<:>i n t e r a l i a<:>

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:> 2003

This is an archive of all issues of <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> for 2003.
You can search in your browser for incidences of QUALCOMM
to jump to successive issues of <:>i n t e r a l i a<:>. URLs are
not active and must by copied and pasted into a new browser window/tab.

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>

7 January 2003

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- mense
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- The Death of Santa Claus
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Paul Krugman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
mense (mens) noun

Propriety, decorum.

verb tr.

To adorn, grace.

[From Middle English menske (honor), from Old Norse mennska (humanity).]

   "Auld Vandal! ye but show your little mense,
   Just much about it wi' your scanty sense:
   Will your poor, narrow foot-path of a street,
   Where twa wheel-barrows tremble when they meet."
   Robert Burns, The Brigs Of Ayr, 1787.

   These lines are from a poem Burns wrote about a dialog between two
   bridges when the construction of a new bridge began over the Ayr in
   Scotland in 1786. The Auld Brig retorts to the above mocking by New
   Brig that one shouldn't get carried away in vanity and pride:
   "I'll be a brig when ye're a shapeless cairn!"

--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Jason:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0212/0212jason.htm

Jessica:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0212/0212jessica.htm

Rainy Highway:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0212/021204rainyhighway_1391.htm

Baton Rouge from Mississippi River Bridge:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0212/021204brskyline_1387.htm

Dirge Study:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0212/dirgestudy.htm
--
Last Issue:
1. Column Detail:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0211/021124034_column.htm

2. Another Great Egret:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0211/021129012_greg.htm
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- The Death of Santa Claus
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The Death of Santa Claus
by Charles Webb

He's had the chest pains for weeks,
but doctors don't make house
calls to the North Pole,

he's let his Blue Cross lapse,
blood tests make him faint,
hospital gown always flap

open, waiting rooms upset
his stomach, and it's only
indigestion anyway, he thinks,

until, feeding the reindeer,
he feels as if a monster fist
has grabbed his heart and won't

stop squeezing. He can't
breathe, and the beautiful white
world he loves goes black,

and he drops on his jelly belly
in the snow and Mrs. Claus
tears out of the toy factory

wailing, and the elves wring
their little hands, and Rudolph's
nose blinks like a sad ambulance

light, and in a tract house
in Houston, Texas, I'm 8,
telling my mom that stupid

kids at school say Santa's a big
fake, and she sits with me
on our purple-flowered couch,

and takes my hand, tears
in her throat, the terrible
news rising in her eyes.

from Reading The Water, 2001
Northeastern University Press

Copyright 2001 by Charles Webb.
All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
eNature:
http://www.enature.com/

U.S. Geological Survey:
http://www.usgs.gov/

Arts & Letters Daily:
http://www.aldaily.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List - Paul Krugman
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
January 7, 2003
An Irrelevant Proposal
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Here's how it works. Faced with a real problem —
terrorism, the economy, nukes in North Korea — the Bush
administration's response has nothing to do with
solving that problem. Instead it exploits the issue to
advance its political agenda.

Nonetheless, the faithful laud our glorious leader's
wisdom. For a variety of reasons, including the desire
to avoid charges of liberal bias, most reporting is
carefully hedged. And the public, reading only praise
or he-said-she-said discussions, never grasps the
fundamental disconnect between problem and policy.

And so it goes with the administration's "stimulus"
plan.

Boosting a stumbling economy ("It's Clinton's fault!"
shouted the claque) isn't rocket science. All a
sensible plan must do is focus on the present, not the
distant future; on those who are suffering, not on
those doing well; and on those who are most likely to
spend additional money.

Right now a sensible plan would rush help to the long-
term unemployed, whose benefits — in an act of
incredible callousness — were allowed to lapse last
month. It would provide immediate, large-scale aid to
beleaguered state governments, which have been burdened
with expensive homeland security mandates even as their
revenues have plunged. Given our long-run budget
problems, any tax relief would be temporary, and go
largely to low- and middle-income families.

Yesterday House Democrats released a plan right out of
the textbook: aid to states and the jobless, rebates to
everyone. But the centerpiece of the administration's
proposal is, of all things, the permanent elimination
of taxes on dividends.

So instead of a temporary measure, we get a permanent
tax cut. The price tag of the overall plan is a
whopping $600 billion, yet less than $100 billion will
arrive in the first year. The Democratic plan, with an
overall price tag of only $136 billion, actually
provides more short-run stimulus.

And instead of helping the needy, the Bush plan is
almost ludicrously tilted toward the very, very well
off. If you have stocks in a 401(k), your dividends are
already tax-sheltered; this proposal gives big breaks
only to people who have lots of stock outside their
retirement accounts. More than half the benefits would
go to people making more than $200,000 per year, a
quarter to people making more than $1 million per year.
("Class warfare!" shouted the claque.)

Even the administration's economists barely pretend
that this proposal has anything to do with short-run
stimulus. Instead they sell it as the answer to various
other problems. (It slices! It dices! It purées!) Above
all, it's supposed to end the evil of "double
taxation."

Now lots of income faces double taxation, in the sense
that the same dollar gets taxed more than once along
the way. For example, most of us pay income and payroll
taxes when we earn our salary, then pay sales taxes
when we spend it. So why has it suddenly become urgent
to ensure that dividends, in particular, never be taxed
more than once?

That is, if they're taxed at all. In practice, the Bush
plan would exempt a lot of income — rich people's
income — from all taxes. Thanks to the efforts of
lobbyists, today's corporate tax code has as many holes
in it as a piece of Swiss cheese, and today's
corporations take full advantage. Case in point:
Between 1998 and 2001 CSX Corporation, the company run
by the incoming Treasury secretary, John Snow, made
$900 million in profits, but paid no net taxes — in
fact, it received $164 million in rebates. This wasn't
exceptional; the average tax rate on profits has fallen
to a nearly 60-year low.

Anyway, even to debate the pros and cons of dividend
taxation is to play the administration's game, which is
to change the subject. Weren't we supposed to be
talking about emergency economic stimulus?

No doubt the final version of the "stimulus" plan will
contain a few genuine recession-fighting measures — a
child credit here, an unemployment benefit there, a few
crumbs for the states — for which the administration
will expect immense gratitude. But the man in charge —
that is, Karl Rove — is clearly betting that the
economy will recover on its own, and intends to use the
pretense of stimulus mainly as an opportunity to get
more tax cuts for the rich.

Ideology aside, will these guys ever decide that their
job includes solving problems, not just using them?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com.

<:><:><:><:><:>:<:>:<:>:<:>:<:>:<:>:<:>:<:>:<:>:<:>:<:>:<:>:<:>

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 22:39:41 -0600
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 28 January 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>

28 January 2003

On this day in 1990: Super Bowl XXIV -- San Francisco
49ers beat Denver Broncos, 55-10 in New Orleans; Super
Bowl MVP Joe Montana, San Francisco, Quarterback

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- corybantic
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Mark Halliday
4. HotSites - Political Opinion, Commentary, and Ranting
5. Reading List - Bogus Stimulus Bush's plan will benefit
the wealthy -- but not the economy. Robert Kuttner

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
corybantic (kor-i-BAN-tik) adjective

Wild; frenzied; uncontrolled.

[After Corybant, an ancient priest of Phrygian goddess
Cybele, who performed wild ecstatic dances in her worship.]
"The radio is nothing but a conduit through which
pre-fabricated din can flow into our homes. And this din
goes far deeper, of course, than the eardrums. It
penetrates the mind, filling it with a babble of
distractions, blasts of corybantic or sentimental music,
continually repeated doses of drama that bring no catharsis,
but usually create a craving for daily or even hourly
emotional enemas." Aldous Huxley, On Silence, 1946.

Lily:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0301/030125lily_1868.htm

Flower (Computer Art):
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0301/myart2.htm

--
LAST ISSUE:
Jason:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0212/0212jason.htm

Jessica:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0212/0212jessica.htm

Rainy Highway:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0212/021204rainyhighway_1391.htm

Baton Rouge from Mississippi River Bridge:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0212/021204brskyline_1387.htm

Dirge Study:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0212/dirgestudy.htm

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Mark Halliday
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Legs

by Mark Halliday

In the last year of my marriage,
among a hundred other symptoms I wrote a poem called
"The Woman across the Shaft"—she was someone
I never met—she had long bare legs
on a summer night when she answered the phone
in her kitchen and lifted her legs to the table
while she talked and laughed and I tried to listen
from my window across an airshaft between buildings
and watched her legs. I doubt she was beautiful
but her legs were young and long
and she laughed on the phone
while I sat in my dark of dissolving faith
and I tried to capture or contain the unknown woman
in a poem: the real and the ideal,
the mess of frayed bonds versus untouched possibility,
so forth. Embarrassed now
I imagine a female editor
who received "The Woman across the Shaft"
as a submission to her magazine—the distaste she felt—
perhaps disgust she felt—I imagine her
grimacing slightly as she considers writing "Pathetic"
on the rejection slip but instead lets the slip stay blank
and then returns to another envelope
from a writer she has learned to trust,
crossing her long legs on her smart literary desk.

from Selfwolf, 1988
Ohio University, Athens, OH
Copyright 1988 by Mark Halliday.
All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Political Opinion, Commentary, and Ranting
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
From the LEFT:
BuzzFlash.com
http://buzzflash.com/

The SmirkingChimp.ocm
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/

truthout.com
http://www.truthout.com/

=====****=====

From the RIGHT:
FreeRepublic.com
http://www.freerepublic.com/

LoudCitizen.com
http://www.loudcitizen.com/

EagleForum.org
http://www.eagleforum.org/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List - Robert Kuttner
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Bogus Stimulus Bush's plan will benefit the wealthy --
but not the economy. Robert Kuttner

If ever there were a president who needed a war, it is
George W. Bush. And if ever an opposition party needed
to start behaving like an opposition, it is the
Democrats.

The economy is faltering; Bush's foreign policy is a
mess; his domestic program is aimed more at rewarding
favored interest groups than solving national problems.
If properly challenged, Bush's program would be
monumentally unpopular.

The centerpiece of the Bush economic program is
permanent repeal of the tax on corporate dividends,
falsely advertised as an economic "stimulus." The Bush
plan would reduce revenues by $670 billion over 10
years, about half just from repeal of the dividend tax.

The proposal is bad economics and irresponsible budget
policy. Two-thirds of the benefit would go to the
wealthiest 5 percent. About half of all Americans have
some money in the stock market, but most small
investors have their money in IRAs, Keoghs, and 401(k)
plans, which are already tax exempt. Bush is betting
that small investors will misunderstand the law and
identify with big investors.

The administration also claims that dividend income
should be exempt from the income tax because
corporations already pay taxes on their profits. "It's
unfair to tax money twice," the president has declared.

But why special treatment for dividends? Workers pay
income tax on wages and salaries, and then they pay
sales tax at the store and property taxes on their
homes and excise taxes on tickets -- all on spending
from earnings that have already been taxed once.

Though Bush touts the benefits of increased investment,
business investment is sluggish this year because
customers aren't buying, not because dividends are
taxed. Other parts of Bush's plan offer some token
short-term stimulus, but the amounts are puny --
nothing for hard pressed states other than a new $3.6
billion federal retraining program that the states
would administer and a short extension of unemployment
benefits.

The Bush plan also accelerates some of the tax cuts
enacted in 2001. But because most of those benefits go
to the top, the typical family would receive little.

Two years ago, when Bush proposed his first huge tax
cut (also tilted toward the very wealthy), Democrats in
Congress were splintered. Many voted for the Bush plan.

This time, however, congressional Democrats are
unified. On Monday, the House Democratic leadership
proposed a stimulus plan that puts money where it is
needed -- $31 billion so that states won't have to cut
health and education outlays in a recession and to help
states and cities pay for stepped up civil defense
efforts. The Democrats would also give an immediate
rebate of $600 per working couple.

Because the Democratic alternative does not cut taxes
on dividends, the plan spends only $131 billion rather
than $670 billion -- but spends most of it this year
when the economic stimulus is needed. Interestingly,
both the moderate and liberal wings of the party are
backing this plan. The House minority leader, Nancy
Pelosi of San Francisco, a liberal, worked closely with
Representative John Spratt of South Carolina, a fiscal
conservative, in crafting the plan. The Democrats were
also quick off the mark, upstaging the president's
formal unveiling of the administration plan in his
Tuesday speech at the Economic Club of Chicago.

When critics of trickle-down economics challenge Bush's
warped priorities, Bush's defenders invariably charge,
"Class warfare!" But tax and budget policy always
invites questions and entails choices. Would permanent
repeal of the tax on dividends really do much for the
economy this year?

And if we didn't take $300 billion out of the budget to
cut taxes on dividend income, what else might we use it
for? Prescription drug benefits? Decent child care? Tax
breaks for working families?

This president and his program ought to be highly
vulnerable. For half a century, no president has begun
his term with a worse economic performance.

Soon the president will unveil his plans for Medicare
and Social Security. Advance reports suggest that Bush
wants to scrap traditional Medicare, cap the federal
contribution to health insurance of the elderly, and
invite them to sign up for the tender mercies of HMOs.
For Social Security, the administration plans a partial
privatization that would cut guaranteed benefits to
future retirees and place more reliance on the stock
market.

If the Democrats can muster the same nerve and unity
that they belatedly displayed in challenging the Bush
tax plan, these proposals will be revealed as
monumentally unpopular, too. Even Bush's ill-conceived
and suspiciously timed war on Iraq won't change that.

Robert Kuttner is co-editor of the Prospect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 08:05:27 -0600
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:> i n t e r a l i a <:> 06Feb2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>

06 February 2003

On this day in 1987, no-smoking rules
were implemented in federal buildings
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- guttle
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Ron Padgett
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Someone, blow the whistle on Bush's
excessive secrecy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
guttle (GUT-l) verb tr., intr.

