Good morning, Netizens...

Senator Jesse Helms, who passed away July 4 at age 86, once wrote:

"I shall always remember the shady streets, the quiet Sundays, the cotton wagons, the Fourth of July parades, the New Year's Eve firecrackers. I shall never forget the stream of school kids marching uptown to place flowers on the Courthouse Square monument on Confederate Memorial Day."—Helms writing

Some called Helms a racist; others simply said that he was misunderstood by anyone from outside the South.

Do you have any memories of Jesse Helms?

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.

Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967)

This week's theme: Words from medicine.

linctus (LINGK-tuhs) noun

   A syrupy liquid medicine, especially for treating coughs.

[From Latin lingere (to lick). Ultimately from the Indo-European root leigh- (lick) that is also the source of lichen (apparently from the way it licks its way around a surface), and lecher, but not lingerie (which is from the root lino: flax).]

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

  "The audience emitted a few throaty cackles, as if they had collectively drunk too much cough linctus."
   Simon Hoggart; Labour Conference; The Guardian (London, UK); Sep 24, 2007.

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It was our own moral failure and not any accident of chance, that while preserving the appearance of the Republic we lost its reality. -Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BCE)

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IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Good morning, Netizens...

If you'll pardon the poor quality of this picture, I am holding a baby kangaroo in my arms, as a friend who recently bought it in Seattle, dropped it into my arms while visiting. I was impressed. Not only did the 'roo recognize his name, he genuinely seemed to like all the attention I gave him, reciprocating by giving me tiny 'roo kisses in exchange for formula.

When they showed me his “pouch” I nearly died laughing, because the 'roo treats the cloth bag as if it were his mother's pouch, and will quickly dive back into his home head-first, which is how 'roos climb into their mothers' pouches in the wild.

Mind you, possession of a baby kangaroo is more than a trifle illegal in Spokane, hence if you watch closely you will see the evidence of what Songwriter John Prine once described as “an illegal smile” on my face. This is a sweet, gentle pet, and I fell in love at first sight, illegal or not.

Dave

Good morning, Netizens...

What about those Koreans?

First we have the SR's John Stucke's piece in this morning's paper that the North Koreans are overjoyed to have the first of many ships filled with Inland-Northwest wheat arriving this week. Last year at this time, President Bush declared South Korea to be a point in the "Axis of Evil" because of their atomic energy development programs that appeared to be developing atomic weapons. That all seems to have gone away after they blew up one of their reactor cooling towers.

Then we have this picture of Roman Catholics and workers from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions participating in a special service as part of protests against the South Korean government's policy toward U.S. beef imports in front of the Seoul City Hall in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday. Tens of thousands of South Korean auto workers went on strike Wednesday to oppose resumed U.S. beef imports and the pro-business policies of new President Lee Myung-bak, joining anti-government protests that have raged for weeks.(July 02, 2008) Associated Press. The South Koreans love us because they can export lots of things to the United States, such as electronics, which is a hot ticket item, I am told. But they don't want our beef?

So let's see here, two countries separated by a thin political line. South Korea doesn't want any more U.S. Beef imported into their country while the North Koreans, who are starving, want any of the wheat they can get. In exchange the United States trades wheat to the North Koreans who really do not like Bush and his policies, and try to sell beef to the South Korean government, who likes our government so long as we buy lots of their electronics at artificially-inflated prices using slave labor.

Does anyone make any sense out of this picture?

Dave

Good morning, Netizens...

Extraordinary Musician Carlos Santana performs during the first stage of his German "Live Your Light 2008 Tour" in Salem , southern Germany, on Wednesday. (July 02, 2008) Associated Press.

Oh my goodness, do I have memories of this man when he first appeared in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960's. When I take a mental census of the musical greats that were making their presence known in those days, I feel terribly saddened at the names of those who fell victim to drugs and alcohol. Such incredible talent, such absolutely riveting performances all by people who were, at the time, relatively unknown.

