Community Comment

A Word A Day — castigate

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

A sentence has its cast of characters. Each word has a role. Let’s call those roles parts of speech. What function do the various parts of speech perform? Nouns and pronouns name. Adjectives describe. Adverbs qualify.

The best of this lineup are verbs, always ready for action. Verbs do. They move the plot forward. Verbs bring life to the story. This week we’ll bring you five words that are verbs (from Latin verbum: word).

castigate

PRONUNCIATION:
(KAS-ti-gayt)

MEANING:
verb tr.: To criticize or chastise severely.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin castigare (to chasten), from castus (pure) + agere (to drive). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kes- (cut) which is also the source of castle (apparently in the sense of a place separated from the rest), chaste (cut off from faults), caste, quash, and caret.

USAGE:
“Obama did not mention his predecessor by name, but there were harsh words for George W. Bush, who was castigated for funding two wars and several tax cuts through borrowing rather than cutting spending elsewhere.”
Kevin Connolly; Obama’s Deficit Dilemma; BBC News (London, UK); Feb 1, 2010.

Explore “castigate” in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Morality is contraband in war. -Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)

Dave Stevens files for his boss’s job…

Good morning, Netizens…


Thanks to John Olsen for forwarding a copy of the Spokesman piece about Steve Tucker and Dave Stevens.


However, this Spokesman picture of Deputy Prosecutor Dave Stevens doesn’t really do the job justice after he threw his business card into the ring for this August’s Primary Election, running against his absentee boss, Prosecutor Steve Tucker.


Fortunately, there are several other persons interested in running against Tucker, several of which have not only the technical experience in law enforcement, if not law. Surely we can do better than another term of office for Steve Tucker.


Is it true that Steve Tucker spends more time at The Globe on Division than he does in his office? Just curious.


Dave



The history of military discrimination…

Good morning, Netizens…


Cartoonist David Horsey hit the nail on the head in today’s cartoon. In the 1940’s the minds of America refused to admit that persons of color could fly planes. Once the Tuskegee Airmen took to the air, no one could deny them their rightful place in history. You can read their entire history at http://www.tuskegeeairmen.org/ but one has only to ask where are the members of Congress who once said black pilots could never fly?


In the 1980’s the big controversy of the time was whether women could serve in the military. Today we have women deployed around the world, including some high-ranking officers in the Pentagon. Women, however, still cannot serve in submarines, the logic being includes the fact that doses of radiation from nuclear submarine reactors can result in infertility, since women do not continually produce eggs as men do with sperm. Also, the finite amount of space available on submarines limits the ability to offer separate berths and lavatories for females. Of course, all one has to do to further exploit this is ask what about male infertility on nuclear submarines?


However, in my opinion, no military policy is so flawed as Pub.L. 103-160 (10 U.S.C. § 654 the so-called “don’t ask, don’t tell policy about gays and lesbians in the military.

In a time of war, this is just more of the same narrow-minded arrogant and discriminatory mindset that has sought, throughout history, to set policies based upon discrimination, rather than fact.

Dave

A Word A Day — Methuselah

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

Methuselah

PRONUNCIATION:
(meh-THOO-zuh-luh)

MEANING:
noun:
1. An extremely old man.
2. An oversized wine bottle holding approx. 6 liters.

ETYMOLOGY:
After biblical figure Methuselah, who was said to have lived 969 years.

USAGE:
“Five restaurant years would be about equivalent to 30 human years, so Bambino’s, which has been around since 1983, is a veritable Methuselah among eateries.”
A.C. Stevens; Why Cook Tonight?; The Boston Herald; Feb 11, 2001.

“Meet Frank Ahern, the Methuselah of Seattle high-school coaches, a revered urban legend in his second half-century of helping city youth.”
Craig Smith; A Coach For The Ages; The Seattle Times; Feb 27, 2000.

Explore “Methuselah” in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death. -Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel laureate (1879-1955)

Dying To Hear You

I am very interested in a proposal by State Sen. Tracey Eide, D-Federal Way, to make it a primary offense to talk on a cell phone held to your ear or to engage in text messaging while driving.  (http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/jan/18/secondary-offense-is-a-primary-concern/)

I think it is dangerous, if not downright deadly, to talk on your cell phone while driving.  Parents should be especially diligent in making sure their new teen drivers do NOT use their cell phone in any way (whether to dial, text, or talk), while driving.  It could kill them!  A young girl was killed just a few weeks ago while talking to her boyfriend on her cell, while driving in road conditions that would challenge an experienced driver.