To eat voraciously; to devour greedily.

[From gut, on the pattern of guzzle, from Middle English gut, from plural
guttes (entrails), from Old English guttas.]

  "Wednesday was early closing day in Umtali, a relief for both of us, and
   Mr. Gordon was not obliged to linger at the tuckshop where he would read
   the notices posted on the board over the cash register or inspect the
   polish on his shoes or crack his lumpy knuckles while he waited for me
   to guttle my ice cream."
   George Makana Clark, A is For Ancestors, Transition (Durham, N. Carolina),
   2000.

  "Confess my pipings, dancings, posings served
   A purpose: guttlings, guzzlings, had their use!"
   Robert Browning, Aristophanes' Apology, 1875.

--
LAST ISSUE:
Rose:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0301/030125rose2_1869.htm

Lily:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0301/030125lily_1868.htm

Flower (Computer Art):
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0301/myart2.htm

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Ron Padgett
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Animals and Art
by Ron Padgett

I was saying that sometimes I feel sorry for wild
animals, out there in the dark, looking for something
to eat while in fear of being eaten. And they have no
ballet companies or art museums. Animals of course are
not aware of their lack of cultural activities, and
therefore do not regret their absence. I was saying
this to my wife as we walked along a path in the woods.
Every once in a while she would go Unh-huh or Hmmm, but
I suspected that she was wondering why I was saying
such things. I was saying them in order to see how they
would feel when spoken without any hint of irony. Then
I quoted the remark about human life being nasty,
brutish, and short, but neither she nor I could recall
who had said that, though I offered a guess (Carlyle).
In fact I had seen the quotation ascribed to someone
recently, but I did not mention this to her, for fear
of appearing senile. But the truth is that I do not
bother to try to remember information that I can look
up in a reference book, thinking, I suppose, that I
would prefer to fill my mind with the impressions and
sensations and spontaneous ideas and mental images that
fly past so quickly. Would such a person as I make a
good animal? The news today is that scientists have
finished the genetic mapping of the human being, and it
turns out that we are 99 per cent chimpanzee. I don't
feel 99 per cent chimpanzee. It makes me wonder about
the enormity of the remaining one per cent, the sliver
that causes me to take the subway up to the Met and
look at pictures and sculptures and other beautiful and
interesting objects, then go to the museum cafeteria
and have a cup of tea and a bun, all without the fear
that some creature is going to eat me. But back of all
of it is a spreading sorrow for those that hide and
tremble in the dark.

Ron Padgett
The Canary River Review
Number 1 Autumn 2002
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Worldwide Telephone Directories
http://www.infobel.com/world/

Worldwide Newspapers
http://www.world-newspapers.com/

Total News (news search)
http://www.totalnews.com/

NPPA (the best of photojournalism)
http://www.nppa.org/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List - Someone, blow the whistle on Bush's
excessive secrecy
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Someone, blow the whistle on Bush's excessive secrecy
By Pat M. Holt
WASHINGTON - It is time for Congress or
the courts to blow the whistle on the Bush
administration's excessive secrecy. The secrecy is
especially pernicious when set in the context of the
administration's proclivity to spin. "Spin" is the
fashionable word. "Twist," "distort," "deceive," or
"cover up" would be more forthright.

Consider these examples:

• The White House tried to obstruct the appointment of
an independent commission to investigate the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, implying it doesn't want Congress
to know what it knows. Contrast President Truman's
cooperation when Congress appointed a joint committee
to investigate the attack on Pearl Harbor.

• Attorney General Ashcroft insists on closing court
proceedings that are ordinarily open, including some
the Constitution requires to be open. He's done this
under the flimsiest of excuses: The release of names of
arrestees would give away to Al Qaeda bosses who has
been arrested. Or that release of names would violate
the arrestees' right of privacy.

• The Environmental Protection Agency, the Department
of Agriculture, and the Department of Health and Human
Services have been given the authority to classify
documents as "secret." Wielding a SECRET stamp gives
bureaucrats a particular sense of exhilaration; and we
can be sure that if a bureaucrat has this power, he or
she will use it.

• Vice President Cheney argues that the administration
came to the government determined to restore the powers
of the president to what they were before the
congressional onslaught during the Vietnam War and
Watergate. Since the Washington administration, the
powers of the president and Congress have moved against
each other like a seesaw. They may be expected to
continue to do this, but not at such an abrupt pace.

What particularly upset Mr. Cheney was the request by
the General Accounting Office, on behalf of Congress,
for the names of those in his office who participated
in discussions of oil policy at the start of the
administration. He argued vigorously that presidents
(as well as vice presidents and Cabinet members) need
and deserve frank advice that they cannot get if the
advisers think it may be made public. Nobody disputes
this, but only counsel from staff and personal advisers
enjoys such protection.

• Perhaps most egregious of all, Mr. Bush has signed an
executive order which gives the sitting president the
right to control the release of the papers of any past
president. That is, if Bush were so inclined, he could
bar the release of the papers of George Washington. His
White House counsel, in fact, did order the National
Archives not to release 68,000 pages from Ronald
Reagan's administration. These included papers from
George H. W. Bush's vice presidency.

Later the current Bush permitted the release of almost
all of the Reagan pages in question. In the meantime,
however, the White House has issued another order
permitting former presidents, vice presidents, their
representatives, or surviving relatives to bar release
of documents for a variety of reasons: "military,
diplomatic, or national security secrets, presidential
communications, legal advice, legal work, or the
deliberative processes of the president and the
president's advisers." This is an arrogant assertion of
presidential power when applied to past presidents. It
allows the president to determine what the people may
know - or don't know - about what their own government
does.

It is highly questionable whether any president has
ever had the power to control presidential papers
contrary to the will of Congress, as this executive
order would permit. It raises a serious question of
whether the motive of the current president is to cover
up his father's actions in the Iran-contra arms
scandal. Under the law, such affairs are supposed to be
regulated by the National Security Council (NSC). At
the time of Iran-contra, the NSC consisted of Mr.
Reagan, Vice President Bush, Secretary of State George
Shultz, and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger.
Afterward they declared their positions as follows:
Reagan and Mr. Bush said they didn't know about it; Mr.
Shultz and Mr. Weinberger said they opposed it. That's
two abstentions and two against. How, then, could the
scandal have happened? And is it any wonder the
controlling, abstaining participants would want to
cover their part?

• Pat M. Holt is former chief of staff of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee

==
From:
The Christian Science Monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/
from the February 06, 2003 edition -
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0206/p09s02-coop.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com.

To unsubscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"unsubscribe" to mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 08:48:59 -0600
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 11Feb03

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>

11 February 2003

On this day in 1990, Nelson Mandela (political
prisoner for 27 years) freed in South Africa
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- sockdolager
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Steve Kowit
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
sockdolager (sok-DOL-uh-juhr) noun

1. A decisive blow or remark.

2. Something exceptional or outstanding.

[Of unknown origin, apparently from sock.]

This sockdolager of a word has an unusual claim to fame in the US
history. It turned out to be the cue on which John Wilkes Booth
fired his shot at President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was watching the
play "Our American Cousin" in Ford's Theater on that fateful night. His
killer, Booth, an actor himself and aware of the dialog, knew the line
that brought the loudest burst of laughter from the audience was:

"Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, you sockdologising
old man-trap."

Booth fired his gun at that precise moment to muffle the loud noise
of his shot with the guffaws from the audience.

   "This year's storm was a sockdolager. The white stuff pounded the East
   Coast."
   Be Prepared, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia), Jan 17, 1996.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Pears:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0302/pears/

--
LAST ISSUE:

Flamingoes:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0302/grfl_tit.htm

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Steve Kowit
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Some Clouds
- by Steve Kowit

Now that I've unplugged the phone,
no one can reach me-
At least for this one afternoon
they will have to get by without my advice
or opinion.
Now nobody else is going to call
& ask in a tentative voice
if I haven't yet heard that she's dead,
that woman I once loved-
nothing but ashes scattered over a city
that barely itself any longer exists.
Yes, thank you, I've heard.
It had been too lovely a morning.
That in itself should have warned me.
The sun lit up the tangerines
& the blazing poinsettias
like so many candles.
For one afternoon they will have to forgive me.
I am busy watching things happen again
that happened a long time ago.
as I lean back in Josephine's lawnchair
under a sky of incredible blue,
broken - if that is the word for it -
by a few billowing clouds,
all white & unspeakably lovely,
drifting out of one nothingness into another.

from Mysteries of the Body, 1994
Uroboros Books

Copyright 1991 by Steve Kowit.
All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
IRS:
http://www.irs.gov/

Space News:
<http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030201columbia/radarimage.html>

75th Academy Awards:
http://www.oscar.com/

Small Business Administration:
http://www.sba.gov/

Sacred Texts:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
From the Star Telegram:
A Few Words From Our President
-by Molly Ivins
<http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/columnists/molly_ivins/5119168.htm>

From Mother Jones:
America's Age of Empire: The Bush Doctrine
<http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2003/02/ma_205_01.html>

From Newsweek:
Judging the Case
<http://www.msnbc.com/news/869606.asp?0cv=KA01&cp1=1>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net (Unverified)
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 08:55:03 -0600
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 21Feb2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>

21 February 2003

       On this day in 1968, Baseball announced
       a minimum annual salary of $10,000.
       (Today it is $300,000.)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- Rubicon
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Douglas Goetsch
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List
6. Weird News - Naked woman doesn't want to be rescued
from trunk of car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
Rubicon (ROO-bi-kon) noun

A point of no return, one where an action taken commits a person
irrevocably.

[Contrary to popular belief, Caesar salad is not named after Julius Caesar.
But today's term does have connection to him. In 49 BCE, Caesar crossed the
Rubicon, a small river that formed boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and
Italy. As he crossed the river into Italy, he exclaimed "iacta alea est"
(the die is cast) knowing well that his action signified the declaration
of a war with Pompey. Today when an action marks a situation where there
is no going back, we say the Rubicon has been crossed.]

  "The age-old Labour debate between universal and means-tested social
   benefits is being decisively resolved in favour of means-testing. Tony
   Blair's government has indeed crossed the Rubicon."
   The Universal Means Test; The Economist (London); Mar 6, 1999.

  "Why should one not say, for example, that the defendants in Boyle
   'crossed the Rubicon' and were thus guilty of attempted burglary when
   they attacked the door of the house which they intended to burgle ..."
   R.A. Duff; Criminal Attempts; Oxford University; 1996.
   Full-text on Questia at http://www.questia.com/CM.qst?D=wotdrubicon

2. Purple Prisms:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0302art/

--
LAST ISSUE:
Pears:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0302/pears/

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Douglas Goetsch
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Smell and Envy
- by Douglas Goetsch

You nature poets think you've got it, hostaged
somewhere in Vermont or Oregon,
so it blooms and withers only for you,
so all you have to do is name it: primrose
- and now you're writing poetry, and now
you ship it off to us, to smell and envy.

But we are made of newspaper and smoke
and we dunk your roses in vats of blue.
Birds don't call, our pigeons play it close
to the vest. When the moon is full
we hear it in the sirens. The Pleiades
you could probably buy downtown. Gravity
is the receiver on the hook. Mortality
we smell on certain people as they pass.

from Nobody's Hell, 1999
Hanging Loose Press, Brooklyn, NY

Copyright 1999 by Douglas Goetsch.
All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Common Errors in English:
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/

Leonardo da Vinci Exhibition at the Met:
<http://www.metmuseum.org/special/Leonardo_Master_Draftsman/draftsman_splash.htm>

Bloomsbury Magazine Research Centre:
<http://www.bloomsburymagazine.com/ARC/browse.asp?l=A>

Mardi Gras Parade Schedule With Maps:
<http://www.nola.com/mardigras/parades/?/mardigras/parades/daycal.html>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The United States of America Has Gone Mad
-by John le Carre
<http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0115-01.htm#>

Midwinter Madness
-by Molly Ivins
<http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/columnists/molly_ivins/5194511.htm>

Americans were duped before;it may be happening again
-by Don Williams
<http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/todays_editorial/article/0,1406,KNS_362_1759272,00.html>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Naked Kidnap Fantasy Has Police Scrambling
Thu Feb 20, 8:10 AM ET

EDMONTON, Alberta (Reuters) - Canadian police in a
frantic search for an abducted woman dispatched a SWAT
team to her home late on Tuesday before officers on a
routine patrol across town found her naked and bound in
the back of a car.

But police in Edmonton, Alberta, soon realized they had
a problem -- she did not want to be rescued.

It emerged that the 17-year-old female and a man at the
scene were engaged in a role-playing game, but not
before the man was arrested and the woman sent to
hospital for examination. She was less than co-
operative, police said.

"She did answer questions, but she wasn't very
forthcoming with the detectives. They pieced it
together that it was some form of fantasy scenario on
the part of the people involved," Edmonton police
spokesman Wes Bellmore said on Wednesday

Full Story:
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=573&ncid=573&e=12&u=/nm/20030220/od_nm/odd_canada_abduction_dc>

From Yahoo News Oddly Enough Section:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Sat, 08 Mar 2003 04:41:24 -0600
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 8 March 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>

08 March 2003

On this day in 1973 Paul & Linda McCartney
were fined £100 for growing cannabis.

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- sciolist
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Jerald Winakur
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Pushing the Big Lie
6. Weird News - Widow Hopes Tattoo Will Keep Doctors Away
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
sciolist (SAI-uh-list) noun

One who engages in pretentious display of superficial knowledge.

[From Late Latin sciolus (smatterer), diminutive of Latin scius (knowing),
from scire (to know). Another example of the similar kind of word formation
is the name of the bird oriole which is derived from the diminutive form of
Latin aureus (golden).]

