The mention of a purportedly bipartisan, so-called unity “No Labels” ticket, among several potential impacts, is reminder that the Republican Presidential Nominee presently need only prevent Biden from garnering 270 electoral votes to be elected President. To clarify, were no candidate to reach the requisite 270 electoral votes, the election would be decided by the U.S. House, wherein Republicans currently control 26 delegations, Democrats 22, and 2 are tied (MN and NC). Each delegation would get 1 vote. Because a contested 24 election would be decided by the next Congress, we thankfully have time to flip a handful of delegations. Accordingly, because I’m determined at least to try and reverse the Republican advantage, I’ve started studying some charts to establish which delegations appear most likely flippable and will post my list once I’m ready. Meanwhile, I welcome your thoughts.
Barbara Jo, Minnesota passed a law this past legislative season that dictates that Minnesota’s electors will throw their votes to the presidential candidate with the most votes nationally. We are one of several states to pass such a law. That might change your math so you may need to delve into which states have such provisions in their constitution as it is designed to prevent minority rule nationally (constitutionality has not been confirmed. Won’t be unless it is triggered, I think)
Hi, Sheila. I think the MN legislation is contingent on the agreement of other states that control 270 electoral votes. But if that provision applies to any contingent election in the House, that is wonderful news!
I did a quick and dirty search and confirmed that Minnesota, along with 47 other states, is a "winner takes all" state, that is all electoral votes are awarded to the presidential candidate receiving the majority of votes in that state. In 2017, MN Republicans introduced a bill that would have changed that but, thankfully, it failed. So, joining the Interstate Voting Compact means that MN would award their electoral votes to whomever gained the greatest number of votes at the National level. It would not change the Winner Takes All law in effect within the state.
Thank you Barbara Jo! I look forward to seeing your list. Our Indivisible group phone banks across the country in strategic races. We have generally supported US Senate and US Congressional races. Given the importance of flipping state legislatures, we started incorporating key races in key states over the past year.
Thank you, Barbara Jo. Your post is an important reminder that securing control of the House of Representatives is an *integral* part of defeating the Republican presidential candidate (probably Trump).
I just want to thank all the American firefighters who have gone to Canada to help...According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, as of Wednesday, there were:
102 firefighters from France in Quebec
327 firefighters from the U.S. in Alberta and Quebec
Isn't it interesting that the fires in Canada have apparently fallen off U.S. media radar because the smoke is staying up north?
Thanks to all firefighters from France and the U.S. who are combatting the fires in Canada. And thanks to all firefighters everywhere for being firefighters.
Thank you for highlighting the devious and destructive goal of the "No Labels" organization. I don't know why RFK, Jr. has gone so far off the rails in recent years, but I never thought he'd get in bed with such a pack of diseased fleas as the Looney Toons of Anarchy listed in this newsletter.
I hope this "No Labels" conspiracy to draw votes away from President Biden is widely revealed by the media and the public from now until the election. Let's force the "Bannon, Stone, Flynn Gang" to take their books of matches and play in some other sandbox.
C C, Considering how polarized we are as a nation, I write to note, though admittedly deceptive, the perception (albeit false) of a bipartisan, unity “No Labels” ticket could engender a degree of appeal that should alarm us. I further would note my understanding that the Party only would run a presidential candidate if the polls indicated a close election, but not if Biden held a substantial lead. My point, aside from prevailing upon media for repeated, critical scrutiny, is that all of us, in my view, need to invest in this fight.
The saddest part of no labels is that Joe Cunningham agreed to join forces with them. He was a very good Democratic congressman from South Carolina, who was defeated by Nancy Mace. This is a really unfortunate and frightening development, from my point of view.
Until a couple of years ago I had never heard of Juneteenth or its significance. My history classes growing up in Kansas were more about memorizing dates than learning about the context of being a person living in those other times. The short history lessons from Robert and Heather have peaked my curiosity and I want to learn more about those first few years of freedom. How does one go from being a slave one day and a person with rights (at least on paper) the next day? The "don't teach anything that will make a white boy uncomfortable" laws being made here in Texas are basically going to make all these boys into wimps. Life has its tough times for everyone. What would be most helpful to our children is to teach them resilience. Resilience, a major focus of positive psychology, is defined by the American Psychological Association as the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of stress. Dr. Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, has a theory of well-being which includes five elements: positive emotions, positive relationships, engagement, meaning and accomplishment. Find out more about positive psychology and the elements of well-being at: https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/ My dream is to have our government measure its success by a Well Being Index where every policy and piece of legislation must show how it improves the well-being on all the people. A number of countries like Great Britain, for example, are already doing this. Let's strengthen all our futures by moving away from learned helplessness and toward learned optimism.
