English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

CowperKettle

02:31

> A plan to release over 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes into the Florida Keys in 2021 and 2022 received final approval from local authorities

edition.cnn.com/2020/08/19/health/…

CowperKettle

02:51

0

Q: Calculating the "factor difference" of fluorescence values - what phrase to use?

I have a section in a document that describes a formula used to calculate a "factor difference" (Russian "кратное различие") between two fluorescence values - that is, by how many times one value is higher than the other: Factor difference = mean fluorescence at the highest concentration / mean ...

CowperKettle

05:00

Russia's main opposition politician Alexey Navalny has been poisoned. The flight he was on was rerouted to Omsk, where he is not in an emergency toxicological unit. They say he has just regained consciousness.

Putin has previously poisoned Ukraine's president Yuschenko (2005-2010) and Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Yuschenko survived but was heavily disfigured and has suffered long-term consequences.

Journalist Anna Politkovskaya was also poisoned with tea, like Navalny, also while on a plane.

And of course Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned with Polonium 210 and died.

> A public inquiry began on 27 January 2015,[10] and concluded in January 2016 that Litvinenko's murder was an FSB operation that was probably personally approved by Vladimir Putin and Nikolai Patrushev who was at the time Director of FSB

Pyotr Verzilov

Pyotr Verzilov (Russian: Пётр Верзилов, IPA: [ˈpʲɵtr vʲɪrˈzʲiləf]; born 25 October 1987) is a Russian-Canadian artist and activist who came to prominence as the unofficial spokesperson of the band Pussy Riot when he was arrested and jailed by the Russian state in 2012. Verzilov has been married to Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova. He invaded the pitch during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final and was shoved by Croatian player Dejan Lovren, before security personnel escorted him away. == Biography == Born in Moscow, Verzilov lived in Canada as a boy, attending school in Toronto between 1999 and...

Another Putin critic, Pyotr Verzilov, was poisoned in 2018 and spent a month in intensive care and toxicology departments in Moscow and in Berlin

At the time, he was investigating the murder of Russian journalists by Prigozhin mercenaries in Africa. Prigozhin is a former criminal who became Putin's farorite chef in the noughts, and has risen to be a billionaire and head of a clandestine mercenary company that sends thugs to Syria, Ukraine and Africa

He also oversees the so-called Prigozhin Troll Factory that operates in the Internet, posting pro-Putin comments.

Internet Research Agency

The Internet Research Agency (IRA; Russian: Агентство интернет-исследований translit: Agentstvo Internet-Issledovaniy), also known as Glavset and known in Russian Internet slang as the Trolls from Olgino, is a Russian company engaged in online influence operations on behalf of Russian business and political interests. It is linked to Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin and based in Saint Petersburg. The January 2017 report issued by the United States Intelligence Community – Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections – described the Agency as a troll farm: "The likel...

> On 29 November 1979, Prigozhin was given a suspended sentence for stealing (in Leningrad). In 1981 he was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment under articles of robbery, fraud, and involving teenagers in prostitution. Prigozhin spent nine years in prison before he was released.

And he is one of the closest cronies of Putin.

CowperKettle

05:50

Oh my God.

There is a record from the airplane where Navalny lost consciousness. He is moaning loudly from pain.

I'm afraid that in the end there might be terrorism in Russia, if he dies.

If his movement is cracked down and dissolved, there will remain almost no outlets for opposition. This has led to terrorism in Russia in 1870-1917

SmokeDetector

06:55

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in link text in body, potentially bad keyword in body (70): NBA 2K21: MyPLAYER -- Everything we know so far, Changes, Next-Gen & much more by Dingbest on english.SE

Færd

07:09

@CowperKettle How horrific

Captain Bohemian

07:20

Captain Bohemian

08:47

Taurus are that kind of a person who is very mean to others but very kind to themselves.

as a parent Taurus, they don't give much to their children but expect their children can give them very much.

Xanne

09:03

@CowperKettle Take care.

Captain Bohemian

I never say take care to others,

because that sounds like I won't regard you anymore.

Captain Bohemian

09:24

I prefer others to say regards to me,

and actually regard me.

CowperKettle

Kirill Zhukov was denied conditional release from incarceration today. He is serving a three-year term for raising a policeman's chin with his hand during the Moscow Protests of 2019, when thousands took to the streets to protest the refusal to register opposition candidates in local elections. twitter.com/GraniTweet/status/1296376733545967617

I wonder what term would a US citizen get for this.

