July 20, 2016


News and Views


"Making America great again."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-donald-trump-offered-john-kasich-chance-to-be-the-most-powerful-vp-in-history/

Report: Trump Jr. offered Kasich chance to be "the most powerful VP in history"
By EMILY SCHULTHEIS CBS NEWS
July 20, 2016, 11:09 AM

Republican nominee Donald Trump reportedly offered Ohio Gov. John Kasich a chance to be his vice president with a vast policy portfolio, according to a new report.

Donald Trump Jr. went to a Kasich adviser with an offer, the report in the New York Times Magazine, said: if Kasich joined the ticket, he could be "the most powerful vice president in history."

By that, Trump Jr. said he meant Kasich would "be in charge of domestic and foreign policy," according to the Times.

When the Kasich adviser asked what Trump would then be in charge of, Trump Jr. simply replied: "Making America great again."

If Trump was hoping for a positive answer from Kasich, it has seemed from the start like that wouldn't happen. Despite the fact that he's the governor of the state in which the Republican convention is being held, Kasich has made it clear he will not be attending the convention.

Back in June, he told CBS' John Dickerson it was "absolutely" a possibility for him to walk into the convention hall without endorsing Trump, and to date, he has not.

Still, he's been present in Cleveland and around the state for a handful of other events, including some that seemed almost designed to troll Trump--including a speech to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and a meeting with the Mexican ambassador to the U.S.

The rhetoric between Trump's advisers and Kasich's advisers has also ratcheted up since the convention began. Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort said Monday that Kasich is "embarrassing his party in Ohio" by not showing up to the convention, calling his lack of endorsement "a dumb, dumb, dumb thing."

Kasich's team said the governor is "taking the high road." "He's not going to get into a back-and-forth with anybody this week," spokesman Chris Schrimpf told Politico.



John Kasich is a good man, and a REAL man! He has good sense and guts. I hope he becomes an Independent and advocates economic policies that aid the 90%, sensible environmental policy, and more. I know, it’s not likely, but it would be nice.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/parents-lane-graves-boy-alligator-sue-disney/

Parents of boy killed by alligator decide not to sue Disney
CBS/AP
July 20, 2016, 10:18 AM

Photograph -- Lane Graves ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

Play VIDEO -- Is Disney legally liable for deadly alligator attack?


The parents of a toddler killed by an alligator at Walt Disney World last month said that they won't be pursuing a lawsuit against Disney.

Matt and Melissa Graves of Omaha, Nebraska, announced the decision in a statement released Wednesday morning.

Their 2-year-old son, Lane Graves, was killed after being pulled into the water by a gator at Seven Seas Lagoon.

"As each day passes, the pain gets worse, but we truly appreciate the outpouring of sympathy and warm sentiments we have received from around the world," the parents said.

They said that they intend to keep their son's spirit alive through the Lane Thomas Foundation.

"It is our hope that through the foundation we will be able to share with others the unimaginable love Lane etched in our hearts," the parents said.



It is terribly sad to lose such a beautiful and happy looking boy as this one, but there are undoubtedly a million and more alligators in this state. It is, of course, far better for Disney to post caution signs for people who aren’t used to being on the lookout for a creature which goes back to the days of the dinosaurs.

I went up to the Okefenokee to look for Pogo. I didn’t find him, but I did see some 20 or more alligators just floating and dozing in the sun. They come up out of their home bases and get in people’s swimming pools also. I would hate to go out for a dip and find that. Wherever there is water there is very likely a gator. Welcome to the true Deep South!



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/katelynn-barlow-missing-vacation-cabin-florida-teen-washington/

Fla. teen vanishes barefoot from Wash. vacation cabin
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS/AP
July 20, 2016, 10:20 AM

Photograph -- Katelynn Barlow KIRO


SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. -- An Florida teenager has gone missing while on vacation with her family in Washington state.

Local media outlets report that 14-year-old Katelynn Barlow was with her aunt and uncle, who have primary custody of her, when she disappeared around 9 p.m. Sunday.

The family was on vacation to Big Lake, Washington from suburban Orlando when Barlow walked out of her family's cabin and into 50-degree weather to use the bathroom. She was wearing pajamas and no shoes.

No one has seen her since.

Big Lake is about 70 miles north of Seattle. Barlow's cellphone was found at a rest stop along Interstate 5, about 30 miles away from where the family had been staying. Family says the teen is usually never without her cellphone.

The FBI is assisting in the investigation and sharing pictures of Barlow hoping that someone recognizes her.

The girl's uncle, Jeff O'Connor, told CBS affiliate KIRO he's convinced the girl was abducted.

"How could she be a runaway if she was just wearing pajama shorts and a tank top in 50-degree weather? Coming from Florida, that's cold for us," he told the station.

Officials have reportedly not issued an Amber Alert because investigators don't have information on a suspect or a suspect vehicle.

Speaking to the station from Florida, the girl's mother told the station her daughter showed no signs that anything was wrong before she vanished.

"It's devastating," Jessica Barlow said through tears.

She said the teen had been having a "great time" on vacation, riding jet skis and sending pictures to friends.

"There's no inclination that she would have done this on her own. At this point, we have no doubt that someone has taken her," Barlow said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at (360) 428-3211.



What a frightening and truly dangerous situation for a child to find herself in. Given the way she was dressed it probably was a kidnapping, but if she is afflicted with a tendency to sleepwalk, she could have done that on her own. Unfortunately, she could confront dangerous wild animals or be injured so that she can’t walk. I do wish there weren’t so many men with a preference for the very young.



NOT NEW, BUT INTERESTING

https://www.yahoo.com/news/bernie-sanders-campaign-could-help-000000119.html

How Bernie Sanders' campaign could help Democrats win back the Senate
Dan Friedman for Yahoo News
July 15, 2016

Photograph -- A supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders shows off his Bernie tattoos at a campaign rally in San Francisco. (Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters)
Photograph -- Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-ill., raised $2.2 million from small donors in the first quarter of 2016 for her campaign to unseat Illinois Republican Sen. Mark Kirk. (Photo: Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Elle)
Photo -- Duckworth


When Bernie Sanders endorsed Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire on Tuesday, he saved a few words for what he believes will be the lasting impact of his campaign. “Together, we have begun a political revolution to transform America … to create a government which represents all of us and not just the 1 percent — a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice,” said the Vermont senator.

But as his presidential bid ends, Sanders is leaving another legacy as well, one whose effect is already being felt in the 2016 election. It has taken the form of money — for the same Democratic establishment he is fighting.

Sanders’ supporters, the network of small-dollar donors who helped fund his candidacy, have already helped Senate Democratic candidates raise more money than GOP competitors among grassroots donors and, in some cases, from donors overall.