The major point of Karl Marx, pointed out by Goran Hagglund, and forgotten by all who called themselves Marxists: OUR DAILY WORK SHOULD BE THE SOURCE OF OUR WELL BEING.
Two elements of Seligman's theory of well being are have meaning in one's life and having accomplishment. There is a big difference in being a cleaning woman in a hospital if you think of it as just a few chores rather than that you are keeping illnesses from spreading and helping people heal therefore adding meaning to those chores. I remember a story about three masons working. When someone asked each what they were doing the first said I'm moving stones; the second said he was building a wall; the third I'm building a cathedral for the glory of God. How we think about our work and its meaning can make a huge difference in our lives.
I see what you mean about it being a little narrow. However, if your work is the most weighty source for your well being, think how free you would be to change other aspects of your life that were not working for your well being. Disliking your work cripples you in other areas, like parenting, self-care, general optimism and happiness.
" The Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery only in secessionist states—but not (a) in the slave states that remained loyal to the Union or (b) in those portions of secessionist states under the control of the Union Army. As a result, when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, it left nearly half a million people in their enslaved condition." - Only now that I am learning this! Only recently learnt that the propaganda of Swedish school, that slavery in Sweden was abolished in the 13 hundreds, but that this was true only within the country, and only for Europeans. The last Swedish African slaves were freed in the 17th century.
The reason for abolishing slavery in the 14th century is now commonly understood as a matter of economy. It is common sense that it is cheaper to pay people so that they can stay alive only when they are working for you, and leave them to themselves at other times. The "noble" difference between slavery and employment I think can be made only when you have free, fair, and respected labour unions.
My recollection about the limited reach of the Emancipation Proclamation: President Lincoln was, for the most part, concerned that the Proclamation not contravene the Constitution, which at the time, did not outlaw slavery.
Therefore, Lincoln ended slavery in states that had rejected the Constitution by seceding from the Union – *not* all slave states, some of which had remained in the Union (Maryland, Kentucky). He used his powers as Commander-in-Chief to abolish slavery in areas under military rule (areas captured by Union troops).
See Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book, “Team of Rivals”, for a lucid account.
Bingo: "while we should NEVER support a No Labels/third party candidate, we should also not assume that such a candidate will automatically hurt Biden more than Trump"
Bingo: Biden’s diplomacy is ...[j]ust one more way that [he] is renewing global trust in the US as a responsible partner. We are all better off for Biden’s steady hand in international relations"
Life is really hard to predict and there are few things more important than creating trust.
Robert, you say "Biden’s diplomacy is such a breath of fresh air and relief after four years of international relations that seemed to be guided by the personal financial gain of the US. President." I think that's absolutely right. I hope that more and more people come to see Trump as little more than an amoral grifter out to promote his and his family's fortune. I'm still galled by the Saudi's payola to Jared about one nano second after leaving the White House.
On this Juneteenth I like to honor the first and only black man I became acquainted with in the all white suburb I grew up in. Mr. Steele was the custodian at my elementary school. He was Mister Steele which taught us to be respectful no matter what one's skin color. He was kind, soft-spoken and dignified. We all loved him and he loved us. He's a person I'll always admire.
The efforts of Republican state lawmakers to rewrite history reminds me of George Orwell’s comment in 1984. “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
The unfulfilled nature of Juneteenth is also seen in shootings that have already occurred at a Juneteenth celebration, killing one and wounding seventeen. The gun crisis affects us all, but the toll has historically been higher on the black and hispanic communities. Musk is a bad actor, and it is sad that RFK, Jr. can’t find a more positive outlet for his energies than anti vaxxing.
Barr’s credibility was certainly impugned by his dishonest response to the Mueller Report and his otherwise breach of Rule of Law norms while serving as Attorney General. He may well be motivated by the need to recover his now lost reputation for being a legitimate lawyer instead of a political hack, but his public recognition of Trump’s vulnerability and “whacky” efforts to defend himself is nevertheless critically important.
Long live Latin! I am happy to defend its forms, including its plurals! Afterall, I took four years of it in high school. ("Veni, vidi, vici!" Thank you, Sister Mary Rose!) Oh, and even before that, there was the Latin Mass of my childhood. "In nomine Patris. . . " Let Latin be Latin! Please.