I would give, say, 15 days of prison, or a couple of dozen hours of community service, if I were a judge, but no more.

Captain Bohemian

09:41

Taurus is that kind of person who would give the worst experience of socialization.

CowperKettle

10:06

Halbstadt, a Russian German village in the Altai Region. That's far to the east from me

ngs.ru/text/world/2020/08/19/69409588

It is part of a German national district there

Captain Bohemian

I am hungry. I want food first.

M.A.R.

11:04

@CaptainBohemian Why do you believe in that stuff in the first place?

IME people either unfairly prematurely judge others with astrology, or try to fit an observation to some sort of "reasoning"

It's useless at best and harmful at worst

CowperKettle

11:32

Robusto

11:59

@CowperKettle It depends on if the citizen is black or white. nola.com/opinions/james_gill/…

CowperKettle

> The 23 years Bryant has served in prison since the 1997 has cost Louisiana taxpayers more than $518,000, Johnson noted. “If he lives another 20 years, Louisiana taxpayers will have paid almost one million dollars to punish Mr Bryant for his failed effort to steal a set of hedge clippers,” she wrote.

Wow. He was a habitual offender but still the ruling is absurd. It's good that there are people fighting for his release.

I read that the US prisoner population is huge, some time ago.

Captain Bohemian

12:37

@M.A.R. I have met a couple of Taurus, some of who offended me to the worst level.

Robusto

> Currently, there are over 2 million people in prisons, jails, and detention centers. This number represents 25% of all inmates in the world even though the US population makes up only 5% of the global population.

worldatlas.com/articles/…

CowperKettle

Yes, it's mindboggling

Robusto

Black prisoners are represented at three times their share of the population.

CowperKettle

statista.com/statistics/262962/…

Robusto

We don't have any reliable numbers on China, but the consensus is that they are probably worse. Still, this is appalling.

CowperKettle

12:45

Drug use should be decriminalized.

Robusto

Yes, but I'm not sure that will solve the problem entirely.

CowperKettle

State-funded drug use centers should be created to provide narcotic drugs free of charge to people, on the condition that they take them inside the centers.

This will kick the ground out of Mafia's feet

This will cut Mafia's funding by 80%

An addict will find a drug anyway, so why not provide it in clean form to a registered addict?

Why make a favor to Mafia by skyrocketing the price?

I don't get it.

Robusto

I agree. There will still be other kinds of crime that go along with a drugged population. Such people can't hold a job, most likely, and will resort to other means of providing for themselves.

But the biggest problem would be that "we're supporting drug addicts with our hard-earned tax dollars." Right-wing politicians will use that to fuel outrage.

> A citizenry disillusioned with politics and with what pretended to be
intelligent discussions of politics turned its attention (or had its attention
turned) to entertainment, to gossip, to ten thousand schemes for self-help.
Those at its margins became violent, finding scapegoats within one’s group (as
with poor-black on poor-black violence), or against other races, immigrants,
demonized foreigners, welfare mothers, minor criminals (standing in for
untouchable major criminals).—Howard Zinn, *A People's History of the United States*

> Welfare became an object of attack: aid to single mothers with children
through the AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) program, food
stamps, health care for the poor through Medicaid. For most people on welfare
(the benefits differed from state to state) this meant $500 to $700 a month in
aid, leaving them well below the poverty level of about $900 a month. Black
children were four times as likely as white children to grow up on welfare.
[Ibid.]

Robusto

13:18

Wow, there's too much smoke in the air to ride today. It was dark until half an hour after sunrise.

Even now the sun's light is cut by maybe 50%?

@tchrist ^

tchrist

@Robusto Remember that our senses perceive things logarithmically so they can cover a wide gamut. You should see what your camera decides for a shutter speed despite the sunny 16 rule.

Sunny 16 rule

In photography, the sunny 16 rule (also known as the sunny f/16 rule) is a method of estimating correct daylight exposures without a light meter. (For lunar photography there is a similar rule known as the looney 11 rule.) Apart from the obvious advantage of independence from a light meter, the sunny 16 rule can also aid in achieving correct exposure of difficult subjects. As the rule is based on incident light, rather than reflected light as with most camera light meters, very bright or very dark subjects are compensated for. The rule serves as a mnemonic for the camera settings obtained on...

At ISO 100, an aperture of f/16 would need a shutter speed of 1/100 in full sun.

If it's only half so bright as normal, it would want a shutter speed that's twice as long as normal, so 1/50.

@Robusto fire.airnow.gov says you shouldn't be riding now.