In late May, Sanders sent a fundraising email on behalf of former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, who is running in Wisconsin to recapture the Senate seat he lost in 2010 to Republican Ron Johnson. But even before then, small-dollar donors were already helping Feingold and other Democratic candidates. Through the end of the first quarter of 2016, Feingold’s campaign raised $4.5 million — 42 percent of his total haul — via donations of $200 or less.

Feingold has raised more money from modest contributions than any other Senate candidate of either party. But he is part of a broader phenomenon. Democrats are crushing Republicans in raising money from small donors during this election cycle.

Such contributions are often called “unitemized” because campaigns don’t report personal information about the donors. That makes it difficult to say exactly how many of Sanders’ supporters gave to specific Senate candidates. But the pattern suggests that the same grassroots movement that boosted the Vermont Democrat against Clinton is helping to swell the war chests of a slew of Democratic congressional candidates, including some of the so-called establishment Democrats often attacked by Sanders on the stump.

Nine Democratic challengers seeking Senate seats have raised more than 20 percent of their campaign cash from small donations, according to numbers compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics and analyzed by the Cook Political Report. No Republican Senate candidate —incumbent or hopeful — has pulled in similar numbers from small donations.

Why the disparity between the two parties? For one thing, challengers tend to raise more money from small donations than incumbents because as outsiders, they usually have no other choice. This year, most of the seats up for grabs are held by GOP senators. That’s one reason Democratic challengers are bringing in more money via small contributions.

Another is ActBlue, an online fundraising platform for Democrats, which many people first encounter when they are asked to click “donate” at the end of a Democratic fundraising email. The Massachusetts-based nonprofit’s fundraising has grown exponentially in recent campaign cycles and has helped increase giving by motivated Democrats.

It’s the ActBlue link that has connected Sanders supporters with other candidates. His donors save their credit card accounts with ActBlue, and Democratic candidates can use the site’s database to reach out to Sanders backers.

“Individually, he can help the candidates out, sending emails for folks to talk about issues that are important,” said Montana Sen. John Tester, the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “He absolutely is an asset to the caucus and to our efforts.”

ActBlue reports that it raised $165 million for Democrats from 5.6 million donors in the first quarter of 2016, versus $37 million from 898,000 donors in first quarter of 2014. The increase is undoubtedly related to this being a presidential election year instead of a midterm election, but the expansion of ActBlue’s donor base gives Democrats a significant competitive boost.

The site is particularly useful for Democratic Senate candidates this year because it helps them raise money nationally from partisan backers eager to oust Republicans from the Senate majority, said Michael Malbin, executive director of the Campaign Finance Institute and a political science professor at the University at Albany. Republicans currently hold a 54-46 edge in Senate seats.

“National donors are flocking to [contribute in] competitive races because control of the institution is potentially at stake,” Malbin said. “ActBlue makes it easier.”

Indeed, an analysis produced using ProPublica’s FEC Itemizer, a campaign finance data tool, shows most Democratic candidates for the Senate who raised meaningful amounts from small donors received at least 40 percent of their small-dollar totals via ActBlue.

Democrats say they are also tapping into the energy of their supporters. While Democratic partisans may have been passionately divided between Sanders and Clinton during the primary season, most also care deeply about winning back the Senate.

Division within the Republican Party has made this kind of united activism more difficult. Donald Trump — and the GOP runner-up, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — spent much of their primary campaigns excoriating the GOP establishment and trashing their party’s incumbents. Republican voters are not giving money to GOP incumbents on the scale that Democrats have doled out in small sums to their candidates.

Lack of grassroots support has hurt Republican Sen. Mark Kirk in his fight against Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois. Duckworth raised $2.2 million from small donors through the end of the first quarter of 2016, 27 percent of her $7.8 million total. Kirk raised $5.7 million total, with just $472,000 coming in the form of small donations.

Unitemized contributions have also helped Nevada Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto open a fundraising lead over Rep. Joe Heck in the race to replace retiring Democratic Leader Harry Reid. Cortez Masto’s $1.5 million in small contributions is 22 percent of her $6.9 million total. Heck closed the first quarter with $5.4 million raised in the campaign, but just 11 percent — $626,000 — from small donors.

Small donors have made the difference in Feingold’s ability to raise more than his opponent in Wisconsin. The Democrat raised $10.7 million through April, versus Johnson’s total of $9.8 million. Johnson’s $1.2 million in small donations is the second highest of any other Republican Senate candidate’s, but it’s still just under 13 percent of his total contributions.

Some political analysts see the fundraising disparity as evidence of a Democratic base that backs its party, while the Republican base dislikes the GOP establishment.

But Democratic divisions exist as well. Democratic Party leaders helped their Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, Katie McGinty, prevail over former Rep. Joe Sestak, but the bruising primary is part of the reason why McGinty trails the Republican incumbent Sen. Pat Toomey in fundraising, including from small donors.

In Florida, Rep. Alan Grayson has raised more than 50 percent of his campaign funds, $1.4 million, from small contributions. That support is helping him in a very competitive primary against Democratic leaders’ choice, Rep. Patrick Murphy.

Democrats are hoping now that Sanders’ endorsement of Clinton will focus supporters on November and the fight both for the White House and the control of the Senate. Yet despite the difficult and prolonged nomination battle on the Democratic side, supporters of both Democrats seem to be ponying up for down-ballot candidates in their party.

ActBlue’s Executive Director Erin Hill said that her group helps Democrats capitalize on their party’s tendency to be more collaborative than the GOP.

“You don’t see a lot of cross cooperation among Republicans in same way that you do on the left,” she said. “We work with everybody. And we’re all realizing those benefits.”



Maybe if Mainstream Democrats will relax their fingers which are clutching the hands of Big Money sources and try the Grassroots method more, they will find themselves richer. They will also find that the public knows their faces, thoughts, names and “baggage” more, which will in the end create more Democratic successes all across the country. Sanders has sent me a number of emails asking that I donate a small amount to be split between him and a relatively unknown newer candidate somewhere around the country. He is trying to broaden the base.

That’s what Tea Party followers have done also, and I do think that’s mainly why they have more or less taken over in Washington in both houses. There are also the religion/morality issues, of course, which Democrats just don’t stress. We’re much more a group of Free Thinkers. So is Sanders, however, and he gained huge momentum. He is exceptionally gifted about how he states his belief, and clear about views that are inimical to what Liberals and Progressives feel are right and honorable values. Fundraising is just one of the ways Sanders has helped the DNC. Just look at the new, Sanders-influenced Platform, which Hillary is so proudly proclaiming to be her own.

