fifteen years ago, no one in our solar system would have understood any of this. now it makes sense. And wastes time.
Blogging, themes, and The New Neo Weaver Xtreme theme. I’ve had The New Neo blog bookmarked for some time now, but have absolutely no recollection of when or why it was added!?! I have a folder for all the WP blogs I visit, but The New Neo’s bookmark was in the Main Blog folder w/ all my blog info, apps, X (formerly Twitter), Hostinger hosting info, Power Line blog, and some other misc stuff.
Anyway, I finally checked out The New Neo mysterious bookmark and was amazed that the bookmark had been sitting there for so long w/o me visiting—more than the one time it must’ve required to be bookmarked!? Great Blog!!! Make ‘Dat a bold Ditto on the Great Blog!!! Love the Weaver Xtreme theme – in fact am already testing it.
Themes can be such a pain for a novice who has been blogging since before Google purchased Blogger, i.e., up until November 2022 WordPress was handling my blogging stuff (after move from Blogger in 2004), but then I moved to self-hosting in 2022. Old Themes didn’t work there, so purchased the Multipurpose Blog Pro theme which came w/ a “Child” theme (don’t ask ‘cause I don’t know) and a plugin or two. Love the theme, but can’t get the Quote Style to work with the Left format—quotes stay center no matter what CSS I put in. So am now testing the Weaver Xtreme theme, but am not sure I want to go thru all that is required—again, after only recently getting the other theme to where I like it – other than that centered Quote Style issue.
Love the “Open thread” idea also, and looks like the new one is up already, and just in time!!! 🙂
Heh, and then there’s the old “Bribe Back Better” than Ever!
“Biden administration announces $1.2 billion in new student debt relief…”— http://tinyurl.com/3vb33nes
It’s illegal, of course, but that shouldn’t stop anyone…in fact, the whole “Biden” regime is illegal, so legality or its absence has never been an issue…
I haven’t thought much about Nikki Haley since she left her post at the UN, but I’ve noticed that lately there’s been much speculation about why she continues to run against Trump for the GOP presidential nominee.
My ignorance of Nikki Haley’s campaign has left room for an idea to form in what’s left of my brain. (Not that I’ve gone the full Biden.) Most people who keep running a distant second, or worse, are hoping for a selection as vice president or maybe something like secretary of state. I think that’s true of Haley. In this, she’s no exception, but she’s smarter than she looks. What makes her exceptional is that she’s recognized the leadership vacuum among the Democrats, and she’s cleverly decided to run for high office as a Democrat, while pretending to be a Republican. Think about it. Wouldn’t the Democrats love to have her as a candidate? Maybe even a presidential candidate? Who else can they turn to?
P.S. This comment has been verified as not written by an AI chat machine.
Hi Neo,
You have over the years done me several favors. Perhaps you would do one nore.
I posted a response to Tom Gray that was meant to be light. In retrospect, it cuts too close to the bone in the episode I recounted with mockery I had not intended be conveyed, and overall contibutes nothing to the conversation and advances no real point.
If you get a chance and can remove it, I’d appreciate it
Would appreciate hearing any more information about these devices or your experience with them.
To buy a stingray you have to sign an NDA that requires you to inform the FBI if anyone requests information about them so that the FBI can deal it.
I’m not sure that there’s much more that needs to be said about them. They enable secret, unconstitutional searches that you’ll probably never find out about even if they’re used against you.
FWIW, I’ve been at French in a disciplined way, 4-5 hours/day intense immersion, for over a year now, plus an hour or two per day passive immersion — listening to French songs and watching movies with French subtitles.
I’m not conversational and I still can’t hear French well, but I have reached lift-off in reading.
I can now read J.D. Salinger’s excellent short stories with few problems except archaic(!) usages, secondary definitions and various idioms. Plus the translator didn’t bother to understand American baseball and, among other things, described a left fielder as playing “left wing” as in soccer.
Good enough. I’ve been pedal to the metal long enough. I’ve got a ton of my favorite English novels cued up in French. That’s what I’ll be doing for the next three months.
Stephen Krashen, my linguist guru, mentions a study about which language students continue advancing after schooling ends — those who reached the level of reading for pleasure in their target language.
I will get to conversation. But for now I want to relax and enjoy where I am and cement those gains. Read for pleasure. I’m also curious where I will be in three months with a relaxed input-based approach.
Learning a language is a big project. I clearly underestimated it. But, like most things, it does yield to persistent effort.
It’s also one of the great things I’ve done with my life. I recommend learning a language if it’s on one’s bucket list. It’s never been easier.
