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January 6

January 3, 2022 / / 0 Comments

The year 2021 engraved the date January 6 into the American psyche.

This date, two weeks before the inauguration of Joseph R Biden as 46th President of the United States, drove a wedge into the story of American pride in its ability to have peaceful transitions of power from one president to another.

On January 6, 2021, although Donald Trump had lost the election, an angry mob of his supporters who refused to accept the results of the recent Presidential election was attempting to thrust its way into the House of Representatives. Their goal was to stop the peaceful and traditional counting of Electoral College certificates from the 50 States. While staffers were rushing to rescue the ballots, others were ushering Vice President Pence and many United States Senators and Representatives into a safe haven in the House basement. Police outside and in the halls of the House fought the angry mob in an effort to stop them from attacking and harming the congressman, and the valuable Electoral College certificates.

Americans, and people around the world, were glued to their television sets. watching in bewilderment. “Is this for real?” “Is this really happening?? “How can this be happening, here?” Americans asked.

While power did have its transition, it was not peaceful. Hundreds have been arrested from across the United States and charged with insurrection and a variety of other charges of violence. Americans struggle with the future of democracy.

The House of Representatives’ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol is asking questions. They are asking, “‘What was Trump’s exact role in the assault on Congress in the insurrection?’” They are asking other questions, too.

This year January 6 occurs on a Thursday. World leaders ask, “Is America going to be all right?” “What about democracy in America?”

President Biden presides over a world that looks to America for its highest principles, and a population that has yet to be united.

“Got Milk?” Another Example of Bad Grammar

June 26, 2020 / / 0 Comments

This phrase “Got milk?” s trademarked by the California Milk Processor Board and for advertising purposes, it’s protected. But it’s not good English.

But what’s wrong with the ubiquitous “Got milk?” 

Does it mean “Do you have any milk (in your refrigerator or lunch bag, etc.)?” Or does it mean “Have you had milk (yet)?” Somebody could also be wondering “Did you get milk (when you went to the store)?”

This phrase is not only an example of BAD GRAMMAR but it’s also not clear what it means. Is the main verb from “to have” or is from “to get”?

Let’s look at this verb by verb, beginning with the verb “(to) have”.

  • The simple present tense of this verb is have.
  • The present perfect tense of this verb would be have had.

One question for simple present tense could be “Do you have milk?” The second question for present perfect tense would be “Have you had milk?”

Let’s look at the verb “(to) get”.

  • The simple present tense of this verb is get.
  • The simple past tense is got.
  • The present perfect tense is have gotten.

The simple present tense question is “Do you get milk (delivered to your door every day)?” The simple past tense question with got would have to be something like “Who got the chocolate milk yesterday?”

It’s catchy. In the advertisements, the question asked by the actor would likely be “Do you have any milk?”

One of our readers pointed out that advertisers cannot trademark a phrase that’s in common use. Therefore, they devise something that’s not grammatically correct and therefore not commonly used.

Some don’t like the slogan because they think milk is not so good for you. Others, like me, like milk – though low-fat. I drink it every day. It has calcium and it’s also the base for my yogurt and the probiotics that I have every day. Whichever side of that fence you are on is for another blog.

Either way, milk and yogurt lover or not, don’t rely on the milk lobby for your grammar needs!

Chapter One. What Is a Noun? Part Two

August 8, 2019 / / 0 Comments

This lesson is dedicated to anybody who is an immigrant to the USA, to anybody who is the child of an immigrant, and to anybody who is an ancestor of an immigrant, and that probably includes most of us.

Islands, Oceans, and Walls

Nouns and Pronouns: Part Two

Each noun and each pronoun has inflection; this means that it is either singular or plural. This is reflected in the noun or pronoun’s form, which indicates that there is either one (singular) or two or more (plural) of that item.

Nouns   The noun course in the sentence “Then I started building a golf course” is singular, whereas the noun courses in the sentence “Then I started building golf courses” is plural.

Pronouns   The pronouns he, she and it are singular, whereas we and they are plural. The pronoun you can be either singular or plural, depending on its context.

1-1

For Starters 2 Beneath each noun in the sentences below, write N and beneath each pronoun write P. If the noun is singular, write S and if it is plural, write #.
A lot of my friends are gardeners. I never understood it. Then I started
building golf courses—it’s gardening on a big scale.

