Category Archives: Miscellany

The Poignant Fate of the Third Person Singular

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th January 2013

Tweet The inexorable descent of civilization to refined barbarity has, among other insults, destroyed the formerly innocuous third person singular pronoun - he/she and all its relatives. It is now impossible to use this construction without making a political statement. I refer to its use when its referent noun is of unspecified gender. Back in the middle of the…


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Quotation of the Week

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th January 2013

Tweet Tincture of time is the best medicine. Unfortunately it kills all who take it. With apologies to Hector Berlioz


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It’s Really hard to Get Things Right

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 18th January 2013

Tweet Anyone who’s done scientific research knows how hard it is to perform an experiment that conforms to all the rules of good science. There’s always something that’s overlooked or not thought of. There’s always another explanation for the data you get. In short good science is difficult. Things done in haste almost never work out…


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Quotation of the Week

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 25th November 2012

Tweet If once [the people] become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges, and Governors, shall all become wolves. Thomas Jefferson Letter to Edward Carrington Paris, Jan. 16, 1787


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Rossi’s Laws of Evaluation

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 25th March 2012

Tweet 1.  The Stainless Steel Law: The better designed the outcome evaluation, the less effective the intervention seems. 2. The Iron Law: The expected value of any impact assessment of any large scale social programme is zero. 3. The Brass Law: The more social programs are designed to change individuals, the more likely the net…


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Conversation of the Day

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th October 2011

Tweet Winston Churchill’s 6 year old grandson: “Grandpa, is it true that you are the greatest man in the world?” WC: “Yes. Now bugger off. ” Quoted in Roy Jenkins Churchill: A Biography


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More Proof That the Brain is Not a Vital Organ

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th May 2011

Tweet “Did you know that ten percent of people 24 and younger think its OK to text during sex?” Wired.com


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Educational Thoughts of the Day

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 26th January 2011

Tweet The first mistake of public business is going into it. In rivers and bad governments the lightest things swim at top. Old boys have their playthings as well as young ones; the difference is only in the price. Tis against some mens Principle to pay Interest, and seems against others Interest to pay the…


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You Can’t Make This Up

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th October 2010

Tweet The American Postal Workers Union internal election was postponed because thousands of ballots were lost in the mail. They should have voted online. The Federal Highway Administration has required that all street signs in the US be written in Clearview font by 2018. They’ve been studying this important issue for most of the century…


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Quotation of the Week

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th September 2010

Tweet People like to say that buying a house is the biggest purchase you’ll ever make. Well, the median price of a home in 2008 was $180,100. Having a baby is like buying six houses, all at once. Except that you can’t (legally) sell them—and after 13 years they’ll tell you they hate you. Jonathan…


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