Huxley, I commend you bigly for your discipline to learning French!
Still, I wonder is this sarcasm?:
“I recommend learning a language if it’s on one’s bucket list. It’s never been easier. “
@ huxley > AesopSpouse and I aren’t as disciplined and immersive as you have been, but we’ve been nibbling at learning Welsh for nearly 20 years (!) and are trying to get more traction with it, so we recently purchased a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to read to each other while following along in the British original. We read through both the New Testament and the Book of Mormon the same way, but the use of the language has changed a lot since 1611 & 1830 — not so much between those years though!
As in Russia, thanks feminism!!! you made women into erasable malcontented bossy nasty vindictive people who no one wants to be with, except cats.
The Census Bureau predicts the number of Americans to peak in 2080, meaning that some of today’s millennials and Gen Zeds might one day find themselves part of a shrinking population.
Economists say there are only two ways to stop that becoming a reality: either convince already-reluctant young Americans to have more kids, or keep immigration high.
over 15 years ago, here, i mentioned how bad this would be
like crossing the event horizon of a black hole, you would feel nothing, except would find you could not go back… kind of like going past the point of no return at niagra falls… it doesnt feel different… but once you cross that line. your going over the falls!!
The average American woman is having just 1.6 children on average, per World Bank data — well below the figure of 2.1 that demographers say is needed to keep a population stable.
One factor the world’s largest economy has in its favor is immigration. By 2040, more Americans will die than be born each year, according to Congressional Budget Office projections. However, high immigration levels are expected to keep the population growing, albeit at a slower pace.
Still, I wonder is this sarcasm?:
“I recommend learning a language if it’s on one’s bucket list. It’s never been easier. “
Marisa:
Not that I intended.
I’m a man of enthusiasms. I try not to foist mine upon others, though deep down I don’t understand why everyone isn’t learning French and listening to French music. 🙂
Re: Language learning
AesopFan:
Sounds great to have a life partner on the journey!
Harry Potter is a classic goto for English speakers learning another language. Also, Rowling wrote the books so that each successive book would be somewhat more difficult, language-wise, than the previous.
It took me five months to scale the first Harry Potter, a sentence at a time, in French. Arguably it was over my head. But I did learn a lot of French.
Re: Comprehensible Input
Part of my French experiment this past year was to test the Comprehensible Input hypothesis, that the most efficient means of acquiring a language is via interesting input that one mostly understands.
Not by grammar lessons, not by understanding the language, not by memorizing vocabulary, not by role-playing canned dialogs, not by regular testing.
In Comprehensible Input one reads/listens to whatever one likes with whatever assistance one can muster. Let the brain sort it out. Basically.
It’s worked well enough for me. It’s still a lot of work.
A huge advantage IMO is that one is spending time with the Real Language, which is far more slippery than toy textbook examples.
@ huxley > “the most efficient means of acquiring a language is via interesting input that one mostly understands.”
That’s pretty much the method used at the LDS Missionary Training Centers for foreign-language missions (of course, for the missionaries coming to America, their “foreign language” is English!).
The “interesting input” is largely already-familiar scriptures and doctrines, and just common everyday conversation.
And minimum 14-hour-days of immersion for 3 to 9 weeks, depending on the complexity of the new language.
I served in an every-day two-language mission. In the missionary training center, we learned the Tahitian language for six weeks and then tried to learn French for the next six weeks while trying not to forget everything we were taught in Tahitian. Learning a new language by having instructors teach it to you speaking in this other new language you just learned last week was not easy. Tahitian and French are not alike—Polynesian language vs. Romance language. Once learned, they can together create an extraordinary mélange of words! I used both languages every day of my mission, but it was several months in the field before I was comfortable with any one language, let alone both.
—Justin Ashton of Fort Worth served in the Tahiti Papeete Mission, 2000–2002, Tahitian and French speaking
I’m trying to imagine either of those languages with a Texas drawl.
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fifteen years ago, no one in our solar system would have understood any of this. now it makes sense. And wastes time.
Blogging, themes, and The New Neo Weaver Xtreme theme. I’ve had The New Neo blog bookmarked for some time now, but have absolutely no recollection of when or why it was added!?! I have a folder for all the WP blogs I visit, but The New Neo’s bookmark was in the Main Blog folder w/ all my blog info, apps, X (formerly Twitter), Hostinger hosting info, Power Line blog, and some other misc stuff.
Anyway, I finally checked out The New Neo mysterious bookmark and was amazed that the bookmark had been sitting there for so long w/o me visiting—more than the one time it must’ve required to be bookmarked!? Great Blog!!! Make ‘Dat a bold Ditto on the Great Blog!!! Love the Weaver Xtreme theme – in fact am already testing it.
