YOU GOTTA LOVE OUR ENGLISH!!!
You think English is easy?
Can you read these right the first time?
01) The bandage was wound around the wound.
02) The farm was used to produce produce.
03) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
04) We must polish the Polish furniture.
05) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
06) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
07) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
08) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
09) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting, I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Let's face it, English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England nor French fries in France ..
Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital, ship by truck and send cargo by ship, have noses that run and feet that smell?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
PS. - Why doesn't Buick rhyme with quick?
I think the abbreviation "fridge" comes from the brand name "Fridgidaire," not the generic "refrigerator. Just a thought...
You lovers of the English language might enjoy this:
There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is UP .
It's easy to understand UP , meaning toward the sky or toward the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ?
We call UP our friends. We use something to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers, and clean UP the kitchen.. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car . At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special ..
And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.
We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may windUP. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.
When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP .
When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP .
We could go on, but I'll wrap it UP , for now my time is UP , so: Time to shut UP !
iFriends
Monday, 25 July 2011
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Thursday, 7 July 2011
Portugal Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary of Decriminalizing Drugs
Our 40 year war on drugs is proof of failure. Portugal is an example of an alternative. It is time for an exit strategy from our longest, costliest war!
Everyone knows that the war on drugs is a failure. Despite more than $40 billion spent every year on the U.S. drug war and 500,000 people behind bars on drug related offenses, drugs are as available as ever. But what is the alternative? What would happen if a society decided to treat drug use as a health issue instead of a criminal justice issue? What if we stopped the futile effort of using force to decrease drug consumption? What if we decriminalized drugs, not just marijuana, but all drugs like heroin, cocaine and meth?
We’ve heard the horror scenarios that opponents of drug policy reform recite: more addiction, more broken families and a crazy escalation of crime and violence.
On the other side, advocates for decriminalization or legal regulation say that we would be better off not criminalizing what’s a health issue. They advocate for education, prevention and treatment instead of jail for drug abuse and leaving in peace those whose drug use does not cause harm to others.
So who’s right? You might be surprised to hear that this isn’t just about hypotheticals anymore. Portugal decriminalized all drugs 10 years ago and the results are in: decreased youth drug use, falling overdose and HIV/AIDS rates, less crime, reduced criminal justice expenditures, greater access to drug treatment, and safer and healthier communities.
July 1st was the 10th anniversary of Portugal decriminalizing drug use. In 2001, Portugal decriminalized the possession of small amounts of all illicit substances. Having small amounts of drugs is no longer a criminal offense. It’s still against the rules; it just won’t get you thrown in jail or prison. It’s a civil offense – like a ticket. Portugal continues to punish sales and trafficking of illicit substances.
In Portugal’s thoroughly re-envisioned drug policy, police officers now issue citations – but do not arrest – persons found in possession of small amounts of illicit substances. People who receive these citations are ordered to appear at a “dissuasion commission,” an administrative panel that operates outside of the criminal justice system. The panel, with two health practitioners and one legal practitioner, examines the individual’s circumstances and determines whether to make treatment referrals, issue fines or impose other non-criminal penalties.
Decriminalization in Portugal actually helped reduce the stigma around drug use (without increasing it) and made drug use less politically difficult to talk about. It encouraged better collaboration between law enforcement and service providers, and allowed law enforcement to focus on large-scale traffickers, resulting in increased seizures of commercial quantities of illicit drugs.
The U.S. Drug Czar knows about Portugal’s policy, but don’t expect him to acknowledge their success. Instead we continue to wage our un-winnable war. June 17th marked the 40-year anniversary of the U.S. war on drugs, a punitive criminal justice approach to drugs that has cost taxpayers more than a trillion dollars, transformed the U.S. into the largest incarcerator in the world [AKA Prison Planet], failed to significantly reduce drug use, led to hundreds of thousands of overdose fatalities and HIV/AIDS transmissions, and created shocking racial disparities that exceed those of South Africa at the height of Apartheid.
Our 40 year war on drugs is proof of failure. Portugal is an example of an alternative. It is time for an exit strategy from our longest, costliest war!
The war on drugs is just a way for the NWO to control the citizens of the United States. Money is to be made on Police enforcement, Prisons, but most importantly control over the population.
Everyone knows that the war on drugs is a failure. Despite more than $40 billion spent every year on the U.S. drug war and 500,000 people behind bars on drug related offenses, drugs are as available as ever. But what is the alternative? What would happen if a society decided to treat drug use as a health issue instead of a criminal justice issue? What if we stopped the futile effort of using force to decrease drug consumption? What if we decriminalized drugs, not just marijuana, but all drugs like heroin, cocaine and meth?
We’ve heard the horror scenarios that opponents of drug policy reform recite: more addiction, more broken families and a crazy escalation of crime and violence.