The oranges of the investigation

Countable Nouns

We can categorize nouns into two types: countable and noncountable. A countable noun is a noun that can be counted. Most common nouns are countable. For example, the word hotel is countable because you can count one hotel, two hotels, three hotels, and so on. You can see that countable nouns have a singular form (for example, hotel) and a plural form (for example, hotels).

Use the singular form when you are referring to one of that item. Use the plural form whether you are referring to two units of that item or to billions and billions of units.

1-2

Singular Countable Nouns

In each example below, the noun is countable and the writer is referring to one unit so the noun form must be singular. Notice that each singular countable noun has an article (a, an, the) preceding it in the noun determiner position.

·         This is an island sitting in the middle of an ocean.

·         It’s a big ocean.

·         The wall will happen very soon.

·         I’m not a globalist. I’m a nationalist.

The Oranges of the Investigation

What Is a Noun? Part One

July 29, 2019 / / 0 Comments

This lesson is dedicated to anyone who is an immigrant to the United States, to anyone who is a child of an immigrant, and to anybody who is a descendant of an immigrant. That probably includes all of us.

What Is a Noun? Part One

A noun is a word that is the name of a person, a place, a thing, a quality, or even an idea or an action.

There are common nouns and proper nouns. Some common nouns are road, bridge, tunnel, airport, news, and non-disclosure agreement. Other common nouns are campaign, promise, tax, and return. Some proper nouns are the United States of America, the White House, Abraham Lincoln, and Konstantin V. Kilimnik The online persona Guccifer 2.0 is also a proper noun.

A pronoun is a word that represents or substitutes for a noun. Some common pronouns are I, him, everybody and nobody.

For Starters: Beneath each noun below write N and beneath each pronoun write P. (Noun phrases are italicized.)
I met her at a very big party in New York. And she was there along with other supermodels, and I greeted all of them, and I said: “That’s the one that’s the most beautiful.” Donald Trump

Name some other common common and proper nouns!!

Donald Trump Models English Adverbs of Time -or – Promises Promises Promises

October 3, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Donald Trump promises many things. He promises many more things than he actually delivers on. But people love promises, and his prolific use of future time expressions makes an English lesson on talking about the future very bountiful.

Let’s follow just a few of Donald Trump’s promises since he took office and pay close attention to his adverbs of time.

“Donald Trump: “And the clock starts ticking. But here you have two people calling saying, “Can we negotiate?” I say yes and I have to wait for a hundred days. I don’t know what a hundred days is going to be like. What’s it going to be like?. . .”

SOON:
(The hyperlinks go to audio of the speech.)

Beginning construction of a great, great wall soon  7 months ago

The wall will get built soon  5 months ago

The wall will happen very soon  19 days ago

We’re going to have the final choices about the border wall done soon  11 days ago

Announcing very, very big infrastructure projects soon  6 months ago

A very big infrastructure plan is going to come soon  6 months ago

We’ll be making big investments in repairing our badly depleted infrastructure soon  5 months ago

Announcing very, very big infrastructure projects soon   6 months ago

The U.S. Navy will have the finest equipment in the world soon   7 months ago

American workers will be respected again soon   6 months ago

America will be back soon 6 months ago

The U.S. will be stronger than it has ever been soon 6 months ago

NATO will be fair to the U.S. soon  4 months ago

Crucial legislation will be considered soon   3 months ago

Our country will come together as one soon   1 month ago

ADVERB + SOON

American workers will have a level playing field very soon   5 months ago

Steel companies will be great very soon   5 months ago

You will be saying Merry Christmas again very soon   2 months ago

Starting negotiations with Mexico about who will pay for the wall relatively soon  8 months ago

We’re going to start building the wall very soon  7 months ago

We’re going to be doing tax policies very soon  8 months ago

We’re going to have tax reform at some point very soon  5 months ago

We’re going to be announcing a tax plan very soon  5 months ago

The New York Times will be online-only pretty soon   5 months ago

Men and women in uniform will have the latest and most cutting edge systems in their arsenal very, very soon   7 months ago

A commitment to rebuilding the depleted infrastructure of the United States very soon   2 months ago

Announcing a signature infrastructure project beyond roads and bridges very soon  6 months ago

