Author: Aaron Weber

Two Words

I was wondering about this awhile ago and Federico clued me in: the singular of “tamales” is “tamal.”

Also, the etymology of the word “Bogart” used to mean “to keep selfishly” or “to avoid sharing,” was originally applied to joints and cigarettes, after Humphrey Bogart’s style of leaving a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

Spam Trends

Since last week I’ve been getting a lot of junk mail in German advocating, as nearly as I can tell, that Turkey should not be allowed into the EU, and reminding everyone of the Armenian genocide of 1915. The messages mix links to Der Spiegel and other reputable sources with links to the far-right NPD.

I honestly don’t have an opinion about Turkey’s membership in the EU, at least not a very informed one. But this sort of campaign strikes me as unseemly and likely to muddy the debate: if all opposition to Turkey is far-right xenophobia, then there won’t be any legitimate discussion of Turkey’s human rights record and civil procedures, much less the immigration effects of opening the borders.

Now that it’s warm out

Now that it’s warm out and I am riding the scooter and people are driving around with their windows down, I hear funny music with fun bass lines. Also I notice that a significant portion of the people in cars around me are smoking pot on the way in to work in the morning. I think this may explain the way people drive around here.