As an idle question, perhaps, but historically-significant, how many people went to Woodstock or lived in the Bay Area during the incredible music of the 60's? Please raise your hands. What was your favorite musical memory of that time?

Dave

Advisory: This Blog Entry is submitted as satire, and as such, should be treated with great care to avoid becoming overly agitated or confused.

Good morning, Netizens...

I came slowly into the Virtual Ballroom before dawn. Yesterday I had been kept busier than I had originally expected to be, since a bad case of the Catastrophic Hiccups had stricken one of my clients, and I had labored long and late into the night, but I was delighted to be home once again. As I slid into my familiar bar stool, our barrista of the day, a svelte-looking Frenchman named Montrero D'Arte, slid a cup of Virtual Espresso of the day, Chocolat de camaraderie décadent, in front of me with a knowing wink.

“'Ees been waiting for you impatiently all day, Monsieur,” he said, casting his eyes in the direction of a rather pithy-looking imp of a ghost hovering completely by himself, near the end of the bar. From my vantage point he appeared to be wearing a huge Stetson hat, and wearing cowboy boots, something we do not see every day in the Ballroom. Montrero paused, nervously casting his eye about the Virtual Ballroom, and licking his lips, added in a half-whisper, “'E says he can speak only to you.”

After the word bombs of the previous few days and being called a few names, I sat for a moment wondering what this could possibly be about. From where I sat, I could see where, despite the early hour of the morning, some of the more energetic ghosts were gliding about the Ballroom, cleaning up small bits of debris and detritus from in front of the stage where it appeared a contentious debate had taken place last evening. Others were hauling plastic trash bags outside, no doubt heading for the Virtual Incinerator in the alley behind the Ballroom. Most of the regular patrons of the Ballroom were sitting in groups at tables in front of and beside the Virtual Espresso Stand, talking quietly among themselves. One sip of the espresso of the day, however, and I immediately felt at one with the entire world, which may be why everyone seemed so at Peace throughout the Ballroom.

“Sure,” I said, taking another appreciative sip of the daily blend, grateful that JeanieSpokane and several ghosts had conceived of it yesterday in my absence. “Let's see what this is about. This is an excellent daily blend, by the way. Sure, send him over.”

It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, 1999

This week's theme: Words from medicine.

atrabilious (at-ruh-BIL-yuhs) adjective

   1. Gloomy.

   2. Ill-tempered.

[From Latin atra bilis (black bile), translation of Greek melankholia.]

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=atrabilious

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

  "A couple of nights ago on BBC Two they scheduled an amusing programme, called Grumpy Old Women at Christmas, in which a lot of atrabilious female semi celebs of a certain age moaned about the festive season."
   Jane Shilling; Not a Card Sent or a Bauble Hung; The Times (London, UK); Dec 23, 2004.

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Obstinacy is the result of the will forcing itself into the place of the intellect. -Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher (1788-1860)

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Good morning, Netizens...

In today's picture a woman with a child on her bicycle navigates through snarled traffic in Beijing's central business district, Tuesday, July 1, 2008. Last year China's capital city registered 1,370 new drivers per day, according to the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau. Picture by ROBERT F. BUKATY / AP July 1, 2008

Whoa! Why did I have to go all the way to Beijing, China to get a picture worth commentary this morning? What's the matter with Liberty Lake, Washington or even Rantoul, Illinois? Well, this is a preview of what the vehicle pull out in front of Riverfront Park is going to look like July 4. HINT: don't drive your car to Riverfront Park on the Fourth, hoping that you will find a nice, convenient parking spot, because it probably isn't going to happen.

Let's see, (Dave scratches his head speculatively). Yes, the self-appointed anarchists will be there, followed by the police, a cast of approximately 3,000 people who came hoping to watch a messy encounter between the anarchists and police, the vendors selling all kinds of diverse stuff, various flim-flam artists looking for a quick buck, the geese (did I remind you watch where you step?), the news media, approximately 10,000 people who think this is Pig Out in the Park and are looking for something to eat and yes, those lovely people in shiny AMR ambulances who also are always looking for a quick buck based upon their past history. Elbow to elbow, armpit to armpit they will come together and the gridlock will be more intense than rush hour on a Monday morning or a typical Friday after lunch when the corporate execs flee town.

