35 Years Of American Death
Statistics and maps. Grimly fascinating.
(tags: Death ushealth Maps )

#Kazakhstan education ministry establishes working group to transfer alphabet to Latin
From қазақша to qazaqşa?
(tags: Language kazakhstan alphabets )

French Candidates Talk of ‘Frexit,’ but Le Divorce Would Be Chaotic
Great piece by @StephenFidler1.
( ( Read more... )

ܗܘܐ ܕܝܢ ܒܝܘܡܬܐ ܗܢܘܢ ܘܢܦܩ ܦܘܩܕܢܐ ܡܢ ܐܓܘܣܛܘܣ ܩܣܪ ܕܢܬܟܬܒ ܟܠܗ ܥܡܐ ܕܐܘܚܕܢܗ ( Read more... )

Belgian beer culture added to UNESCO world heritage
Hooray!
(tags: Belgium beer )

Political correctness: how the right invented a phantom enemy
Excellent, long analysis.
(tags: uspolitics language )

DWP ignoring effects of benefit sanctions
UK gov't war on the poor continues.
(tags: ukpolitics )

EU Commission: The Smart Money is on Clean Energy
( Read more... )

• Cameron's EU gamble: Five reforms he can win, and ten pitfalls he must avoid
  Latest analysis from @CER_Grant.
  (tags: eu ukpolitics )
• Giant Squid Babies Caught in Japan, First in World
  Cthulhu fthagn!
  (tags: biology )
• Unfinished story … how the ellipsis arrived in English literature
  Punctuation lore.
  (tags: english language )
• Kafka's Metamorphosis and ( Read more... )

Poll

I love reading about linguistics - it's one of those intellectual paths not taken for me, but as long as I can remember I've been fascinated by the relationships between words and especially words and grammar in different languages. Here, Deutscher runs through the basics about where we think languages have come from and how words and sentences ( Read more... )

In English, French, German and Spanish, at http://www.languagelevel.com/ - I got C2 in English (phew!), C1 for French and German, and didn't get past the first question in Spanish...

• Jocelyn Bell Burnell
  The connection between the discovery of pulsars and Joy Division.
  (tags: historyofscience )
• Mark Kermode reviews Good Vibrations
  I am ridiculously excited about this film.
  (tags: films )
• Everything Will Be Fine In Just One Chote Unit
  Chote is an old mate, but this is a solid critique!
  (tags: ukpolitics economics )
• Twittergraphy
  ( Read more... )

• Northern Ireland surrenders powers over Antarctica
  Just as well really.
  (tags: Northernireland )
• Grammar and punctuation test: take our quiz
  There is a trick question...
  (tags: Language )
• Pop culture quiz
  I had no idea!
  (tags: Films )

• False Friends - English and Dutch words that look identical but have a different meaning
  Just for reference.
  (tags: language dutch )
• New world, same old Israel
  "Every nation is entitled to defend itself. But unless violence is part of a political strategy, it rarely creates real security."
  (tags: middleeast )
• The Pacific island that never was
  "when ( Read more... )