When my children were little, the Big Wheels driving age, they nearly got killed by a neighbor driving by, who didn’t see two little boys charging out between two parked cars.  I watched in horror, just as he missed them by a fraction.  I grounded them for EVER (two weeks) and took their Big Wheels to the basement, and ended with a lecture that featured two eggs with their names printed on them.   “This is YOU being hit by a car!” I shouted, dropping each egg onto the pavement, producing a very effective splat.

Now if I could demonstrate to people using their cell phones without hands’ free devices, I would use the eggs again.   Splat!  This is YOU talking/texting on your cell phone and not paying attention while driving!

Can you hear me NOW?

~Jeanie~

Is public education in Spokane on the ropes?

Good morning, Netizens…


It comes with absolute despair that I must announce my granddaughter Lilly probably suffers from that most terrible learning disability, Dyslexia, although given the lack of support on the part of Spokane School District 81, she may never receive the screening she needs to fully diagnose the issues she has with reading and mathematics. Somehow this makes sense. Her father has it, and others in her immediate family were once diagnosed as having Dyslexia, and some of them received remedial therapies which helped them lead functional lives as they matured into adulthood.


Her teachers have been advocating for her, at least one of whom nearly put his job on the line attempting to get her the testing she needs. The Superintendent has spoken to family members several times, but the answer remains the same. There simply is no money in the budget for testing. What little money the school district has apparently is already being spent on ADHD students who otherwise would disrupt the classroom, as well as students who speak English as a second language.


Last evening, we held a family meeting to discuss what we can do to help her with her learning disabilities, and despite the tragic news, we have begun putting together a working plan, including a quasi-home schooling tutoring program based upon what information we will have put together over the coming week.


In other news this morning, we have heard that funding for our local colleges and universities is being drastically cut with what some are saying are revoltingly predictable results.


Our country was erected through an educated populace. Fat and stupid never created the technological edge we once used to hold. The abandonment of Dyslexic students by School District 81 suggests there are children being left behind.


Is the educational system falling apart?


Dave



A Word A Day — Daltonism

A Word A Day with Anu Garg

John Dalton

Photo Credit : (Source: John Dalton and the Rise of Modern Chemistry, by Henry Roscoe)

daltonism

PRONUNCIATION:

(DAWL-tuh-niz-em)

MEANING:

noun: Color blindness, especially the inability to distinguish between red and green.

ETYMOLOGY:

After John Dalton (1766-1844), chemist and physicist, who gave us Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures. He studied his own color blindness as well.

USAGE:

“Theodore R. Weeks refers to ‘national daltonism: the extreme difficulty nationalists had… in perceiving and appreciating the viewpoints or needs of members of other nationalities.”
Stephen D. Corrsin; Nation and State in Late Imperial Russia; Canadian Slavonic Papers (Ottawa); Sep-Dec 1999.

Explore “daltonism” in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Poverty is the worst form of violence. -Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)

My Kingdom for a Tractor!

The Ag Show has started and that means one thing.  Tractors!!!  The tractors are here!!!  

I love tractors, especially John Deere.  I want my own tractor, right here in my yard.  I’ll use it, too, if for anything else but especially the sound.

There is a sweet little yellow tractor parked in front of Yokes on Montgomery and Argonne that I deeply yearn for.  I’m thinking if it comes up missing, it would go unnoticed, parked innocently, like it belongs, in my yard.  Don’t tell.

When I was a teenager, we lived in a little white farm house, which is still there, in what is known as Qualchan Estates.  My Dad had a tractor that he used to till the garden and plow the meadows on either side of the house – just to plow.  Our neighbor across the road did the same thing, just plowed to plow.  To listen to the chug-chug-chugging and roll through the fields one slow row at a time, hat shading the sun, no place to go but forward, turning and coming back, and continuing through the lazy sunny afternoon.

My brother coveted that tractor and when our parents moved away from Spokane, and their children (because they thought we would never do it ourselves), the tractor became his.  

I picture him jealously and lovingly driving that tractor from “Vinegar Flats” down the freeway to Hatch Road and all the way up that steep and twisty road to his house.