  "Never was so brilliant a lecture-room as his evening banqueting-hall;
   highly connected students from Rome mixed with the sharp-witted provincial
   of Greece or Asia Minor; and the flippant sciolist, and the nondescript
   visitor, half philosopher, half tramp, met with a reception, courteous
   always, but suitable to his deserts."
   John Henry Newman; The Idea Of A University, University Life At Athens;
   1854.

  "On the other hand, judged strictly by the standard of his own time,
   (Francis) Bacon's ignorance of the progress which science had up to that
   time made is only to be equalled by his insolence toward men in comparison
   with whom he was the merest sciolist."
   Thomas H. Huxley; Harvey Discovers The Circulation Of The Blood;
   History of the World.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
(1) Camellia:
http://members.cox.net/lhoste/0303/030304camellia2_bw.htm

(2) Camellia:
http://members.cox.net/lhoste/0303/030304camellia.htm

(3) Viola:
http://members.cox.net/lhoste/0303/030304viola.htm

(4) Viola:
http://members.cox.net/lhoste/0303/030304viola2.htm

LAST ISSUE:
(1) RazorHead:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0302/facewall.htm

(2) Purple Prisms:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0302art/

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Jerald Winakur
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
A Paper Anniversary at 52

And now you sleep in the bed left over
from your first marriage, tucked
into the only room of this old farmhouse
that's warm when the wind comes
from the north.
These walls are paper thin & mice live
within them and bigger things in the attic
where I have yet to go.
There are children of ours somewhere in the world
older than we were at our first unions.
The lake is almost dry from the drought
and the old garden is nothing but weeds
and the rock walls are falling down
and the barn is red from rust more than paint.
And we gave it all up for this:
that bluebirds will find the box you helped me
nail to the fencepost across the field from
the kitchen window;
that the martins will nest in the house atop
the pole you held as I hoisted all the way up;
that the thistles will be fewer next spring
now that we have wrestled so many out of the ground;
that another year like another season
will never be enough
until it is over.

Jerald Winakur
Poetry
Volume CLXXXI, Number 4
February 2003

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Game Rules
http://www.everyrule.com/

Protect your privacy online
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/eff_privacy_top_12.html

Dino Directory
http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/cgi-bin/dino/

Bush Pushes the Big Lie Toward the Brink
Even some in government can no longer be
silent in the face of falsehood.

-by Robert Scheer

March 4, 2003

So the truth is out: George W. Bush lied when he
claimed to be worried about Iraq's alleged weapons of
mass destruction. Otherwise, Iraq's stepped-up
cooperation with the U.N. on disarmament would be
stunningly good news, obviating the need to rush to
war.

Instead, the U.N. weapons inspectors' verification of
Iraq's destruction of missiles, private meetings with
Iraqi weapons scientists, visits to locations where
biological and chemical weapons were destroyed in 1991
and a series of unfettered flights by U2 spy plans have
been met with a shrug and sneer in Washington. The
White House line is that even if the Iraqis destroy all
their slingshots, Goliath is still bringing his tanks
and instituting "regime change." The arrogance is
breathtaking. We have demanded that a country disarm --
and even as it is doing so, we say it doesn't matter:
it's too late; we're coming in. Put down your guns and
await the slaughter.

Abraham Lincoln once observed that even a free people
can be fooled for a time -- and this, mind you, was
long before Fox News existed -- and in his chaotic two-
year presidency, Bush has pushed the Big Lie approach
so far that we are seeing dramatic signs of its
cracking: an international backlash, a domestic peace
movement and whistle-blowing from inside our own
intelligence and diplomatic corps.

"We have not seen such systematic distortion of
intelligence, such systematic manipulation of the
American people, since the war in Vietnam," wrote John
Brady Kiesling, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign
Service in his letter of resignation last week to
Secretary of State Colin Powell. Kiesling, who was
political counselor in U.S. embassies throughout the
Mideast, added that "until this administration, it had
been possible to believe that by upholding the policies
of my president, I was also upholding the interests of
the American people and the world. I believe it no
longer."

And this brave man is not the only one who has caught
on. The entire world is astonished that our president
is lying not about a personal indiscretion but about
the most sacred duty of the leader of the most powerful
nation in human history not to recklessly endanger the
lives of his own or the world's people. Yet lie he has.

The first lie, claimed outright, was that Iraq aided
and abetted the Sept. 11 terrorists. There is no
evidence at all for this claim. It is also interesting
to note that not a single leading Al Qaeda operative
has turned out to be Iraqi. The latest to be nabbed,
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, was living in Pakistan, was
raised in Kuwait and studied engineering -- and
presumably the physics of explosives -- at a college in
North Carolina.

The second lie was that Iraq's alleged weapons of mass
destruction represent an imminent threat to U.S.
security. Despite the most hugely expensive but secret
high-tech spy operation in human history -- estimated
by most at well over $100 billion a year -- and a vast
network of defectors and spies, we have not been able
to find their supposed weapons.

The third and most dangerous lie is that our mission
now is to bring lasting peace to the Mideast by a
devastating invasion of Iraq, which will end, as the
president outlined last week, in U.S. dominance over
the structure of government and politics throughout the
region. After abandoning promising efforts by the
previous administration to create peace between Israel
and the Palestinians, the Bush team now claims that
changing Muslim governments around the world will end
the downward spiral of violence there. Which leads us
to another lie: that this is all good for our ally,
Israel -- the claim of the cabal of neoconservative
ideologues running our Mideast policy. In fact,
however, Israel will be placed in a terribly dangerous
position, serving as a fig leaf for U.S. ambitions,
further ensuring that it remain forever an isolated
military garrison.

This construction of a new world order comes from a
naive and untraveled president, emboldened in his
ignorance by advisors who have been plotting an
aggressive Pax Americana ever since the Soviet bloc's
collapse. Bush insiders Richard Perle, Elliott Abrams,
Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld are all
members of something called the Project for a New
American Century that has been pushing for a U.S.
redesign of the Mideast since 1997. After Sept. 11,
they seized on our national tragedy as a way to enlist
George W. in support of their grand design. Not only
was this reckless scheme never mentioned by Bush during
the election campaign, it was the sort of thing
renounced as "nation-building," something he would
never support. Yet another lie.

<http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-scheer4mar04,1,7003517.column?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dcomment%2Dopinions>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Widow Hopes Tattoo Will Keep Doctors Away
Thu Mar 6,8:35 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - An 85 year-old widow is so
determined not to be resuscitated against her will by
doctors that she has tattooed the words "Do Not
Resuscitate" across her chest.

Frances Polack, a former nurse, said she paid $40 for a
tattoo with the instruction and a heart with a 'no-go'
sign in red and blue to ensure medical staff knew she
did not want to be revived.

"Years ago when I was nursing I could see they
resuscitated so many people they shouldn't have,"
Polack told the Nursing Standard magazine.

"I don't want to die twice. By resuscitating me, they
would be bringing me back from the dead only for me to
have to go through it again," Polack said.

The white-haired pensioner who lives in the New Forest
in the south of England said she visited a local
tattooist with a friend. "I don't know if I want to
start a fashion, but I hope I will start a debate," she
said.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net (Unverified)
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 07:44:42 -0600
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 17 March 2003

             <:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
                  17 March 2003
               HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- punchinello
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Kurt Brown
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - George W. Queeg
6. Weird News - Latrine deaths over Kenyan cell phone
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
punchinello (pun-chuh-NEL-o) noun

1. A short, fat buffoon, principal character in an
Italian puppet show.

2. A grotesque person.

[From Italian (Naples dialect) polecenella (a character
in Italian puppet shows), diminutive of pollecena
(turkey pullet), ultimately from Latin pullus (young
chicken). From the resemblance of punchinello's nose to
a turkey's beak.]

"Unlike Mr. Donahue, she doesn't automatically
sympathize with every oddball and Punchinello who feels
mistreated by `straight society' (a phrase, believe it
or not, that still rolls off Mr. Donahue's tongue)."
Martha Bayles, Oprah vs. Phil: Warmth Wins Out, The
Wall Street Journal (New York), Jan 26, 1987.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Batture Trees
http://www.lhostelaw.com/030308/batture.htm

LAST ISSUE:
(1) Camellia:
http://members.cox.net/lhoste/0303/030304camellia2_bw.htm

(2) Camellia:
http://members.cox.net/lhoste/0303/030304camellia.htm

(3) Viola:
http://members.cox.net/lhoste/0303/030304viola.htm

(4) Viola:
http://members.cox.net/lhoste/0303/030304viola2.htm

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Kurt Brown
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Fisherman
Kurt Brown

A man spends his whole life fishing in himself
for something grand. It's like some lost lunker, big enough
to break all records. But he's only heard rumors, myths,
vague promises of wonder. He's only felt the shadow
of something enormous darken his life. Or has he?
Maybe it's the shadow of other fish, greater than his,
the shadow of other men's souls passing over him.
Each day he grabs his gear and makes his way
to the ocean. At least he's sure of that: or is he? Is it the ocean
or the little puddle of his tears? Is this his dinghy
or the frayed boards of his ego, scoured by storm?
He shoves off, feeling the land fall away under his boots.
Soon he's drifting under clouds, wind whispering blandishments
in his ears. It could be today: the water heaves
and settles like a chest. . . He's not far out.
It's all so pleasant, so comforting--the sunlight,
the waves. He'll go back soon, thinking: "Maybe tonight."
Night with its concealments, its shadow masking all other shadows.
Night with its privacies, its alluringly distant stars.

Reprinted from More Things in Heaven and Earth.
Copyright © 2002 by Kurt Brown. All rights reserved.

National Gallery of Art
http://www.nga.gov/home.htm

Earth From Space
http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/index.html

St. Patrick
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11554a.htm

Aboard the U.S.S. Caine, it was the business with the
strawberries that finally convinced the doubters that
something was amiss with the captain. Is foreign policy
George W. Bush's quart of strawberries?

Over the past few weeks there has been an epidemic of
epiphanies. There's a long list of pundits who
previously supported Bush's policy on Iraq but have
publicly changed their minds. None of them quarrel with
the goal; who wouldn't want to see Saddam Hussein
overthrown? But they are finally realizing that Mr.
Bush is the wrong man to do the job. And more people
than you would think — including a fair number of
people in the Treasury Department, the State Department
and, yes, the Pentagon — don't just question the
competence of Mr. Bush and his inner circle; they
believe that America's leadership has lost touch with
reality.

If that sounds harsh, consider the debacle of recent
diplomacy — a debacle brought on by awesome arrogance
and a vastly inflated sense of self-importance.

Mr. Bush's inner circle seems amazed that the tactics
that work so well on journalists and Democrats don't
work on the rest of the world. They've made promises,
oblivious to the fact that most countries don't trust
their word. They've made threats. They've done the
aura-of-inevitability thing — how many times now have
administration officials claimed to have lined up the
necessary votes in the Security Council? They've warned
other countries that if they oppose America's will they
are objectively pro-terrorist. Yet still the world
balks.

Wasn't someone at the State Department allowed to point
out that in matters nonmilitary, the U.S. isn't all
that dominant — that Russia and Turkey need the
European market more than they need ours, that Europe
gives more than twice as much foreign aid as we do and
that in much of the world public opinion matters?
Apparently not.

And to what end has Mr. Bush alienated all our most
valuable allies? (And I mean all: Tony Blair may be
with us, but British public opinion is now virulently
anti-Bush.) The original reasons given for making Iraq
an immediate priority have collapsed. No evidence has
ever surfaced of the supposed link with Al Qaeda, or of
an active nuclear program. And the administration's
eagerness to believe that an Iraqi nuclear program does
exist has led to a series of embarrassing debacles,
capped by the case of the forged Niger papers, which
supposedly supported that claim. At this point it is
clear that deposing Saddam has become an obsession,
detached from any real rationale.

What really has the insiders panicked, however, is the
irresponsibility of Mr. Bush and his team, their almost
childish unwillingness to face up to problems that they
don't feel like dealing with right now.

I've talked in this column about the administration's
eerie passivity in the face of a stalling economy and
an exploding budget deficit: reality isn't allowed to
intrude on the obsession with long-run tax cuts. That
same "don't bother me, I'm busy" attitude is driving
foreign policy experts, inside and outside the
government, to despair.

Need I point out that North Korea, not Iraq, is the
clear and present danger? Kim Jong Il's nuclear program
isn't a rumor or a forgery; it's an incipient bomb
assembly line. Yet the administration insists that it's
a mere "regional" crisis, and refuses even to talk to
Mr. Kim.

The Nelson Report, an influential foreign policy
newsletter, says: "It would be difficult to exaggerate
the growing mixture of anger, despair, disgust and fear
actuating the foreign policy community in Washington as
the attack on Iraq moves closer, and the North Korea
crisis festers with no coherent U.S. policy. . . . We
are at the point now where foreign policy generally,
and Korea policy specifically, may become George Bush's
`Waco.' . . . This time, it's Kim Jong Il (and Saddam)
playing David Koresh. . . . Sober minds wrestle with
how to break into the mind of George Bush."

We all hope that the war with Iraq is a swift victory,
with a minimum of civilian casualties. But more and
more people now realize that even if all goes well at
first, it will have been the wrong war, fought for the
wrong reasons — and there will be a heavy price to pay.

Alas, the epiphanies of the pundits have almost surely
come too late. The odds are that by the time you read
my next column, the war will already have started.

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Latrine deaths over Kenyan cell phone

Three men have died trying to retrieve a mobile
phone from a pit latrine in the Kenyan town of
Mombasa. University student Dora Mwabela dropped
the phone into the latrine while she was answering
a call of nature, the Daily Nation newspaper reports.

