10/15/23 - No Excuse for Inaction
There is nothing I can think that others aren't perfectly capable of thinking.
There is nothing I can do that others aren't perfectly capable of doing.
But that does not excuse me from thinking and doing.
![Click for larger photo](images/flag240.jpg)
10/16/23 - Our Flag Too
I don't like the American flag being used as a right-wing symbol, meaning that a house with a flag is seen as the residence of a conservative. The flag still belongs to all of us, so I would like to suggest a #ourflagtoo campaign. To make my liberal position clear, however, I've combined mine with an LGBTQ banner.
10/18/23 - Calendar
A more practical calendar, one that would remain the same every year, would be based on the numbers 13, 4, and 7. It would contain 13 months, each with 4 weeks of 7 days, with one extra day at the end of every year and one "leap" day between June and July every four years.
2/18/24 - Pronouns
I first published an article on this in 1980, before the widespread recognition that English needs a gender-neutral pronoun. Recent proposals have included "ve", "xe", "ze", "per", and others. The most unfortunate term currently being used is "they". For example, facebook now reports that "Jane Smith recently updated their profile picture", and writers stumble over whether "they" as a singular pronoun calls for the singular or plural verb form ("they is" or "they are").
The most elegant and logical choice is "e". As cryptographers well know, it is the most frequently used letter in the English alphabet, but it is not currently used as a word. It could join the exalted ranks of "a" and "I" in English at the same time that it initiates a profound change in our concept of gender. The complete declension is "e, er, ers, em", derived from the third-person plural pronouns "they, their, theirs, them" by removing "th" and "i" or "y".
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