Amanda Baughan University of Washington Amanda Baughan is a doctoral student at the University of Washington, studying human-computer interaction. Her research focuses on online conflicts, using human-centered design and computational social science methods. Good-faith disagreements are a normal part of society and building strong relationships. Yet it’
Remember, back in the 80s, when the religious right warned us about the “gay agenda”. Oh, how they were mocked and derided. “No one’s going to force the ‘gay lifestyle’ on your kids!” was the sneering response. And who wouldn’t mock them? The likes of the Moral Majority
Viv Forbes saltbushclub.com Viv Forbes has science and financial qualifications, experience in the energy business and the bureaucracy, has rooftop solar panels and a diesel generator, but no vested interests in hydrocarbon fuels except as a consumer. Viv is Executive Director of the Saltbush Club, Australia. Green Hydrogen is
The word for today is… rictus (noun) – 1 : the gape of a bird’s mouth 2 a : the mouth orifice b : a gaping grin or grimace Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Rictus began its English career in the late 17th century as a technical term for the mouth of an animal,
Things have changed a lot in the workplace in the last 30 years, and much of it has been good. Women having babies in the 1980s had no paid parental leave, and may have been allowed to take a few months unpaid leave (if they were lucky), but fathers basically
The word for today is… peruse (verb) – 1a : to examine or consider with attention and in detail : study b : to look over or through in a casual or cursory manner 2 : read especially : to read over in an attentive or leisurely manner Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Peruse can mean “to
Paul Stark mercatornet.com In one Seinfeld episode, the character of Kramer argues with a restaurant owner, Poppie, about when a pizza becomes a pizza. “It’s not a pizza ’til it comes out of the oven,” exclaims Kramer. “It’s a pizza the moment you put your fists in
The word for today is… cornucopia (noun) – 1 : a curved, hollow goat’s horn or similarly shaped receptacle (such as a horn-shaped basket) that is overflowing especially with fruit and vegetables (such as gourds, ears of corn, apples, and grapes) and that is used as a decorative motif emblematic
The word for today is… magnum opus (noun) – a great work – especially the greatest achievement of an artist or writer Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : You probably recognize magnum (“great”) as a Latin word that shows up in altered forms in several English words, and perhaps you can also come up
The word for today is… heinous (adjective) – hatefully or shockingly evil : abominable Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Humans have contrasted love with hate and good with evil for eons, putting love and good on one side and hate and evil on the other. The etymology of heinous reflects the association of
Mark Komrad mercatornet.com Dr Mark S. Komrad is a psychiatrist on the clinical and teaching staff of Sheppard Pratt Hospital and the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland; clinical assistant professor of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland; and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Tulane University in New Orleans.
Chris Sellars There is an insane asylum where the gardens are pleasant and the facilities more or less adequate but both inmates and staff are for the most part barking mad. We call this institution the world. It was called a night club but it had nothing in common with
The word for today is… blithesome (adjective) – : with lightheartedness or unconcern Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Blithe had been bounding about in the language for six centuries before English speakers attached a -some to its tail to make blithesome. Poet Robert Greene appears to have been among the first to employ
Gary Furnell mercatornet.com Present-day society has developed a disturbing ambivalence to suicide – on the one hand, abhorring it as a tragedy and calling for preventative measures; on the other, promoting it by the legalisation of euthanasia. Gary Furnell, whose work for a funeral director has exposed him to
Satire is officially redundant. When you’re living in a clown world, it’s simply impossible to make fun of the circus. The gap between parody and reality has become razor-thin. Yesterday’s Titania McGrath tweet is today’s woke-left reality. Was it really just a few years
Dave Pellowe goodsauce.news I’m a huge believer in freedom, and the loss of freedom experienced globally since the Great Covid-19 Experiment began last year is as alarming to me as it is inexplicable. How can so many educated, intelligent citizens of nations which have so long enjoyed
