English. What a language. Is there another tongue with such radically different meanings for the same words? Consider the phrase “sports bar.” One is a nutritional snack for health-conscious consumers; the other is a place to drink and sweat while…
Author: Eric F. Frazier
Eric F. Frazier is an independent writer, editor, book reviewer and co-author of GPS Declassified: From Smart Bombs to Smartphones.
The (Watery) Margin of Victory
Book Review: WAR ON THE WATERS: THE UNION & CONFEDERATE NAVIES, 1861-1865 by James M. McPherson UNC Press, 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning author James M. McPherson begins War on the Waters: The Union & Confederate Navies, 1861-1865 with a quote…
To Kill or Not to Kill?, part 2
This is an update to my post, To Kill or Not to Kill?, from Aug. 12: News just broke that a jury took less than two hours to recommend the death penalty for Maj. Nidal Hasan, convicted of killing 13…
The Privacy of Rooftops
C-SPAN’s Washington Journal broadcast an excellent program on the “Domestic Use of Drones” coinciding with AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems 2013, a trade show in Washington, DC, sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. On display were the latest in…
To Kill or Not to Kill?
Every time I get comfortable with the idea of abolishing the death penalty—an expensive, flawed practice that kills an unknown number of innocent people—along comes someone who commits a crime so heinous and who is so obviously guilty beyond doubt…
E-books vs. P-books
“The truth is that the book is an exceptionally good piece of technology—easy to read, portable, durable, and inexpensive.” — James Surowiecki, on why paper books are likely to coexist with electronic books for a long time to come. http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2013/07/29/130729ta_talk_surowiecki…
Can Twitter Rescue Diplomatic Bombast?
In 1960, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave a speech at the United Nations, where he banged his shoe and declared, “We will bury you!” Although later deemed a mistranslation of what was closer in meaning to a vow that communism…
Nonverbal communication
I just read this headline: “Scientists say our languages might preserve Neanderthal talk.” — My immediate reaction: “uh-huh.” Find this content useful? Share it with your friends!
Blindsided!
How and When Will the World End? The Atlantic asked a variety of thought leaders. I liked this answer from nuclear scientist Taylor Wilson: “I think it’ll be what we don’t see coming—a killer asteroid, a nearby gamma-ray burst, or a…
Security & Privacy
“You can’t have 100-percent security and also have 100-percent privacy and zero inconvenience. We’re going to have to make some choices as a society.” — President Barack Obama, commenting on NSA surveillance programs during a June 7, 2013, press conference…