A Deeper Disparity Remains

1
Catacombe dei Cappuccini / Catacombs of the Capuchins

I heard about this on Brian Dunning's Skeptoid. The Catacombs of the Capuchins are burial catacombs in Palermo, Sicily. The catacombs were closed in 1880 and are now home to 8,000 mummies (and a lot of tourists).

Included among the residents is this little girl, Rosalia Lombardo. She died of pneumonia on December 6, 1920 but looks like she is only sleeping.

Learn more about Catacombs of the Capuchins here (Wikipedia) >
Google Images >

Mark Twain wrote about the Catacombs of the Capuchins at the beginning of Chapter XXVIII of Innocent's Abroad:

There were shapely arches, built wholly of thigh bones; there were startling pyramids, built wholly of grinning skulls; there were quaint architectural structures of various kinds, built of shin bones and the bones of the arm; on the wall were elaborate frescoes, whose curving vines were made of knotted human vertebrae; whose delicate tendrils were made of sinews and tendons; whose flowers were formed of knee-caps and toe-nails. Chapter XXVIII starts here >

[2012-08-16]

2
Do you hear what I hear?

I'm hearing a lot more basic grammar and usage errors in reality TV programming; not from participants who are speaking "unrehearsed" dialog, but from the host who's narrating from a script or teleprompter, which means it's been written and peer reviewed and approved for recording.

And it's not your run-of-the-mill split infinitive or number agreement that is acceptable in conversational English. It's the kind of thing most native English speakers would immediately recognize as errors. They're mistakes.

Sadly, fewer and fewer people are hearing them.

[2012-08-11]

3
A Deeper Disparity Remains

In light of the upcoming elections: Enormously wealthy people that make decisions that affect the poor and the middle class usually believe they are making decisions in the best interest of the poor and middle class. But they have no way of knowing that. You might as well ask a child what it feels like to be an adult, or a man to be a woman, or a cat a dog.

Related: August 8, 2012: Augusta National, home of Masters, admits first 2 women members: Condoleezza Rice and banking executive Darla Moore >

This is not a victory for all women. It's a victory for wealthy and powerful women, and good for them, but a deeper disparity remains.

[2012-08-13]

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