On the other side, advocates for decriminalization or legal regulation say that we would be better off not criminalizing what’s a health issue. They advocate for education, prevention and treatment instead of jail for drug abuse and leaving in peace those whose drug use does not cause harm to others.
So who’s right? You might be surprised to hear that this isn’t just about hypotheticals anymore. Portugal decriminalized all drugs 10 years ago and the results are in: decreased youth drug use, falling overdose and HIV/AIDS rates, less crime, reduced criminal justice expenditures, greater access to drug treatment, and safer and healthier communities.
July 1st was the 10th anniversary of Portugal decriminalizing drug use. In 2001, Portugal decriminalized the possession of small amounts of all illicit substances. Having small amounts of drugs is no longer a criminal offense. It’s still against the rules; it just won’t get you thrown in jail or prison. It’s a civil offense – like a ticket. Portugal continues to punish sales and trafficking of illicit substances.
In Portugal’s thoroughly re-envisioned drug policy, police officers now issue citations – but do not arrest – persons found in possession of small amounts of illicit substances. People who receive these citations are ordered to appear at a “dissuasion commission,” an administrative panel that operates outside of the criminal justice system. The panel, with two health practitioners and one legal practitioner, examines the individual’s circumstances and determines whether to make treatment referrals, issue fines or impose other non-criminal penalties.
Decriminalization in Portugal actually helped reduce the stigma around drug use (without increasing it) and made drug use less politically difficult to talk about. It encouraged better collaboration between law enforcement and service providers, and allowed law enforcement to focus on large-scale traffickers, resulting in increased seizures of commercial quantities of illicit drugs.
The U.S. Drug Czar knows about Portugal’s policy, but don’t expect him to acknowledge their success. Instead we continue to wage our un-winnable war. June 17th marked the 40-year anniversary of the U.S. war on drugs, a punitive criminal justice approach to drugs that has cost taxpayers more than a trillion dollars, transformed the U.S. into the largest incarcerator in the world [AKA Prison Planet], failed to significantly reduce drug use, led to hundreds of thousands of overdose fatalities and HIV/AIDS transmissions, and created shocking racial disparities that exceed those of South Africa at the height of Apartheid.
Our 40 year war on drugs is proof of failure. Portugal is an example of an alternative. It is time for an exit strategy from our longest, costliest war!
The war on drugs is just a way for the NWO to control the citizens of the United States. Money is to be made on Police enforcement, Prisons, but most importantly control over the population.
#replaceawordinafamousquotewithduck
Here is my list of #replaceawordinafamousquotewithduck
"... Duck, James Duck."
"of all the ducks in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine"
"I'll be duck"
"My Duck always said, 'Life was like a box of ducks; you never know what you're gonna get.'"
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a duck!"
"You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Well, who the duck else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well, I'm the only one here. Who the duck do you think you're talkin' to?"
"I had no idea you could milk a duck." - "Oh yeah, you can milk anything with nipples." - "I have nipples, Greg. Could you milk me?"
"We ask ourselves, is she black? Is she white? We don't care. She's exotic. I want to see more of her ducks."
"My duck." - Lord of the ducks
"ducks are friends, not food." - Finding Nemo
"I know who I am! I'm a duck playing a duck disguised as another duck!" Thropic Thunder
"Sunnyside is a place of ruin and despair, ruled by an evil duck who smells of strawberries!" Toy story 3
"Hasta la vista, duck."
"I'm the duck of the world!"
"I'm the king of the duck!"
"I love you. I really love you." - "Duck." -Ghost
"You can be my duck any time." - "Bulls--t. You can be mine." Top Gun
"They may take our lives, but they'll never take our duck!" Braveheart
"Shut up, just shut up. You had me at duck." - Jerry Maguire
"... Duck, James Duck."
"of all the ducks in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine"
"I'll be duck"
"My Duck always said, 'Life was like a box of ducks; you never know what you're gonna get.'"
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a duck!"
"You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Well, who the duck else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well, I'm the only one here. Who the duck do you think you're talkin' to?"
"I had no idea you could milk a duck." - "Oh yeah, you can milk anything with nipples." - "I have nipples, Greg. Could you milk me?"
"We ask ourselves, is she black? Is she white? We don't care. She's exotic. I want to see more of her ducks."
"My duck." - Lord of the ducks
"ducks are friends, not food." - Finding Nemo
"I know who I am! I'm a duck playing a duck disguised as another duck!" Thropic Thunder
"Sunnyside is a place of ruin and despair, ruled by an evil duck who smells of strawberries!" Toy story 3
"Hasta la vista, duck."
"I'm the duck of the world!"
"I'm the king of the duck!"
"I love you. I really love you." - "Duck." -Ghost
"You can be my duck any time." - "Bulls--t. You can be mine." Top Gun
"They may take our lives, but they'll never take our duck!" Braveheart
"Shut up, just shut up. You had me at duck." - Jerry Maguire
Sex advice in Transformers 3??
