Brrr! There aren't many places in the United States where one can ride a bike today, but North Texas is one of them. I bundled up for my 37.2-mile ride. The wind chill was 26º when I left the house and 27º when I returned, three hours later. I had fun. I had the trail to myself. Even the bobcats and squirrels had more sense than to come out.
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Roto Ergo Sum
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To the editor:
The Times' Dec. 19 editorial, "Talking about climate change in Orwellian doublespeak doesn't make it go away," began with this sentence: "If President Trump were a reader of books, we'd recommend a nearly 70-year-old novel to him because it illustrates nicely both the absurdity and the danger of perverting language for political ends."
I think he has read George Orwell's "1984" and is using it as his playbook.
Here is one example: Apparently Trump does not favor words in our language that disagree with his beliefs. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the use of seven words—"vulnerable," "entitlement," "diversity," "transgender," "fetus," "evidence-based" and "science-based"—were reportedly banned from budget documents.
"He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past." Those words are from "1984," and they explain how Trump is creating the past that governments before him have been failures and that he alone can make our country "great again."
John Lynn, Carlsbad
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All signs are that business is looking really good for next year, only to be helped further by our Tax Cut Bill. Will be a great year for Companies and JOBS! Stock Market is poised for another year of SUCCESS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2017
Presidential Tweet
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Propositional form X logically implies propositional form Y iff it is impossible for X to be true while Y is false.
Example from everyday life: 'x is six feet tall' logically implies 'x is at least five feet 10 inches tall'
Example from categorical logic: The conjunction of 'All M are P' and 'All S are M' logically implies 'All S are P'
Example from propositional logic: 'p • ~p' logically implies 'q'
Example from predicate logic: '(x)Øx' logically implies '(Ǝx)Øx' (on the assumption that at least one object exists)
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Here.
Ten Years Ago Today in This Blog
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Here.
Dilbert
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Wishbone Ash (1970).
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I took this picture near my fence several weeks ago. The small spider may be the prey of the larger. Click to enlarge.
Fauna
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In contrast with (or denial of) his grandiose “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan, President Donald Trump has now revealed his latest political isolationist goals (Dec. 19, “Trump Outlines New National Security Strategy That Stresses ‘America First’ Campaign Plan”). This follows his economic isolationism (summarized in the Post-Gazette editorial “Going Their Own Way,” Dec. 19) and his scientific isolationism (the denial of global warming accepted by every other national government). These policies indicate contempt of our previously allied friendly countries and denial of the realities of the close interdependence of the modern world.
America’s basic security and the preservation of our way of life are closely tied to the other free democracies that were our close friends and allies pre-Trump. They can no longer depend on us, as stated by German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier this year. Contrast this with Vladimir Putin’s attempts to “Make Russia Great Again” by every possible military alliance or invasion or economic process, or with China’s economic expansionism. Mr. Trump’s penchant to build luxurious hotels and golf courses abroad seems unrelated to his foreign policy goals.
Restoring 19th-century isolationism is obsolete and contrary to our national interest. Is our partisan Congress capable of correcting this in time?
JOHN H. FEIST
Oakland
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WOW, @foxandfrlends “Dossier is bogus. Clinton Campaign, DNC funded Dossier. FBI CANNOT (after all of this time) VERIFY CLAIMS IN DOSSIER OF RUSSIA/TRUMP COLLUSION. FBI TAINTED.” And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2017
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