I’m thinking he could help me acquire the little yellow tractor.  :)

~Jeanie~

Phil arrives at the Virtual Ballroom…

Good morning, Netizens…


Yesterday, as you probably know, was Groundhog Day. Ostensibly on that day if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow it means we will have another six weeks of winter weather and, since Phil saw his shadow yesterday, our goose should be cooked and that was that. You can imagine my shock when sitting on my favorite bar stool at the Virtual Espresso bar when who should waddle unceremoniously in the front door of the Virtual Ballroom but Punxsutawney Phil, who sat down and ordered a cup of the today’s special blend, Somnolent Predictions.


“Holy crappola,” I muttered to myself. “I saw you on the TV yesterday when you predicted another six weeks of winter, and now I am wondering what you are doing here.”


Furtively looking at me, Phil snapped, “Don’t remind me of that dog and pony show. I am sick to death of the Town of Punxsutawney, and the ham-fisted handlers who annually take me out of my cage and wave me around like I was a prime piece of sausage ready for the frying pan. They squeeze my guts, grab me by the balls and in general disturb my rest.”


“What about your predictions of the next six weeks of winter? Any truth in that?”


Phil nearly choked on his Virtual Espresso and then commented wryly, “If you take the number of my relatives, including Uncle Cedrick who lives right up the road from here, all of our predictions are accurate. The only prediction I made was for Punxsutawney, and that wasn’t really a prediction. More like a guess depending upon where the sun was or was not shining on Groundhog Day.”


“So, with the fog dragging the ground outside this morning, we can count on winter ending really soon now?”


“Of course,” Phil said, taking another sip of his espresso. “However, what I need now is a place, preferably underground, where I can hide from the television cameras. I have to get away for awhile.”


Without thinking really hard about it, I answered, “We have a large family of Garden Gnomes who take care of our Virtual Garden that live out back. You might be able to make a deal with them…”


“Good”, Phil said as he finished his Virtual Espresso. Rising from his bar stool, he headed out the door without further comment.


An hour later, as I was leaving the Virtual Ballroom, I did notice a freshly-dug hole across from the garden, adjacent to a nearby Garden Gnome’s burrow. I cannot help but wonder if next February 2, we might see Phil emerge once again.


Dave

A Word A Day — Maginot Line

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

Maginot line

PRONUNCIATION:
(MAZH-uh-no lyn)

MEANING:
noun: An ineffective line of defense that is relied upon with undue confidence.

ETYMOLOGY:
After André Maginot (1877-1932), French Minister of War, who proposed a line of defense along France’s border with Germany. Believed to be impregnable, the barrier proved to be of little use when Germans attacked through Belgium in 1940.

USAGE:
“France has no shortage of linguistic generals who seek to regiment French and see an enemy lurking behind every new word or phrase. Yet what security do they bring? Franglais continues to infiltrate French ranks, despite a Maginot line of laws, word-vetting committees, and diktats from the Academie Francaise.”
Ado Cherche Appart; The Economist (London); May 11, 1996.

“Absent some sober rethinking, forward engagement is likely to produce an American Maginot Line around Asia’s rim, as myopic demands to stay there automatically lead to costly missile defenses.”
Paul Bracken; America’s Maginot Line; The Atlantic Monthly (Boston); Dec 1998.

Explore “Maginot line” in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Obesity is a mental state, a disease brought on by boredom and disappointment. -Cyril Connolly, critic and editor (1903-1974)

Spokane Stupid, put the marmots to good use…

Good morning, Netizens…


Well, it’s official, if you can take the word of an East Coast Groundhog. We’re in for six more weeks of winter.


Famed weather prognosticating groundhog Punxsutawney Phil made his annual prediction while being held by Co-Handler Ben Hughes on Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on the 124th Groundhog Day, February 2, 2010. Phil saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter. REUTERS/Jason Cohn



Oh, great! According to Phil’s prediction this morning, we are going to continue to have another six weeks of winter-like weather. Our winter this year has been more in keeping with lawn chairs, Sea-and-Ski suntan lotion than heavy-duty snow removal equipment. However, were Phil in residence in Spokane, he would not have seen his shadow, which might mean winter is over.



