All The More Reason

This piece, which I found via aldaily, chronicles a fascinating dispute between the Derrida family and the University of California at Irvine.

J.S.

It’s natural for a language to take on new words based on the influence of other cultures and languages. Often times this is lamented if one feels that there is already a perfectly good word in the language. I’ve felt that way sometimes, but not with the word timing in French. I’ve frequently heard this used orally by French sports commentators. This is the first time I’ve seen it used in an official publication.

Rembourser son crédit avant la date prévue est un droit, mais la négociation et le timing sont les meilleurs atouts pour s’en sortir sans prise de tête.

I don’t like the sound of the –ing in French in general: le jogging, le parking, le babysitting. But I really like the sound of “le timing”. As best as I can tell it’s related to the fact that the timing means an exact moment in time, and so the rarity of the –ing sound in French helps emphasize this particular moment. Nice one LeFigaro!

J.S.

This story is complicated and I don’t pretend to understand all of it. In brief, six Bulgarian nurses working in Libya were charged with contaminating 438 children with HIV. I wouldn’t go expressly to Bulgaria for treatment of something, but it strikes me as preposterous that they could be responsible for something like this. Assuming that all of these children are infected with HIV, how in fact did they get infected? The sheer number alone raises the eyebrows. Edit * This article on wikipedia suggests that the sanitary conditions in the hospital were a large factor.

In order for the families of the victims to renounce the death penalty, they demanded a financial payout. We have lawsuits in the west as well, but usually it’s done after the criminal case is over and not in order to decide the defendant’s fate. This is the world we live in.

J.S.