We will start building the wall soon, very soon  7 months ago

MS-13 will be gone from America’s streets very soon   4 months ago

We’ll have the electrical grid problem solved relatively soon   8 months ago

An infrastructure plan will come a hundred percent very soon  5 months ago

Announcing a signature infrastructure project beyond roads and bridges very soon   6 months ago

The menace of rising crime and the threat of deadly terror will get better very soon   7 months ago

We’ll have the electrical grid problem solved relatively soon  8 months ago

AS SOON AS

Construction begins on the wall as soon as we can; as soon as we can physically do it  8 months ago

We’re going to be doing some trade deals as soon as we get the health care finished   6 months ago

 

SOON/SOONER/SOONEST

The administration will file an infrastructure plan over the next two or three weeks, maybe sooner  5 months ago

EVENTUALLY

The wall will be brand new eventually  19 days ago

We’re going to repeal and replace Obamacare eventually   11 days ago

We will win on health care reform eventually   9 days ago

Eventually, we’ll win on health care reform, whether it’s now or later   9 days ago

 

LATER

The wall will come later   19 days ago

 

AHEAD OF SCHEDULE and WAY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

We’re going to have a wall ahead of schedule  7 months ago

The wall is way ahead of schedule   6 months ago

 

OTHER

We’re going to be submitting a tax bill in the very near future   2 months ago

We’re going to go get into great detail on tax reform over the next two weeks   27 days ago

We’ll be submitting an infrastructure bill in the not-very-distant future   2 months ago

Very interesting items will come to the forefront about alleged wiretapping of Trump Tower over the next two weeks   6 months ago

He will release his tax returns at some point   4 months ago

The North Korean problem will be solved at some point   4 months ago

The Senate is going to be forced to make a deal on Obamacare repeal at some point   13 days ago

Planning is starting on the wall immediately   8 months ago

We have to take care of the American people immediately   8 months ago

American workers will have the training to lead us into the future immediately   1 month ago

We’re going to be making a decision about the Paris Accord over the next two weeks   5 months ago

 

And my personal favorite:

“Eventually, we’ll win, whether it’s now or later…”
Which is your personal favorite?

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How Well Can You Identify Spam with a Dangerous Link? Example #2

February 5, 2017 / / 0 Comments

SPAM

 

Scams are flooding our telephone lines.

Spammers and hackers are flooding our internet connections and getting viruses, worms, and phishing emails into our computers and email.

Obviously these scammers and hackers have enough success that they are encouraged to scam and hack even more.

How are they so successful?

Can you recognize an attempt to hack into your computer or elicit sensitive information from you when one such email enters your inbox? How well can you PROTECT YOURSELF?

Below is second in our series on how to identify these, what to look for, so that you’re not the victim of a cyber-attack.

The spam message below is easily identifiable as a hacking attempt to infect our computers in so many ways. Being that Apple is so ubiquitous, users can easily think that this message is intended for them.

I’ve broken the hack link, of course.

See how many identifiers you can find.

See below:

Dear (Your email address here),

Please note that your account will expire in less than 48h .
It is imperative to conduct an audit of your information is present, otherwise your account will be destroyed.
Update Your Apple ID
We invite you to act fast, if you need any help you can contact our online support.

Regards,
Apple

I’m able to identify up to ten different obvious identifiers.

Enter your ideas into the “COMMENT” box below.

Let’s see how well you do. Let’s see how safe you are from spammers and scammers!!

Scams and Hackers: Can You Recognize Them?

January 31, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Scams are flooding our telephone lines.

Spammers and hackers are flooding our internet connections and getting viruses, worms, and phishing emails into our computers and email.

Obviously these scammers and hackers have enough success that they are encouraged to scam and hack even more.

How are they so successful?

Can you recognize an attempt to hack into your computer or elicit sensitive information from you when one such email enters your inbox?

We will begin a series on how to identify these, what to look for, so that you’re not the victim of a cyber-attack.

Below is one spam message that we received the other day.  It is easily identifiable as a hacking attempt to infect our computers in so many ways. I’ve omitted including the hack link, of course.

See how many identifiers you can find.

See below:
___________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Joey,

Your item has arrived at the USPS Post Office at January 23, but the courier was unable to deliver parcel to you.

Download postal receipt attached to e-mail!

 

Kind thoughts,

 

Freddie Horne,

 

USPS Support Agent.
___________________________________________________________________________________

 

 I identified at least ELEVEN errors that immediately stood out to me as an obvious attempt to infiltrate my computer.
What are they?