She offered a reward of 1,000 shillings ($13) for
anyone who could recover the phone, worth 6,000
shillings.

Most Kenyans survive on less than $1 a day.

First, recently married radio technician Patrick
Luhakha, 30, tried to get the phone back.

He ripped up the toilet floor before going down a
ladder into the latrine.

After a while, nothing more was heard from him and a
neighbour, Kevin Wambua, went to check on his friend.
He then slipped and fell into the putrid mess and was
also unable to get out.

A third man, John Solo, then tried to rescue the two,
while policemen stood and watched, the paper reports.

He collapsed while halfway down the ladder and
neighbours managed to haul him to the surface but he
died on his way to hospital.

A fourth man had to be held back from trying to rescue
his two friends by acting Mombasa Police chief Peter
Njenga.

"We would have been talking of four dead," Mr Njenga
said.

"The fumes inside must be extremely poisonous
considering the short time it was taking to disable the
retrievers," he said.

The cell phone was not found.

Story from BBC NEWS: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-
/1/hi/world/africa/2850045.stm>

Published: 2003/03/14 12:16:57

© BBC MMIII
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 09:09:41 -0600
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 21 March 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
21 March 2003

On this day in 1969 John & Yoko staged their
1st bed-in for peace (Amsterdam Hilton)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- lickerish
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Bob Hicok
4. HotSites - Iraq
5. Reading List - An Air of Empire
6. Humor - A Different Kind of French Kiss
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
lickerish (LIK-uhr-ish) adjective

1. Lascivious; lecherous.

2. Greedy; desirous.

3. Archaic. Relishing good food. Obsolete. Arousing
hunger; appetizing.

[Middle English likerous, perhaps from Old French
lecheor, lekier.]
"[H]e the lickerish snake who literally hisses at his
adversaries. Their cruel games will lead them to peek
through keyholes, swipe bedroom keys, purloin letters,
ruin lives." Richard Corliss, Cinema: Lust Is a Thing
with Feathers, Time, 16 Jan 1989.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Candy
http://www.lhostelaw.com/030309/030304candy2_2236.htm

White Horse
http://www.lhostelaw.com/030309/030309horse_2290.htm

White Horse II
http://www.lhostelaw.com/030309/030309horse_2291.htm

Foggy Lighterage
http://www.lhostelaw.com/030309/030309msriver_2281.htm

LAST ISSUE:
Batture Trees
http://www.lhostelaw.com/030308/batture.htm

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Bob Hicok
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The Edge

One day the kid showed up with a tattoo of a stapler
on his shoulder. The others had tattoos of geckos
and fish and the Incredible Hulk, an emerald
Lou Ferigno against a background of fire. He'd
have been beaten up except they were dazed by it,
not just the precise cursive of the word Swingline
or the luster of the striking plate but the fact
of the stapler itself. He got the last pizza
at lunch and was touched on the wrist by a girl
at the fountain. This made him believe he was real
in a way breathing never had. Over the next
few months he stopped feeling he lived
on the wrong side of the mirror. There
was an election & his name was penciled in
on a few ballots. The guy with the red Camaro
gave him a ride home and let him pick the music.
In second period French he stood to ask
what Harcourt Brace knew all men wanted to know,
if Monique and Evette would join him Saturday
on the sailboat. First the teacher cried,
then the students sang the Marseillaise
because in four years all he'd ever said
was como tallez vous? No one questioned the tattoo.
Who'd believe he got up to pee and it was there,
just as the image of the body of Christ
appeared one morning on the thigh
of St. Barthelme of Flours. Otherwise
their stories differ. St. Barthelme was stoned
to death. The kid went to homecoming in a tux
with blue cumulus cuffs and a girl
embarrassed by anything but the slowest dance.

Bob Hicok
The Iowa Review
Volume 32, Number 1
Spring 2002

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Iraq
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Iraq News Portal
http://www.lib.ecu.edu/govdoc/iraq.html

Iraq Links
http://www.journaliststoolbox.com/newswriting/iraq.html

Iraq Facts
http://www.countryreports.org/iraq.htm

Thursday, March 20, 2003; Page A29

The word "empire" has been used fairly often as a
metaphor to convey the global scope of American
interests and of American military, economic and
political influence. After the conquest of Iraq,
however, it can be fairly argued that we shall have
created not a figure of speech but a concrete reality.

First of all, we will have made clear that the United
States answers to no authority other than itself when
it comes to the use of military force. Moreover, the
authority of the United States will be mostly
indistinguishable from the personal will of its
president. The Bush doctrine of preemption becomes a
replacement for international law: Any president at any
time in the future can decide to attack any country,
provided only that he is satisfied that said country
might at some point represent a direct threat to the
United States.

Second, the United States will have established itself
as the dominant force at the geographic core of a
region that, in turn, exercises tremendous leverage
over the rest of the globe through the oil market. As
occupying power, the United States will unilaterally
assume responsibility for decisions that will determine
the future course of Iraq's oil and gas industries. We
become in effect a virtual member of OPEC, and one of
the most powerful at that. So immense military power
will be united with an equally impressive form of
economic power. No, this war is certainly not about
oil. But the peace that follows it will be another
matter.

The fact that we will have acted out of fear of
terrorism in an impulse of self-protection does not
change the essential nature of this event for much of
the rest of the world. What matters is the answer to a
single question: Does the United States consider itself
bound by any international obligation if that
obligation is seen as an impediment to its will? The
Bush administration will have difficulty saying
otherwise, in view of its pattern of unilateral action,
established well before the present crisis.

If war comes, we may be quickly victorious. And perhaps
the president's sweeping vision of positive change
throughout the Middle East will also come to pass. The
more brilliant our success, however, the more deeply we
will be feared. And the reason for that is not just the
stunning demonstration of power in bringing it about
but the fact that the government of the United States
went out of its way to drive home one point: We are
dominant, and dominant is as dominance does. That has
its price.

Americans -- whether they support or oppose war with
Iraq -- need to realize the consequences of the status
we may shortly assume. The beginning of empire is the
end of commonwealth. We have already seen how that
works in the failed bidding war the United States
engaged in for the sake of support in the Security
Council and from Turkey.

The irony is that all along the United States has had
every right to resume military operations against Iraq
under existing Security Council resolutions, because
Saddam Hussein was patently in breach of his
commitments. Instead, the administration chose to base
its actions on an unlimited assertion of an American
right to make war at will.

Whether or not we intend to be an empire, we now
present the aspect of one -- an appearance that has
already contributed to the fracturing of our alliances
by playing into the ambitions of those, such as the
French and their followers, who believe their mission
is to contain us. The administration knows that it is
responsible for the reconstruction of Iraq after this
war is over. But it does not appear to realize that it
also must find a way to reconstruct another collateral
casualty: the notion that America is part of a
community of nations.

The writer was national security adviser to former vice
president Al Gore. He is now a research professor at
George Washington University.

© 2003 The Washington Post Company
From: http://www.washingtonpost.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Humor
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Posted on Sun, Mar. 16, 2003

A different kind of French kiss

DAVE BARRY

OK, if nobody else will do it, I'm going to patch up
this spat between the United States and France.

As you know, our two nations are not getting along, as
evidenced by the high-level meeting in Paris last week,
during which French President Jacques Chirac and U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, in what aides
described as ''a frank exchange of views,'' bit each
other.

Yes, relations are at an all-time low. The French view
us as a bunch of fat, simplistic, SUV-driving, gum-
chewing, gun-shooting, mall-dwelling, John Wayne
cowboys who put ketchup on everything we eat, including
breath mints. Whereas we view the French as a bunch of
snotty, hygiene-impaired, pseudo-intellectual, snail-
slurping weenies whose sole military accomplishment in
the past 100 years was inventing the tasseled combat
boot.

Sadly -- as is so often the case when people resort to
vicious stereotypes -- both sides in this dispute are
100 percent correct. But the fact that we hate each
other, with good reason, does NOT mean we can't be
friends! After all, the United States and France have a
close relationship that dates back to the Revolutionary
War, when we were helped in our struggle for
independence by a French person whose name we will
never, ever forget, as long as we have Internet access
to the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Let's see . . . Ladybird, Ladybug, Ladyfinger . . . OK,
here it is: Lafayette. Actually, according to the
Encyclopedia Britannica, his full name was -- I am not
making this up -- Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert
Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. As a result, he had a
hellish childhood. His mother would lean out the
kitchen window and shout: ''Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch
Gilbert Motier, Marquis de Lafayette! You get back in
here and finish your snails THIS INSTANT!'' Hearing
this, the other French children would tease Lafayette,
calling him ''Marie'' and threatening to brush his
teeth. So as soon as he could, he left France and came
to America, where he joined the army and told everybody
his name was Mark.

From that moment on, France and America were close
allies. In 1886, as a gift symbolizing more than a
century of friendship, France gave us the Statue of
Liberty; in return, we sent the French 18 tons of
jerky, which they claimed was lost in shipping. And the
relationship continues to this very day, when, many of
the words that we use all the time, such as ''French
fries,'' ''French toast,'' ''French kiss,'' ''French
poodle'' and ''Chef Boy-Ar-Dee,'' are, believe it or
not, actually of French origin.

We simply cannot allow a close relationship like this
to be destroyed because of some silly little dispute
over who gets to run the world. That is why today I am
calling upon you, my fellow Americans, to ''extend the
olive jar'' to our French brothers and sisters and
yappy little dogs. I want you to deliberately approach
French people wherever you can find them -- on the
street, on the Internet, in the ''Small World'' ride at
Disney World, in public restrooms -- and make friendly
overtures to them in their own language (French). To
help you do this, here is a list of friendly French
phrases:

''Bonjour, personne francaise!'' (``Hello, French
person!'')

''Je suis un Americain, et, dangue il, je vais vous
donner une grande vieille etreinte!'' (``I am an
American and, dang it, I am going to give you a big old
hug!'')

''Parole! Vous ne sentez pas demi aussi de mauvais que
j'ai prevu!'' (``Say! You do not smell half as bad as I
expected!'')

''Qui s'inquiete qui court darned le monde?'' (``Who
cares who runs the darned world?'')

''Voulez-vous la gomme? Elle ketchup-est assaisonnee!''
(``Do you want gum? It's ketchup-flavored!'')

''Voulez que je vous porte au mail dans mon SUV?''
(``Want me to take you to the mall in my SUV?'')

''Vous pouvez vous rendre au garde de securite!''
(``You can surrender to the security guard!'')

''Ha ha, je suis badiner juste autour hors de
l'amiti!'' (``Ha ha, I am just kidding around out of
friendship!'')

''Hey, revenez ici!'' (``Hey, come back here!'')

''Il n'y a aucune cause pour l'alarme! Mon pistolet a
une surete!'' (``There is no cause for alarm! My gun
has a safety!'')

Yes, fellow Americans, with a little effort, we can
heal this rift between us and our old friends. Because,
in the end, we have a lot more in common than we do
separating us! Or, as the French would say, ''Je suis
un grand gros menteur'' (``I am a big fat liar'').

From the Miami Herald: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 09:15:44 -0500
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 16 April 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
16 April 2003

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- travail
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Sylvia Plath
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Republican Patriot Police Protect Bush
6. Weird News - Court Orders Brothel to Refund Sex Bill
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
travail (truh-VAYL) noun

Painfully difficult work; agony, anguish; the pain of
childbirth.

verb intr.

To work strenuously, toil; be in labor.

[From Old French travailler (to work hard), from Vulgar
Latin tripaliare, (to torture with a tripalium). A
tripalium was a three-staked instrument of torture.]

Travel also derives from travailler, with reference to
the hardships of a journey. The first recorded use of
travel (as travelen) was in the 14th century, when
anyone venturing on a journey could expect to face many
hardships, even if not encountering a three-staked
torture device.

Travail and travel derive from Indo-European root
*trei-, meaning three. Less obvious words in this
family include trammel, sitar, trivia, trivial, troika,
trivet, testify, testimony, testament, attest, contest,
detest, and protest. These last seven words derive from
Latin testis, with reference to a (third party)
witness, also the source of the word for the testicles
that bear witness to male virility. One more word in
the *trei- family is triskaidekaphobia, fear of the
number thirteen.

"Mustapha and Ishaya Bamaiyi may never have liked each
other's guts but their travails have many parallels.
Both are products of the Abacha years and are both
counting on good luck and a lot of legal antics to save
their necks." Goodluck Ebelo and Seyi Oduyela; A Rescue
Effort Hits the Top Gear Reports; Tempo (Lagos,
Nigeria); Jan 13, 1999.

"One keeps turning pages, savoring pithy moments like
this, long after wearying of the mouthpiece characters
and their trumped-up travails." Scott Prater; Trumped-
up Travails; The Atlantic Monthly (Boston); Apr 2003.

Swamp Denizen:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0304/030406_gator2362a.htm

LAST ISSUE:
Anole
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0304/030405anole2309gotd.htm

Tower
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0304/030308tower2259.htm

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Sylvia Plath
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Morning Song
Sylvia Plath

Love set you going like a fat gold watch.
The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry
Took its place among the elements.

Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue.
In a drafty museum, your nakedness
Shadows our safety. We stand round blankly as walls.

I'm no more your mother
Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow
Effacement at the wind's hand.

All night your moth-breath
Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen:
A far sea moves in my ear.

One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral
In my Victorian nightgown.
Your mouth opens clean as a cat's. The window square

Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try
Your handful of notes;
The clear vowels rise like balloons.