As for me and mine, we are going to traverse the State Line into Idaho and have a quiet picnic with friends in a back yard in Post Falls where we will discuss all manner of politics mixed appropriately with server-side issues and operating systems served with a side of potato salad, because systems engineering just seems to go together with politics just so. Then as the evening wanes, we will wander down to the park and observe the fireworks and somehow in the afterglow will undoubtedly attempt to remember and suitably observe the true meaning of the Fourth of July. Each in our own way we will ponder and discuss the concept of independence, which seems to flee further and further away from us at this time in history. Perhaps in our quiet moments, we might even pray but not make the stupid mistake of co-mingling that with politics, even though that does seem to be an American pastime and prayer is considered by many to simply be unacceptable to some.

Yes, it will be a fine traffic jam, indeed, except where we are, of course.

Dave

I got kicked out of ballet class because I pulled a groin muscle. It wasn't mine.

Rita Rudner

This week's theme: Words from medicine.

catholicon (kuh-THOL-i-kuhn) noun

   A panacea or cure-all.

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

[Via Latin from Greek katholikos (general), from kata (according to, by) + holou (whole). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sol- (whole) that gave us words such as solid, salute, save, salvo, and soldier.]

  "In the end, even the most intrusive measures will not be foolproof: there is no verification catholicon. But perfect verification is as illusory as it is unnecessary."
   Bruce Van Voorst; Arms Control; Time (New York); Jul 31, 1989.

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A wise man will make haste to forgive, because he knows the true value of time, and will not suffer it to pass away in unnecessary pain. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784)

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Good evening, Netizens...

We might actually have a light show in the skies over Spokane yet tonight.

Once again it appears, despite the television weather announcers whooping it up that a severe thunderstorm warning is in effect, most of the significant hail and lightning has hit to the north and west of Spokane, although I have heard from folks in Wilbur that they just had a gusty dust storm followed by intensive lightning and some hail.

Meanwhile to the north and east, the severe thunderstorm cell that just smacked Deer Park and parts east now appears to be about to graze eastern edges of the Spokane Valley and near the Idaho State Line.

If you are in those areas, you might want to move your car into a safe area, as there are already reports of windshield damage from hail embedded in this cell.

Dave

I am sitting in the virtual ballroom at the end of the day, reflecting on various posts on various bogs in the S-R universe. I was gone for a week for a much needed, much deserved vacation. After three years of intense care giving for my mother-in-law, I badly needed fuel for my spirit.

I went by myself. I enjoyed my family's beach home that was recently remodeled and has room to sleep 20 people. So, I spent the first couple hours playing Goldilocks and trying out every chair, couch, bed, recliner, stool, etc. I even took a shower in each bathroom – the top floor bathroom is the best. The king bed on the main floor won for the duration. And the observatory on the second floor facing the ocean was my refuge, my sanctuary, my retreat.

Upon returning, I found the Community Comment Ballroom a bit disheveled. Ghosts were hiding behind faded curtains; garden gnomes were peeking out from behind the rose trellis; the barista was out on the patio, sloshed to the gills. What happened????

So, I reached down into my carpetbag that I brought back from the Oregon coast, and pulled out my treasures: complete with the second floor observatory overlooking the ocean south of Yachats; the sound of the waves; the birds chirping overhead; the smells of the grasses and the scent of the ocean. I laid this all out on the Ballroom floor.

Come. Come sit with me and just let the sound of the waves coming in and out mesmerize you and calm you and relax you.

Come. Sit with me. There, isn't that so much better?

Help others get ahead. You will always stand taller with someone else on your shoulders.

Bob Moawad

Good morning, Netizens...
An artist makes final touches on a sand sculpture before the official opening of the First international sand sculptures festival in the Black Sea costal town of Bourgas, some 390 km (246 miles) east from capital Sofia. It is interesting to note that several China news agencies all have shown considerable interest in this competition, and that not only Bulgarian and Chinese but online news sources from Finland all have plush picture shows of some of the entries.