What we need here in Spokane is an equally well promoted animal to accurately predict how long winter will last each year. Since we have an apparent surplus of the little furry creatures, I was thinking along the line of Spokane Stupid, a marmot that resides next door to our own City Hall. I was originally thinking of getting a cranky, morose badger for this job, but since marmots seem less-likely to remove body parts with one crunch of their jaws, marmots it is.



Fresh from her high-visibility role in Washington DC newsbytes, Queen Mary Verner could make it happen with just a wave of her magic scepter. On cue, she whips out Spokane Stupid from his burrow, and marmots being smarter than your average house cat, would immediately piddle on Queen Mary’s designer jacket, revealing his displeasure at being manhandled in front of the TV cameras and throngs of people.



However, this morning, he would not see his shadow, which means winter is coming to an end.



I’m delighted I was able to debunk the claims of Punxsutawney Phil.



Dave

Religion at the USAF Academy…

Good morning, Netizens…


In this photo taken in August 2003, cadets at the Air Force Academy in Colorado are seen walking past the Chapel at the academy. The Academy has set aside an outdoor worship area for Pagans, Wiccans, Druids and other Earth-centered believers school officials announced on Monday, Feb. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)



Oh? Given all the Earth-centered believers, one might think the Air Force would permit Atheists, Deists and other non-believers to have a meeting space of their own. Now if the Academy set aside an outdoor worship area for the Pagans, Druids and Wiccans, where would they put the Atheists?



That seems a fair question for a rainy morning, doesn’t it?



Dave





A Word A Day — John Bull

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

John Bull

PRONUNCIATION:
(jon bul)

MEANING:
noun
1. A personification of England or the English people.
2. A typical Englishman.

ETYMOLOGY:
After John Bull, a character in John Arbuthnot’s satire, Law Is a Bottomless Pit (1712).

USAGE:
“Current historiography on the Mandate period is no longer dominated by a demonization of the British, which was a recurrent theme during the first decades of the state. Yet the disintegration of the old mythology is no reason to create a new mythology, this one a fantasy of John Bull in Palestine as a kind of disoriented Santa Claus, as in Segev’s skewed account.”
Anita Shapira; Eyeless in Zion; The New Republic (Washington, DC); Dec 11, 2000.

Explore “John Bull” in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer (1564-1642)

A Word A Day — Annie Oakley

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg
Picture Source: NYPL



You could pay to have a football stadium named after yourself. You might be able to have a hospital wing named in your honor. But there’s something money can’t buy: having a word coined after your name, so that you become part of the language. Such words are called eponyms, from Greek epi- (after) + -onym (name).

Five people (some from real life, others from fiction) in this week’s words achieved that feat, though not intentionally. All of these names have become eponyms.

Annie Oakley

PRONUNCIATION:

(AN-ee OHK-lee)

MEANING:

noun: A complimentary ticket; pass.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Annie Oakley (1860-1926), U.S. markswoman renowned for her skill at shooting, from association of the punched ticket with one of her bullet-riddled targets.

USAGE:

“If you’re lucky, you’ve got an Annie Oakley.”
Tom Rouillard; Big Top Goes Up Today; The Herald (Rock Hill, South Carolina); May 1, 1996.

Explore “Annie Oakley” in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The machine has got to be accepted, but it is probably better to accept it rather as one accepts a drug — that is, grudgingly and suspiciously. Like a drug, the machine is useful, dangerous, and habit-forming. The oftener one surrenders to it the tighter its grip becomes. -George Orwell, novelist (1903-1950)

Where is the Center of the Road?

Good morning, Netizens…


Cartoonist David Horsey takes a fresh shot at the Republican Party, and in so doing, examines the political distance between President Obama and the Republican Party. Is President Obama really a centrist? Is there a strong centrist in the Republican Party priming the pump for a possible Presidential election campaign? Please do not revisit the jaded idea that we should jump to Sarah Palin as a Centrist because that bird won’t fly.


Can you imagine party Republicans and Democrats actually getting along, meeting together and working on the many contentious issues facing our country?


The Republicans and Democrats are either going to have to somehow meet in the center of the political highway or we are doomed to more of the same contentiousness, with little productivity in Washington, DC. I don’t know if we can afford to wait.


Dave

Papa Johns to reopen soon?

