Published

2 years ago

July 25, 2024

Alice Rush

A reader asks:

I learned almost all the grammar I still know from Latin, French and German where these constructions had to be more explicitly explained: Declension and conjugation from Latin, subjunctives from German, etc. My question is, am I unusual in this respect or did you gain a better command of English by comparing (it) with other languages?

Studying Latin and the other languages helps, but I wouldn’t overemphasize this. English has the subjunctive mood. We don’t say, “If I was king.” or “Joe wishes he was taller.” We don’t have conjugations of verbs, but we have more than our share of irregular verbs, which I would argue earns our language what it’s known to be: a beast to learn.

My point is that one can achieve a solid command of English grammar without any exposure to anything beyond.

The issue is caring. My family cared a great deal, as did the private school my brother and I attended. When I come across people with poor grammar I realize: no one cared. That’s sad, especially considering that the average European high school student becomes fluent in at least two languages, and sometimes four or five.

When my kids were young, I told them, “No one can look into your mind and read your thoughts. For that reason, those around you will listen to what you say or read what you write and form their judgements as to your intelligence accordingly. If you don’t want to be thought to be an idiot, put in a bit of effort and nail down the basics of our language.

A Letter from a Reader on English Grammar

Renewable Energy

Indoctrinating Children into Religion

Published

20 hours ago

October 6, 2026

Alice Rush

All I can say about the me here is that personally I refused, against considerable pressure from my family, to indoctrinate my children into something I myself could not accept.

Is it actually “psychological abuse” to indoctrinate children into monotheistic religion? Whether to take it that far is an open question.

My parents, both atheists, sent my brother and me to Sunday School, as they thought it wrong to cut us off from a modality of growing up in America in the early 1960s. I don’t blame them, but again, it’s not something I was willing to replicate with my own children.

Indoctrinating Children into Religion

Renewable Energy

Republicans’ Last-Ditch Effort to Lie to Voters

Published

23 hours ago

October 6, 2026

Alice Rush

In less than a month, we’re going to learn how many idiots are buying this socialism crap.

Sure, there are people who don’t know anything about the way people live in northern England, New Zealand, Costa Rica, etc. Most of these people couldn’t find these countries on this globe.

But how many can there possibly be?

Clearly, Republicans are desperate, but isn’t asking voters to believe that the Swedes have to rely on the government for their job, salary, and food a bit over-the-top?

Republicans’ Last-Ditch Effort to Lie to Voters

Renewable Energy

America in Collapse

Published

1 day ago

October 6, 2026

Alice Rush

I got the meme here from a neighbor, but I wonder who actually wrote it. There is a ton of propaganda on social media suggesting that we need to normalize the sociopathic criminality of the U.S. president.

It’s true that not every election is an apocalypse, but 2024 was disastrous for the U.S. democracy.

Yes, the country did not end. But it took a giant leap towards authoritarianism.

Even that’s not the end of the world. Democracies fail with great frequency on this planet. I just never thought I’d be living in the biggest socio-political collapse in the last 2000 years.

In an average week, I meet quite a few travelers here from lands all around this planet. Their most common thoughts on what’s happening here: “We simply feel sorry for you.”