Over 2500 tons of sand were used in this competition, slated to take place in Lake Park in Sea Garden, a seaside resort.

I know, I know. I am hopelessly enamored of sand sculpture as an art form. I think we should import several thousand tons of sand into Spokane and have our very own sand sculpture competition. I would pay good bucks to go see someone attempt to depict the bureaucratic morass in City Hall in sand. Of course, in my opinion, sand is about what City Hall bureaucracy is worth. If you look really in City Hall over the next few days at all the empty desks as the bureaucrats all flee for the Fourth, you might see what I mean. Your results, of course, may differ.

Dave

Good morning, Netizens...

In local news, the power is out in and north of the Deer Park area, due to lightning strikes that took place during last night's short-lived thunderstorms that moved through the area. There is a continuing threat of thunderstorms later on today, and as of 6:00 AM PDT, several small cells of activity are noted in the Northern Oregon desert communities where a lot of Spokane's thunderstorm activity originally sometimes forms. The heat, humidity and the threat of thunderstorms will continue at least until Friday, but the preliminary forecast for the weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Spokane remains optimistically clear.

In other news, a judge Monday gave the state Department of Social and Health Services 30 days to start keeping promises it made four years ago to settle a class-action lawsuit on behalf of thousands of foster children. He wasn't even playing word games with his ruling, which seems to have happened so many times in the past, as if foster care were a giant game of football where the kids were booted from one end of the field to the other.

According to the Seattle-Times Online Edition this morning, he stated bluntly, “I'm not asking,” he said. “I'm ordering.”

What does the Judge's ruling demand? First, that the state find ways to make monthly visits to foster children, to get them prompt health care and screenings, to see their siblings on a regular basis and to keep the case loads for these children to where all the above is possible. One has only to remember that none of these children asked to be put in foster care; it was done in most cases without their full understanding, knowledge or consent by a so-called benevolent State. There are over 10,000 foster children in the State of Washington's care at any one given time, according to the Department of Social and Health Services.

It is about time someone took DSHS to task for their deplorable record when it comes to foster child care. In my opinion Governor Gregoire is too busy building her personal agenda in time for the upcoming elections to bother keeping her promise to the voters about foster child care. It's about time somebody put a stop to it.

Harumph!

Dave

This week's theme: Words from medicine.

roborant (ROB-uhr-uhnt) adjective

   Strengthening.

noun

   A tonic.

[From Latin roborare (to strengthen), from robor- (oak, hardness).
Ultimately from the Indo-European root reudh- (red) that also gave us red, rouge, ruby, ruddy, rubella, robust, corroborate, and rambunctious.]

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

  "'A roborant against the night air, dear fellow,' Renzi whispered, proffering hot negus*."
   Julian Stockwin; The Admiral's Daughter; McBooks Press; 2007.

   * negus: a drink made of wine, hot water, sugar, nutmeg, and lemon, named after Colonel Francis Negus who invented it.

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It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little. -Sydney Smith, writer and clergyman (1771-1845)

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Good evening, everyone...

Do you read the Crosscut web site? Each morning, long before most “normal” people are even stirring, I am hunched in my bathrobe absorbing the news from a considerable number of different sources, including Spokane-centric news resources. Moreover, by the time most people have had their morning coffee I have read or replied to as many as 50 e-mail messages, and alarmingly, a great number of them seem to think the Spokesman-Review is a claptrap assembly of marginal news editors and reporters. So, in my evening reverie, I decided this evening to see what one critical news resource in the Seattle area had to say about how the Spokesman-Review Online is doing at their job.

First, let us examine the thinly-veiled allegations that the SR is falling behind in the race for Web domination online. There is hardly a newspaper in the Pacific Northwest that doesn't offer at least part of its daily print newspaper online. Some provide outstanding, well-written articles and pictures, while others are sadly falling behind the times. I frequently read/store or use articles from both Seattle papers during the course of my morning ritual, as well as stories posted overnight here in Spokane.

