up short on his gambling debts, he finds himself wearing concrete boots in the middle of a Kansas cornfield. 26 pages.

/// Still Ridge is about what happens when the old-time moonshine business meets up with a predatory modern bottled water corporation. How far will Kate, a newcomer to the mountains, go to protect the water supply? 22 pages.

THIS IS REALLY NEW! For women who get massage or chiropractic treatment, who sleep on their stomachs, or have implants, try Rhonda's original Breast Cushion to take the pressure off. Go to www.keithops.us/cushion.

WHEN SONNY GETS BLUE! Check out the video clips of Sonny Robertson and the Howard Street Blues Band at www.sonnyrobertson.com and www.youtube.com/rondaria, with his new original song, "A Different Shade of Blue".

Check out the new "Someone went to Heaven and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" shirts in the Parvum Opus CafePress shop, plus a new Parvum Opus mouse pad! Now you can buy neat products with the Parvum Opus / KeithOps Catti logo at CafePress.com/parvumopus.

SEARCH IT OUT ON AMAZON : It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25:2

The poet Muriel Rukeyser said the universe is not composed of atoms, but stories. The physicist Werner Heisenberg said the universe is not made of matter, but music.

NEED SOMEONE TO ORGANIZE A MEETING OR CONFERENCE? CALL KEITHOPS.

Go to Babelfish to translate this page into Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, or Spanish!

Parvum Opus is a publication of KeithOps / Opus Publishing Services. Back issues may be found at http://www.keithops.us/. Feel free to e-mail me with comments or queries. The PO mailing list is private, never given or sold to anyone else. If you don't want to receive Parvum Opus, please reply with "unsubscribe," "quit," "enough," or something like that in the subject line, and I'll take you off the mailing list. Copyright Rhonda Keith 2007. Parvum Opus or part of it may be reproduced only with permission, but you may forward the entire newsletter as long as the copyright remains.