Good morning, Netizens…


[Portions from KREM-2 News]


As you may well know by now, North Country Pizza, Inc., the franchisee for the local Papa Johns Pizza franchises, has closed the Spokane-area Papa Johns Pizza stores rather abruptly, leaving their employees jobless, and rattling the local economy. However, according to Grant W. Riva, an Attorney speaking for North Country Pizza, stated:


“Please be advised that our client, North Country Pizza, Inc., the former operator for the local Papa Johns Pizza franchises, fully intends to address all of its legal and financial obligations, including payroll to its employees. North County Pizza, Inc is regretful that the current economic situation in which it finds itself has forced the temporary closing of the local stores. It is anticipated that a new operator will reopen most of these stores in the very near future.”

It could not happen too soon, in my opinion. I have somehow acquired a taste for Papa Johns Pizza. However, Papa Johns will have to hustle, given that the chain states in their national advertising they are a “Proud Sponsor of Super Bowl LXIV”.

How can you be a proud sponsor of the Super Bowl with your stores shuttered and closed? Of course they did say they would reopen most of these stores soon. Somewhere in the dismal wasteland of corporate America the phones are ringing off the wall.

Dave

Kiss National Parks goodbye…

Good morning, Netizens…


Cartoonist David Horsey seems to hit the bulls eye once again, with this morning’s cartoon about Obama cutting the National Deficit. While I freely admit I was unaware that one of the cuts on the fiscal chopping block was the National Parks, I have been aware that, year by year, the budgets for National Parks and the U.S. Forest Service, have been steadily eroding. Somehow, it just stands to reason: they do not have nearly so many nor as powerful a group of lobbyists in Washington, DC as do say the Pentagon nor various well-heeled entitlements.


I hail from a generation of increasingly gray-bearded old-timers who remember when the public lands were celebrated, revered and treated with respect. We rode horses on what amounted to National Parks in those days, hiked and swam in the waters where few ever passed since the time the Red Man lived openly upon the land. Even as recently as two decades ago, I rode horseback through a portion of the Bob Marshall Wilderness, not seeing lights nor human habitation for three entire days and sleeping beneath the stars at night.


We are blessed with having a rich, vibrant legacy of wilderness lands in the Pacific Northwest, but if they are further cutting funding for the National Parks, what is next?


Remember, our nation has to pay for simultaneously waging two wars and we have to eventually pay for that, despite our current proclivity for deficit spending.


Dave



Salinger passes away…

Good morning, Netizens…


J.D. Salinger, one of my personal favorite authors has died. His most-notable book, “Catcher in the Rye”, was banned by the schools when I attended high school. However, I had already shifted my literary tastes to where I no longer was dependent upon their censored library for literature, and was covertly purchasing books I wanted to read, all of which were stored in the bottom of my high school locker. Upon graduation, I boxed all these banned books up and hid them at my grandparents’ house where they stayed for most of two decades in the attic.


George Orwell (various books), Aldous Huxley (Brave New World), Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse Five), Vladamir Nabokov (Lolita), John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye were just a few of the authors and titles the school board had determined I should not read. Nearly all the books, in later years, became required reading; nearly all were popular best-sellers. So much for censorship.


Of course, I immediately identified with the book’s protagonist, Holden Caulfield, and once I had read the book, I began searching for other works by the same author, without a great deal of success.


To say that Salinger was a recluse, which is what a lot of the news sources have been saying since he passed away two days ago, is hardly news. Based upon his experience, he did not like literary success, and assiduously avoided publicity and/or fanfare. I hardly can disagree with his position.


Rumors have persisted that a safe at his home in Cornish, New Hampshire contains several other books which Salinger had written during his life, but never published, perhaps out of aversion to the hue and cry. One might presume that, in his death, the contents of that safe, if they exist, will be revealed to the world, and his heirs will make a bundle. One can hope.


Did you ever read Catcher in the Rye?


Dave

A Word A Day — hagiography

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

hagiography

PRONUNCIATION:
(hag-ee-OG-ruh-fee, hay-jee-)

MEANING:
noun:
1. A biography of a saint.
2. An uncritical biography, treating its subject with undue reverence.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek hagio- (holy) + -graphy (writing). A related word is hagiocracy (a government by holy persons; also a place thus governed).

USAGE:
“There’s a whiff of hagiography in the sometimes sympathetic portrayal of the gang. But then, one man’s terrorist…”
Tim Walker; The Baader-Meinhof Complex; The Independent (London, UK); Apr 17, 2009.