From Ariel, published by Harper & Row, 1966.
Copyright © 1966 by Ted Hughes. All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2003 Pulitzer Prize Winners
http://www.pulitzer.org/2003/2003.html

PC computer shortcut keys
http://www.computerhope.com/shortcut.htm

Maps from UT
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/map_sites/map_sites.html

Republican Patriot Police Protect Bush from Critics

First, the Patriot Police came for the Dixie Chicks,
and I said nothing because I'm fed up with the
predigested mush that passes for country music these
days. I wouldn't include the Chicks in that category,
but flag-waving deejays and war-loving singers in
cowboy hats strike me as an enormous bore. At a Texas
rodeo recently, somebody remained seated when the
loudspeaker played Lee Greenwood's cornball ballad
"Proud to Be an American." The man said he didn't have
to stand for no damn country song, and fisticuffs
ensued.

So Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines ought to
have known she was asking for trouble by telling a
London audience, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the
president of the United States is from Texas." After
all, she grew up in Lubbock. Even after a carefully-
orchestrated uproar broke out--radio stations dropped
the Chicks from their playlist and held CD-smashing
rallies after an e-mail and telephone campaign
reportedly originating with the Republican National
Committee--Maines briefly hung in there. "[O]ne of the
privileges of being an American," she said "is you are
free to voice your own point of view."

Not if you want your songs on the radio, sweetheart.
With the music business, like the news business,
increasingly dominated by huge corporations such as
Clear Channel Communications, the San Antonio giant
that owns 1200 stations, uses its muscle to manage and
promote concert tours, stages pro-war rallies, and has
direct political ties to President Junior, artists
exercise those rights at their peril. Within days, the
Chicks were back in harness.

"As a concerned American citizen," Maines said "I
apologize to President Bush because my remark was
disrespectful. I feel that whoever holds that office
should be treated with the utmost respect."

The satirical website thespeciousreport.com finished
the statement for her. "I'm just a young girl who grew
up in Texas," they wrote. "As far back as I can
remember, I heard people say they were ashamed of
President Clinton. I saw bumper stickers calling him
everything from a pothead to a murderer. I heard people
on the radio and TV...bad mouthing the President and
ridiculing his wife and daughter at every opportunity.
I heard LOTS of people disrespecting the President. So
I guess I just assumed it was acceptable behavior."

Next the Patriot Police came for a CBS TV producer who
spoke too frankly about his forthcoming miniseries
"Hitler: The Rise of Evil," and I didn't say anything
because hyperbolic analogies to Hitler are a dime a
dozen. People making them deserve to lose the argument.
According to the Washington Post, Ed Gernon told TV
Guide that "fear fueled both the Bush administration's
adoption of a preemptive-strike policy and the public's
acceptance of it....Gernon said a similar fearfulness
in a devastated post-World War I Germany was
'absolutely' behind that nation's acceptance of
Hitler's extremism."

Both TV Guide and the New York Post, which made a big
issue of Gernon's remark, are owned by right-wing
Australian magnate Rupert Murdoch. CBS abruptly fired
the veteran producer before too loud a clamor arose.

Next the Patriot Police came after actors Susan
Sarandon and Tim Robbins, and I was tempted to keep
quiet because Sarandon inexplicably sets my teeth on
edge. Her presence almost ruined Bull Durham for me, an
otherwise near-perfect baseball movie. Baseball Hall of
Fame president Dale Petroskey launched a pre-emptive
strike on free speech because he feared what the
outspoken couple might say at a scheduled 15th
anniversary celebration of the popular film at
Cooperstown later this month. Instead, Petroskey
cancelled the event.

A one-time press flack for President Reagan and Sen.
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Petroskey informed Robbins that
criticizing Junior was tantamount to treason. "We
believe your very public criticism of President Bush at
this important--and sensitive--time in our nation's
history helps undermine the U.S. position, which
ultimately could put our troops in even more danger. As
an institution, we stand behind our president and our
troops in this conflict."

Robbins responded with appropriate anger. "To suggest
that my criticism of the President put the troops in
danger is absurd," he wrote in an open letter to
Petroskey. "I had been unaware, that baseball is a
Republican sport....You invoke patriotism and use words
like freedom in an attempt to intimidate and bully. In
doing so, you dishonor the words patriotism and freedom
and dishonor the men and women who have fought wars to
keep this nation a place where one can freely express
their opinion without fear of reprisal or punishment."

Like most serious fans, Robbins regards baseball as an
oasis beyond politics, and said he'd had no intention
of dragging Bush into it. Alas, to the GOP Patriot
Police, there's no such thing. Major League Baseball
quickly disassociated itself from Petroskey's action.
Former Texas Rangers "owner" George W. Bush should too,
unless the right to criticize him isn't among the
freedoms he values.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court has ordered a brothel
to reimburse a man charged for sex he could not
remember having, after the establishment failed to
provide an itemized receipt for services rendered.

"The brothel failed to provide concrete documentation
of the prices and services provided," said court
spokesman Vera Huth in the western town of Duesseldorf
on Friday.

"They should have, for example, listed two sexual
intercourse sessions at 600 euros, oral sex at 300
euros or anal sex at 400 euros a go," she told Reuters.

The man told the court he had been too drunk to
remember what sexual services he may have ordered at
the brothel in Kaarst. The establishment charged him
9,000 euros (dollars) on his credit card. The brothel
owner testified he had ordered the "full program."

From Yahoo's Oddly Enough News:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=index&cid=573&/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Tue, 06 May 2003 09:40:15 -0500
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: Fwd: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 6 May 2003

Date: Tue, 06 May 2003 05:35:24 -0500
To: A_djl
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 6 May 2003
Bcc: maillist

             <:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
                    6 May 2003
   On this day in 1960 President Eisenhower
     signed the Civil Rights Act of 1960

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- eristic
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Michael Teig
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Matters of Emphasis
6. Health News - Overweight Linked to Cancer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
eristic (i-RIS-tik) adjective

Characterized by controversy or disputes.

noun

1. One who engages in arguments or disputes; a
controversialist.

2. The art of disputation.

[From Greek eristikos, from erizein (to wrangle), from
eris (strife). Eris was the goddess of discord in Greek
mythology. The Romans called her Discordia.]

"Finally, Truth and Progress exhibits both the dazzle
and idiosyncrasy of Rorty's literary style and eristic
habits--the sharp insider wit, the hyperactive thumb-
nailing of other thinkers to hawk fresh images of their
thought ..." Carlin Romano; Books & the Arts: Rortyism
for Beginners; The Nation (New York); Jul 27, 1998.

"Endlessly questioning nuances of meaning in front of
exasperated colleagues, or calling attention to
inappropriate administrative power, might make you the
star of the show in Plato's Academy or Aristotle's
Lyceum. But is that too obnoxiously eristic for the
faculty meeting, a ritual most characterized by the
common desire of its participants to see it end
promptly, so everyone can go home and forget about
disliked colleagues?" Carlin Romano; On Collegiality,
College Style; The Chronicle of Higher Education
(Washington, DC); May 26, 2000.

Savannah Sparrow
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0304/030427_sasp2518a.htm

Summer Tanager
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0304/030410_suta2386.htm

Cattle Egret
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0304/030427_caeg2539.htm

LAST ISSUE:
Louisiana Swamp with Irises:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0304/030406_swamp2374a.htm

Swamp Denizen:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0304/030406_gator2362a.htm

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Michael Teig
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
When I Looked Next

I found the orchard anxious with bees and a bowlegged dog
and I knew I was home.

On the opposite hill, the houses strung out like laundry
along the ridgelines and the fields face up.

Shuttling sun. The neighbor lady
sweeping as if god said, Sweep.

I found my father with a seed catalogue and a blue plastic pail.
Hold this, he says, Hold still.

For years I found his shirts in my closet. Apparently the way
I scratch my head is his.

I saw him later at the gas station and spent two nights across
from his ruined face in a bar.

After the music stopped I went on
more or less singing.

In one story we can't stop playing whiffle ball, the trees
done up in uniforms of dusk.

In another my friends and I phone every Richard in the book
including Richard Richards

who is a cousin. I remember a brief cameo with a fire engine,
the sunflowers grown stiff and bankrupt

in the yard, unrelenting.
I have the pictures.

They show a man younger than myself with something like evening
settling beneath his eyeglasses,

the afternoon so warm and simple it looks ridiculous
to believe in a day like that.

Michael Teig
Big Back Yard
BOA Editions, Ltd.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
GRIN (Great Images In NASA)
http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/subject.html

Portals to the World (from the Library of Congress)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/portals.html

The American Heritage Book of English Usage
http://www.bartleby.com/64/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Matters of Emphasis
By Paul Krugman
New York Times

Tuesday 29 April 2003

We were not lying," a Bush administration official told
ABC News. "But it was just a matter of emphasis." The
official was referring to the way the administration
hyped the threat that Saddam Hussein posed to the
United States. According to the ABC report, the real
reason for the war was that the administration "wanted
to make a statement." And why Iraq? "Officials
acknowledge that Saddam had all the requirements to
make him, from their standpoint, the perfect target."

A British newspaper, The Independent, reports that
"intelligence agencies on both sides of the Atlantic
were furious that briefings they gave political leaders
were distorted in the rush to war." One "high-level
source" told the paper that "they ignored intelligence
assessments which said Iraq was not a threat."

Sure enough, we have yet to find any weapons of mass
destruction. It's hard to believe that we won't
eventually find some poison gas or crude biological
weapons. But those aren't true W.M.D.'s, the sort of
weapons that can make a small, poor country a threat to
the greatest power the world has ever known. Remember
that President Bush made his case for war by warning of
a "mushroom cloud." Clearly, Iraq didn't have anything
like that - and Mr. Bush must have known that it
didn't.

Does it matter that we were misled into war? Some
people say that it doesn't: we won, and the Iraqi
people have been freed. But we ought to ask some hard
questions - not just about Iraq, but about ourselves.

First, why is our compassion so selective? In 2001 the
World Health Organization - the same organization we
now count on to protect us from SARS - called for a
program to fight infectious diseases in poor countries,
arguing that it would save the lives of millions of
people every year. The U.S. share of the expenses would
have been about $10 billion per year - a small fraction
of what we will spend on war and occupation. Yet the
Bush administration contemptuously dismissed the
proposal.

Or consider one of America's first major postwar acts
of diplomacy: blocking a plan to send U.N. peacekeepers
to Ivory Coast (a former French colony) to enforce a
truce in a vicious civil war. The U.S. complains that
it will cost too much. And that must be true - we
wouldn't let innocent people die just to spite the
French, would we?

So it seems that our deep concern for the Iraqi people
doesn't extend to suffering people elsewhere. I guess
it's just a matter of emphasis. A cynic might point
out, however, that saving lives peacefully doesn't
offer any occasion to stage a victory parade.

Meanwhile, aren't the leaders of a democratic nation
supposed to tell their citizens the truth?

One wonders whether most of the public will ever learn
that the original case for war has turned out to be
false. In fact, my guess is that most Americans believe
that we have found W.M.D.'s. Each potential find gets
blaring coverage on TV; how many people catch the later
announcement - if it is ever announced - that it was a
false alarm? It's a pattern of misinformation that
recapitulates the way the war was sold in the first
place. Each administration charge against Iraq received
prominent coverage; the subsequent debunking did not.

Did the news media feel that it was unpatriotic to
question the administration's credibility? Some strange
things certainly happened. For example, in September
Mr. Bush cited an International Atomic Energy Agency
report that he said showed that Saddam was only months
from having nuclear weapons. "I don't know what more
evidence we need," he said. In fact, the report said no
such thing - and for a few hours the lead story on
MSNBC's Web site bore the headline "White House: Bush
Misstated Report on Iraq." Then the story vanished -
not just from the top of the page, but from the site.

Thanks to this pattern of loud assertions and muted or
suppressed retractions, the American public probably
believes that we went to war to avert an immediate
threat - just as it believes that Saddam had something
to do with Sept. 11.

Now it's true that the war removed an evil tyrant. But
a democracy's decisions, right or wrong, are supposed
to take place with the informed consent of its
citizens. That didn't happen this time. And we are a
democracy - aren't we?

See also: Man on Horseback - by Paul Krugman
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/06/opinion/06KRUG.html

From: http://www.nytimes.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Health News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Encouraging Americans to shed their
excess weight could prevent some 90,000 cancer deaths a
year, a study found.

The 16-year study of 900,000 men and women for the
American Cancer Society showed that
excess weight and obesity accounted for 14 percent of
all cancer deaths in men and 20 percent in women. The
results were published in the New England Journal of
Medicine.

"As a society, we have not really acknowledged the
contribution of obesity to chronic disease in general
and cancer in particular, said Eugenia Calle, director
of analytic epidemiology at the American Cancer Society
and lead author of the study.

"We are not taking it seriously enough to turn it
around. We are not acting on it."

The study focused on 404,576 men and 495,477 women, of
whom 57,145 died of cancer. The researchers found that
the heaviest members of the group were those with the
highest risk of dying of cancer, showing that weight
played a greater role in cancer formation than
previously known.

"Overweight and obesity has a very broad impact on
cancer across most cancer sites," Calle said. "Thats
not something thats really in the consciousness of the
American people."

The researchers recommended stronger efforts to promote
exercise and a healthy diet among Americans.

Some 65 percent of the adult US population was
overweight or obese in 2000, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Tue, 20 May 2003 09:11:09 -0500
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 20 May 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
20 May 2003

On this day in 1927 Saudi Arabia became
independent of Great Britain (Treaty of Jedda)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- misocainea
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- David Berman
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Corporate Shills
6. Harper's Index, April
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
misocainea (mis-oh-KY-nee-uh, mi-soh-) noun

Hatred of anything new.

[Greek miso- (hate) + caino- (new).]