(How to say that in Latin? Google was not definitive!)
I agree! Everyone who wants to speak Latin to family and friends should be perfectly free to to do so! But when we speak English, we should recognize that when English borrows words from other languages, it is freed from the rules of grammar that exist in the lending language that do not exist in English. English does not have declensions, Latin does. So why do we bother to struggle over alumnus, alumnae, alumni etc?
I did not realize, Robert, that such grammatical "freedom" existed for borrowed words. I say: "Keep them enslaved!" I agree that alumnus/alumna often poses a problem (the vowel thing, I think, in the plurals - certainly in their pronunciation; but I am not suggesting declensions be applied. Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Ablative. (A mere 62 years post Sister Mary Rose and finally I get to publicly display a little knowledge of Latin grammar!) Let me be clear, I am arguing only for the retention of their plural forms.
Seriously, Robert, I think I do not like the "hybrids" your rules would allow. But then I suppose we are talking about only borrowed words that are still entirely intact, such as "curriculum." Is there a linguist in the house to shed some light? Someone who knows the distinctions that abound. I am not one, so I may have committed a faux pas or two in my thinking. ( BTW does anybody know the plural of faux pas?)
Oh, and for full disclosure regarding family (familial) conversation, I do want you to know that my son was the president of the Latin club at his high school! Class of 1983!
Yikes! But I'm not talking about gender markers through the use of the matching article, Robert. I'm not talking about borrowing from boeuf to get beef. I am talking about the same word form. Your example: curriculum - Letter for letter. Exactly the same word. A total borrowing . . . or shall we perhaps say "theft"?
I prefer “curriculA” to “curriculUMS” because “curricula” sounds good, and “curriculums” sounds clunky. When I read, even quickly, I “hear” the printed words (sometimes, it brings delight); they are not mere symbols on a physical or electronic page.
I agree about curricula v. curriculums (actually, my spellcheck marks the latter as a misspelling!) . I feel the same way about millennia v. millenniums. I flinch when I encounter millenniums in the NY Times even though it is now several years since they chose to Americanize the plural. As for Alumnus/Alumna, what I am seeing more often these days and am fine with is "alum" or "alums".
As a teacher of HS AP US History (retired!) I would argue the Emancipation Proclamation freed no one beyond those in Union occupied territories., and the last two lines of General Order #3 makes it very clear how limited the defense of that freedom would be. Lincoln had no power over those states still in secession and fighting. The only way knowledge of the Emancipation passed amogn the enslaved was word of mouth. What the document did was enormouse, though. It changed the focus of the war from fighting to reunify the nation to freeing the slaves. It kept England from formally recognizing the Confederacy since they had already outlawed slavery in Britain. Had Britain come to the aid of the Confederacy, as France did for the US i the Revolution??? Things could have turned out very differently.
See also, "Data can be used in both singular and plural forms. In general writing, it is mostly used in its singular form (the data is). In academia, it is mostly treated as plural (the data are), and considered as the plural form of datum." https://pmproofreading.com/is-data-singular-or-plural/
The mention of a purportedly bipartisan, so-called unity “No Labels” ticket, among several potential impacts, is reminder that the Republican Presidential Nominee presently need only prevent Biden from garnering 270 electoral votes to be elected President. To clarify, were no candidate to reach the requisite 270 electoral votes, the election would be decided by the U.S. House, wherein Republicans currently control 26 delegations, Democrats 22, and 2 are tied (MN and NC). Each delegation would get 1 vote. Because a contested 24 election would be decided by the next Congress, we thankfully have time to flip a handful of delegations. Accordingly, because I’m determined at least to try and reverse the Republican advantage, I’ve started studying some charts to establish which delegations appear most likely flippable and will post my list once I’m ready. Meanwhile, I welcome your thoughts.
Barbara Jo, Minnesota passed a law this past legislative season that dictates that Minnesota’s electors will throw their votes to the presidential candidate with the most votes nationally. We are one of several states to pass such a law. That might change your math so you may need to delve into which states have such provisions in their constitution as it is designed to prevent minority rule nationally (constitutionality has not been confirmed. Won’t be unless it is triggered, I think)
Hi, Sheila. I think the MN legislation is contingent on the agreement of other states that control 270 electoral votes. But if that provision applies to any contingent election in the House, that is wonderful news!