Explore “hagiography” in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
When we have exposed the specious reasoning of the hunters’ apologists and stripped their sport of its counterfeit legitimacy, the naked brutality of hunting defines itself: killing for the fun of it. -Steve Ruggeri, former hunter and activist (1949-1998)

A little piece of health care; a whopping price

There is an interesting article in the January 17 issue of the Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/jan/17/more-east-side-clinics-coming/, by John Stucke, “More kidney dialysis clinics coming to Eastern Washington.”

Ok, it’s personal.  Not sure anyone else is interested in this article, other than the 5,467 dialysis patients in Washington.  We are hopefully going to get an additional center, maybe more, in Spokane/Eastern Washington.  And more competition, which is a very good thing, I think.

Dialysis in Spokane costs $4,000 for a single treatment (three and a half hours or more of equipment, supplies, and dialysate).  That’s $12,000 a week, $48,000 a month, or $624,000 a year for life-saving treatment.

Personally, my experience with dialysis has been a very good one.  I love my center, love the people who care for me, and I feel healthier than I have in a year.  The cost is outrageous and beyond my brain to comprehend.  So I try not to think about it.

The reason I like to see another center come into the Spokane area is - - - - - competition!  I am hoping that Davita coming into Spokane will balance out the cost of dialysis.  In October, I vacationed in Orlando, Florida and Davita opened their doors to me.  Again – great service!  And the bill was just over $8,000 for three treatments.  When my insurance company decided that it was an “out of network” treatment, they also decided I needed to pay a second deductible (I do not understand this), and the insurance company marked the $8,000 down to $800.  A 90% discount!!!

My thought on this is – if they can write it down to $800, then shouldn’t the price of dialysis be $800 for three treatments?

Anyway, Davita will balance out the two other facilities in Spokane.

From http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=48993154586:

- Nationwide there are 27 million people with Chronic Kidney Disease.
- Over half a million have End Stage Renal Disease requiring dialysis or a kidney transplant to survive.
- More than 354,000 people are receiving dialysis treatments at least three times per week.


~Jeanie~

A Word A Day — heliolatry

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

heliolatry

PRONUNCIATION:
(hee-lee-OL-uh-tree)

MEANING:
noun: Worship of the sun.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek helio- (sun) + -latry (worship). A related word is heliotrope (a plant that turns toward the sun).

USAGE:
“Professor Frazer himself has warned that his vaccine is not an invitation to feckless heliolatry, stressing that any jab, no matter how effective, ‘is not a replacement for prevention’.”
Tamara Sheward; Browned Off by a Baking Fad; Herald-Sun (Melbourne, Australia); Jan 7, 2010.

Explore “heliolatry” in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color. -Maya Angelou, poet (b. 1928)

Obama’s State of the Union Speech…

Good morning, Netizens…

[Courtesy of the Associated Press]

Here is the full text of President Barack Obama‘s first State of the Union speech on Wednesday, as provided by the White House:

___

Continue reading Obama’s State of the Union Speech… »

The true state of the union?

Good morning, Netizens…


Here we have cartoonist David Horsey’s State of the Union summation. Granted, while it is not truly a speech, but I submit its contents speaks volumes about the true State of the Union as it exists today. Although there were several different points of view mentioned in a previous discussion of banks and corporations being allowed to contribute directly to elections, I still have misgivings about it, much the same as I have profound misgivings about the huge bank bonuses being paid to their employees in a time when most working-class people are struggling to survive.


As Horsey’s character says, “If this isn’t economic recovery, I don’t know what is.”


What is too unfortunate, and thus perhaps David Horsey’s message is, the economic recovery as it stands, appears to be one-sided in favor of corporations and banks. Employment has dropped yet again, the number of people dependent upon assistance to pay their bills and feed their families has continued to increase and all while the health insurance crisis continues unabated.


However, tonight President Obama has an opportunity to give his version of the State of the Union. Perhaps he can stop this juggernaut economic bandwagon as it appears to hurdle down the hill.


Your thoughts, of course, may differ.


