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Posted on by Dick Posted in Dick Jacobsen, Writing
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INTERSTICE – A Word To Remember

Interstice

Interstice: a small gap that lies between things.
Pronounced: In-tur-stiss.

I really love words, and this is one of my favorites. To me, the word itself describes exactly what it is. Inter; meaning between, among; Stice; meaning, I don’t know, but it sounds like a ‘small space’ to me. I like saying the word.

Why, in the name of all things holy, would anyone know that word, much less care about it. Well if you are a Civil Engineer, and you have taken a Properties of Materials course, you had to be exposed to the word, if not; you probably, never in a lifetime, would run across it. So what is it all about.

Concrete is made up of 1.) Large aggregate, 2.) Small aggregate, 3.) Sand, 4.) Cement and 5.) Water (There are other things like ‘water reducers’, ‘accelerators’ and ‘retarders’; collectively ‘additives’ – not for discussion here). If you filled a bucket full of the first three ingredients you would have a fairly solid, dense mixture, strong enough to stand on, but if you turned the bucket upside down, you would be left with a pile of loose rocky materials that would ultimately blow away. The reason this happens is because the interstices between the various aggregates are void and filled only with air. Nothing holding the group together.

You need to add a slurry of the materials 4 and 5 to fill the tiny interstices between the aggregates to form a tight, solid mass as the water drys, or hydrates. Voila! Concrete. Who knew?

Posted on by Dick Posted in Dick Jacobsen, Make America Great Again, Rants and Opinions, Writing
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English Spoken Here

Countries_where_over_50%_of_the_population_are_native_English_speakers

If you make a stand for a Border Wall, you are a Racist Isolationist. If you want to pledge allegiance to the flag, you are a Patriotic Isolationist. If you want English to be the official language, you are a Purist, Racist, Isolationist. A man of logic, whom I respect completely tells us why about the latter.

– Charles Krauthammer, Time Magazine, June 4, 2006

  1. To stipulatethat although government may use other languages, to be legally binding and authoritative e.g. “official,” it must act or communicate in the English language.
  2. To clarifythat whenever there is a conflict in meaning between government laws, regulations, or pronouncements issued in more than one language, the English version is the authoritative one.
  3. To clarifythat unless government decides to provide it, no one has an entitlement or right to government services or documents in a language other than English.
  4. To recognizethe historical fact that the United States has been an overwhelmingly English speaking nation since it was created and that its constitution and foundational documents are in English.
  5. To recognizethat while the people United States value and respect diversity, they want to preserve English as their common language and therefore immigrants have the responsibility to learn English.
  6. To conformto the majority of the states (31) that already have made English their official language.
  7. To respondto the will of the American people, 87 percent of whom believe English should be our official language, according to a May 2010 Rasmussen Reports survey.
  8. To conformto the rest of the world: Eighty-five percent of the UN’s member nations have official languages. Fifty-three (53) of those nations have adopted English as their official language.
  9. To avoidthe costs, burdens, and conflicts that arise in nations like Canada or international organizations like the European Union that attempt to conduct business in more than one official language.
  10. To bring the federal government into conformity with national institutions like the U.S. Army and the federal court system, who for practical                  reasons have decided to operate in English.

Makes sense to me, So call me a Purist, Racist, Isolationist.