I did a quick and dirty search and confirmed that Minnesota, along with 47 other states, is a "winner takes all" state, that is all electoral votes are awarded to the presidential candidate receiving the majority of votes in that state. In 2017, MN Republicans introduced a bill that would have changed that but, thankfully, it failed. So, joining the Interstate Voting Compact means that MN would award their electoral votes to whomever gained the greatest number of votes at the National level. It would not change the Winner Takes All law in effect within the state.
"Only two states in the U.S. currently award electors based on congressional district votes – Maine and Nebraska. Trump won Nebraska and Nebraska district 2 while Trump and Clinton split the electoral votes in Maine." https://alphanews.org/proposed-bill-would-change-mn-electoral-system-from-winner-take-all/
Many thanks, Barbara Jo, for the project you are starting. I look forward to the outcome so I know where to put my donations!
Lynell, Thank you for writing and for both your confidence and show of support.
Thank you Barbara Jo! I look forward to seeing your list. Our Indivisible group phone banks across the country in strategic races. We have generally supported US Senate and US Congressional races. Given the importance of flipping state legislatures, we started incorporating key races in key states over the past year.
I too look forward to the results of your charts. Thanks again for your much needed efforts.
Thank you, Barbara, for doing that research. Everyone of us must fight this development with all we have. I have to admit I'm scared!
Check out Force Multiplier if you haven’t already. A lot of bang for your buck!
Thank you, Barbara Jo. Your post is an important reminder that securing control of the House of Representatives is an *integral* part of defeating the Republican presidential candidate (probably Trump).
Fabulous Barbara Jo, we must all do the same; assess and spend our resources wisely.
I just want to thank all the American firefighters who have gone to Canada to help...According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, as of Wednesday, there were:
102 firefighters from France in Quebec
327 firefighters from the U.S. in Alberta and Quebec
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/international-firefighters-canada-wildfires-1.6879084
Isn't it interesting that the fires in Canada have apparently fallen off U.S. media radar because the smoke is staying up north?
Thanks to all firefighters from France and the U.S. who are combatting the fires in Canada. And thanks to all firefighters everywhere for being firefighters.
this is the full list
102 firefighters from France in Quebec
327 firefighters from the U.S. in Alberta and Quebec
218 firefighters from Australia in Alberta
40 firefighters from New Zealand in Alberta
40 firefighters from Costa Rica in Alberta
60 firefighters from Chile in Alberta
200 firefighters from South Africa in Alberta
80 firefighters from Spain in Quebec
140 firefighters from Portugal in Quebec
Thanks!
Thank you for highlighting the devious and destructive goal of the "No Labels" organization. I don't know why RFK, Jr. has gone so far off the rails in recent years, but I never thought he'd get in bed with such a pack of diseased fleas as the Looney Toons of Anarchy listed in this newsletter.
I hope this "No Labels" conspiracy to draw votes away from President Biden is widely revealed by the media and the public from now until the election. Let's force the "Bannon, Stone, Flynn Gang" to take their books of matches and play in some other sandbox.
C C, Considering how polarized we are as a nation, I write to note, though admittedly deceptive, the perception (albeit false) of a bipartisan, unity “No Labels” ticket could engender a degree of appeal that should alarm us. I further would note my understanding that the Party only would run a presidential candidate if the polls indicated a close election, but not if Biden held a substantial lead. My point, aside from prevailing upon media for repeated, critical scrutiny, is that all of us, in my view, need to invest in this fight.
The saddest part of no labels is that Joe Cunningham agreed to join forces with them. He was a very good Democratic congressman from South Carolina, who was defeated by Nancy Mace. This is a really unfortunate and frightening development, from my point of view.
Until a couple of years ago I had never heard of Juneteenth or its significance. My history classes growing up in Kansas were more about memorizing dates than learning about the context of being a person living in those other times. The short history lessons from Robert and Heather have peaked my curiosity and I want to learn more about those first few years of freedom. How does one go from being a slave one day and a person with rights (at least on paper) the next day? The "don't teach anything that will make a white boy uncomfortable" laws being made here in Texas are basically going to make all these boys into wimps. Life has its tough times for everyone. What would be most helpful to our children is to teach them resilience. Resilience, a major focus of positive psychology, is defined by the American Psychological Association as the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of stress. Dr. Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, has a theory of well-being which includes five elements: positive emotions, positive relationships, engagement, meaning and accomplishment. Find out more about positive psychology and the elements of well-being at: https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/ My dream is to have our government measure its success by a Well Being Index where every policy and piece of legislation must show how it improves the well-being on all the people. A number of countries like Great Britain, for example, are already doing this. Let's strengthen all our futures by moving away from learned helplessness and toward learned optimism.
