-
December 3
December 3, 1800, was the day that Aaron Burr nearly became the third president of the US. The 1800 election resulted in a tie between Burr and Thomas Jefferson, so it was up to the House of Representatives to hold a contingent election. After the first ballot, that was tied too, and it stayed that Continue reading
-
A brief winter trip outside
My yard had a bird when I trotted out there.I chased it away so my grass could be bare,But a squirrel annoyingly chattered at meAnd it stayed where it was up too high in the tree.So I picked up my toy (I keep one outside)and I flapped it around ’til I could decideif I wanted Continue reading
-
I’m not from here
Thanks mostly to air travel, it’s not unusual to meet someone from practically any country on earth. You may have even met a Padanian. But you won’t find Padania on a map, in an atlas, or in the United Nations. That’s because it’s the name of a nation that doesn’t exist. But people really live Continue reading
-
The unhappy emperor
Empires have historically been more common than you might think. Even in the western hemisphere, we’ve had the empires of the Inca, the Maya, and Brazil. Yep, Brazil. And as it happens, the last emperor of Brazil, Pedro II, was born December 2, 1825. His full name was just a bit longer than Pedro II: Continue reading
-
December 2
It was December 2, 1823 that US President James Monroe delivered the State of the Union address where he announced what’s now called the Monroe Doctrine — the US was going to be neutral in all future European conflicts. The Monroe Doctrine lasted quite a while, although of course the US eventually got involved in Continue reading
-
Honk if you’ve heard this one
When I see a good friendon the street (other side)I know enough not torun there to say hi. In between are those thingsthat are loud, fast, and smellyand dangerous, too;they could turn me to jelly. I’ve ridden inside them myselfso I knowthat they’re not really real;they can just stop and go. The humans believethat they Continue reading
-
Strong, stoic men with dirty faces
“Coal” in US politics is not a fossil fuel; it’s an ideology. Coal used to be a very important fuel that powered the engines of expansion in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Mining coal back then was difficult, dangerous, and poorly paid, and the people who did it took pride in their barely-compensated Continue reading
-
December 1
Everybody in the US has heard about Rosa Parks from Montgomery, Alabama, who refused to give up her bus seat just so a white-skinned person could sit in it. It was a seminal moment in the civil rights movement, and it happened on this date, December 1, in 1955. Parks probably didn’t choose the date, Continue reading
-
AI strictly as a business
This is a really interesting analysis of the business of AI models. It’s a pretty convincing argument that it’s a pretty bad business, for some very thoughtful reasons. Continue reading
-
A great disturbance in the force
There’s something out of kilter about the way we use the word “kilter.” The word’s first appearance in print (in modern form) was around 1600. For about a century before that it was “kelter.” Both kilter and its immediate predecessor “kelter” mean “in good order or good condition.” But various dialects of English have had Continue reading
About Me
I’m Pete Harbeson, a writer located near Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to writing my own content, I’ve learned to translate for my loquacious and opinionated pup Chocolate Bossypaws. I shouldn’t be surprised, but she mostly speaks in doggerel. You can find her contributions tagged with Chocolatiana.
Check out my other blog, Techlimitics, where I’m grappling with the nature of simplicity.
Privacy policy
No trackers, no ads, no data collected or saved.
Contact
peterharbeson@me.com