Okay. I know. “Yadda yadda yadda!” The fact is that if Sanders hadn’t been so loud, persuasive, insistent and stubborn we wouldn’t have made this progress. He’s the man!



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/clinton-proposes-constitutional-amendment-to-tackle-citizens-united/

Clinton proposes constitutional amendment to tackle Citizens United
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
July 16, 2016, 11:57 AM

Photograph -- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton pauses while speaking at a Rainbow PUSH Women’s International Luncheon at the Hyatt McCormick in Chicago, Monday, June 27, 2016. ANDREW HARNIK, AP


Doubling down on a key campaign pledge to take big money out of politics, Hillary Clinton announced Saturday that she intends to back a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court decision that made way for unlimited corporate spending in elections.

In a video address Saturday to the progressive Netroots Nation conference in St. Louis, Clinton promised that she would introduce the amendment within "the first 30 days" in the White House.

The amendment would, she said, "give the American people -- all of us -- the chance to reclaim our democracy." The proposed change is expected to protect against the outsized influence of the billionaire class in U.S. political system.

In her address, Clinton also acknowledged the issue of racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and proposed two steps to help rectify them.

"As president, I'll bring law enforcement and communities together to develop national guidelines on the use of force," she said. "Second, I will target one billion dollars in my first budget to take on implicit bias, which remains a problem across our society and even in the best of our police departments."

Health care, Citizens United and civics with Justice O'Connor
Play VIDEO
Health care, Citizens United and civics with Justice O'Connor

During the primary campaign season, reversing the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (FEC) decision -- in which the Supreme Court declared political donations from corporations were a form of protected speech -- was a bedrock platform of Clinton's rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Clinton has since championed policy proposals similar to Sanders, who endorsed Clinton earlier this week after a lengthy wait.

The presumptive nominee gave a nod to Sanders in her three-minute long speech.

"Now, I know many of the people in this room supported Senator Sanders in the primary," Clinton said. "You've helped put political and campaign finance reform at the top of the national agenda and I intend to keep it there."

For Clinton's own campaign finance reform plan, a campaign official said she intends to sign an executive order requiring all federal government contractors to publicly declare all political spending, in addition to pushing Congress for more effective legislation on donation disclosures.

Intending to close any loopholes allowing for dark money, Clinton would urge more transparency for outside groups and any "significant" donors sponsoring their cause.

The former secretary of state would also promote a Securities and Exchange Commission rule that would require any publicly traded company to disclose their political spending to shareholders, according to the campaign.

Clinton's proposals would likely mean an end to the vast sums of money propping up campaigns via independent political action committees (PACs), which are prohibited from coordinating directly with the candidate's official campaign.

Clinton herself has benefited from these super PACs, which allow for unlimited donations from wealthy Americans. At the start of June, the pro-Clinton super PAC, Priorities USA, had $52 million cash on hand. And the group told CBS News last month that it has already reserved more than $150 million in advertising for a general election campaign against Trump.

CBS News' Hannah Fraser-Chanpong contributed to this report.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/james-burns-former-atlanta-police-officer-charged-in-death-of-devaris-caine-rogers/

White ex-officer charged in death of black Atlanta man
CBS/AP
July 16, 2016, 8:43 PM

Photograph -- James Burns CBS AFFILIATE WRBL

ATLANTA -- Court records show a white former Atlanta police officer who fatally shot a black motorist has been arrested.

Fulton County jail records show James R. Burns was arrested Saturday on charges including felony murder in the June 22 shooting of Devaris Caine Rogers.

Burns told investigators he shot a car that was "trying to run me over and kill me."

But a police internal affairs investigation found that evidence contradicted Burns' version of what happened. It showed that Burns shot into a vehicle not knowing whether 22-year-old Rogers was the person he'd been called to investigate at a northeast Atlanta apartment complex.

Burns also faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and violation of violation of [sic] his oath of office. No bond has been set.

Last week, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner defended firing Burns just nine days after the incident.

"Our communities are not going to allow us to spend six, eight, 10, 12 months before a grand jury determines if they are going to indict on an issue when there is clear evidence that suggests that the officer violated our standard operating procedures," Turner told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview last week.



“Burns also faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and violation of violation of [sic] his oath of office. No bond has been set. Last week, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner defended firing Burns just nine days after the incident. "Our communities are not going to allow us to spend six, eight, 10, 12 months before a grand jury determines if they are going to indict on an issue when there is clear evidence that suggests that the officer violated our standard operating procedures," Turner told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview last week.”


I am delighted to see that at least a few police officials are not assuming that the officer is being truthful and has behaved intelligently. I like that phrase “violation of his oath of office.” This indicates that there ARE some rules on the books for how police officers are supposed to do their job. The last year and a half or so since Ferguson have been traumatic for everyone, but the views that the public holds about these issues are changing.

I want to see new federal law to mandate improvements and regular interpersonal communications outside of the crime/arrest setting, in every city, town and rural area in the country. There have been too many little hidey holes around the nation for abusive officers. It’s time for those community projects and talking sessions re racial discord to begin with conviction and regularity.


Native American Issues


https://www.yahoo.com/news/interior-secretary-hear-public-monument-plan-144956743.html

Interior leader hears from public on monument proposal
Associated Press
July 16, 2016

Photograph -- U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell tours the "Moonhouse" in McLoyd Canyon Friday, July 15, 2016, near Blanding, Utah. Jewell is touring archaeological sites in southeast Utah that a coalition of American Indian tribes and environmental groups want to see protected as a new national monument. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)


BLUFF, Utah (AP) — U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell heard emotional statements Saturday from both sides of a divisive proposal to create a national monument at a sacred Native American site.

Jewell's 3 ½-hour meeting in the town of Bluff capped off a four-day research trip to the state as a coalition of tribes urges President Barack Obama to turn 1.9 million acres around the twin Bears Ears buttes into a national monument.

The tribes and environmental groups say the area needs strong protections from threats of looting and damage from off-highway vehicles.

Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye told Jewell and other Interior Department officials at the meeting that preserving the site is important to protecting Native American culture and history, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

"Your action will be one that will be remembered by our people for centuries," he said.

Opponents, mainly Republicans and local Utah officials, argue the monument proposal is overly broad and could close off access to the land for development, including oil and gas development, and recreation. Instead, they're backing legislation from U.S. Reps. Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz that would have Congress designate 1.4 million acres around Bears Ears as a conservation area.

Notah Tahy, a Navajo man from Blanding who held a sign at the meeting reading "No to a national monument," said he fears that traditional activities like gathering wood and hunting will be restricted.

San Juan County Commissioner Rebecca Benally said the proposal has only sown discord between local Native Americans. "We have known since 500 years ago and 200 years ago of broken promises and broken treaties," Benally said.