Read what someone else in a world-recognized position to recognize the status and quality of the Spokesman-Review online had to say about it:

http://www.crosscut.com/media/7463/

While you are at it you might also read http://www.crosscut.com/media/7346/ as well. It's a bit longer but contains some real meat about how the SR Online actually works.

The Editor of Crosscut goes on to say at length:

So what are the barriers to excellence? They are substantial. A reader commented that newspapers shouldn't charge for online news because the overhead is so much lower than that of a printed edition, which eats up a lot of material and involves lots of big machines and people to produce and distribute the product. This is true to a point, but as Spokane's Smith said, there are still very high costs related to creating the content, and if you can't raise enough revenue to do that, what's the point?
There's another expense that people give short shrift, and that's the cost of programming. Believe it or not, just about every newspaper or newspaper chain creates, or at least greatly customizes, its own software to present content on the Web. There are very few turnkey software solutions out there that do everything a newspaper needs to do online, fewer still that can handle the volume of data a daily newspaper handles, and integrating the various best solutions to specific tasks is unbelievably time-consuming, and time is money. It's as though everybody had to design and build their own printing press.

Offhand, when two separate critical sources have recently reviewed the performance/under-performance of many major Pacific Northwest Online news sources, and both of them had strongly-worded and glowing terms for the SR, I am astounded that the critics of the SR missed this vital piece of the picture.

We are at or near the top of the pile when it comes to innovation!

Dave

Good evening, Netizens...

There is a severe thunderstorm moving North-East at approximately 25 MPH at or near LaCrosse, Washington at 6:30 PM tonight. There is also a separate thunderstorm cell just south of Lewiston. It, too, is bearing North-East. If the LaCrosse storm manages to stay organized it could impact Spokane by as early as 9:00 PM; the Lewiston storm could pass near or just East of Coeur D'Alene shortly afterward.

There is an active Severe Thunderstorm Warning in effect until 7:15 in the LaCrosse area.

In general, the LaCrosse storm seems to be weakening as it continues moving North-East, but the remote possibility remains of rain and/or a thunderstorm may reach Spokane later on this evening.

Dave
(Courtesy US Weather Bureau NEXRAD -- Spokane

Good morning, Netizens...

Our picture of the day, shot by the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday by Mark Costantini, shows an interesting cross-section of the population of one of my favorite cities as they watch the Gay Pride Parade weave through the city. According to the piece which accompanied an entire set of pictures of crowd responses, the Drag Queen Float had just passed by this area moments before, and the perplexed looks of some of the elderly people in the foreground of the picture seem to suggest they are asking, “What the HECK was THAT?”

Incredible as it might seem, I would tentatively propose that some of America's elderly, among others, may be still somewhat confused by the gay/lesbian/transgendered evolution taking place in contemporary society. It isn't that they are or are not alienated against the proponents of the movements involved; in fact, some of the folks with whom I have spoken live somewhat isolated lives with little or limited access to television or print media. While that might seem an outrageous statement for me to make, these people exist; it is just they seldom appear and live isolated lives.

Here is a question that is apt to raise some eyebrows. If you were amenable to such change, how would you go about introducing members of Dykes on Bikes or a pair of utterly outrageous Drag Queens to an elderly live-alone isolated man or woman? How would you compassionately go about explaining the social changes taking place in American society to someone who does not stay in tune with television?

Dave

Good morning, Netizens...

This morning as I approached the Virtual Ballroom in the early hours before-the-dawn, I immediately noticed some dramatic changes, for some of the Ballroom Ghosts were standing outside in the Virtual Garden talking in an agitated manner with some of the Garden Gnomes, something that has not happened before in my memory of this virtual universe we created. Normally the Garden Gnomes tend the Virtual Garden full of flowers and green growing plants, while the Ghosts simply wait in the Virtual Ballroom for appropriate conversations to occur and drink Virtual Espresso and talk among themselves. That is about it.

