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Five Grammar Tips That I Wish More People Knew

Dec 122011

At the risk of seeming like an intellectual snob (I’m not, I promise I’m not smart enough to be one), I’m posting this as a plea to anyone who routinely posts comments on any blogs anywhere.

Please, please, for the love of English teachers everywhere, spend a few minutes to learn a handful of words that come up time and time again. I promise, mastering these few words will not take very long. And while knowing these won’t make you a genius, it may keep millions of people from thinking you are an idiot.

Without further ado, here they are.

1) your and you’re. Whenever you find yourself in need of writing one of these words, ask yourself one simple question. Is what I’m writing short for “you are?” If it is, please use the second one. You know, the one with the apostrophe in it. The apostrophe means that it’s a contraction. Ie., two words have been contracted together. And when that happens, we sometimes leave letters out. The apostrophe is inserted where letters have been omitted. Continue reading »

Six percent approval rating. Wow.

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Dec 022011

So, the latest congressional performance report is out (Rasmussen Reports, Dec. 1, 2011). I couldn’t believe the numbers. Just 6% of likely U.S. voters rated our current congress positively. Versus 68% who rated their performance as poor. In moderate times (ie., non-economic boom, non-recession type periods), we usually see a majority of Americans as mostly indifferent to the situation. Maybe 5% think they’re terrible. Another few percent think they’re great. But the bulk of the respondents would probably hover around labeling them as somewhere between average to perhaps slightly below average.

So why have their approval ratings hit this wall? No one knows for sure, and if they did they would probably be more astute students of our political system than anybody currently in politics. I do think it shows a short-sightedness in us as a people though. If we don’t like our current lot in life, someone needs to bear the responsibility. We must find someone to blame. And we all know that our shortcomings are typically not our own fault. Fortunately, in the system that we’ve created, we’ve got a built-in scapegoat. And when I say Continue reading »

Who was involved in the Manhattan Project?

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Nov 142010

The countries involved were primarily the United States, Great Britian and Canada. There were several prominent physicists involved in the project, most notably, the research was led by the American J. Robert Oppenheimer. The project was conducted between 1942 and 1946 in various (often secret) locations in the United States.

While Oppenheimer directed the research, it was a letter from Albert Einstein to President Roosevelt that really gave the project its roots in 1939. In this letter, Einstein expressed his concerns that Nazi Germany was trying to Continue reading »

Nuclear Power in our Children’s Generation

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Nov 102010

I read an article recently that addressed the question, “Is nuclear power going to make a comeback in the 21st century, and if so, will it make any real impact on global warming?” Of course these questions bring forth many other questions but I couldn’t help but take away my own answer of “not likely.” The CNN article made the relevant point of why nuclear power is back on the agenda- because climate change demands we do something. Nuclear power is practically carbon neutral (at least when compared to standard fossil fuels), and no scientist would argue that Continue reading »

When did Dr. Seuss win the Pulitzer Prize?

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Nov 082010

Dr. Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel (March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991) was an American writer and cartoonist, most widely known for his childrens’ books written under his pseudonym, Dr. Seuss. He published over 60 childrens’ books, which were often characterized by imaginative characters, rhyme and frequent use of trisyllabic meter. His most notable books include the bestselling Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. Numerous adaptations of his work have been created, including eleven television specials, three feature films and a Broadway musical.

Before achieving his great success as a children’s author, Geisel worked as an illustrator for advertising campaigns, most notably for Flit and Standard Oil, and as a political cartoonist for PM, a New York City magazine. During World War II, he worked in an animation department of the United States Air Force, where he wrote a film that later won the 1947 Academy Award for Documentary Feature. Continue reading »

Alan Colmes vs. Sean Hannity

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Oct 312010

Does anyone even remember a show called “Hannity and Colmes?” I think it came on between MTV Cribs and Jersey Shore. But I could be mistaken there. So Alan Colmes left. I guess by the speed-of-life news cycle that lives on today’s internets, this is pretty old news. Well, this is old news by anybody’s standards.

But… since I was looking for something to spend 15 minutes rambling about, I thought a topic of Alan Colmes vs. Sean Hannity is as good as anything. So why did Colmes Continue reading »

Sesame Street Greatest Hits

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Oct 202010

You’ve got to love this classic Sesame Street album. Twenty tracks guaranteed to keep your toddler hyped up and dancing on the furniture for hours. With this many songs, there’s at least one for every letter of the alphabet. You’ll be amazed at Big Bird’s deep voice as he sings “The Sound of the Letter A.” And Elmo barely breaks into the annoying third-person pattern as he sings “ABC-DFE-GHJ.” Our favorite Oscar the Grouch gets a solid two tracks with his “Bee Sandwich” and “Four Furry Friends Fight Fifty Filthy Fudge Continue reading »

50 Years of Godzilla and I still love Elvis

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Oct 132010

Number of movies: Godzilla, a Japanese movie monster, first appeared in Ishiro Honda’s 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, she has gone on to become one of the most revered characters in history and has starred in 28 films. Elvis was in 33 movies Continue reading »

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