John J. O’Connor III has died. His ill health prompted Sandra Day O’Connor to retire from the Supreme Court. Is there some name to pin down on the “first husband” of a Supreme Court Justice? The following New York Times article had only two errors! –Barry Popik LiNK: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/us/12oconnor.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries John J. O’Connor III, Husband of Former Justice, Is Dead at 79 John J. O’Connor III, | Read More »
I got all worked up (see previous diary entry) about Glenn Beck quoting George Washington on “the battlefield of ideas,” but I had missed the very beginning of his show. I caught it on the late-night repeat. Sure enough, there was ANOTHER “George Washington” quote, written on the blackboard for emphasis. It also appears to be bogus: “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force! Like | Read More »
Glenn Beck’s back, but could someone get him to stop misquoting George Washington? I’m a contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary, the Historical Dictionary of American Slang, the Dictionary of American Regional English, the Oxford Dictionary of American Political Slang, and the Yale Book of Quotations. I have a website of almost 5,000 American words and phrases. I take this very seriously. In his November | Read More »
The Austin (TX) American Statesman is a liberal publication, but this is too much. On Tuesday (after all we now know), we’re told that (1) the Fort Hood shooter’s religion is irrelevant, (2) Islam is a religion of peace, and (3) the vast majority of Muslims don’t kill people. The Austin American-Statesman issued a Saturday editorial warning us not to jump to conclusions about the shooter–we | Read More »
Our troops deserve to be honored more. The tragedy at Foot Hood (Killeen, TX) just shows the great debt that we owe to our true heroes (not simply sports heroes). There needs to be a moment of silence before the national anthem at each sporting event. Before that moment of silence, the announcer should recite the names of the recent injured or dead who have fought | Read More »
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