Albuquerque is yellow, Durango is red.

I wore an N95 mask to walk the dog last night. It was the only way.

This is the time you really need those if you're outside.

If you go to fire.airnow.gov you'll see that it's even worse out in California right now. But you're now getting our smoke that I was telling you about. Weather patterns must have shifted to bring it to you.

Your smoke is coming from the Pine Gulch fire near Grand Junction.

Cerberus

13:38

Ouch.

tchrist

My air is comparatively clear this morning, as the night dragged it all down to Rob. But they say it will come back as the day progresses.

The Pine Gulch fire is over 125,000 acres now, the second biggest that Colorado has ever seen. It's within 10 miles of the town of Fruita now.

It's now generating its own storm clouds bringing wind and lightning, spreading it further.

> GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Crews battling the sprawling Pine Gulch Fire were presented with another problem overnight Tuesday — a flurry of lightning, and not solely from a rain-producing thunderstorm.

Instead, it was the fire itself — now an estimated 125,000 acres after growing 37,000 acres overnight — that produced cloud-to-ground lightning for several hours early Wednesday.

The phenomenon was a product of pyrocumulus clouds, which can form when moisture or atmospheric instability moves over an intense heat source, according to the National Weather Service.

Cerberus

Doesn't look good.

Rain doesn't help?

tchrist

13:54

"Rain"?

The intermountain west sees no rain in these months.

Grand Junction, where the Pine Gulch fire is, sees no more than 10 inches a year. A year, mind you. It never sees a full inch in these three summer months.

It's so hot and dry your skin will never have sweat on it.

Because it evaporates instantly.

Higher up in the timber where this is burning, it does see more than that. But the little bit of moisture drawn into the fray yesterday just made things worse by fanning the flames.

M.A.R.

14:20

@CaptainBohemian well the astrology site tells me that's not what Taurusses are.

So which one is right?

If I hazard a guess, none.

Captain Bohemian

14:47

@M.A.R. I don't blindly believe in what an astrological site says. I infer people's personality based on my socialization with people. I found Taurus people foul up the most.

Taurus would give you the worst social experience by compelling you for something you don't like even you express your unwillingness.

CowperKettle

Here, it is +13 C and constand drizzle

I have had a couple of SMS messages from the Ministry of Emergencies warning me of heavy rains in the coming days

Robusto

@tchrist Yeah, looks like I made the right choice.

Captain Bohemian

Like they can insist to be your boyfriend - such a useless friend - the most useless friends l can find - then take the justice of harassing you.

Robusto

I went for a walk instead. I don't breathe anywhere near as hard walking, and my heart rate only goes up to about 90.

CowperKettle

> Not from the stars do I my judgement pluck;
And yet methinks I have Astronomy,
But not to tell of good or evil luck,
Of plagues, of dearths, or seasons’ quality;
Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell,
Pointing to each his thunder, rain and wind,
Or say with princes if it shall go well
By oft predict that I in heaven find

> Я не по звездам о судьбе гадаю,
И астрономия не скажет мне,
Какие звезды в небе к урожаю,
К чуме, пожару, голоду, войне.
Не знаю я, ненастье иль погоду
Сулит зимой и летом календарь,
И не могу судить по небосводу,
Какой счастливей будет государь.

Beautiful Russian translation by Samuil Marshak

They say that Marshak made Shakespeare sonnets into his own sonnets.

He was a real genius of translation.

His translation is enfused with a kind of make-believe Old England as it is imagined by Russians.

And the translation does not sound a bit awkward in places, like with other translators of Shakespeare.

It sounds as if written in Russian.

Samuil Marshak

Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak (alternative spelling: Samuil Yakovlevich Marchak) (Russian: Самуи́л Я́ковлевич Марша́к; 3 November [O.S. 22 October] 1887 – 4 July 1964) was a Russian and Soviet writer of Jewish origin, translator and poet who wrote for both children and adults. He translated the sonnets and some other of the works of William Shakespeare, English poetry (including poems for children), and poetry from other languages. Maxim Gorky proclaimed Marshak to be "the founder of Russia's (Soviet) children's literature." == Early years == Marshak was born to a Jewish family on 3 November 1887...

> Maxim Gorky proclaimed Marshak to be "the founder of Russia's children's literature."

> In 1912 he moved to England and studied philosophy at the University of London.

Captain Bohemian

15:05

A boyfriend is nothing but an encumbrance.

