Day: October 16, 2004

vocabulary

Words of the Day

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I found these words on an index card while cleaning this past weekend. I finally looked them up and I’ve posted both the words and their meanings:

Perspicacity: Acuteness of perception, discernment, or understanding.

Occidentals: Natives or inhabitants of an Occidental country; a westerner.

Syllogism: A form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion; for example, All humans are mortal, the major premise, I am a human, the minor premise, therefore, I am mortal, the conclusion.; reasoning from the general to the specific

Engender: To bring into existence; give rise to: “Every cloud engenders not a storm” (Shakespeare); to procreate; propagate.

politics

Newsweek’s Interview with John Stewart

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This was in the October 18th, 2004 edition of Newsweek:

NW: Thanks for taking the time. I know you’re busy these days.

JS: I’m just sitting here playing minsweeper

NW: I don’t kow if you read the reviews –

JS: I can’t read. I did the book phonetically.

NW: Anyway, The New York Times suggested that perhaps your book should be nominated for a history Pulitzer.

JS: Hmm. Is that a cash prize?

NW: What’s your political leaning? I heard your nickname is Lefty.

JS: Lefty? I didn’t realize that. That’s actually a testicular condition. I do write left-handed.

NW: Do you find it hard to be light-hearted sometimes?

JS: Absolutely. Many days start with a soul-crushing analysis of the state of the world. Then the entire digestive process of the show is to try and turn whimpers into laughter.

NS: How do you see the election shaping up?

JS: Any pundit asked what’s going to happen should answer the same way: “I have no fucking idea.” They don’t, you don’t I don’t.

NS: From a purely comic perspective, do you want four more years of Bush.

JS: From a purely comic perspective, you’d want Mr. T to be president. That would be truly fun. But no, I don’t cheer for the demise and erosion of the world purely for my own professional standing. I can write jokes about anything.