Conservation groups and tribal officials say the Bishop and Chaffetz bill doesn't go far enough to protect the area. Jewell said she was disappointed that it had taken so long for the congressmen to come up with the proposal.

The debate has even attracted the attention of actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, who has advocated on his social media accounts for a monument, and major outdoor recreation retailers Patagonia and Black Diamond, who have urged support for the proposal.

The U.S. Interior Department says Jewell's visit doesn't mean a monument decision is imminent.

Jewell said this week that she's in Utah to listen and there's no draft ready for any monument declaration.



The Native Americans have been robbed of nearly everything. At least give them their traditionally and spiritually important lands. They go back at least 20,000 years, and are one of the oldest links to the beginnings of what we call civilization. I’m saying that because they did develop agriculture in several places, and around the Caribbean and the Great Lakes there were evidences of large urban populations with burial mounds and impressive stone buildings. The Aztecs had a complex calendar and in some places even systems which are sometimes considered to be writing. The well-known land bridge called Beringia was flooded by the sea around 11,000 BP, and the agricultural knowledge beginning around that time in the Middle East and the Caucasus may have had an independent origin, since the distance between the two is so great. Wikipedia gives new information about this now, though, so go to this website to read about it. -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beringia. The following excerpts show evidence of great sophistication of several kinds.

As for pre-Columbian writing, there are some cases of hieroglyphics. "Picture writing" may seem primitive, but we must remember that the Egyptians had only hieroglyphs, early on, also. Finally, in the 1700s the Cherokee Sequoyah noticed a white man writing and labored to create a phonetic system for the Cherokee language. Images of that and of the hieroglyphs are found in Google articles. I searched "pre-columbian writing" to find those.

The following article about phonetic symbols states, “Sequoyah is credited by historians as the inventor of the Cherokee syllabary. However, ancient lore asserts there was a written Cherokee language thousands of years ago. According to legend, the primeval Cherokee written language was lost as the tribe migrated across the continent and their numbers dwindled according to living conditions and influences of more numerous neighbors.”

Cherokee: http://www.manataka.org/page81.html)

See also on hieroglyphics: www.doaks.org/.../zapotec-hieroglyphic-writing...)



The most informative article on Native American writing forms is this one from Slate:

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_good_word/2011/07/questioning_the_inca_paradox.html
“Questioning the Inca Paradox, Did the civilization behind Machu Picchu really fail to develop a written language?”

Photograph -- A khipu maker's work box, Inca era. Click image to expand.

When the Yale University history lecturer Hiram Bingham III encountered the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru 100 years ago, on July 24, 1911, archaeologists and explorers around the world (including Bingham himself) were stunned, having never come across a written reference to the imperial stone city. Of course, the absence of such historical records was in itself no great surprise. The Inca, a technologically sophisticated culture that assembled the largest empire in the Western Hemisphere, have long been considered the only major Bronze Age civilization that failed to develop a system of writing—a puzzling shortcoming that nowadays is called the "Inca Paradox."

The Incas never developed the arch, either—another common hallmark of civilization—yet the temples of Machu Picchu, built on a rainy mountain ridge atop two fault lines, still stand after more than 500 years while the nearby city of Cusco has been leveled twice by earthquakes. The Inca equivalent of the arch was a trapezoidal shape tailored to meet the engineering needs of their seismically unstable homeland. Likewise, the Incas developed a unique way to record information, a system of knotted cords called khipus (sometimes spelled quipus). In recent years, the question of whether these khipus were actually a method of three-dimensional writing that met the Incas' specific needs has become one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Andes.

No one disputes that the Incas were great collectors of information. When a battalion of Spanish conquistadors, led by the ruthless Francisco Pizarro, arrived in 1532, the invaders were awed by the Inca state's organization. Years' worth of food and textiles were carefully stockpiled in storehouses. To keep track of all this stuff, the empire employed khipucamayocs, a specially trained caste of khipu readers. The great 16th-century Spanish chronicler Pedro Cieza de León recalled that these men were so skilled that "not even a pair of sandals" escaped their annual tallies. The Spaniards, who were no slouches themselves in the bureaucracy department—Pizarro's landing party included 12 notaries—observed that the Incas were remarkably skilled with numbers. For many years during the 16th century, says Frank Salomon, a professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin, Inca khipucamayocs and Spanish accountants would square off in court during lawsuits, with the khipu numbers usually deemed more accurate.

Individual khipus seem to have varied widely in color and complexity; most of the surviving examples generally consist of a pencil-thick primary cord, from which hang multiple "pendant" cords. From those pendants hang ancillary cords called "subsidiaries." One khipu has more than a thousand subsidiary cords. Sixteenth-century eyewitness accounts describe khipucamayocs studying their khipus intensely to access whatever details had been recorded on them. According to Spanish chronicles of the 1560s and 1570s, some khipus appeared to contain information of the sort that other cultures have typically preserved in writing, such as genealogies and songs that praised the king. One Jesuit missionary told of a woman who brought him a khipu on which she had "written a confession of her whole life."


The Spaniards' institutional response to this singular accounting system, originally benign, shifted in 1583, when Peru's nascent Roman Catholic church decreed that khipus were the devil's work and ordered the destruction of every khipu in the former Inca empire. (This was the heyday of the Spanish Inquisition, and the church was making a major push to convert natives from their pantheistic state religion.) By the middle of the 17th century, Spanish accounts, the only historical sources available from that time, began to cast doubt on the idea that the khipus had ever been "read" like texts. Instead, the knots on khipus came to be viewed as mnemonic prompts analogous to the beads on Catholic rosaries, cues that supposedly had helped the khipucamayocs recall information that they had already memorized. Some scholars argued that a khipu could have only been understood by the same khipucamayoc who'd made it. Andean cultures secretly continued to use knotted cords to record information well into the 20th century, but the links between modern cords and Inca khipus aren't clear. What's certain is that no one in recent history has been able to fully interpret an Inca khipu.


The conquerors' mnemonic theory held sway for three centuries, and was buttressed in 1923, when the anthropologist L. Leland Locke analyzed 42 khipus at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Locke demonstrated how the knots represented the results of tabulations. These figures were grounded in the base-10 decimal system (tens, hundreds, thousands), and so were analogous to the beads on an abacus. Despite the evidence from 16th-century eyewitness accounts, the academic community accepted the hypothesis that the Inca, who had built the world's largest highway system and eradicated hunger in an empire of more than 10 million people, never managed to express their thoughts in written form.