Ian Kerner, a sexuality counselor and New York Times best-selling author, blogs about sex on Thursdays on The Chart. Read more from him at his website, http://goodinbed.com/
He recently discoverd that one of his books was featured in the summer blockbuster "Transformers 3," Strange that he had no idea as you would think they would require his permission. The book’s cameo comes about a third of the way in, when Sam (Shia La Beouf) gets some unsolicited relationship advice from his Mom in response to his girlfriend woes: You have to work at a relationship, she says, shoving a copy of my book "She Comes First" at him.
Sam recoils, the audience laughs and Dad adds with a sigh, "Happy wife, happy life."
The book’s subtitle is "The Thinking Man’s Guide to Pleasuring a Woman," and Ian wrote it to help guys better understand, respect and, hopefully, satisfy, female sexuality.
But throughout the years Ian also received numerous e-mails from moms and dads who have either given a copy of "She Comes First" to their teenage sons or wondered if they should.
Of course, it’s up to parents to decide how they want to educate their kids about sex, if they want to at all: Many simply to choose opt out of the conversation altogether, so even if it was just the movie, it was funny to see Sam’s Mom at least try to help him out.
We can help kids by trying to give them the information and self-esteem they need to make smart, healthy decisions about sex and intimacy - decisions that don’t just protect them in the short-term, but also allow them to enjoy healthy intimate relations when they grow up. Isn’t that what we want for them?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about half of U.S. teens in ninth to twelfth grade have had sexual intercourse. If your child is sexually active, it is most important to make sure he or she is well-informed about matters of the heart as well as safer sex.
Talking about sexuality makes many parents feel nervous, as many are unsure of the best time to begin. Ideally, sexuality education starts in infancy; however, no matter what the age of your child, talking now is better than never.
Start with your own relationship. Almost from birth, children model and imitate what they see at home. If you and your spouse don't treat each other with respect, you can't expect the same from your child.
At Good in Bed, we have many free resources dedicated to the topic of communicating with kids about sexual intimacy. Don't avoid “the talk” - embrace it.
Sex educator Amy Levine writes, “Think of the important points that you want to share with your child. Maybe you want them to know that if they are having sex, your hope is for them to always use protection to prevent pregnancy and reduce the risk of STIs. You might want them to know that even though you would prefer they wait until they were older, you are here for them if they have questions, concerns or feelings they want to share. Starting this type of conversation isn't easy. Pick a time when you think your child will be most receptive. Let them know your hunch, without being accusatory, and see what they say. Then share your messages in such a way that your child knows without a doubt that you are a source of support, rather than strife.”
While the scene in "Transformers 3" was mainly played for laughs, some people in the blogosphere thought it was inappropriate for a PG-13 rated movie.
And while Ian had nothing to do with the book’s placement, he has written things that have sparked similar debate. Take last week’s post on “The Joy of Comfort Sex” in which Ian praised the benefits of long-term monogamous relationships, and the following thread from the comments section:
John: WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!
A teenager: This has GOT to be better than all those TV shows and movies and music and ads that tell all young people to be cool and popular means sleeping around with everyone. At least this article supports long term relationships and responsibility toward your partner.
Brian: Come on Jenny!! I think you are way too sensitive. This article is probably mild at the max compared to what your twelve year old has seen on MTV or even at school.
Diana: Oh please. If your 12 year old is on the internet, they are encountering things far worse than an article focusing on the relationship side of physical relations. And what's wrong with that? If they are old enough to be curious, they can learn that physical relations are a normal and healthy part of a relationship. And articles like these help depict more how it is in real life vs. the fantasy focus by rest of the internet.
hspringer: C'mon JennyTX! S3x is part of life, is normal and the more we make it out to be taboo and not talk about the more that children dabble in it on their own and sometimes get hurt. I didn't find anything offensive in this article and would have no problem if my 11 year old happened to read it. Besides, 11 year olds don't usually read news sites unless having to for an assignment. It never even crossed my mind when I read this article that my daughter might be negatively impacted. There's worse things to see on network TV or in public than this!!
Many parents have strong religious or cultural values that dictate what they believe—and what they want for their children's personal lives. One of the most effective ways to talk with your kids about sex is to have ongoing, open conversations that encourage them to share, rather than you telling them what you want them to do (or not do).
Amy Levine writes, “Start by asking a question to see what your child thinks about any sex-related topic. Maybe start the discussion as a result of a television show that you are watching together that tackles a sexual storyline. Let your child know your messages and values, and why you have these particular beliefs and feelings. Ultimately, the less you put a child on the spot about what they are individually experiencing, the more likely they will share with you.”
Stay in tune with their world. Talk to your child’s teachers and other parents to get a sense of what's happening in and out of the classroom. Let your child make mistakes. You made yours. You can't shut the world out, but you can help your children live in it.
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
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