Dave

A Word A Day — artiodactyl

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

artiodactyl

PRONUNCIATION:
(ahr-tee-o-DAK-til)

MEANING:
adjective: Having an even number of toes on each foot.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek artio- (even in number, perfect) + -dactyl (toed, fingered). The mammal order Artiodactyla is made up of animals such as pig, camel, and giraffe. Those having an odd number of toes are called perissodactyl, from Greek perisso- (uneven, strange). Examples: horse, tapir, and rhinoceros.

USAGE:
“Joe Palca: By the way, you may not be aware that the pig is only the second artiodactyl to have its genome sequenced — the cow came first.”
Renee Montagne; Scientists Decode DNA of Domestic Pig; Morning Edition; National Public Radio (Washington, DC); Nov 2, 2009.

Explore “artiodactyl” in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
If God exists, I hope he has a good excuse. -Woody Allen, author, actor, and filmmaker (b. 1935)

Have times truly changed?

Good morning, Netizens…



In this March 30, 2007 photo, Michelle, right, and James Cadeau play ball with their children, Elliot, 2, left, and Justin, 5, in the backyard of their home in West Orange, N.J.. The surge of interracial marriages and multiracial children is producing a 21st century America more diverse than ever, with the potential to become less stratified by race. (AP Photo/Mike Derer)



Now let’s take a look at this tasty demographic, particularly from the perspective of life in the Inland Northwest. Since we do not, at present, have the results from the census currently being taken, we do not have a valid, current benchmark to determine how many interracial marriages nor multi-racial children we current have living in the Inland Northwest, although I suspect the numbers are up from previous years.



We also have an ongoing issue with racist organizations in the Inland Northwest, if not other areas of the United States, although various sources would have us believe otherwise. Within the last twelve months, we have had several ugly situations where racist activities were recorded in the police logs on both sides of our state line with Idaho. To sum it up succinctly, ignorance and racial hatred is still hard to kill and it isn’t dead yet.



Experience? I can speak to that. Over forty years ago, in the San Francisco Bay Area, I met and became enamored of a woman of color, a teacher in the Oakland School District, and we nearly became a serious item. However, even in the so-called liberal bastion of Northern California, neither of us were willing to bring interglacial children into that environment.



I want my grandchildren to have the security to marry anyone of their choosing, without fear and without reservations based upon race. I do submit that might still be a generation away, but I could be wrong. The only step is for everyone to embrace diversity. Will it happen in my lifetime?



Dave





A Word A Day — oligopoly

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

oligopoly

PRONUNCIATION:

(ol-i-GOP-uh-lee)

MEANING:

noun: A market condition where there are few sellers.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek oligo- (few) + -poly, patterned after monopoly, from polein (to sell).

NOTES:

Here’s a little chart that explains it all:

monopoly:one seller, many buyers
duopoly: two sellers, many buyers
oligopoly: a few sellers, many buyers
 
monopsony:  one buyer, many sellers
duopsony: two buyers, many sellers
oligopsony: a few buyers, many sellers
From Greek opsonia (purchase).


USAGE:

“The country’s fair trade regulator suggested Sunday that the long-standing oligopoly of a few gas companies should be phased out by allowing new providers to compete in the market.”
Jane Han; Gas Monopoly Must Be Dissolved; The Korea Times (Seoul); Jan 3, 2009.

Explore “oligopoly” in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Old age deprives the intelligent man only of qualities useless to wisdom. -Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

James Mitchell passes away…

Good morning, Netizens…


I do not generally watch “All My Children”, a venerable soap opera that runs five days per week on ABC-TV, but am vaguely aware of some of its cast and characters, including that most mean-spirited SOB of a character, Palmer Courtland, formerly played by James Mitchell.

Mitchell died Friday in Los Angeles, after a long run in the daytime show from 1979 to last month. You might never realize, from watching Mitchell play Palmer Courtland, that he was once trained as a dancer. Mitchell had leading roles in the Broadway musicals Brigadoon” and “Paint Your Wagon,” and danced on stage with the American Ballet Theater.

His film credits include 1953’s “The Band Wagon” with Fred Astaire, 1954’s “Deep in My Heart” and 1955’s “Oklahoma.”

 He also taught movement for dancers at Yale and Drake University, where he was awarded on honorary doctorate.

 However, playing the icy, wealthy Palmer Courtland, who wielded power over his children and the characters of the fictional town of Pine Valley, he carved himself a niche that survived decades on daytime TV.