   "Although I agree with the majority that no appellate court has yet held
   an insurer liable absent a premium payment, it may be nothing more than
   appellate judges suffering from a case of misocainea!"
   Hill v. Chubb Life American Insurance Co., Arizona Business Gazette
   (Phoenix), Nov 11, 1993.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Boxcar Art
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0305boxcar/boxcarart.htm

LAST ISSUE:
Cameron Sunrise (East Jetty Beach)
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0304/030427_sunrise2474.htm

Savannah Sparrow
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0304/030427_sasp2518a.htm

Summer Tanager
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0304/030410_suta2386.htm

Cattle Egret
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0304/030427_caeg2539.htm
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- David Berman
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Imagining Defeat
David Berman

She woke me up at dawn,
her suitcase like a little brown dog at her heels.

I sat up and looked out the window
at the snow falling in the stand of blackjack trees.

A bus ticket in her hand.

Then she brought something black up to her mouth,
a plum I thought, but it was an asthma inhaler.

I reached under the bed for my menthols
and she asked if I ever thought of cancer.

Yes, I said, but always as a tree way up ahead
in the distance where it doesn't matter

And I suppose a dead soul must look back at that tree,
so far behind his wagon where it also doesn't matter.

except as a memory of rest or water.

Though to believe any of that, I thought,
you have to accept the premise

that she woke me up at all.

--
from Actual Air, 1999
Open City Books, New York
Copyright 1999 by David Berman.
All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Every Rule - board games, card games, golf, everything,
even etiquette:
http://www.everyrule.com/index.htm

Becoming Human
http://www.becominghuman.org/

Spices - Exotic Flavors and Medicines
http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/biomed/spice/index.cfm

When George W. Bush ran for President three years ago,
his strategists and media advisers positioned him quite
carefully as something new in the political spectrum.
Seeking to appeal to his party´s rightist base while
disguising his extremism, Mr. Bush declared himself a
"compassionate conservative." Now we know him
better—and as he seeks to pack the federal appellate
courts with reactionary judges, his ideological
disguise is so thin as to be transparent.

The conservatism of the Bush judicial nominees is plain
enough, if "conservative" is defined as synonymous with
the attitudes and objectives of the religious right.
One of his most recent choices for a federal appellate
nomination, Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, filed
an amicus brief in the Texas sodomy-law case currently
pending before the Supreme Court that compares gays
with those who practice "necrophilia, bestiality,
possession of child pornography, incest and
pedophilia."

In other words, Mr. Pryor is the kind of devout
busybody whose overwhelming desire to intervene in
other people´s private sexual conduct defines him as a
"conservative" in the White House lexicon. Other Bush
nominees apparently share these prejudices masquerading
as conservatism. But in what sense can the President´s
judicial selections be described as compassionate?
Only, perhaps, if that word´s definition has been
twisted to mean absolute solicitude for corporations
and bureaucracies—and none for ordinary citizens.

Consider Carolyn Kuhl, the President´s choice for a
seat on the Ninth Circuit federal appellate bench in
San Francisco. Ms. Kuhl is a former conservative
staffer in the Reagan Justice Department whose main
contribution to government in her youth was a paper
endorsing the tax-exempt status of the infamously
bigoted Bob Jones University. (She has recently revised
her opinion, saying that she made a "mistake" back
then.) More recently, however, she has earned a degree
of notoriety for her decision in a case titled Sanchez-
Scott v. Alza Pharmaceuticals. In a ruling overturned
on appeal, she dismissed a lawsuit brought by Azucena
Sanchez-Scott, a cancer patient whose breast
examination was observed in her doctor´s office—without
her informed consent—by a drug-company salesman. The
humiliated woman sued both the doctor and the
salesman´s company, Alza Pharmaceuticals, for invasion
of privacy. As a judge on the Los Angeles Superior
Court, Ms. Kuhl dismissed the plaintiff´s case against
both the doctor and the drug company.

The appellate judges who unanimously overturned the
Kuhl decision seemed dumbfounded by her reasoning, or
lack thereof. What they didn´t understand is that in
Bush-style jurisprudence, the corporation is always
right.

Among the Bush nominees, Ms. Kuhl is hardly alone in
her corporation-coddling approach to the law. Priscilla
Owen, the Texas judge whose nomination to an appellate
seat by the President was subjected to a filibuster by
Senate Democrats, was similarly disposed in her
consistent rulings against consumers and in favor of
insurance companies and corporations. Texas justice
permits judges to hear cases involving their corporate
contributors; and Ms. Owen´s rulings were especially
favorable to firms that had contributed to her judicial
campaigns, including Enron and Dow Chemical.

Among the judge´s great achievements is a decision
overturning lower-court rulings in favor of a woman who
had sued her insurance company after it declined to
cover operations that removed her spleen and gall
bladder. The trial jury awarded the woman $50,000, and
the court trebled the damages under a state law
forbidding deceptive trade practices. On appeal,
however, the reliable Judge Owen found a legal means to
protect the insurance company from its customer.

Nor should we overlook Deborah Cook, nominated to a
vacancy on the Sixth Circuit federal appellate court in
Cincinnati. Ms. Cook, a former corporate lawyer, has
compiled a truly impressive record of shilling for
business and insurance interests during eight years on
the Ohio Supreme Court. Even her fellow Republican
judges often find her opinions astonishing. As The New
York Times remarked recently, this is a judge who often
"reaches for a harsh legal technicality to send a
hapless victim home empty-handed."

Her own victims have included a poisoned worker in a
beryllium plant; a 61-year-old office manager publicly
humiliated by an employer trying to force her to
retire; and the widow of a Wal-Mart forklift operator
crushed to death in a work accident, whose case was
compromised by the company´s lying and concealment of
evidence. In all those cases, Judge Cook ruled for the
corporation against the citizen. (Fortunately, her
colleagues ignored her dissenting views.)

For accuracy´s sake, Presidential guru Karl Rove should
rename the philosophy he and his boss espouse. Perhaps
it should be called "corporate conservatism," or
"conservative corporatism," or "compassion for
corporations." Or just about anything except
"compassionate conservatism."

This column ran on page 5 in the 5/19/2003
edition of The New York Observer.
http://www2.observer.com/observer/index_go.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Harper's Index, April
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
April 2003

Rank of Kim Jong Il and the Saudi royal family among
the world's worst dictators, according to Parade
magazine : 1, 2

Months after the fall of the Taliban that the United
States began on-site assessment of Afghanistan's
natural resources : 8

Percentage of Americans who say that other countries'
interests are considered in making U.S. foreign policy
: 75

Average percentage of the 30 other surveyed
nationalities who say this : 35

Fine levied on three Norwegians in 2001 for throwing
paper airplanes at the U.S. embassy : $350

Total fines U.S. investment banks will pay to end
investigations into their stock recommendations :
$985,000,000

Chance that a member of a U.S. firm's executive-
compensation committee has financial or familial ties
to its CEO : 1 in 5

Percentage change since 1998 in the total promotional
spending of U.S. pharmaceutical companies : +47

Percentage change since then in such companies' average
profit per dollar spent on promotion : –24

Percentage of California's economy that is accounted
for by agriculture : 7

Percentage of the state's water that is used for
agriculture : 43

Estimated percentage change since 2000 in acres of
Texas recognized as wetlands by the Army Corps of
Engineers : –40

Amount budgeted last year for the EPA's Leaking
Underground Storage Tank Program : $72,000,000

Ratio of the annual budget of the EPA to that of NASA :
1:2

Number of the 158 used hard drives purchased for an MIT
study this year that contained recoverable data : 129

Minimum number of credit-card numbers the hard drives
contained : 6,650

Ratio of the number of words in the U.S. income-tax
code today to the number in 1955 : 6:1

Harper's:
http://www.harpers.org/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net (Unverified)
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2003 06:32:24 -0500
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 03 June 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
03 June 2003

    On this day in 1949 Wesley Anthony Brown
    graduated from the US Naval Academy -- the
         first African American to do so
  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- impuissance
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- William Hathaway
4. HotSites - All PBS
5. Reading List - Another Day, Another $350 Billion in Debt
6. Weird News - Height of Pleasure, Brothel Offers Plane Sex
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
impuissance (im-PYOO-i-suhns) noun

Lack of strength or power.

[From Middle English, from Old French, from in- (not) + puissance (power),
ultimately from Indo-European root poti- (powerful). Some other words that
are derived from the same root: possess, power, possible, and potent.]

  "In conjunction with their impuissance and low status, the regulated
   designs of Zoroastrian houses facilitated tension and conflict between
   members of the two groups."
   Sanjoy Mazumdar and Shampa Mazumdar; Intergroup Social Relations And
   Architecture; Environment and Behavior (Thousand Oaks, California);
   May 1997.

  "This friendly warning - this forbearance to strike the blow that was
   to remove the manacles from millions of bondsmen - was treated by the
   masters of the slaves with scorn. It was sneered at by them, as an act of
   sheer impuissance."
   Benson J. Lossing; Our Country; 1905.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:

Agapanthus africanus (series of four)
http://www.lhostelaw.com/030524/030524_flowers2735.htm

Eyes: Descent From Reality (series of five)
http://www.lhostelaw.com/030524/030524bleweye.htm

LAST ISSUE:
Boxcar Art
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0305boxcar/boxcarart.htm

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Death in the Age of the Zoloft Eaters
by William Hathaway

The old masters, Auden said, always got it
right how a dog was forever taking a leak
over to the left of life's great-big events,
and that seemed right at the time
I read it. But then Jarrell wrote a poem
about how Auden didn't get it,
that all grand-old paintings spread out
from some big bang in the middle
that everyone got and gaped at,
and then that seemed true. But here,
here at "the actual pole" of my life,
to quote Jarrell, brooding on the dead
who are the actual dead, not just words
in a poem — glooming on the nowhere
where they now are — I'm leaning back
toward Auden once again. How Homer
got it so right on that old button
that's so true we don't even bother
to think button anymore, and Dante
did it the same. That they're pallid
shades who zombie round ringing fires
to sip at cups of steaming ox blood
so they can wake for but a spell
to weep the hot tears they wept
in life. Now I too trudge down along
the shoulder of the dark road right
when dawn breaks, and I don't think
Jarrell killed himself. It seemed right
to think so once. Once I wrote
funny poems about my dog
in but twenty minutes, a poignant ping
in every third line from closure.
Looking down and thinking,
that's how he got hit, I think. Ergo sum.
Something black at the center sucks
everything into it. But the motorcyclist
crouched on the wind like a huge, furious
cricket riding a jackhammer can't wait
for it. After him the dark road
and the silence are one, darker and more silent.
The woods tick and they tock,
and then the wood thrush deep in beyond
the litter line swells its small brown breast
and out of nowhere begins the song
that if you listen to too hard gets to be
a beauty at the middle of it all,
so terribly just beyond ever getting it
it'll break your heart in two.

William Hathaway
The Gettysburg Review
Winter 2002
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Evolution - a journey into where we're from
and where we're going
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/

American Field Guide - immerse yourself in the
great outdoors
http://www.pbs.org/americanfieldguide/index.html

Browse all the PBS programs A-Z
http://www.pbs.org/sitesa2z/

By Bill Moyers, Now with Bill Moyers May 30, 2003

You no doubt saw this – Mr. Bush signing his tax cut. A
big day for the President. But in fact, it's the
richest Americans – the top one percent – who get the
lion's share of the tax cuts – people like Secretary of
the Treasury John Snow, Vice President Dick Cheney and
Secretary of Commerce Don Evans, multimillionaires all.
Mr. Cheney actually cast the deciding tie-breaker vote
in favor of the tax cut in the Senate. As a headline in
the Wall Street Journal says, some [wealthy] people
could wind up paying virtually no tax at all.

Where's that money coming from to make the rich richer?
Some of it's coming from the working poor. Remember
that $400 per child tax credit that was in the tax
bill? We have now learned that at the very last minute,
behind closed doors, the Republican leaders in Congress
pulled a bait-and-switch. They eliminated from the bill
that $400 child credit for families who make just above
the minimum wage. They will use that money to pay for
the cut on dividend taxes. Eleven million children in
families with incomes roughly between ten thousand and
twenty six thousand dollars a year won't be getting the
check that was supposed to be in the mail this summer.
Eleven million children punished for being poor, even
as the rich are rewarded for being rich.

Nothing was said about cutting out the working poor
from this tax credit as Mr. Bush signed his tax
bill.Nor was anything said when the President closed
the door to his office and quietly put his signature on
another bill, this one raising the debt ceiling to its
highest level in history. No sooner had this happened
than it was revealed by the Financial Times – a British
newspaper by the way – that the White House withheld a
Treasury department study showing that the country
faces chronic deficits totaling over $44 trillion
dollars. They kept it secret lest it throw the fear of
God into Congress and the financial markets and cost
them the tax cut for the rich.

This was enough to send us over to the debt clock just
a few blocks from our offices in mid-town New York.
Standing there you can watch the country's future slip
deeper and deeper into a black hole of red ink. At mid-
day today the national debt was over 6 trillion dollars
and climbing. It makes you wonder . . . exactly why are
these rich guys smiling?

Bill Moyers is host of the weekly newsmagazine program
"Now with Bill Moyers" on PBS.

More Reading:

1) from The Asahi Shimbun
SMALL NUCLEAR WEAPONS
http://www.asahi.com/english/op-ed/K2003052800297.html

2) from Paul Krugman of the New York Times
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/03/opinion/03KRUG.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Height of Pleasure, Brothel Offers Plane Sex
Sun Jun 1,10:25 AM ET

SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - Having sex in Chile can
take you to new heights. At least that's the claim of
local brothel Fiorella, which offers clients a flight
over the capital, Santiago, accompanied by two
ravishing women.

For $500 a client is entitled to an hour-and-a-half
session in a small but lavishly decorated aircraft
complete with a cooler for fruit and champagne.

"We've been offering this service for around a month-
and-a-half now. The standard service is for a gentleman
accompanied by two of our girls, but we can also
accommodate a group session," a woman answering the
business' phone line, told Reuters on condition of
anonymity.