CowperKettle

> In his senior year at the University he published his translations of the poems written by William Blake, Robert Burns and William Wordsworth, published in Russia.

He traveled on foot in Britain.

> His translations are considered classics in Russia. But many of Marshak's poetic translations became so entrenched in Russian culture, that it was often quipped that he was not so much a translator as a co-author.

There was a joke that no matter what poet Marshak translates, it turns out to be Marshak in the end.

Captain Bohemian

Taurus are that kind of person who only show friendship to you when they see you can bring some advantage to them.

It is easy to test this claim, as I just made a test.

Robusto

15:34

@CowperKettle That has to be true of any translator. Any good one.

Knight

Why some poets used to re-write about some events?

for example, why W.B. Yeats wrote so many poems on Greek mythologies. Why they don’t create something new rather just re-write the thing that has already happened?

Robusto

@Knight Poets choose their own subjects.

Knight

15:50

@Robusto Yes, they are free to do so. But what does that symbolise?

Robusto

Besides, Yeats didn't write "about" mythologies. He used those as metaphors for his other subjects.

Even Wallace Stevens, who was all about shedding the "heavy historical sail" to create a new poetry not beholden to religion and the imagery of the past, did use those images in the process of making his point.

Knight

@Robusto Thats what I want to understand.

For example, let’s consider “A girl” by Ezra Pound. You want to read it? (Probably 8 little lines)

Robusto

What about it?

Knight

What I can see is that he is simply narrating what happened. Do you see some idea behind it?

Robusto

What does it have to do with your objection to poets' use of mythological reference and image?

Knight

16:01

Why to simply narrate what has already happened and written?

Robusto

I don't understand what you're driving at.

There isn't any mythology in "A Girl" ... not that I can see.

All I see is extended metaphor.

Knight

It is based on Apollo and Daphene

Poetry Analysis 127: "A Girl" by Ezra Pound

►

Robusto

Well, what of it? Perhaps that image inspired Pound.

Are you asking why Ezra Pound didn't write a different poem?

Anything may be the subject of poetry. There are no rules.

Take Yeats's "The Second Coming": he uses Christian and pagan imagery to express his views of the world of his time.

Knight

@Robusto What Ezra Pound is trying to say in the poem “A Girl” ?

M.A.R.

@CaptainBohemian I didn't get that. You mean you call unpleasant people "Taurus", or are you saying you have found that the astrological observations are accurate? The latter can't be true if what that astrology site is saying is the canon outlook.

Robusto

16:12

@Knight I really don't understand what you're trying to say.

M.A.R.

@CowperKettle Huh, we have "Jamalzadeh" we call that. He was also a genius.

Knight

@Robusto I’m simply asking, what Ezra Pound had in mind for that poem? For example, Yeats was in sorrow due to destruction caused by World War and by his relations with Gonne and his daughter was born, so he wrote “The Second Coming”

Robusto

@Knight I'm sure you can find analyses of that poem online.

But you seem somewhat outraged that poets have chosen subjects or images you don't approve of.

M.A.R.

I'm feeling that I also need to read some Persian literature. Nowadays I feel I can't form well-put coherent sentences in Persian.

Captain Bohemian

@M.A.R. no. I found the person who makes me the most unpleasant are all Taurus. I think only Taurus can make me feel profound antipathy.

Knight

16:18

@Robusto No, I’m not outraged :). Sorry if my way communication presented that state of mind.

Cerberus

@Knight One could reverse the question: why not do so?

Knight

@Cerberus Hola

Cerberus

Hela.

Knight

Helen

Yesterday, I got to know Aphrodite is named as Venus.

wow! @M.A.R. Don’t you have two names?

M.A.R.

@CaptainBohemian And I'm saying that this implies that you find someone's birthdate (and thus their Zodiac sign) as an accurate prediction of how they will behave, except the astrology sites don't seem to call Taurusses unfriendly

Cerberus

16:20

Yes, many Greek gods were adopted into Roman mythology an received Latin names.

M.A.R.

@Knight What? I didn't get that

Knight

My whole point is: I don’t get how they use mythologies to express their own ideas?

@M.A.R. Venus is one of the most beautiful goddess But Greeks call him Aphrodite

Captain Bohemian

@M.A.R. astrological sites would only describe each astrological sign's good part.

bad parts take you to find on your own.

M.A.R.

I mean, I look up my sign, it says I'm a Capricorn. I'm supposed to know-it-all, an ass. That's great, because I feel like I do sound like that to some people. Except my cousin is also a Capricorn, and he's the exact opposite of that. Boom. Theory kaput.