In 1981, however, the husband-and-wife, archeologist-and-mathematician team of Robert and Marcia Ascher put the Inca Paradox into doubt. By closely analyzing the position, size, and color of the knots in 200 khipus, they demonstrated that about 20 percent of them showed "non-arithmetical" properties. These cords, the Aschers argued, seemed to have been encoded with numbers that might also represent other information—possibly some form of narrative.


The question that Inca scholars have grappled with since is whether or not the khipus constitute what linguists call a glottographic or "true writing" system. In true writing, a set of signs (for example, the letters C-A-T) matches the sound of speech (the spoken word "cat.") These signs must be easily decoded not just by the person who writes them, but by anyone who possesses the ability to read in that language. No such link has yet been found between a khipu and a single syllable of Quechua, the native language of the Peruvian Andes.


But what if the khipus don't fit neatly into the precise criteria established for true writing? It's possible, says Wisconsin's Salomon, that khipus were actually examples of semasiography, a system of representative symbols—such as numerals or musical notation—that conveys information but isn't tied to the speech sounds of a single language, in this instance Quechua. (By contrast, logographic languages such as Chinese and Japanese are phonetic as well as character-based.) The Incas conquered a huge number of neighboring peoples in a short time span, between 1438 and 1532; each of these groups had its own language or dialect, and the Incas wanted to integrate those new territories into their hyperefficient organizational network quickly. "It makes sense that they'd use a system that could transcend languages," Salomon says.


If khipus are examples of semasiography, the obvious next step is to break their code. Nearly a decade ago, Gary Urton, a professor of pre-Columbian studies at Harvard, began the Khipu Database project (KDB), a digitized repository of 520 khipus. (831 khipus are known to exist worldwide.) Urton has argued that khipus contain vastly more information than once believed—a rich trove of data encoded in each cord's colors, materials, and type of knot. The KDB may have already decoded the first word from a khipu—the name of a village, Puruchuco, which Urton believes was represented by a three-number sequence much like an Inca ZIP code. If he's correct, the system employed to encode information in the khipus is the only known example of a complex language recorded in a 3-D system. Khipus may turn out to be something like bar codes that could be "scanned" by anyone with the proper training.


The easiest way to know for certain if the khipus were a form of writing would be to find the Inca equivalent of the Rosetta Stone: a khipu paired with its written Spanish translation. Because of the limited number of khipus—only a fraction of the amount of material available to the researchers who decoded the Egyptian and Maya hieroglyphs—this has long been thought improbable. It's not impossible, though. A couple of decades ago, a 1568 real-estate document turned up in a Cusco archive that showed that Machu Picchu had once been a royal estate belonging to Pachacutec, the greatest Inca emperor. In the 1990s an Italian noblewoman claimed to have discovered a khipu with its translation among her family papers in Naples. Thus far, these controversial "Naples documents," initially a hot topic of speculation among historians, have turned out to be a dead end.

Then just last year, what may prove to be the most important evidence yet turned up in a tiny mountain village in Peru. Sabine Hyland, a professor of anthropology at St. Norbert College, found a "khipu board," a device Mercederian missionaries used to keep track of information such as attendance of natives at mass. The board, which dates from the 19th century, lists 282 names. Next to 177 of them is a hole with a corresponding khipu cord. While the board was created centuries after the Spanish conquest, its cords' various color patterns are similar to those found in khipus from the Inca period. Hyland has since located a second khipu board and plans to study both in depth later this year.

This is probably not an Inca Rosetta Stone. Hyland's early guess is that the strings don't represent the names exactly, but instead record mundane details like which residents of the village played a role in a holiday pageant or donated a sheep to the local fiesta. But if they do resemble 16th-century khipus as closely as she thinks they might, their decoding could at the very least be proof that the Incas used a semasiographic system. Such a breakthrough could begin to rewrite the narrative of a civilization whose history has been told almost entirely by the very conquerors who set out to erase it. It would also serve as a reminder to future researchers: Don't mistake your own lack of imagination for deficiencies in the cultures you study.

https://www.quora.com/I-recently-encountered-the-term-semasiographic-which-denotes-a-system-of-writing-not-meant-to-mimic-spoken-words-Im-having-trouble-imagining-this-if-you-have-a-spoken-language-and-you-read-a-semasiographic-text-dont-the-concepts-you-read-map-onto-concepts-you-can-say “However, both Mayan and Egyptian hieroglyphics developed sound-based ways to write words as well. Some linguists argue there are no 100% semasiographic writing systems.”

Also in Slate: Joshua Foer crosses the last remaining Incan grass bridge.

Definition: Semasiographic system:
“Usually the word refers to picture-based writing systems, like Mayan or Egyptian hieroglyphs. It depicts ideas rather than sound.” Chinese and Japanese writing are also of this type, though they have become highly stylized over the years.




SAD, BUT PREDICTABLE – THE STATE OF OFFICER/NEIGHBORHOOD RACIAL RELATIONS


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-carolina-deputies-taunted-served-bad-food-restaurant/

2 N.C. cops say they were taunted, served bad food at restaurant
CBS/AP
July 12, 2016, 11:32 AM

Photograph -- Google maps image of the Zaxby's in Shelby, N.C. GOOGLE MAPS VIA WNCN-TV


SHELBY, N.C. - Two North Carolina sheriff's deputies say they were taunted and served inedible food at a restaurant in Shelby.

Cleveland County Sheriff's Capt. Joel Shores told CBS affiliate WBTV he was angry, but not surprised by what happened at the Zaxby's restaurant Sunday.

Shores posted a message on Facebook on behalf of the wife of one of the deputies, who were not identified.

"Years ago, this profession was respected, it was honored. Now to get ridiculed, to be a target, to possibly get shot at, for little pay... what's the motivation to be a police officer other than do it because your heart's in it to help the community?" Shores said.

She said cooks yelled at the deputies and called them names. She said her husband and his partner ignored the insults and ordered anyway. The woman said her husband realized they had put the hottest sauce possible on his wings and he could not eat them.

Shores later posted that Zaxby's had apologized.

Restaurant owner Neal Glezen told The Star of Shelby he's trying to figure out what happened.



One thing we need to understand is that there is a noticeable difference in how many, and even most, Black or brown skinned people do seem to feel now. I think the ideas of "critical mass" and a "tipping point" are involved. The daily news and the Internet have erased the cloak of obscurity which protected police departments from the results of their mistakes, unhelpful emotional reactions, poor training, purposeful abusiveness, and simply poor supervision. Technology marches on. Everybody has a cell phone and most people have “smart phones” which record unfortunate interactions.