Fiorella has three light aircraft. The prostitute
"flight attendants," as they are called, are previously
selected by the client, are supposed to speak more than
one language and be between 18- and 26-years-old.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 07:37:19 -0500
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 17 June 2003

             <:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
                  17 June 2003
    On this day in 1775, the Battle of Bunker Hill
   (actually Breed's Hill) was waged.
  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- extemporize
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Owen Sheers
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Potpourri
6. Weird News - Coke Driver Who Drank Pepsi Fired
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
extemporize (ik-STEM-puh-ryz) verb tr., intr.

1. To perform (speak, sing, play, etc.) without preparation or practice;
to improvise.

2. To do something in a makeshift manner.

[From extempore, from Latin ex tempore (out of the time), from tempus (time).
Other words that are formed from the same Latin root: temporary, tempo,
temper, contemporary, tempest and tense.]

"Since the clavier player is obliged to improvise on the spot, he must
also always keep in mind that such extemporizing should serve not the
demonstration of his skills but rather the ultimate purpose of the music.
`We must play from the soul, not like trained birds,' C.P.E. professed."
Richard Perry; Little Known, But Delightfully Noteworthy; Ottawa Citizen
(Canada); Mar 31, 2002.

"Third, rather than confronting the basic root or source of the
controversies, Soeharto was more familiar with his own style of
extemporizing in the expectation that the incident would be forgotten
as time went by."
Adrianus Meliala; What Has Made Us Reluctant to Investigate?;
Jakarta Post (Indonesia); Nov 6, 1998.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Feigned Rage
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0306/030615jasonilla_2827c.htm

Dragonfly
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0306/030615dragonfly_2800.htm

LAST ISSUE:
Agapanthus africanus (series of four)
http://www.lhostelaw.com/030524/030524_flowers2735.htm

Eyes: Descent From Reality (series of five)
http://www.lhostelaw.com/030524/030524bleweye.htm

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Owen Sheers
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Mametz Wood

For years afterwards the farmers found them—
the wasted young, turning up under their plough blades
as they tended the land back to itself.

A chit of bone, the china plate of a shoulder blade,
the relic of a finger, the blown
and broken bird's egg of a skull—

all mimicked now in flint, breaking blue in white
across this field where they were told to walk, not run,
towards the wood and its nesting machine guns.

And even now the earth stands sentinel;
reaching back into itself for reminders of what happened,
like a wound working a foreign body to the surface of the skin.

This morning, twenty men buried in one long grave,
a broken mosaic of bone linked arm in arm,
their skeletons paused mid dance-macabre

in boots that outlasted them.
Their socketed heads tilted back at an angle,
and their jaws (those that have them) dropped open,

as if the notes they had sung
have only now with this unearthing,
slipped from their absent tongues.

Owen Sheers
The Southeast Review
Volume 22, Number 2
Spring 2003
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Picturing the Century - from the U.S. National Archives &
Records Administration
<http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/picturing_
the_century/home.html>

Google Viewer - slideshow of search results from Google
http://labs.google.com/gviewer.html

COMPARISON SHOPPING:
BizRate
http://www.bizrate.com/

DealTime
http://www.dealtime.com/

PriceWatch:
http://www.pricewatch.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List - Potpourri
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
"Halliburton's contract to restart Iraq's oil production has
doubled in cost over the past month, and the no-bid work may
last longer than expected, the Army says.

The expanded role awarded to Vice President Dick Cheney's
former company cost taxpayers $184.7 million as of last week,
up from $76.7 million a month ago, the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers confirmed this week."
WHOLE STORY:
<http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/
Intl/AP.V1578.AP-Halliburton-Con.html>

--
"The administration wasn't matching its deeds to its
words in the war on terrorism. They're making us less
secure, not more secure," said Beers, who until now has
remained largely silent about leaving his National
Security Council job as special assistant to the president
for combating terrorism. "As an insider, I saw the things
that weren't being done. And the longer I sat and watched,
the more concerned I became, until I got up and walked out."
WHOLE STORY:
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/
A62941-2003Jun15.html?nav=hptop_tb>

--
Nearly 1,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises drown every day
after becoming tangled in fishing nets and other equipment,
scientists say in what appears to be the first global estimate.
Annually, the researchers said 308,000 of the marine mammals
die unintentionally in fishermen's hauls.
WHOLE STORY:
<http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-dol16.html>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Coke Driver Who Drank Pepsi Told to Hit Road?
Mon Jun 16, 8:14 AM ET

ATLANTA (Reuters) - It doesn't pay to take the Pepsi
challenge if you happen to work for Coca-Cola.

Rick Bronson, a union activist and driver at a Coca-
Cola bottling plant in Southern California, apparently
learned that lesson the hard way this week when he was
fired for allegedly drinking a Pepsi-Cola.

Management at the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. in Sylmar,
California, told Bronson on June 12 he was being
dismissed for violating a policy prohibiting slander of
Coke products, according to the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The union, however, claims Bronson was actually fired
for his work organizing Coke merchandisers in Southern
California.

"Rick Bronson was actively involved in those organizing
campaigns and Coke management knew it," said Jim
Santangelo, a spokesman for Teamsters Local 848, which
represents Bronson. "That's why he was fired."

The Teamsters have filed unfair labor practice charges
against the California bottler, which is owned by
Atlanta-based bottling giant Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.

Bob Phillips, a Coca-Cola Bottling Co. spokesman,
declined to comment on the specifics of Bronson's case
and would not say whether drinking a competitor's
products was a disciplinary offense.

Phillips noted that the bottler had a strict policy
prohibiting retaliation against union members and other
employees and hoped to reach a "satisfactory
resolution" of Bronson's case.

There are more than 300 workers at the Coca-Cola plant
in Sylmar, which is in the Los Angeles area.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 22:42:48 -0500
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 20 June 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
20 June 2003

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- cingular
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Billy Collins
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - White House Edits EPA Report
6. Weird News - Honeymoon Delayed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
cingular (SING-gyuh-luhr) adjective

1. Of or pertaining to a cingulum, an anatomical band or girdle on an
animal or plant.

2. Encircling, girdling, surrounding.

[From Latin cingulum (girdle), from cingere (to gird). Other words that
are derived from the same roots are cincture, precinct, shingles, and
succinct.]

  "Differs ... in the greater degree of cingular development on cheek
   teeth, especially molars."
   Daniel L Gebo, et al; A Hominoid Genus; Science (Washington, DC);
   Apr 18, 1997.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:

Jean
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0306/030615jean.htm

Alley Walk
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0211/021123_1200b_cathedral.htm

LAST ISSUE:

Feigned Rage
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0306/030615jasonilla_2827c.htm

Dragonfly
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0306/030615dragonfly_2800.htm

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
MAN LISTENING TO DISC
by Billy Collins

This is not bad --
ambling along 44th Street
with Sonny Rollins for company,
his music flowing through the soft calipers
of these earphones,

as if he were right beside me
on this clear day in March,
the pavement sparkling with sunlight,
pigeons fluttering off the curb,
nodding over a profusion of bread crumbs.

In fact, I would say
my delight at being suffused
with phrases from his saxophone --
some like honey, some like vinegar --
is surpassed only by my gratitude

to Tommy Potter for taking the time
to join us on this breezy afternoon
with his most unwieldy bass
and to the esteemed Arthur Taylor
who is somehow managing to navigate

this crowd with his cumbersome drums.
And I bow deeply to Thelonious Monk
for figuring out a way
to motorize -- or whatever -- his huge piano
so he could be with us today.

This music is loud yet so confidential.
I cannot help feeling even more
like the center of the universe
than usual as I walk along to a rapid
little version of "The Way You Look Tonight,"

and all I can say to my fellow pedestrians,
to the woman in the white sweater,
the man in the tan raincoat and the heavy glasses,
who mistake themselves for the center of the universe --
all I can say is watch your step,

because the five of us, instruments and all,
are about to angle over
to the south side of the street
and then, in our own tightly knit way,
turn the corner at Sixth Avenue.

And if any of you are curious
about where this aggregation,
this whole battery-powered crew,
is headed, let us just say
that the real center of the universe,

the only true point of view,
is full of hope that he,
the hub of the cosmos
with his hair blown sideways,
will eventually make it all the way downtown.

Copyright © 1999 by The Atlantic Monthly Company. All rights reserved.
The Atlantic Monthly; September 1999; Man Listening to Disc; Volume 284,
No. 3; page 67.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
INFOMINE - Scholarly Internet Resource Collections
http://infomine.ucr.edu/

LSU Libraries - Subject Guides
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/weblio.html

Urban Legends
http://www.snopes.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Report by the E.P.A. Leaves Out Data on Climate Change
By ANDREW C. REVKIN with KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
June 19, 2003

The Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to
publish a draft report next week on the state of the
environment, but after editing by the White House, a
long section describing risks from rising global
temperatures has been whittled to a few noncommittal
paragraphs.

The report, commissioned in 2001 by the agency's
administrator, Christie Whitman, was intended to
provide the first comprehensive review of what is known
about various environmental problems, where gaps in
understanding exist and how to fill them.

Agency officials said it was tentatively scheduled to
be released early next week, before Mrs. Whitman steps
down on June 27, ending a troubled time in office that
often put her at odds with President Bush.

Drafts of the climate section, with changes sought by
the White House, were given to The New York Times
yesterday by a former E.P.A. official, along with
earlier drafts and an internal memorandum in which some
officials protested the changes. Two agency officials,
speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the
documents were authentic.

The editing eliminated references to many studies
concluding that warming is at least partly caused by
rising concentrations of smokestack and tail-pipe
emissions and could threaten health and ecosystems.

Among the deletions were conclusions about the likely
human contribution to warming from a 2001 report on
climate by the National Research Council that the White
House had commissioned and that President Bush had
endorsed in speeches that year. White House officials
also deleted a reference to a 1999 study showing that
global temperatures had risen sharply in the previous
decade compared with the last 1,000 years. In its
place, administration officials added a reference to a
new study, partly financed by the American Petroleum
Institute, questioning that conclusion.

In the end, E.P.A. staff members, after discussions
with administration officials, said they decided to
delete the entire discussion to avoid criticism that
they were selectively filtering science to suit policy.

Administration officials defended the report and said
there was nothing untoward about the process that
produced it. Mrs. Whitman said that she was "perfectly
comfortable" with the edited version and that the
differences over climate change should not hold up the
broader assessment of the nation's air, land and water.

"The first draft, as with many first drafts, contained
everything," she said in a brief telephone interview
from the CBS studios in Manhattan, where she was
waiting to tape "The Late Show With David Letterman."

"As it went through the review, there was less
consensus on the science and conclusions on climate
change," Ms. Whitman said. "So rather than go out with
something half-baked or not put out the whole report,
we felt it was important for us to get this out because
there is a lot of really good information that people
can use to measure our successes."

James L. Connaughton, chairman of the Council on
Environmental Quality, a White House advisory group,
said, "It would be utterly inaccurate to suggest that
this administration has not provided quite an extensive
discussion about the state of the climate. Ultimately,
E.P.A. made the decision not to include the section on
climate change because we had these ample discussions
of the subject already."

But private environmental groups sharply criticized the
changes when they heard of them.

"Political staff are becoming increasingly bold in
forcing agency officials to endorse junk science," said
Jeremy Symons, a climate policy expert at the National
Wildlife Federation. "This is like the White House
directing the secretary of labor to alter unemployment
data to paint a rosy economic picture."

Drafts of the report have been circulating for months,
but a heavy round of rewriting and cutting by White
House officials in late April raised protest among
E.P.A. officials working on the report.

An April 29 memorandum circulated among staff members
said that after the changes by White House officials,
the section on climate "no longer accurately represents
scientific consensus on climate change."

Another memorandum circulated at the same time said
that the easiest course would be to accept the White
House revisions but that to do so would taint the
agency, because "E.P.A. will take responsibility and
severe criticism from the science and environmental
communities for poorly representing the science."

The changes were mainly made by the Council on
Environmental Quality, although the Office of
Management and Budget was also involved, several E.P.A.
officials said. It is the second time in a year that
the White House has sought to play down global warming
in official documents.

Last September, an annual E.P.A. report on air
pollution that for six years had contained a section on
climate was released without one, and the decision to
delete it was made by Bush administration appointees at
the agency with White House approval.

Like the September report, the forthcoming report says
the issues will be dealt with later by a climate
research plan being prepared by the Bush
administration.

Other sections of the coming E.P.A. report — on water
quality, ecological conditions, ozone depletion in the
atmosphere and other issues — all start with a summary
statement about the potential impact of changes on
human health and the environment, which are the two
responsibilities of the agency.

But in the "Global Issues" section of the draft
returned by the White House to E.P.A. in April, an
introductory sentence reading, "Climate change has
global consequences for human health and the
environment" was cut and replaced with a paragraph that
starts: "The complexity of the Earth system and the
interconnections among its components make it a
scientific challenge to document change, diagnose its
causes, and develop useful projections of how natural
variability and human actions may affect the global
environment in the future."

Some E.P.A. staff members defended the document, saying
that although pared down it would still help policy
makers and the agency address the climate issue.

"This is a positive step by the agency," said an author
of the report, who did not want to be named, adding
that it would help someone determine "if a facility or
pollutant is going to hurt my family or make it bad for
the birds, bees and fish out there."

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News - Honeymoon Delayed
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Prisoners Marry, May Honeymoon in 2036
Wed Jun 18, 8:21 AM ET

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - Two Texas prisoners who
have never met were married by proxy on Tuesday in a
San Antonio courtroom and can now look forward to their
honeymoon -- in 2036 at the earliest.

State District Judge Johnny Gabriel married Diane
Zamora, 25, and Steven Mora, 27, using her mother and
Mora's friend as stand-ins, Bexar County Clerk Gerry
Rickhoff said.