@CaptainBohemian well no this one was giving me pros and cons

Cerberus

@Knight Well, why not?

Knight

16:23

@Cerberus I’m asking “how”

M.A.R.

astrology-zodiac-signs.com/zodiac-signs/capricorn

Cerberus

Okay, so what do you mean by how?

By reimagining a mythological scene.

M.A.R.

@Knight You should look for the similarities and the differences between the Gods of old Persia and . . . old Hindustan? I dunno.

Knight

Do you agree that Pound used Apollo and Daphene for his “A girl”?

Robusto

I wonder if there's an astrological sign that corresponds with a belief in astrology.

Cerberus

16:24

By connecting it to universal human emotions.

Etc.

M.A.R.

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy

Now I want corn :(

Cerberus

I won't pretend to understand the poem.

But it does remind one of Daphne.

Knight

Why it’s hard to understand that poem? Or to say Eliot’s “Burnt Norton”?

They refer to the things that happened, they describe the things that happened but they don’t mean it

Cerberus

Most poems are harder to understand that prose, I should say!

Because they are layered, yes.

Meaning behind meaning.

Knight

Can we at least discuss what Pound might had in mind for “A Girl”? If you’re interested, we can have a fruitful discussion.

Knight

16:43

Someone has to say this for the explanation of the poem:

> Pound actually by the means of this simple yet brilliant poem explains the fact that, if any human being be it a girl or a boy is born with a disability, they have the right as a human being to remain happy and to be treated as equal always. As the vegetation keeps on growing on her body, the world tortures her more and more and more to an extent that the girl is dis- heartened.

CowperKettle

> She: I like dogs.
Me (trying to interest her): I'm castrated.

Or maybe it should be "neutered"

I dislike non-rhyming poetry. I don't think it's really poetry, with rare exceptions.

8 km run, light drizzle, +13 C

All people go around in autumn clothes

It's sad that people started writing nonrhyming poetry.

> Her e-mail inbox always overflows.
Her outbox doesn’t get much use at all.
She puts on hold the umpteen-billionth call
As music oozes forth to placate those
Who wait, then disconnect. Outside, wind blows,
Scything pale leaves. She sees a sparrow fall
Fluttering to a claw-catch on a wall.
Will He be in today? God only knows.

> She hasn’t seen His face—He’s so aloof.
She’s long resigned He’ll never know or love her
But still can wish there were some call, some proof
That He requires a greater service of her.
Fingers of rain now drum upon the roof,
Coming from somewhere, somewhere far above her.

("God's Secretary")

Cerberus

17:02

@CowperKettle 'Started'?

I think the first poetry was probably without rhyme.

At least the classics have very little rhyming poetry.

What is central to poetry is rhythm, not rhyme.

Rhyme could be said to constitute a form of rhythm.

CowperKettle

Maybe I'm not using the correct terminology

Cerberus

Rhyme is repetition of specific sounds, could be a vowel a consonant, a syllable ending, or even more.

The repetition needs to occur at certain positions in the rhythm of poetry.

CowperKettle

I haven't read ancient classics. Maybe I would not like them. I don't know.

74.ru/text/health/69430789

48-year old woman died in a queue from COVID-19, waiting to be scanned on an MRI, in Chelyabisnk Oblast.

She fell in on July 30, and doctors did not diagnose covid until after her death.

Her 49-year old husband died from COVID several days later.

Doctors were actually refusing to test her for covid, because blood test materials are scarce.

Her husband was tested for covid for the first time right there, after her death. Until that, he also had not been tested.

It turned out his lungs were 90% and 85% gone.

And he managed to drive her to the town to have her scanned.

Almost with no lungs.

Cerberus

17:20

It's no fun, this disease.

Captain Bohemian

the most unfun is going to see a doctor.

CowperKettle

18:12

Nature Reviews Disease Primers

Nature Reviews Disease Primers is a peer-reviewed medical journal publishing broad review articles about disease areas, offering a global overview of the field and outlining "key open research questions". Each "Primer" is accompanied by a "PrimeView" summary poster containing accessible artwork and highlighting key points from the review.The journal is abstracted and indexed in Index Medicus/MEDLINE/PubMed. == References == == External links == Official website...

Impact Factor: 40

The highest I've ever seen

Mitch

18:57

@M.A.R. Typical Capricorn thing to say.