And the 12th obvious indication?

Please add your responses to the COMMENT box below. Let’s see if we can get all twelve.

me and him: American Idol

November 28, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Heard on American Idol:  “”It’s been a year since me and Lauren Alaina have tried out now,” McCreery said. “Me and her have been together since day one and we’re gonna stay together.”

Even some of our favorite singers, such as the quote above from Scotty McCreery, Season 11 American Idol winner, are saying this.  But is it correct? Scotty’s a wonderful singer, but is his grammar correct?

The correct grammar would be “It’s been a year since Lauren Alaina and I have tried out now.  She and I have been together since day one and we’re going to stay together.”

In a list of people that includes the speaker, grammatical etiquette has the speaker always mentioned last.  This means we say(subject pronouns) she and I, he and I, and (object pronouns) to him and to me, to her and to me, and so on.

Now go enjoy Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina!

him and me?

November 15, 2011 / / 0 Comments

We’ve all heard it: We’ve all heard people say “Him and me went…”.

We’ve heard people say “Her and me went…” and we’ve heard people say “Me and him went…”.

But are these correct English? Is this something you want to learn and repeat?

The truth is that it is painful to hear English spoken this way.

We’re going to break these apart into several lessons.

  • The pronouns “him” and “her” are object pronouns. They are the pronouns to use when the speaker (or writer) is referring to the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition.

The problem is when people – commonly – use these pronouns when they are referring to the subject(s) of a sentence.

  • The subject pronouns are I, you, her, him, it, we, they. So it would be proper to say “He and I went to a baseball game. ” It would be proper to say “She and I went to a baseball game.”

It would be proper to say “Mark invited him and me to the baseball game” and it would be proper to say “Mark invited her and me to the baseball game.”  (Using the plural object pronoun, it would be proper, in these cases, to say “Mark invited us to the baseball game.”)

TRY IT #1: So let’s say English grammar isn’t your cup of tea and you don’t really understand object pronouns. So let’s take the sentence “Mark invited her and me to the baseball game” and let’s play around with it. Let’s begin, “Mark sent an email to…….” and fill in the blank.

Your choices are (choose two):

1) him and me
2) he and I
3) her and me
4) she and I

A substitution like we just did above will help you to understand when to use an object pronoun.

The correct choices are 1)  him and me, and 3) her and me.
Rationalle:  We need an OBJECT PRONOUN to complete the preposition “to”.

TRY IT #2: Let’s begin, “……  sent an invitation to Mark.” and fill in the blank.

Your choices are (choose two):

1) She and I
2) Him and me
3) Her and me
4) He and I

The correct choices are 1)  She and I, and 4) He and I.
Rationalle:  We need  SUBJECT PRONOUNS  to indicate who is doing the action.

Next week you and I will discuss “me and her” or “me and him”.

***

 

Interview with Rafael Nadal (in my dreams)

June 2, 2011 / / 0 Comments

This is my “in my dreams” interview with Rafael Nadal, one of the world’s greatest tennis players, from Mallorca, Spain.

**

Rafa, first I want to say that I love watching you play.  You are my favorite tennis player.

Thank you very much.

I have always loved watching the Spanish tennis players, including the great Manuel Orantes.

That’s the true.

That’s the truth.

Yes, that’s the true.

That’s the truth. It should be a noun, truth.  The truth. “True” is an adjective, as in “That’s true.”

Thank you very much.  That’s true.

Rafa, I saw you play at the US Open in 2010. It was thrilling to watch you play.

I played my best match at a very very important moment.  Always I try very hard.

I always try very hard.

Yes, you do.

I mean – the word order: First “I” then “always”, as in “I always try very hard” and “You always try very hard.”

Thank you very much.

Rafa, what is the key to success in your sport? What is the key to your greatness?

Important thing is be healthy, be in the right position mentally.  I’m always improving.  If you lose something in one part, you have to improve something in another part.

Yes, the important thing is to be healthy, and to be in the right position mentally.

Rafa, you are an inspiration to people all over the world. People love you not only for your successes on the tennis court but also for who you are as a person.  Good luck tomorrow in the French Open.  I will be rooting for you. 

It will be a very difficult match for me.  Thank you for all of your support.

Vamos Rafa!

 

**

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