The major point of Karl Marx, pointed out by Goran Hagglund, and forgotten by all who called themselves Marxists: OUR DAILY WORK SHOULD BE THE SOURCE OF OUR WELL BEING.
Two elements of Seligman's theory of well being are have meaning in one's life and having accomplishment. There is a big difference in being a cleaning woman in a hospital if you think of it as just a few chores rather than that you are keeping illnesses from spreading and helping people heal therefore adding meaning to those chores. I remember a story about three masons working. When someone asked each what they were doing the first said I'm moving stones; the second said he was building a wall; the third I'm building a cathedral for the glory of God. How we think about our work and its meaning can make a huge difference in our lives.
That's a little narrow. Reread the elements of well-being as per Martin Seligman. Daily work should be A source of well being, not all of it.
I see what you mean about it being a little narrow. However, if your work is the most weighty source for your well being, think how free you would be to change other aspects of your life that were not working for your well being. Disliking your work cripples you in other areas, like parenting, self-care, general optimism and happiness.
" The Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery only in secessionist states—but not (a) in the slave states that remained loyal to the Union or (b) in those portions of secessionist states under the control of the Union Army. As a result, when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, it left nearly half a million people in their enslaved condition." - Only now that I am learning this! Only recently learnt that the propaganda of Swedish school, that slavery in Sweden was abolished in the 13 hundreds, but that this was true only within the country, and only for Europeans. The last Swedish African slaves were freed in the 17th century.
The reason for abolishing slavery in the 14th century is now commonly understood as a matter of economy. It is common sense that it is cheaper to pay people so that they can stay alive only when they are working for you, and leave them to themselves at other times. The "noble" difference between slavery and employment I think can be made only when you have free, fair, and respected labour unions.
My recollection about the limited reach of the Emancipation Proclamation: President Lincoln was, for the most part, concerned that the Proclamation not contravene the Constitution, which at the time, did not outlaw slavery.
Therefore, Lincoln ended slavery in states that had rejected the Constitution by seceding from the Union – *not* all slave states, some of which had remained in the Union (Maryland, Kentucky). He used his powers as Commander-in-Chief to abolish slavery in areas under military rule (areas captured by Union troops).
See Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book, “Team of Rivals”, for a lucid account.
Bingo: "while we should NEVER support a No Labels/third party candidate, we should also not assume that such a candidate will automatically hurt Biden more than Trump"
Bingo: Biden’s diplomacy is ...[j]ust one more way that [he] is renewing global trust in the US as a responsible partner. We are all better off for Biden’s steady hand in international relations"
Life is really hard to predict and there are few things more important than creating trust.
Robert, you say "Biden’s diplomacy is such a breath of fresh air and relief after four years of international relations that seemed to be guided by the personal financial gain of the US. President." I think that's absolutely right. I hope that more and more people come to see Trump as little more than an amoral grifter out to promote his and his family's fortune. I'm still galled by the Saudi's payola to Jared about one nano second after leaving the White House.
On this Juneteenth I like to honor the first and only black man I became acquainted with in the all white suburb I grew up in. Mr. Steele was the custodian at my elementary school. He was Mister Steele which taught us to be respectful no matter what one's skin color. He was kind, soft-spoken and dignified. We all loved him and he loved us. He's a person I'll always admire.
The efforts of Republican state lawmakers to rewrite history reminds me of George Orwell’s comment in 1984. “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
The unfulfilled nature of Juneteenth is also seen in shootings that have already occurred at a Juneteenth celebration, killing one and wounding seventeen. The gun crisis affects us all, but the toll has historically been higher on the black and hispanic communities. Musk is a bad actor, and it is sad that RFK, Jr. can’t find a more positive outlet for his energies than anti vaxxing.
For me, Bill Barr has no credibility. Rather, CYA (his own) is his goal and he loves being on TV.
Barr’s credibility was certainly impugned by his dishonest response to the Mueller Report and his otherwise breach of Rule of Law norms while serving as Attorney General. He may well be motivated by the need to recover his now lost reputation for being a legitimate lawyer instead of a political hack, but his public recognition of Trump’s vulnerability and “whacky” efforts to defend himself is nevertheless critically important.
