Vocabulary
Empathy

...only came into popular use in the early twentieth century to describe the imaginative act of projecting oneself into a work of art in an effort to understand why art moves us
Extant

(especially of a document) still in existence; surviving. "the original manuscript is no longer extant"
Ken

one's range of knowledge or sight.
Polemics

a speech or piece of writing expressing a strongly critical attack on or controversial opinion about someone or something.
Probity

the quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency.
noblesse oblige

French phrase that means "nobility obligates". It's used to describe the idea that people of high social rank or wealth have a responsibility to help others.
Encomium

a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly.
Internecine

destructive to both sides in a conflict.
Baader-Meinhof

The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon is a cognitive bias that causes people to notice something more often after they become aware of it. It's also kno
Committee

Vultures
Rod of Asclepius

The Rod of Asclepius, also known as the Staff of Aesculapius, is a symbol of medicine and healing that depicts a rod with a single serpent wrapped around it. Re: Greek god Asclepius, who was the deity of medicine and healing. official insignia of the American Medical Association. It is also used by the World Health Organization and the American College of Physicians.
Hegelian Dialectic

Refers originally to a dialogue between people holding different ponts of view about a subject but wishing to arrive at the truth through reasoned argumentation. Thesis, antithesis, synthesis.
Flaneur

A person who strolls through the city often observing life and their surroundings with curiosity and without a specific purpose.
Recursive Self Improvement

AI ability to correct its own coding
Oshibori

Hot hand towels, Japanese
Fluffle

Bunnies
Epic

Use e.g. he lacked that level of physical wit, physical improvisation, and epic, his story was a good one... .
Tautology

The saying of the same thing twice in different words
Kenson

Self deprivation (Japanese)
catafalque

a decorated wooden framework supporting the coffin of a distinguished person during a funeral or while lying in state.
Injunction

a judicial order that restrains a person from beginning or continuing an action threatening or invading the legal right of another, or that compels a person to carry out a certain act, e.g., to make restitution to an injured party.
Vituperative

bitter and abusive
Omakase

a meal consisting of dishes selected by the chef.
Anthropocene

a term used to describe the current period in Earth's history when human activity has had a significant impact on the planet. The term is used in a variety of contexts, including the Earth sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.
Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht was made up of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy), and the Luftwaffe (air force). The term "Wehrmacht" is German for "defense force".
Elided

(of a sound or syllable) omitted when speaking. "elided consonants"
Disposessed

deprive (someone) of land, property, or other possessions.
Polymath

an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems
Scurry

Squirrels
Voussoir

Wegde shaped block used in construction of roman arch.
Feijoada

Brazil's national dish, is a stew loaded with black beans and meats of every description: smoked pork loin, bacon and sausage such as chorizo.
Polemics

a speech or piece of writing expressing a strongly critical attack on or controversial opinion about someone or something.
Viticulture

the study, production, and practice of cultivating grapes, including the agricultural activities involved in growing them up to the time of harvest. It's a branch of horticulture
Question inflection

the use of a rising pitch at the end of a sentence to indicate a question
Ineluctable

unable to be resisted or avoided; inescapable. "the ineluctable facts of history"
Recrudesence

The renewal or reappearance of something, especially something dangerous or unhealthy. The return of something terrible after a time of reprieve.
Mountebank

a person who deceives others, especially in order to trick them out of their money; a charlatan.
Flush

Mallards
Kaiseki

Multi-course Japanese meal
misology

Misology is a noun that means a hatred of reasoning, argument, or enlightenment.
Peregrinations

A journey, especially a long or meandering one.
Koan

a paradoxical anecdote or riddle used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and to provoke enlightenment.
Cloud

Bats (in flight)
Apostacy

the total rejection of Christianity by a baptized person who, having at one time professed the Christian faith, publicly rejects it.
Diffident

modest or shy because of a lack of self-confidence.
Eclat

brilliant display or effect.
Occam's Razor

The simplest explanation is usually correct.
Metacognition

An awareness that you don't know everything is often called "metacognition"; it essentially means "thinking about thinking" and includes the ability to recognize your own knowledge gaps and limitations
caisson

Military: A chest or wagon used to carry ammunition or to transport the casket of a fallen military member. The casket is carried in a horse-drawn caisson.
Remonstrance

An earnest expression of opposition or protest, a formal presentati
Apricity

The warmth of sun in winter

InterReference.com

Thursday, May 22, 2025

Quote
Wage Peace

Former President Jimmy Carter's Funeral, Carter's grandson
Who needs these thoughts?

As Good As It Gets / Helen Hunt
CHIPS Act (2022) - 80% to red (Republican) states

Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS)
Streaming
Mobland

Sunday
Your Friends and Neighbors

Friday
4/11/2025 12:00:00 AM
General Knowledge
New York Times v Sullivan

The Court said the right to publish all statements is protected under the First Amendment. The Court also said in order to prove libel, a public official must show that what was said against them was made with actual malice – "that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth."
Schrodinger's Cat

The Schrödinger equation is a partial differential equation that governs the wave function of a non-relativistic quantum-mechanical system. - Erwin Schrodinger
Moab Khotsong

Mine, uranium, deepest, 2 miles down, dark oxygen
Saint Peter

One of Jesus' twelve disciples, considered the first Pope, Pope Francis is 266th. Pope.
I N R I

Iēsūs Nazarēnus, Rēx Iūdaeōrum / Jesus of Nazarus King of the Jews
Hispaniola Island

Haiti and Dominican Republic
GIA's color-grading scale for diamonds is the industry standard.

The scale begins with the letter D, representing colorless, and continues with increasing presence of color to the letter Z, or light yellow or brown.
Eurasian Pole of Inaccessibility - EPIA

Furthest point from any ocean - ZinJiang Region of China
1582, Pope Gregory XIII

Celebration of new year changed from April 1st
Wavefunction / Schrödinger's Equation

The Schrödinger equation is a fundamental equation in quantum mechanics that describes how wave functions evolve over time in quantum systems. It's a partial differential equation that governs the wave function of a non-relativistic quantum system. Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger developed the equation in 1926. It's considered as central to quantum mechanics.
Buckminster Fuller

Geodesic Dome
Larry Gagosian

Largest art dealer
Food
Merguez

North African lamb sausage
Bread pudding

8 yolks / 3 eggs | 5 cups half and half | 1 and 1/4 cup sugar | 2 tsp vanilla extract
Spaghetti all'assassina

Bati, Italy / Puglia
US Politics
FACE Act

Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances
Curtis Yarvin

Extra Constitutional, RAGE (Retire All Government Employees), CEO = Dictator, Dictator Phobia
$787 million

Fox News Settlement for lying
AFD

German NeoNazi political party ("Alternative For Germany")
Perle Mesta

"Hostess with the mostess", ambassador to Luxembourg
World Politics
Budapest Memorandum, 1994

US gave security guarantees in exchange for Ukraine giving up nuclear weapons and ships.
Chamberlain

Czechoslovakia, Sudetenland, Munich Agreement, 1938, 1924
Vichy government

Vichy France was the French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, named after its seat of government, Vichy.
RSF Forces

Sudan, genocide
Bilderberg Meeting

Bilderberg Hotel, Netherlands