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Dave Brodbeck comments on Broken Area - Episode 5, Hearts and Minds

Dave Brodbeck — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 14:00:28 +0000

Excellent pint Rachel. I think people back then just concentrated on what worked, and through their own selection, they ended up making cows and pigs and wheat and corn that worked really well in their little areas. Of course that is a guess. We coudl figure this out though, and I imagine someone has, by looking at records from say ancient Egypt and looking at excavations of early settlements.

Rachel comments on Broken Area - Episode 5, Hearts and Minds

Rachel — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 04:28:46 +0000

An interesting note about food variety: We now have the ability to preserve food for long periods of time, and to have food regardless of where it grows, which ancient people obviously did not, but it is not so clear that we eat a greater variety of foods than ancient peoples did. To quote Bill Bryson (At Home, p. 37): "A typical hunter-gatherer enjoyed a more varied diet and consumed more protein and calories than settled people, and took in five times as much vitamic C as the average person today. Even in the bitterest depths of the ice ages, we now know, nomadic people ate surprisingly well--and surprisingly healthily. Settled people, by contrast, became reliant on a much smaller range of foods, which all but ensured dietary insufficiencies." (His source: Fernández-Armesto, Food: A History, p. 71.)

If true--well, it does make sense that early farmers would focus their efforts on a limited range of things to plant and animals to domesticate, but I wonder why we never branched out more...something to wonder about, no?

Rachel comments on Broken Area - Episode 4, Don't Distract Me While I Edit Wikipedia

Rachel — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 01:52:28 +0000

HI, and thank you for the kind words! :)

I don't think, myself, that it's the internet that makes people sloppy with language or other intellectual pursuits--I think it's just not wanting to go to the trouble of actually thinking or learning, because that is work.

F'instance: When I was working in publishing houses, more than ten years ago, and the internet was considerably less ubiquitous, I used to get manuscripts that had been edited by professional, in-house editors who didn't know the difference between "flout" and "flaunt" (and, on one memorable occasion, tried to use a dictionary to show me I was wrong and couldn't grasp the fact that it showed that I was, in fact, correct); who though "alright" was an acceptable way to spell "all right"; and who seemed to assume that if the spell checker didn't highlight a word, it must be the right one. (And don't even get me started on the mistakes that successful authors perpetrate!)

Even more to the point, students now are supported in their wish to take no responsibility at all by their parents. While I was teaching t'ai chi in a local college, I had students have their parents write me notes to get them excused from class. A GYM CLASS. College students. Their parents. Worse, their parents wrote them! I can only assume they are going to be kept busy when--if--these kids get their first jobs, asking their bosses to excuse them from completing projects by the required date.

No computers/internet necessary.

Maybe we could hear some more ukulele some time, Isabelle? :)

Scarborough Dude comments on Broken Area - Episode 4, Don't Distract Me While I Edit Wikipedia

Scarborough Dude — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 21:23:35 +0000

Although I won't be around to witness her demise, I can guarantee that Isabelle will not die alone in a ditch!

Rachel comments on Broken Area - Episode 3, Ukulele Constitutional Hockey Burping

Rachel — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:27:05 +0000

Actually, amending the US Constitution is a bit more complicated even than you were saying, Dave. First new amendments have to be proposed and then they have to be ratified, and there are two methods for each. A new amendment can be proposed by either both the House and Senate have to approve it by a 2/3 vote, OR 2/3 of the state legistlatures have to ask Congress to call a national convention to propose a new amendment. (The second one has never been used, because the last time the US had a national convention to amend a constitution, we totally scrapped the Articles of Confederation and started all over, and people in power know they have no idea where that would end.) Then for ratifying a new amendment, either 3/4 of the state legislatures have to approve it, OR ratifying conventions in 3/4 of the states have to approve it. Also, the ratification can't hang around forever, slowly gathering approvals; it has to be approved within "a reasonable time" or it gets scrapped.

But I didn't say that I thought an amendment repealing the Second Amendment would succeed--it wouldn't, now. But if we never start talking about it in a serious way, it never will be repealed, so we should start considering it instead of automatically dismissing it. Considering it also would offer a better sense of proportion, and show other proposals to be the moderate tweaks that they are.

The uke is sounding good!

Rachel comments on Broken Area - Episode 2, Think Happy Thoughts and Play The Ukulele

Rachel — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:36:00 +0000

The ukulele is a fun instrument, and I love the summery vibe it gives off. :)

The "ktb" root means "write" in Hebrew, too! A "ketubah" is a written marriage contract; "Ketuvim" (b and v are the same letter in Hebrew, differentiated by a diacritical mark) is the final section of the Jewish sacred books and literally means "writings".

Personally, I think it's time to put the idea of repealing the Second Amendment on the table. At the very least, there wouldn't be that cudgel to aim at any reasonable regulation.

Dave Brodbeck comments on Broken Area - Episode 2, Think Happy Thoughts and Play The Ukulele

Dave Brodbeck — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 21:02:57 +0000

Hey Jim

The whole thing has me dumbfounded. We are so much alike, Canadians and Americans, perhaps more alike than any two peoples in the Western World. But, there are a couple of big differences, and this is the biggest. I honestly cannot get my head around it.

The kids got an extra hug yesterday. Hey we even get a dryer today!

merelyjim comments on Broken Area - Episode 2, Think Happy Thoughts and Play The Ukulele

merelyjim — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 16:39:03 +0000

# Glad the house is getting back to normal.

# On guns; couldn't agree more. There will be a national conversation about this, but you might want to cover your ears. People without logic on their side tend to scream the loudest.

# Give the kids an extra hug...

-jim, Fort Worth, Texas

Dave Brodbeck comments on Broken Area - Episode 1, We're Back, and Our Dryer Is On Fire

Dave Brodbeck — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:23:07 +0000

Yup, and it is only appropriate that the first comment is from you! The whole thing was scary and oddly almost comical. (Note I said 'almost' comical...)

Rachel comments on Broken Area - Episode 1, We're Back, and Our Dryer Is On Fire

Rachel — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 05:09:58 +0000

Yay, you're back!

(I'm sorry to hear about your dryer. I've always been unreasonably afraid of fire, so YIKES!)

Also, Happy Chanukah!