John, Bill Barr was an awful Attorney General and no one, certainly the ones we would like to reach, is listening to him.
Whatever Bill Barr’s motives may be, I love hearing him finally say what sounds to me like his real opinions of the man.
Long live Latin! I am happy to defend its forms, including its plurals! Afterall, I took four years of it in high school. ("Veni, vidi, vici!" Thank you, Sister Mary Rose!) Oh, and even before that, there was the Latin Mass of my childhood. "In nomine Patris. . . " Let Latin be Latin! Please.
(How to say that in Latin? Google was not definitive!)
I agree! Everyone who wants to speak Latin to family and friends should be perfectly free to to do so! But when we speak English, we should recognize that when English borrows words from other languages, it is freed from the rules of grammar that exist in the lending language that do not exist in English. English does not have declensions, Latin does. So why do we bother to struggle over alumnus, alumnae, alumni etc?
I did not realize, Robert, that such grammatical "freedom" existed for borrowed words. I say: "Keep them enslaved!" I agree that alumnus/alumna often poses a problem (the vowel thing, I think, in the plurals - certainly in their pronunciation; but I am not suggesting declensions be applied. Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Ablative. (A mere 62 years post Sister Mary Rose and finally I get to publicly display a little knowledge of Latin grammar!) Let me be clear, I am arguing only for the retention of their plural forms.
Seriously, Robert, I think I do not like the "hybrids" your rules would allow. But then I suppose we are talking about only borrowed words that are still entirely intact, such as "curriculum." Is there a linguist in the house to shed some light? Someone who knows the distinctions that abound. I am not one, so I may have committed a faux pas or two in my thinking. ( BTW does anybody know the plural of faux pas?)
Oh, and for full disclosure regarding family (familial) conversation, I do want you to know that my son was the president of the Latin club at his high school! Class of 1983!
Satis dictum?
When was the last time you said, "le boeuf" for beef? Or "la pizza" to ensure that we know pizza is female, rather than male?
Yikes! But I'm not talking about gender markers through the use of the matching article, Robert. I'm not talking about borrowing from boeuf to get beef. I am talking about the same word form. Your example: curriculum - Letter for letter. Exactly the same word. A total borrowing . . . or shall we perhaps say "theft"?
I prefer “curriculA” to “curriculUMS” because “curricula” sounds good, and “curriculums” sounds clunky. When I read, even quickly, I “hear” the printed words (sometimes, it brings delight); they are not mere symbols on a physical or electronic page.
I agree about curricula v. curriculums (actually, my spellcheck marks the latter as a misspelling!) . I feel the same way about millennia v. millenniums. I flinch when I encounter millenniums in the NY Times even though it is now several years since they chose to Americanize the plural. As for Alumnus/Alumna, what I am seeing more often these days and am fine with is "alum" or "alums".
I hear them, too, Michael!
As a teacher of HS AP US History (retired!) I would argue the Emancipation Proclamation freed no one beyond those in Union occupied territories., and the last two lines of General Order #3 makes it very clear how limited the defense of that freedom would be. Lincoln had no power over those states still in secession and fighting. The only way knowledge of the Emancipation passed amogn the enslaved was word of mouth. What the document did was enormouse, though. It changed the focus of the war from fighting to reunify the nation to freeing the slaves. It kept England from formally recognizing the Confederacy since they had already outlawed slavery in Britain. Had Britain come to the aid of the Confederacy, as France did for the US i the Revolution??? Things could have turned out very differently.
Thank you for the language note at the end. The fluid nature of language is fascinating. And yes, we need to move away from Latin plurals.
The push to move away from Latin plurals may need to be a bit more nuanced. The singular of "data" is "datum." Are we going to start saying "datums"?
No need. Usage guides agree that data can be plural and singular depending on context.
Agreed. But how often does one read/hear “data ARE” when plural is intended?
"I opted for the latter because I believe we need to move away from Latin plurals and follow the rules of American English for forming plurals."
Aaargh! Five years of HS Latin, laid waste! Et tu, Robertus! (Or is it, "Roberte"?!)
My point, exactly! English does not recognize Latin declensions.
Data or datums!?
In non-scientific writing, data is both singular and plural. No need for "datums." See Merriam Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/data
See also, "Data can be used in both singular and plural forms. In general writing, it is mostly used in its singular form (the data is). In academia, it is mostly treated as plural (the data are), and considered as the plural form of datum." https://pmproofreading.com/is-data-singular-or-plural/
Thanks.