Themes can be such a pain for a novice who has been blogging since before Google purchased Blogger, i.e., up until November 2022 WordPress was handling my blogging stuff (after move from Blogger in 2004), but then I moved to self-hosting in 2022. Old Themes didn’t work there, so purchased the Multipurpose Blog Pro theme which came w/ a “Child” theme (don’t ask ‘cause I don’t know) and a plugin or two. Love the theme, but can’t get the Quote Style to work with the Left format—quotes stay center no matter what CSS I put in. So am now testing the Weaver Xtreme theme, but am not sure I want to go thru all that is required—again, after only recently getting the other theme to where I like it – other than that centered Quote Style issue.
Love the “Open thread” idea also, and looks like the new one is up already, and just in time!!! 🙂
ARCCI Report – Sexual Crimes in the October 7 #Hamas terrorist attack
These Hamas animals now whine to the world for a ceasefire…
Time for another “Compare and Contrast”…
(…and then “Scratch yer Head in Sheer Wonderment”…)
Hey! Dr. J.’s back at it!
“Jill Biden Announcing $100M in Women’s Health Funding”—
https://www.newsmax.com/health/health-news/jill-biden-research-womens-health-shriver-arpa-h/2024/02/21/id/1154374/
But hold on!….
“Mass. Girls Hoops Team Forfeits After Trans Player Hurts 3”—
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/massachusetts-trans-girls/2024/02/20/id/1154318/
Guess those girls are really going to be really grateful for the good doctor’s willingness to help!
Heh, and then there’s the old “Bribe Back Better” than Ever!
“Biden administration announces $1.2 billion in new student debt relief…”—
http://tinyurl.com/3vb33nes
It’s illegal, of course, but that shouldn’t stop anyone…in fact, the whole “Biden” regime is illegal, so legality or its absence has never been an issue…
+ Bonus:
Looks like Hunter’s so desperate he’s down to snorting sawdust…
“Hunter Biden Says DOJ Misrepresented Sawdust As Cocaine To Make Him Look Bad”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/hunter-biden-says-doj-misrepresented-sawdust-cocaine-make-him-look-bad
The nerve of the DOJ to do something like that…OTOH, it is cheaper—and no doubt within Hunter’s budget…(now that he has to pay child support)…
Just another open-thread comment.
I haven’t thought much about Nikki Haley since she left her post at the UN, but I’ve noticed that lately there’s been much speculation about why she continues to run against Trump for the GOP presidential nominee.
My ignorance of Nikki Haley’s campaign has left room for an idea to form in what’s left of my brain. (Not that I’ve gone the full Biden.) Most people who keep running a distant second, or worse, are hoping for a selection as vice president or maybe something like secretary of state. I think that’s true of Haley. In this, she’s no exception, but she’s smarter than she looks. What makes her exceptional is that she’s recognized the leadership vacuum among the Democrats, and she’s cleverly decided to run for high office as a Democrat, while pretending to be a Republican. Think about it. Wouldn’t the Democrats love to have her as a candidate? Maybe even a presidential candidate? Who else can they turn to?
P.S. This comment has been verified as not written by an AI chat machine.
Hi Neo,
You have over the years done me several favors. Perhaps you would do one nore.
I posted a response to Tom Gray that was meant to be light. In retrospect, it cuts too close to the bone in the episode I recounted with mockery I had not intended be conveyed, and overall contibutes nothing to the conversation and advances no real point.
If you get a chance and can remove it, I’d appreciate it
https://www.thenewneo.com/2024/02/19/presidents-day-poetry-2/#comment-2724670
DNW:
Done.
Hi Neo I really do enjoy your ballet posts. I do not understand that art, but I really appreciate the sheer athleticism. I’m trying to learn!
That bastion of the Confederacy is now taking a stand for slavery reparations:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/california-lawmakers-introduce-reparations-package-formal-apology-slavery
(have to use reader mode)
Apparently no cash payouts, but a whole lotta of other stuff….sigh…..
Thank you.
I don’t see Haley ever being on the Dem ticket, but campaigning for them with the promise of a Cabinet post? Absolutely.
I have recently become aware of a university using these devices:
https://www.aclu.org/issues/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies/stingray-tracking-devices-whos-got-them. To do a study of a local community.
Would appreciate hearing any more information about these devices or your experience with them.
To buy a stingray you have to sign an NDA that requires you to inform the FBI if anyone requests information about them so that the FBI can deal it.