I do hope that officers will be led or, if necessary, forced to attend cultural sensitivity training, college level social science courses, and yes, psychiatric treatment, so that they will be able to attend neighborhood “meet and greet” events with an attitude which is positive enough to do some good. People need to interact with each other as fellow members of the human race, but as long as their viewpoints range from mulish to downright dangerous, there will be no peace on the streets.

If it becomes clear that many Blacks are sufficiently outraged that they will kill or otherwise endanger officers, I think more and more cities will follow the lead of the recent three or four across the nation, in VOLUNTARILY changing the “police culture.” Less believe we will have better days within the next year or so, especially if the federal government makes laws that take away the “authority” that the average cop on the city streets has had until Ferguson erupted. We are not going to be the same country anymore after that.

I am by no means saying that Blacks should begin to be pointlessly abusive to police, as they clearly did in this NC restaurant, but it is understandable, after all. Let’s ALL of us lay down our arms and quit behaving provocatively. Abusiveness is no one’s privilege or right.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dallas-surgeon-on-officers-he-couldnt-save-race-relations-police-shooting/

Dallas surgeon on officers he couldn't save, race relations
CBS/AP July 11, 2016, 8:14 PM

26 PHOTOS -- Police ambushed in Dallas
Photograph -- surgeon.jpg, Dr. Brian H. Williams. CBS NEWS
Play VIDEO -- Daughter of slain Dallas officer remembers their last goodbye
Play VIDEO -- Dallas Police Chief: We're asking cops to do to [sic] much


DALLAS -- On Monday, a trauma surgeon at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Texas spoke about trying to save the wounded officers in the Dallas shooting -- and about race in America.

Dr. Brian H. Williams, who is black, said he understands the "anger and frustration and distrust of law enforcement."

He went on to say that police are not the problem, but instead the lack of discussion about "the impact of race relations."

Williams and other doctors who treated some of the officers who were shot Thursday night in downtown Dallas held a news conference on Monday afternoon.

"And I think about it every day. That I was unable to save those cops when they came here that night," Williams said. "It weighs on my mind constantly. This killing. It has to stop. Black men dying and being forgotten. People retaliating against the people who were sworn to defend us. We have to come together and end all this."

Five officers died and nine officers and two civilians were injured during a protest over recent fatal shootings by police.

Williams said that he has a daughter, and he makes sure while in public, to do simple things for officers.

"When I see police officers eating out in a restaurant, I pick up their tab. I even one time a year or two ago, I bought one of the Dallas Police officers some ice cream when I was out with my daughter getting ice cream," he said. "I want my daughter to see me interacting with police this way so she doesn't grow up with the same burden that I carry when interacting with law enforcement."

Williams said he wants police officers to see him as a black man, and understand that he supports them.

"I will defend you and I will care for you," he said. "That doesn't mean that I do not fear you."

A self-described military brat who moved around a lot as a child, Williams turned to medicine after spending six years in the Air Force as an aeronautical engineer. He got his medical degree from the University of South Florida in 2001, did his residency at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and a fellowship at Emory University's Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta before joining Parkland -- the same hospital where President John F. Kennedy was brought after he was shot -- six years ago. He's married with a 5-year-old daughter.

He's been stopped by police himself over the years and said he is mindful each time that he must act and speak in a way that doesn't seem threatening. He lives each time in fear that he could be killed. He sees the news about other black men killed by police.

In one traffic stop, he ended up "spread eagle" on the hood of the cruiser. In another, when he was stopped for speeding, he had to wait until a second officer arrived. Just a few years ago, he was stopped by an officer and questioned as he stood outside his apartment complex waiting for someone to pick him up and drive him to the airport.

He doesn't have such encounters every day but when he does, he's on his guard and, "I'm always just praying for the encounter to end."

As Friday morning turning into Friday night, the trauma unit's efforts came to an end. They had done all they could and it was time to bring the bodies of those they were unable to save to the medical examiner.

Police were lined up in the ambulance bay, the blue line in full force to escort and pay respects to their fallen colleagues. Williams joined the officers, standing with them in their formation.

"I didn't know if I belonged with them. I was a civilian. I don't go through the daily challenges that they go through. I don't put my life on the line every day like they did," Williams said, tearing up. "But I was grieving with them. I felt the same degree of sorrow. And I wanted to show my respects. ... I hope that what I did was not offensive to them. But I wanted to show my appreciation to them."

Through it all, Williams can't help but question why he was there that night. He wasn't supposed to be, except for a last-minute schedule change.

"I wonder if this was the reason that in the midst of all this racial tension and dead black men and violence against cops -- was I the one put there to experience this and tell my story and get the conversation started?" he said.



This educated, well-spoken and undoubtedly well-dressed medical doctor who was interviewed for today’s article, still is unable to escape abusive and very rough treatment at the hands of police. It reminds me of the arrest of Harvard University Professor Henry Gates in Obama’s first year in office. (Please read about it below.) As soon as the story became known to the worldwide press, the policeman and his department were embarrassed, partly by Obama’s reaction. Obama intervened in a humorous, but pointed way, and received the ire of the Rightists forces. They just don’t like people who “get out of their place,” and winning the presidency is not a Black person’s “place.” He ended by inviting BOTH men to the White House, where he sat them down at an outdoor table with VP Biden and himself to discuss the human level interaction that occurred, and drink a beer together. The press covered it extensively and gleefully. Not to rub it in anybody’s face, but just to make an important point, I will say as I have before, that the police who constantly complain that the public MUST be respectful to them, must also come to understand that it is their duty as a human being be respectful to all of our citizens also. Overkill is not a successful way to deal with these things.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Gates_arrest_controversy

Henry Louis Gates arrest controversy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“ . . . .
On July 22, President Barack Obama said about the incident, "I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that. But I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home, and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately." Law enforcement organizations and members objected to Obama's comments and criticized his handling of the issue. In the aftermath, Obama stated that he regretted his comments and hoped that the situation could become a "teachable moment".[3]

On July 24, Obama invited both parties to the White House to discuss the issue over beer, and on July 30, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden joined Crowley and Gates in a private, cordial meeting in a courtyard near the White House Rose Garden; this became known colloquially as the "Beer Summit".

An independent panel with experts from across the nation published a report on June 30, 2010, which states that "Sergeant Crowley and Professor Gates each missed opportunities to 'ratchet down' the situation and end it peacefully" and share responsibility for the controversial July 16 arrest. Crowley could have better explained how uncertain and potentially dangerous it is to respond to a serious crime-in-progress call and why this can result in a seemingly rude tone. Gates could have tried to understand Crowley's view of the situation and could have spoken respectfully to Crowley. The report cites research that shows people's feelings about a police encounter depend significantly on whether they feel the officer displays respect and courtesy.[4][5][6]”



NOT NEWS, BUT FUN -- Take a look at this information from a great Internet Magazine called “mentalfloss.”


http://mentalfloss.com/article/66330/14-nostalgic-facts-about-happy-days

14 Nostalgic Facts About ‘Happy Days’
Kara Kovalchik

Happy Days ran for 11 seasons, making it one of ABC’s longest running series (The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet still holds first place). It lasted longer than its many spinoffs, including Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy, and it is the only show thus far in Nick at Nite history to dethrone I Love Lucy as that channel’s top-rated show. To paraphrase Pratt & McClain, these Happy Days facts are yours and mine; we hope you’ll share them with your friends.

1. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SET IN THE 1920S, NOT THE 1950S.

When Garry Marshall was first approached by Paramount executives Michael Eisner and Tom Miller in 1971 to create a new sitcom, they envisioned something set in the 1920s or ’30s. Marshall told them that he knew nothing about flappers, but he could write a show about the era in which he spent his teen and young adult years—the 1950s. He put together a pilot about a Midwestern family that just purchased their first TV set (the first one in the neighborhood!) and how the teenaged son planned to use it as a chick magnet. The series didn’t sell, and the pilot ended up as a vignette on Love, American Style—“the dumping ground of failed pilots” according to Marshall.

2. THE SERIES CREATOR WANTED TO CALL IT COOL.

Test audiences reported that COOL made them think of cigarettes, however, so producer Carl Kleinschmitt suggested, “How about calling it Happy Days? That’s what we’re going to show.”

3. RON HOWARD SIGNED ON TO AVOID GOING TO VIETNAM.

Ron Howard wasn’t looking to do another series; he had recently enrolled at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts with the goal of becoming a director. He had a small problem nagging at him, however: a low draft number. And Uncle Sam was no longer handing out student deferments to college students. There was a possibility of Howard getting an occupational deferment, though, if his employment was directly related to the employment of 30 or more other people. Luckily Paramount was a large company with enough employees who would be out of work if their star was drafted, so Howard signed on to play Richie Cunningham. Even though the pilot didn’t sell, Howard could breathe easily since President Nixon had ended the draft shortly after filming had wrapped.

4. HAPPY DAYS ACTUALLY PREDATES AMERICAN GRAFFITI.

George Lucas’s Oscar-nominated 1973 film American Graffiti launched a craze for 1950s nostalgia (even though the movie was set in 1962). Casting director Fred Roos had worked with Ron Howard on The Andy Griffith Show and recommended him to Lucas for the role of Steve Bolander. Lucas dug out the “Love and the Happy Days” episode of Love, American Style to determine whether Howard could play an 18-year-old high school student convincingly. Once American Graffiti became a runaway success, ABC decided that the time was ripe for a 1950s-era sitcom and Garry Marshall’s project was resurrected.

5. FONZIE WAS ALMOST A MONKEE.

When Henry Winkler got the callback after his first audition for the role of Arthur Fonzarelli, he was taken aback when he saw that the other contender was former Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz. According to Dolenz, Winkler admitted to him later that he had thought, “Oh crap, Micky Dolenz is here. I’ll never get it!” Dolenz was Marshall’s original choice to play Fonzie, on the strength of a recent guest appearance he had made as a biker on Adam-12. But at six feet tall, Dolenz towered over the five-foot-nine Ron Howard, so Winkler was deemed a better fit.

6. HENRY WINKLER STRUGGLED TO READ HIS SCRIPTS.

Winkler struggled in school as a child no matter how hard he applied himself. His German-born parents had a nickname for him, dummer hund (“Dumb Dog”), which didn’t help his self-esteem. He wasn’t diagnosed with dyslexia until he was 31 years old. When he auditioned for Happy Days he only had six lines, which he made up because he couldn’t read them. “That’s not in the script,” the producers pointed out. Thinking on his feet, Winkler replied: “I know but I’m giving you the essence of the character and if I get the part I’ll do it verbatim.”

7. BILL HALEY RECORDED A NEW VERSION OF HIS SIGNATURE HIT FOR THE OPENING CREDITS.

“Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & His Comets spent eight weeks at the top of the Billboard chart in 1955. This original single version was only used once on Happy Days (for the first episode). Haley recorded a new version of the song exclusively for the series and this was the song that was played over the opening credits during the first two seasons of the show.

8. PAT MORITA HAD PROBLEMS WITH HIS ACCENT.

California-born Noriyuki “Pat” Morita spoke plain, unaccented English as well as any native speaker, but just prior to filming his first scene as Arnold, director Jerry Paris very reluctantly told the actor that he had to “pick an accent.” Apparently the network higher-ups thought that the obviously Asian Arnold should speak with a distinct accent. Morita went along with them and used an exaggerated Chinese Pidgin English dialect. About six weeks later Paris approached Morita once again, this time accompanied by a standards and practices representative. The S&P rep informed Morita that—for politically correct reasons—he could no longer play Arnold, who was obviously a Chinese-American character (an observation made based on Morita’s accent), because he was Japanese-American. Morita did some quick thinking and explained that Arnold’s last name was Takahashi, and that he was the product of a Japanese father and Chinese mother.

9. FONZIE DIDN’T REALLY LOVE PINKY.

The season four opener was a hugely hyped affair, a three-part story arc entitled “Fonzie Loves Pinky.” The big news was that Fonzie was going to find true love, and the object of his affection was a daredevil cyclist named Pinky Tuscadero. Pinky was played by Roz Kelly, an actress who’d caught ABC honcho Fred Silverman’s eye and had become a pet project of his. He believed that she could be the “female Fonzie” and as a result the Pinky and Fonzie pairing got almost as much press coverage in the summer of 1977 as Charles and Diana would receive three years later. Alas, the brassy and abrasive Kelly just didn’t fit in with the rest of the cast, particularly her intended love interest: “I grew up on welfare, so I don’t relate to rich kids,” she told People magazine in 1976 of the Yale-educated Winkler. And Pinky was quietly written out of the series.

10. JOHN LENNON ONCE VISITED THE SET.

The cast was surprised one day in 1975 when the former Beatle showed up unannounced on the Paramount lot. Julian Lennon was a huge fan of the show and his dad had brought him to meet the cast. As Anson Williams, who played Potsie, recalled, Lennon was very nice and somewhat shy, but he did sign autographs and draw doodles for various crew members and grips. (But not for Williams or the other stars; they were far too cool to ask a fellow celebrity for a keepsake drawing.)

