base 10

     Base ten or base 10 is the system we use for counting--when we get to ten, or a multiple of ten, the numbers "roll over" and we begin a new set of ten. Not to be confused with the metric system--easier to use because it works with multiples of ten, instead of three, twelve, or thirty-six. Base ten means when we get to nine, we add a digit and the next number is twenty, or two tens. We add a digit at one hundred to make ten tens--100.
      There are other "bases", such as base two, used in computing and electronics. Base two "rolls over" at two, which matches an electronic "on" or "off", or the "stripe" or no stripe" of a bar code. In base two, 1=1, 10=2, 11=3, 100=4, 101=5, 110=6, 111=7, 1000=8, 1001=9, 1011=10. An electronic device can read this as "on"--an electrical impulse--or "off"--no electrical impulse. Base two  may seem something like Morse code, except that Morse code had two signals and a "space" or no signal. Base two only has one signal and a "space", or zero.

everything

     Does a large group of people, such as might congregate on the internet, have the capacity for omniscience?  No. The large group of people that claims to have the potential for omniscience--that is, to know everything--sounds like a fairly ignorant group of people. Anyone who imagines that a person, or a group of people, no matter how large, can know or apprehend "everything" is thinking of a very small everything. A very small "everything", even if it only includes what is reducible to "facts", without explanation or understanding. An "everything" limited to what humans know, not what we still wonder about.
      The grasp of reality of those who believe they can know "everything" is limited by their own ignorance. Everything is a lot larger than it looks--they must have looked at the tip of the iceberg, like the famous captain of the Titanic.
    
    

blue, white and pink

     Blue, white and pink are the colors of collars worn by workers in the United States. People who work with their hands, or with things, are called blue-collar workers, from the traditional blue shirt worn by workmen.
      People who work with pencils, pens, paper, typewriters, computers, calculators and adding machines are called white collar workers, because of the white shirt traditionally worn with a man's dress or business suit. The people who build or repair the machines used by white-collar workers may be blue-collar workers.
     Women who work in jobs that are usually done by women--nurses, day care workers-- are often called "pink collar" workers, although this term is not "official".

the U.N.

     The U.N. means the United Nations. The United Nations is a sort of  "congress of the nations" that meets in New York, in the United Nations building.  The members of the United Nations are countries.  Each member country sends a representative or ambassador to the General Assembly, where countries can meet and talk about their shared goals and their differences.  You may be most familiar with news reports of the United Nations  peacekeeping forces--something like the army of the U.N. Each member state ( country or nation ) is supposed to contribute troops and supplies when needed, according to the size or population of the state.
    The United Nations also had a court, called the World Court, that meets in the Netherlands, often called Holland. You may have seen the news reports of the trials of some of the military leaders of Eastern Europe, after the war in what was then called Yugoslavia. Most of the disputes heard in the court have to do with borders or property, but some criminal cases are also brought to the World Court.
     The United Nations is headed by a Secretary general, elected by the members of the General Assembly. To describe what it does on a daily basis would be difficult. Dozens of international organizations are actually part of the United Nations--UNICEF ( for children ), WHO ( the World Health Organization ), UNESCO (  a cultural organization which may protect historic sites ), and many others. Each member state pays "dues" to the United Nations, part of which are used to sponsor relief , health, and educational organizations.
 

change of venue

     A "change of venue" means the relocation of a trial to another district, usually because of a lot of negative publicity. Some judges have agreed that too much publicity might prejudice any local jury. Based on this, the judges have permitted a trial to be "moved"--to some other court, usually in the same state.
     This is blatantly unconstitutional--that is to say, illegal. Amendment VI of the United States guarantees the accused "the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed; which district shall have been previously ascertained by law..."
   The judges who have decided on a "change of venue" may have reasoned that they needed the new venue in order to assure the "impartial jury" provision. They will have to do better, or risk having all of these cases thrown out of court. The "venue" provision is not as cinematic or dramatic as some of the other rights guaranteed by our Constitution, but real abuses of  "venue" were ( and are )  nightmarish. Imagine waking up in a strange place where no one knows your name, or has heard of your case, to be tried by a judge and jury who have no fear that a spectator or citizen will notice any legal irregularities.

habeus corpus

     If a person is arrested in the United States, the Constitution guarantees that the right of habeus corpus will be preserved. Amendment V guarantees that no one will be deprived of  "life, liberty or property, without due process of law". That means that the law enforcement officials have 48 hours--2 days exactly--to charge the person with a crime, or release him or her. No one can be held more than 48 hours on suspicion alone. No one can sue for false arrest unless he or she has been detained more than 48 hours without charge, or without being formally accused of a crime.
     If a person is detained for 48 hours--or if it looks as if he will be--his lawyer can ask that he be brought before a judge, or the lawyer may ask the judge to issue a writ of habeus corpus, meaning bring us the person in the flesh, or let's have the body ( brought before a judge ).

different votes

     When we vote in political elections in the United States, we vote by secret ballot. No on knows which candidate we voted for, only that we voted. There are other ways to vote.
     You may have seen news articles or items about votes in Congress. When our senators or congressional representatives vote, they vote in public.  Each is asked in turn for his or her vote on the bill before the House or Senate. Their votes are published in the Congressional Record and in daily newspapers. Everyone knows, or can find out, whether their representative voted for or against a bill or measure.
     When someone ran for office in ancient Rome, they appealed to a crowd, whose votes were counted by the amount of noise they made--like a modern-day game show.