I’m not sure that there’s much more that needs to be said about them. They enable secret, unconstitutional searches that you’ll probably never find out about even if they’re used against you.
A gathering of eagles … scaring the hell out of everything else with wings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9K2S1pRpCk
FWIW, I’ve been at French in a disciplined way, 4-5 hours/day intense immersion, for over a year now, plus an hour or two per day passive immersion — listening to French songs and watching movies with French subtitles.
I’m not conversational and I still can’t hear French well, but I have reached lift-off in reading.
I can now read J.D. Salinger’s excellent short stories with few problems except archaic(!) usages, secondary definitions and various idioms. Plus the translator didn’t bother to understand American baseball and, among other things, described a left fielder as playing “left wing” as in soccer.
Good enough. I’ve been pedal to the metal long enough. I’ve got a ton of my favorite English novels cued up in French. That’s what I’ll be doing for the next three months.
Stephen Krashen, my linguist guru, mentions a study about which language students continue advancing after schooling ends — those who reached the level of reading for pleasure in their target language.
I will get to conversation. But for now I want to relax and enjoy where I am and cement those gains. Read for pleasure. I’m also curious where I will be in three months with a relaxed input-based approach.
Learning a language is a big project. I clearly underestimated it. But, like most things, it does yield to persistent effort.
It’s also one of the great things I’ve done with my life. I recommend learning a language if it’s on one’s bucket list. It’s never been easier.
Huxley, I commend you bigly for your discipline to learning French!
Still, I wonder is this sarcasm?:
“I recommend learning a language if it’s on one’s bucket list. It’s never been easier. “
@ huxley > AesopSpouse and I aren’t as disciplined and immersive as you have been, but we’ve been nibbling at learning Welsh for nearly 20 years (!) and are trying to get more traction with it, so we recently purchased a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to read to each other while following along in the British original. We read through both the New Testament and the Book of Mormon the same way, but the use of the language has changed a lot since 1611 & 1830 — not so much between those years though!
As in Russia, thanks feminism!!! you made women into erasable malcontented bossy nasty vindictive people who no one wants to be with, except cats.
Americans aren’t having enough kids. That’s bad news for the economy — and immigration may be the answer.
https://www.businessinsider.com/economy-us-birth-rate-declining-population-immigration-china-elon-musk-2024-2
over 15 years ago, here, i mentioned how bad this would be
like crossing the event horizon of a black hole, you would feel nothing, except would find you could not go back… kind of like going past the point of no return at niagra falls… it doesnt feel different… but once you cross that line. your going over the falls!!
One factor the world’s largest economy has in its favor is immigration. By 2040, more Americans will die than be born each year, according to Congressional Budget Office projections. However, high immigration levels are expected to keep the population growing, albeit at a slower pace.
Still, I wonder is this sarcasm?:
“I recommend learning a language if it’s on one’s bucket list. It’s never been easier. “
Marisa:
Not that I intended.
I’m a man of enthusiasms. I try not to foist mine upon others, though deep down I don’t understand why everyone isn’t learning French and listening to French music. 🙂
Re: Language learning
AesopFan:
Sounds great to have a life partner on the journey!
Harry Potter is a classic goto for English speakers learning another language. Also, Rowling wrote the books so that each successive book would be somewhat more difficult, language-wise, than the previous.
It took me five months to scale the first Harry Potter, a sentence at a time, in French. Arguably it was over my head. But I did learn a lot of French.
Re: Comprehensible Input
Part of my French experiment this past year was to test the Comprehensible Input hypothesis, that the most efficient means of acquiring a language is via interesting input that one mostly understands.
Not by grammar lessons, not by understanding the language, not by memorizing vocabulary, not by role-playing canned dialogs, not by regular testing.
In Comprehensible Input one reads/listens to whatever one likes with whatever assistance one can muster. Let the brain sort it out. Basically.
It’s worked well enough for me. It’s still a lot of work.
A huge advantage IMO is that one is spending time with the Real Language, which is far more slippery than toy textbook examples.
@ huxley > “the most efficient means of acquiring a language is via interesting input that one mostly understands.”
That’s pretty much the method used at the LDS Missionary Training Centers for foreign-language missions (of course, for the missionaries coming to America, their “foreign language” is English!).
The “interesting input” is largely already-familiar scriptures and doctrines, and just common everyday conversation.
And minimum 14-hour-days of immersion for 3 to 9 weeks, depending on the complexity of the new language.
This must have been a challenging experience:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/50-years-of-missionary-language-training-readers-share-how-they-learned-their-mission-language?lang=eng
I’m trying to imagine either of those languages with a Texas drawl.