Archive for January 5th, 2012
Matt Taibbi on Iowa
Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi doesn’t see real democracy unfolding in Iowa:
In the wake of the Tea Party, the Occupy movement, and a dozen or more episodes of real rebellion on the streets, in the legislatures of cities and towns, and in state and federal courthouses, this presidential race now feels like a banal bureaucratic sideshow to the real event – the real event being a looming confrontation between huge masses of disaffected citizens on both sides of the aisle, and a corrupt and increasingly ideologically bankrupt political establishment, represented in large part by the two parties dominating this race. Let’s put it this way. What feels more like a real news story – Newt Gingrich calling Mitt Romney a liar for the ten millionth time, or this sizzling item that just hit the wires by way of the Montana Supreme Court.
Taibbi points to an astonishing statistic brought to the public attention by Dylan Ratigan: “94% of the time the candidate who raises the most money wins. That’s not a democracy. That’s an auction.”
In a double-blind test, a classic Stradivarius violin doesn’t stand out
Clever experimenters challenged violinists to use their ears only to pick out the best sounding violins. The classic old million-dollar violins did not impress the musicians; many of them preferred brand new high quality violins and disparaged the million-dollar instruments.
I’d've never believed it if I hadn’t've seen them: double contractions
I never gave it much thought, but there is such a thing as a double-contraction in English. There are many of them.
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