11. GARRY MARSHALL GAVE ROBIN WILLIAMS HIS BIG BREAK.

But it was actually Marshall’s sister, Ronny, who “discovered” the comedian. Marshall’s young son was an avid Star Wars fan and he urged his father to have “space people” on Happy Days, which is how the alien character Mork from Ork was conceived. Several comedians, including Dom DeLuise and John Byner, had turned down the role and Marshall was having trouble casting it. His sister suggested a stand-up comic she regularly saw performing on the street, with his hat on the ground for money. “Why should I hire a guy from off the street?” he asked her. “Well, his hat is always pretty full!” Ronny told him. When Williams showed up to tape the “My Favorite Orkan” episode, Henry Winkler reported that his biggest challenge as an actor was to maintain a straight face while Williams went off on his hilarious tangents.

12. MANY OF THE NAMES USED ON THE SHOW WERE INSPIRED BY GARRY MARSHALL’S REAL LIFE.

Marshall’s wife went to school with a kid named Potsie Webber, and Richie Cunningham was a “nice boy” who attended the same church as Marshall. The first home the Marshalls purchased was on Arcola Street. Fonzie’s name, however, was originally supposed to be “Arthur Masciarelli”, which was Marshall’s original surname. However, “the Mash” just didn’t have the same ring to it as “the Fonz.”

13. HENRY WINKLER DIDN’T JUMP THE SHARK.

Winkler isn’t particularly athletic, but one of the few sports he excelled at was waterskiing, which is how the infamous “jump the shark” episode happened to get written. Winkler did all of his own stunt work in the “Hollywood: Part 3” episode—except for the actual shark jump. The producers didn’t want to take a chance on letting their star do such a risky maneuver. By the way, Winkler wore a special leather jacket with the lining removed for his stint on skis.

14. THE CAST NOT ONLY WORKED TOGETHER, THEY PLAYED TOGETHER!


Garry Marshall came up with the idea of a Happy Days All-Star Softball Team, with both cast and crew members participating. He thought it was a good opportunity for the actors to blow off steam while also promoting the show and raising money for charity. The team often played other celebrity teams prior to MLB games, and they toured military bases in Europe and Japan.

July 17, 2015 - 10:00am



http://mentalfloss.com/article/82652/11-words-started-out-spelling-mistakes

11 Words That Started Out As Spelling Mistakes
Paul Anthony Jones

The word irregardless might not be to everyone’s taste, but there’s no denying that if you were to use it in a sentence, you’d be perfectly understood—and that’s more than enough evidence for it to have been accepted into many dictionaries (albeit flagged as non-standard or informal), including Oxford Dictionaries, Merriam-Webster, and even the hallowed Oxford English Dictionary, which has so far been able to trace it back as far as 1912. So despite it having its origins in an error, and irregardless of what you might think of it, there’s no denying irregardless is indeed a word—and it’s by no means alone.

1. EXPEDIATE

Meaning “to hasten” or “to complete something promptly,” the verb expediate is thought to have been invented by accident in the early 1600s when the adjective form of expedite, meaning “ready for action” or “alert,” was misspelled in an essay by the English politician Sir Edwin Sandys (it was later corrected).

2. CULPRIT

There are several different accounts of the origin of culprit, but all of them seem to agree that the word was born out of a mistake. Back when French was still the language of the law in England in the Middle Ages (a hangover from the days of the Norman Conquest), the phrase Culpable, prest d’averrer nostre bille—literally “guilty, ready to prove our case”—was apparently the stock reply given by the Clerk of the Crown whenever a defendant gave a plea of not guilty. In the court records, this fairly long-winded phrase was often abbreviated just to cul. prit., and, as the Oxford English Dictionary explains, “by a fortuitous or ignorant running together of the two,” the word culprit was born.

3. DESPATCH

Despatch is a chiefly British English variant of dispatch, often used only in formal contexts like the name of the political despatch box in the House of Commons. The E spelling apparently began as a phonetic variation of the original I spelling, but after Samuel Johnson included it in his Dictionary of the English Language in 1755, its use was legitimized and thrived in the 19th century. Because Johnson himself preferred the I spelling in his own writings, however, it's supposed that he included the E spelling by mistake and inadvertently popularized the error.

4. NICKNAME

Nicknames were originally called eke names, with the verb eke used here in the sense of “to make longer” or “to provide an addition.” Sometime in the 13th century, however, “an eke-name” was mistakenly interpreted as “a neke-name,” and the N permanently jumped across from the indefinite article an to the verb eke. The same error—known linguistically as “rebracketing” or “junctural metanalysis”—is responsible for nadders, numpires, and naprons all losing their initial Ns in the Middle English period.

5. AMMUNITION

Ammunition derives from a faulty division of the French la munition, which was incorrectly misheard as l'amonition by French soldiers in the Middle Ages, and it was this mistaken form that was borrowed into English in the 1600s.

6. SCANDINAVIA

Scandinavia was originally called Scadinavia, without the first N, and is thought to take its name from an island, perhaps now part of the Swedish mainland, called Scadia. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the extra N was added in error by the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder, and has remained in place ever since.

7. SYLLABUS

If all had gone to plan in the history of the word syllabus, those two Ls should really be Ts: syllabus was coined as a Latin misreading of an Ancient Greek word, sittybos, meaning “a table of contents.”

8. SNEEZE

Oddly, sneeze was spelled with an F not an S, fneze, in Middle English, which gives weight to the theory that it was probably originally coined onomatopoeically. At least one explanation of why the letter changed suggests that this F inadvertently became an S sometime in the 15th century due to continual misreadings of the long lowercase f as the old-fashioned long S character, ſ.

9. PTARMIGAN

The ptarmigan is a bird of the grouse family, found in mountainous and high-latitude environments. Its bizarre name with its initial silent P is something of a mystery, as the original Scots word from which it derives, tarmachan, shows no evidence of it and there’s little reason why one should ever have to have been added to it—except, of course, if it were a mistake. The P spelling first emerged in the late 1600s, and is thought to have been a mistaken or misguided attempt to ally the name to the Greek word for a wing, pteron, and eventually this unusual P spelling replaced the original one.

10. SHERRY

Sherry takes its name from the southern Spanish port of Xeres (now Jerez de la Frontera in Cádiz) and was originally known as vino de Xeres, or “wine of Xeres.” This name then morphed into sherris when sherry first began to be talked about in English in the early 17th century, but because of that final S, it didn’t take long for that to be misinterpreted as a plural. Ultimately, a mistaken singular form, sherry, emerged entirely by mistake in the early 1600s.

11. PEA

Another word that developed from a plural-that-actually-wasn’t is pea. One pea was known as a pease in Middle English, but because of that final “s” sound, pease was quickly misinterpreted as a plural, giving rise to a misguided singular form, pea, in the 17th century. The actual plural of pease in Middle English, incidentally, was pesen.

July 18, 2016 - 2:00pm