U.S. Is Not a New Nation

Ron Charles includes this sentence in a review of a novel focused on Thomas Jefferson:

"We’re a young nation, and like any adolescent, nothing rouses us to fits of bitter delight more than detecting hypocrisy in others [i.e., Jefferson]."

I disagree.  You can define "nation" different ways.  One looks at the government and the land included in the nation, another at the "people", an approach which has lost favor.  (Hitler conflated the Reich and the German people.)

Nations like France, Italy, and Germany really were formed in the 19th century, as a government consolidated control over its territory.  "England" and "Britain" form something of an exception--England has been consolidated under the crown since the Norman Conquest, give or take the odd civil war.  Britain still isn't sure whether it includes the Scots or not.

There are nations which have been around in some form or other for centuries: China, Japan, Ethiopia. And if you allow for boundaries to change, Russia, Persia/Iran, Egypt, and others can qualify.  But when you look Latin America, Africa, Australia, and South and Southwest Asia you see the impact of colonialism and nationalism, recent phenomena.

So I repeat: we aren't a young nation, considering the histories of all the nations in the world.  The young nation meme is just a way to claim American exceptionalism.

Courier All Caps Is No No

One of my pet peeves, which I may have mentioned before, is the failure of people to take advantage of the possibilities the computer has given us: specifically the failure to use proportionally spaced type and lower case when communicating.

Back in the early 70's my boss gave me a research project: see if I could find a replacement for our IBM MT/ST typewriters.  As part of the research I read a paper on the benefits of proportional spacing: more legible, easier and faster to read, less misunderstanding.  That's why for hundreds of years printed material was in various proportionally space fonts. 

At that time, typewriters were limited; the usual choices were 10 pt courier and 12 pt. elite, though the IBM Selectric offered more variety, but only the IBM Composer offered proportional spacing for print shop/forms design use.

Meanwhile we still had telegraphs going, which mostly were all cap and monospaced. IIRC even in teletype terminals which used CRT's, that was true. 

Anyhow, places like the State Department and Weather Service which had the telegraph system incorporated into their bones have continued to use monospacing and all caps well into the 21st century.  State may have transitioned off.  And now Brad Plumer at Vox tells us that the Weather Service is going half-way, abandoning the all-caps, but not the Courier font.

IMHO this is a fine case study in bureaucratic inertia.

The Scandal of Trump's Children

Turns out two of Trump's children weren't registered to vote in time for the primary.  What's a scandal to me is that the kids are 33 and 31 years old, meaning they've missed 3 presidential elections and many state and local elections. What sort of citizens don't vote?

Yalie Getting Hands Dirty

It's probably true that fewer (in proportion) youngsters get their hands dirty these days than before.  There's not much real dirt on a cellphone screen. And my impression is part-time jobs during high school aren't very usual any more.  This post on the Yale Sustainable Food Project describes the benefits one Yalie gets from working in the Yale garden.  It's partly the hands-dirty thing and partly having a community.

I can identify with latter.  I worked for 4 years in the cafeteria in one of the women's dorms.  My co-workers gave me a community which, given my shyness, I couldn't have found on my own.  While you can get lost in a big university, there are also niches to find, more than in a smaller place.

How Many Corporations Can Dance on the Head of a Pin?

I don't know, but 250,000 can use the same address.

"The single-story brick building at 1209 North Orange St. in downtown Wilmington, Del., looks bland and innocuous. But the building, home to the Corporation Trust Company, has an intriguing claim to fame. In the last few years, it has served as the registered address for more than 250,000 businesses, giving companies around the world access to Delaware’s business-friendly laws."

First paragraph of a piece on how the US became a tax haven.

Fourteen Differences Between Pigs and Dogs

Walt Jeffries has a long interesting post on the differences between pigs and dogs, the differences meaning dogs can go to war with us and pigs can't.

Why We're on the Right Path

I don't think much of Corey Robin; he's too liberal for my taste.

This morning's papers reported that Americans were pessimistic about the country, which isn't an opinion I share.

Why not?  Well, Prof. Robin nicely encapsulated my biggest reason in this post on his students.

Bottomline: I like the melting pot, the reunification of the human race.

[Update: Also see this assessment.]

Cells on the Modern Farm

Life on a Colorado Farm incidentally causes me to realize the benefits of cell phones on modern farms.  When you're farming thousands of acres (not that the writer and husband are), coordinating schedules, even the most chauvinistic--when are you stopping for supper, becomes a big issue, an issue solved by carrying your cell phone with you.

The Importance of Oyster Shell

Oyster shells are important.  Back on the farm we used to buy bags and put out a supply in a separate feeder for the hens.

Why?  See this Modern Farmer post.

[Updated: more on oysters]

The Last White House Garden?

Recently there's not been much publicity about the Obama White House Garden, which I've noted.  Apparently part of that is due to my lagging involvement in social media.  Turns out Obamafoodorama has moved to twitter, it seems. [Updated:  seems I saw that last year, but failed to follow Ms.Gehman Kohan on twitter.]

Anyhow, this week the final spring planting of the garden in Obama's terms of office took place, and the White House posted about it. Mrs. Obama can claim some credit for gains in health.

The really interesting question for a follower of politics and government is: what happens next spring?  Will Bill Clinton be out there planting, or Jane Sanders?  Somehow I don't see Trump's wife doing the planting, nor Mrs. Cruz.

The garden was a personal project of Michelle Obama, meaning it's doomed.  At best the new occupants of the White House will find the money in the budget to continue having the Park Service care for it.  But I remember that President Carter's solar panels were removed by the Reagans.  Each spouse has had her own personal projects, so my prediction is: no garden in 2017.