 Dave

 

A Word A Day — theogony

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

What are combining forms? You can think of them as the Legos of language. As the name indicates, a combining form is a linguistic atom that occurs only in combination with some other form which could be a word, another combining form, or an affix (unlike a combining form, an affix can’t attach to another affix).

This week we’ll feature five words made using these combining forms:
theo- (god), oligo- (few), artio- (even number), helio- (sun), hagio- (saint)
and
-gony (origin), -poly (selling), -dactyl (toes or fingers), -latry (worship), -graphy (writing)

Using one combining form from each of the above two groups you could make 25 words. Whether all those words make sense is another matter. In fact, theoretically you could construct billions of words with just these 10 Lego blocks as a word can have more than one combining forms. Consider pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

What words can you come up with using the building blocks of this week’s words? Share your constructions and their definitions on the bulletin board Wordsmith Talk or by email (words at wordsmith.org).

theogony

PRONUNCIATION:
(thee-OG-uh-nee)

MEANING:
noun: The origin of gods or an account of this.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek theo- (god) + -gony (origin).

USAGE:
“The poet [Milton] sees the arrival of Christ in the world in terms of its impact on the pagan theogony.”
A.N. Wilson; World of Books; The Daily Telegraph (London, UK); Dec 23, 2002.

Explore “theogony” in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Losing one glove / is certainly painful, / but nothing / compared to the pain, / of losing one, / throwing away the other, / and finding / the first one again. -Piet Hein, poet and scientist (1905-1996)

Reverie on Sunday evening…

Good evening, Netizens…


I admit I took a “day off” today from the Blog, simply because I had been over-working this week and I simply wanted to sit and watch the NFL football playoffs. It was nice sitting in my recliner like the somewhat-aged doddering old goat I can become, uninterested in rehashing any of the local, national or international news in lieu of football. Since I was somewhat sleep-deprived due to an early-morning client phone call, I slept during the first game’s halftime. I seldom like either their analysts nor the advertising, although I must say the really good advertising sometimes appears during Superbowl and thus may be worthwhile.


Cheryl-Anne Millsap just brought an old memory from early college days back to the forefront over on Facebook awhile ago during one of the few times this afternoon I checked various online places. She mentioned Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, a delightful and emotionally-moving play in which I once played a minor role and also under-studied the role of the Stage Manager.


Emily: Good-bye to clocks ticking and Mama’s sunflowers. And food and coffee. And new ironed dresses and hot baths and sleeping and waking up. Oh, earth,you are too wonderful for anybody to realize you. Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it—every,every minute?

Stage Manager: No. The saints and poets, maybe they do some.


Yes, and some hoary-headed old men who sit along the Boardwalk in the late afternoon on sunny days and talk about the good old days having realized their lives are comfortable to move on each minute of the day.


Dave

Did the Supreme Court just kill Democracy?

Good evening, Netizens…


The Supreme Court just changed how Democracy works, and hardly anyone seems to be noticing.


Perhaps the biggest change to take place in American government just kicked in, and at first, I wasn’t even certain anyone from either the mainstream news media or their alternatives were really connecting the dots. If one is to believe the latest Supreme Court ruling the Big Corporations can ostensibly control our election process in the future through political contributions. This could rewrite American history to read this is the Nation of the People, by the Corporations and For the Corporations.


Be prepared to sit down and listen very carefully to Keith Olbermann’s assessment. Normally I do not listen much to he nor others that I have termed wing nuts in the past, but after reading the fine print of the latest Supreme Court ruling on corporate freedom of speech, suddenly his incisive hard-biting commentary makes a frightening amount of sense.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeOwRy9_xsM


Can you imagine a political infrastructure owned and controlled by the mega-corporations? Suddenly a number of changes coming soon come to mind: Halliburton controls National Public Radio. Walmart suddenly controls the planning and zoning for thousands of small towns, because they own the elected candidates that allow such things to happen. Will the Big Box stores soon control most of the merchandizing in America?


Our next Mayor might be more beholden to Corporate America than to Spokane’s citizens. Not to mention the Cowles family, long-known for their control of Spokane politicians, will most certainly cement their control over Spokane with an airtight fist.


Think about it. Could the Supreme Court have just killed Democracy?


Dave

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Spokesman-Review readers blog about news and issues in Spokane.

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