When I walk in the huge front door to the Virtual Ballroom, I immediately notice the entire place appears to be in a state of what I would term “disarray”. Normally the ghosts and various other residents all see to it that the ballroom is kept meticulously-neat, tidy and quite businesslike so that the occasional visitors from higher up have nothing to complain about. Those ghosts already not outside talking with the Garden Gnomes are huddled, as if in fear, in the corner of the Ballroom, and are looking apprehensively at me as I sit on my favorite bar stool, hoping for a cup of our incredibly-good Virtual Espresso.

Even our virtual barrista, whose appearance changes from day to day, as does our virtual espresso blends, catches me off-guard momentarily, for it is the ghost of a former television news broadcaster, Walter Crankcase who obliquely slides a cup of steaming, mean-looking Virtual Espresso before me still boiling in its cup.

“It is called 'Yahoo Blend', he whispers unctuously, adding cautiously, “Once everyone has a cup of this, everything you see will more or less return to normal.”

As I slide my laptop from its case, all those ghosts huddled in the corner suddenly grow silent, and even Walter Crankcase moves further on down the counter and appears to be suddenly interested in cleaning the counter which is completely vacant.

Last night, in a relatively-rare appearance in the Grand Ballroom, Editor Steve Smith wrote:

“With some of you yahoos, I'd be willing to make the case we're industry leaders in tolerance, too.”

Yahoo. According to my unfailing online dictionary a yahoo is defined thusly:

A rough, coarse, or uncouth person; yokel; lout; A loud boisterous person; a person who is not very intelligent or interested in culture ; a person with rude, clumsy manners and little refinement, a peasant

If one subscribes to the theory, as I do, that Community Comments is a community of like-minded free spirits, and that we are all in this together, ghosts and the living alike, I guess I am a yahoo if anyone here claims that description. I do not like it when people call me or others around me names, which is why that sort of behavior is forbidden since day one.

However, I have been called worse in my life for I have not always been a genteel, suave man-about-town that my virtual personage might appear to be.

However, I am not currently, nor do I know of any yahoos in the Virtual Ballroom, at least as defined within the scripture of the Holy Dictionary. The only loud boisterous person here, in fact, is George the Drummer, a ghost who perpetually walks about the Grand Ballroom invisibly drumming his fingers on any animate object he can touch and most living people do not pay him the least bit of attention.

I take a sip of this morning's Virtual Espresso, and suddenly my virtual world is once again restored to its normally-pristine beauty, and people once again are sitting at the Virtual Espresso Bar eager to discuss the issues of the day. Yes, the Virtual Espresso magically works every time. One sip and your entire perspective changes for the better.

For the yahoos and non-yahoos of the world, from the Grand Ballroom of the Community Comment blog, salud!

Dave

Facts are facts and will not disappear on account of your likes.

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 - 1964)

Where I lived out east, there was a medical facility called Doctors' Hospital. I have to say it was reassuring. I wouldn't want engineers treating me if I broke an arm. On the other hand, maybe I just misunderstood the name. Perhaps it was an exclusive place meant only for doctors.

Well, that would be a mutual healing society, but who am I to judge? It's the era of super-specialization.

For all I know, there might even be a Lawyers' Law Firm, representing only those in the legal profession (motto: We know you better).

I have since discovered that besides the one mentioned at the beginning, there are similarly named hospitals all over the place, with various placements or omission of the apostrophe, such as Doctor's Hospital and Doctors Hospital. Whatever their names, we thank them for not letting plumbers perform colonoscopies.

This week we'll look at five terms connected with medicine, most of which are now used metaphorically.

costive (KOS-tiv) adjective

   1. Slow to act or speak.

   2. Stingy.

   3. Constipated.

[Via French from Latin constipare (to cram together), from com- (together) + stipare (to pack or crowd).]

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=costive

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

  "Mark Wahlberg, for example, is low-key to the point of costive." Anthony Lane; Nocturnes; New Yorker; Oct 22, 2007.

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The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. -Patrick Henry,
revolutionary (1736-1799)

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