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Offensive answer detected (78): what does "Save the hammer for the man" mean in this context? ✏️ by Emilio on english.SE

Mitch

@Cerberus The pseudobulbar effect is no laughing matter

@M.A.R. Twins. What about twins? Separated at birth of course, because we're being scientific. That's a total corroboration of the theory.

CowperKettle

Comorbidity of depression.

Mitch

Also the many papers that demonstrate both the phenomenon -and- the mechanistic causal chain of time and place of birth with adult personality (via gravity influence of the planets and their relations with each other to the subject).

CowperKettle

Looks like the main preventable thing to avoid depression is to keep a normal body weight.

Mitch

19:07

@CowperKettle I wouldn't have figured that heart attacks would be the worst. I'd expect cancer.

CowperKettle

@Mitch Maybe heart attacks prevent you from exercising and harm the influx of blood into your brain? I remember reading a study about how even a slight hypertension is associated with a decline in brain function over time. Because your brain vessels become stiffer or something. Very interesting study.

Curious that type II diabetes trumped type I diabetes hands down. ALthough in type I you have a lot of small vessel damage too.

Mitch

@CowperKettle forgetting mental health for the moment, overweight is a comorbidity of many diseases. like with RA, reducing weight would reduce effort on joints.

@CowperKettle T1DM usually starts in childhood, so maybe they're used to it, while T2DM is usually adult onset, so it is a large change in life (like everything was going so well but now this)

Anecdotally, or rather vague thoughts of what I've read, I thought Alzheimer's was associated with a lot of depression.

M.A.R.

19:48

@Mitch Heart attacks, by a wide margin

@CowperKettle Yeah that makes sense

barlop

If I say "Great is a man", then is "great" an adjective there?

RegDwigнt

Could be.

What's the full sentence.

M.A.R.

20:35

Something tells me that sentence isn't coming

RegDwigнt

It could be a very long sentence.

I have time.

Robusto

20:53

@barlop Great is an adjective everywhere.

barlop

thanks

Reg: doesn't have an end, but could be "Great is a man that carries a big stick" if you want ;-)

or "Great is a man that carries a small woman on his arm"

RegDwigнt

21:07

Well that's an adjective, then.

@Robusto could be someone's surname. "Obama is a woman. Great is a man."

Robusto

@RegDwigнt That's a stretch.

RegDwigнt

Of course.

But I answer each question at face value.

Otherwise the asker's whole purpose might be to mislead you.

Robusto

Get out and walk your dog. It's a law now in Germany.

RegDwigнt

That's one of our rules on the main site. Never guess in your answer what the OP might mean. Ask them for clarification first, answer second.

Robusto

Walking your dog is a rule on the main site? TIL

RegDwigнt

21:11

@Robusto haven't heard of that one yet.

@Robusto what else do you think we even have @Cerberus for?

He's all but useless otherwise!

Robusto

news.google.com/articles/…

OK, get out there and walk @Cerberus.

It's not just a good idea, it's the law.

RegDwigнt

He's not my dog, thankfully. And neither of us are German.

And according to your link the law only starts next year.

Though frankly I thought it was always law to begin with.

Robusto

Neither of us is German, thou pineapple.

RegDwigнt

Not in English it isn't.

Get with the times.

Robusto

Ja, auch auf Englisch.

RegDwigнt

21:13

The verb agrees with the last thing you mentioned. Whether or not that makes any sense at all.

These are the new rules of the new English.

Robusto

No, neither is the subject. Stop trying to avoid the grammar police.

RegDwigнt

I am not avoiding the police. I am the police. It's everyone else that's avoiding me. Which is why this shit is happening in the first place.

The stack depth in English is now one. Always at all times.

Robusto

I'm just trying to avoid @tchrist's forest-fire smoke, but so far have been unsuccessful.

RegDwigнt

Oh don't ping him. He'll bury you under a million actual examples of what I just described in abstract.

We occasionally talk about it.

He's not a very happy panda about it.

I think he has a book in which he collects all the examples.

I wanted to do that first, but then I remembered I was lazy.

So I just ate some cheese instead.

Robusto

A wise policy.

RegDwigнt

21:17

Jan 3 '19 at 21:42, by RegDwigнt

All my policies are wise. Except the batshit crazy ones.

Oh BTW we only just had our first in-person choir rehearsal since the corona first happened.

It was fantastic. I never fully realized just how much I missed it until we were all there, singing.

Robusto

Nothing propinqs like propinquity.

RegDwigнt

Bach: Mass in B minor - Gratias - Herreweghe

►

We rehearsed this.

Robusto

Schön.

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