The husband and wife have not met, but began writing
letters to each other after Mora saw Zamora on
television, his family said. They are in prisons 130
miles apart.

Zamora is a former U.S. Naval Academy midshipman who,
along with then-boyfriend David Graham, an Air Force
Academy cadet, was sentenced to life in prison in a
1996 trial for the murder of a 16-year-old girl who was
her romantic rival.

She must serve at least 40 years in prison and will not
be eligible for parole until 2036, Texas Department of
Criminal Justice spokesman Larry Fitzgerald said.

Mora is scheduled to get out of prison next March after
serving a four-year sentence for threatening
retaliation against someone who helped put him in
prison on an earlier charge.

Rickhoff gave the pair a marriage license after the
Texas Attorney General's office ruled there was no
reason not to.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2003 22:43:03 -0500
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 02 July 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
02 July 2003

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- bumf
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Seamus Heaney
4. HotSites - July 4th
5. Reading List - The Selling of the Iraq War and Liberals
Signs of Life
6. Weird News - Snuff Offer Lands Chatter in Jail
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
bumf (bumf) noun

1. Toilet paper.

2. Printed matter of little importance: documents such as corporate
memos, governmental forms, junk mail, promotional pamphlets, etc.

[Short for bum fodder.]

  "A statement last week from Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa wasn't your
   usual bumf."
   Note to the CE; Far Eastern Economic Review (Hong Kong); May 10, 2001.

  "More products or services may have to be offered with the kind of
   legalistic bumf that is now attached to computer software."
   The End of Privacy: The Surveillance Society; The Economist (London, UK);
   May 1, 1999.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Color by Crayola:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0306/030621yola_2784.htm

Colorized Coneflower:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0306/030612coneblew_2779.htm

Post No Bills:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0306/030615postnobills_2821.htm

--
LAST ISSUE:
Jean
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0306/030615jean.htm

Alley Walk
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0211/021123_1200b_cathedral.htm
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Seamus Heaney
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Digging
by Seamus Heaney

Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.
Under my window, a clean rasping sound
When the spade sinks into gravelly ground.
My father, digging. I look down
Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds
Bends low, comes up twenty years away
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills
Where he was digging.
The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft
Against the inside knee was levered firmly.
He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep
To scatter new potatoes that we picked
Loving their cool hardness in our hands.
By God, the old man could handle a spade.
Just like his old man.
My grandfather cut more turf in a day
Than any other man on Toner's bog.
Once I carried him milk in a bottle
Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up
To drink it, then fell to right away
Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods
Over his shoulder, going down and down
For the good turf. Digging.
The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap
Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
Through living roots awaken in my head.
But I've no spade to follow men like them.
Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I'll dig with it.

Celebrating Independence Day (U.S. Dept. of State)
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/holidays/july4/

Firework-related Injuries
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/fworks.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THE SELLING OF THE IRAQ WAR.
The First Casualty
by John B. Judis & Spencer Ackerma

Excerpt:
"The Iraq war presented the United States with a new
defense paradigm: preemptive war, waged in response to
a prediction of a forthcoming attack against the United
States or its allies. This kind of security policy
requires the public to base its support or opposition
on expert intelligence to which it has no direct
access. It is up to the president and his
administration--with a deep interest in a given policy
outcome--nonetheless to portray the intelligence
community's findings honestly. If an administration
represents the intelligence unfairly, it effectively
forecloses an informed choice about the most important
question a nation faces: whether or not to go to war.
That is exactly what the Bush administration did when
it sought to convince the public and Congress that the
United States should go to war with Iraq."

Full Article:
<http://www.tnr.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20030630&s=ackermanjudis063003>

--
STOP THE PRESSES by Eric Alterman
Liberal Signs of Life
Posted June 26, 2003

Excerpt:
"Just about the only thing liberals have going for them
these days is that most Americans agree with them on
the issues. This is partly due to the annexation of the
Republican Party by its Taliban faction. It is also
likely a product of the relative conservatism of
today's liberals, present company included. Today,
"liberal" is just another word for "not nuts." Don't go
around invading countries that do not pose a threat and
lie to the world to justify it; don't destroy the
nation's fiscal health in order to give trillion-dollar
gifts to the wealthy; don't gratuitously insult
countries whose help we need to maintain world peace
and security; don't shred the Constitution at every
opportunity, etc., etc. "

Full article:
<http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030714&s=alterman>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Offer to Kill Woman During Sex Ends in Arrest
Mon Jun 30, 8:59 AM ET
Add Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Texas man got 10 years' probation
for offering to strangle a suicidal Wisconsin woman
whom he met over the Internet, lawyers said on Friday.

Frank Manuel, 55, pleaded guilty to attempted murder,
and was ordered by State District Judge Carol Davies on
Thursday to submit to a psychiatric evaluation and stay
away from the Internet.

Houston police arrested Manuel in January, after a
woman he met in a suicide chat group reported his offer
to strangle her during sex, then bury her in a grave in
a state forest with a rose on her chest.

The woman, with investigators watching, traveled to
Houston on Manuel's instructions. He was captured at a
Houston bus station, awaiting her arrival with a
strangling device and yellow roses in his car.

Attorney Chris Tritico said Manuel took the plea deal
to avoid subjecting his wife and child to a trial's
publicity.
--
From Yahoo! News - Oddly Enough - Reuters
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=index2&cid=757
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net (Unverified)
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2003 07:25:14 -0500
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 04 August 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
04 August 2003

On this day in 1916, the US agreed to buy the
Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- lambent
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Rita Dove
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Joe Conason
6. Weird News - Dog Eating Catfish Dies
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
lambent (LAM-buhnt) adjective

1. Flickering lightly over a surface.

2. Softly glowing.

3. Marked by lightness or grace (in an expression)

[From Latin lambent, stem of lambens, present participle of lambere (to lick).]

  "What started sometime in 1999 like a lambent flame snowballed into a big
   political conflagration and consequently entered a new chapter last
   Thursday with the decision of a faction of the party to decamp to the
   Alliance for Democracy (AD)."
   Tokunbo Adedoja; Plateau PDP: The Battle Enters a New Chapter;
   This Day (Lagos, Nigeria); May 27, 2002.

  "With that, he (Richard Hawley) launches into Baby, You're My Light,
   a grown-up love song of delicate beauty, featuring a lambent melody and
   a sonorous, deep vocal."
   Alexis Petridis; Richard Hawley; The Guardian (London, UK); May 21, 2003.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:

Point Reyes National Seashore
http://www.lhostelaw.com/03calif/03ptreyes.htm

LAST ISSUE:
Color by Crayola:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0306/030621yola_2784.htm

Colorized Coneflower:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0306/030612coneblew_2779.htm

Post No Bills:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0306/030615postnobills_2821.htm
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Rita Dove
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Driving Through

I know this scene: There's an engine
idling, without keys, just outside Mr. Nehi's
algebra class. I escape without notice,
past the frosted glass of the wood shop
and the ironclad lockers with their inscrutable hasps
that never shut clean. I know
the sweet hum of tires over asphalt,
green tunnels trickling sun,
proud elmfire before Dutch blight
vacuumed the corridors bare. And the rowdy kids
cluttering the curb, nappy heads bobbing,
squirrel blood streaking their sharpened sticks—
I know them, too. After all, this is the past
I'm driving through, and I know I'll end up
where I started, stiff-necked and dull-hearted,
cursing last night's red wine. So when

this girl, this woman-of-a-child
with her cheap hoops and barnyard breasts
snatches the door and flops onto the vinyl shouting
Let's ride!, I nod and head straight for
the police, although I can't quite recall
where the station is, law enforcement
not being part of my past.
Run me home first, she barks,
smiling, enjoying the bluff:
I need my good earrings.
I tell her we're almost there, which
we aren't, not by half, and how would I know
where she lives, anyway? We're both smiling
now; but only when we're good and lost,
traffic thinned to no more than

a mirage of flayed brick and scorched cement,
does she blurt out: You're lying.
True, I think; but lying is what I do best.
I turn toward her, meaning to confess
my wild affliction, my art. Instead
I hiss gibberish; she panics,
slams the door handle down and hurls

her ripe body into the street where
no one will ever remember seeing her
again.

What was that?
My husband bolts up from his pillow.
Just a dream, I stammer, head pounding
as I try to fall asleep again—
even though I knew that girl was lost
long before I went back to find her.

Rita Dove
Mid-American Review
Volume XXIII, Number 2
Special Double Issue:
Ohio Bicentennial Celebration

Froogle
(price comparison bot from Google)
http://froogle.google.com/

The World Famous Orations
http://www.bartleby.com/268/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Iraq´s Terror Allies Yet to Be Discovered
by Joe Conason

Now that America knows who was responsible for those 16
misleading words about African uranium—namely anybody
except the man who uttered them—perhaps the time has
come to move on to other pertinent issues of war and
terror. Now, perhaps, we should inquire about another
dubious premise underlying the pre-emptive invasion of
Iraq: the insistence by the President and his
associates that Saddam Hussein´s regime provided
support to Al Qaeda and conspired with Osama bin Laden
against the United States.

That incendiary charge is again under scrutiny,
following the partial release of the report prepared by
the House and Senate intelligence committees after last
year´s joint investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks.
While the government censored critical portions of the
Congressional report, leaks did emerge about the
redacted section concerning "foreign support" for the
hijackers. Those leaks indicate that such support came
from officials and "businessmen" linked to the kingdom
of Saudi Arabia—and not from Iraq.

Such a finding might be expected to perturb the
citizens who accepted White House insinuations about
the supposed connection between Iraq and Islamist
terror. Polls indicate that this accusation thoroughly
pervaded public consciousness; many if not most
Americans even believed that the hijackers were of
Iraqi origin. Nearly all were Saudis, of course.

Nevertheless, the President and members of his cabinet
repeatedly warned that Saddam Hussein would someday
provide Al Qaeda with the most deadly weapons ever
made, creating the imminent threat of an immense
atrocity far worse than Sept. 11.

As Mr. Bush put it, "Iraq could decide on any given day
to provide a biological or chemical weapon to a
terrorist group or individual terrorists. Alliance with
terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack
America without leaving any fingerprints." In his
famous Oct. 7, 2002, speech in Cincinnati, the
President stated: "We´ve learned that Iraq has trained
Al Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly
gases."

Was any of that terrifying rhetoric based in truth?
Leaving aside the fact that American and British forces
have so far discovered no poisons or deadly gases in
occupied Iraq, let alone nuclear weapons, the available
evidence offers no solid proof of a conspiracy between
Iraq and Al Qaeda. Moreover, the President and his
aides had every reason to know that they were
misleading us on this question.

Classified material in the National Intelligence
Estimate prepared by the C.I.A. last year cast doubt on
the ties between Al Qaeda and Iraq, and also noted how
unlikely it was that Saddam Hussein would deliver his
most lethal weapons to terrorists. According to C.I.A.
director George Tenet, the consensus reflected in the
National Intelligence Estimate was that Saddam Hussein
would foment a terrorist strike only as an "extreme"
final act of revenge for an American invasion. So the
White House kept Mr. Tenet´s full report in the top-
secret file, where the doubts expressed by the C.I.A.
director couldn´t interfere with the drive toward war.

The urge to conceal embarrassing secrets never abates.
So last week, when the joint Congressional committee
released its report on Sept. 11, the chapter on foreign
support for the terrorists was blacked out at the
insistence of the White House. The ostensible reason
was to prevent worsening relations with Saudi Arabia,
since the report examined financial and other ties
between the kingdom´s agents and two of the hijackers.

According to sources quoted widely in the mainstream
media, the Congressional probers discussed the
activities of Saudi nationals residing here who
assisted hijackers Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi.
One of the suspect Saudis was an employee of the
kingdom´s civil-aviation authority named Omar Al-
Bayoumi. Suspected by the F.B.I. of terrorist ties as
early as 1998, Mr. Bayoumi had paid the security
deposit on the hijackers´ San Diego apartment and found
them an English translator. Another Saudi national with
connections to a Saudi charity is suspected of
providing financial aid to the conspirators. The
report´s declassified sections quote U.S. officials
complaining about the kingdom´s lack of cooperation
with investigations of the hijackers.

Imagine what the President would have said—or would say
now—if the C.I.A. or the F.B.I. had discovered such
intimate connections between the hijackers and agents
of Iraq.

Apparently, there were so few clues to Iraqi links with
the Sept. 11 hijackers that the Congressional report
doesn´t even mention the subject. Yet we´re supposed to
believe that the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein was
deeply involved with Al Qaeda—and that the kingdom of
Saudi Arabia is our friend and ally.

On July 29, Mr. Bush refused the Saudi foreign
minister´s request to declassify the 28 pages of the
Congressional report that pertain to the kingdom. The
President said he doesn´t want to "compromise" the
ongoing investigation of the terror attacks. Full
disclosure might also compromise other important
interests—including his own political future.

From the 8/4/2003 edition of The New York Observer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Legendary Dog-Eating Catfish Dies
Fri Jul 25,10:10 AM ET
Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!

BERLIN (Reuters) - A giant catfish that ate a dog and
terrorized a German lake for years has washed up dead,
but the legend of "Kuno the Killer" lives on.

A gardener discovered the carcass of a five-foot-long
catfish weighing 77 pounds this week, a spokesman for
the western city of Moenchengladbach said on Friday.

Kuno became a local celebrity in 2001 when he sprang
from the waters of the Volksgarten park lake to swallow
a Dachshund puppy whole. He evaded repeated attempts to
capture him.

"He was our Loch Ness monster," said Uwe Heil, member
of "Kuno's Friends," a local rock band named after the
fish.

Several fishermen identified the carcass as Kuno, but
doubts linger.

"That's not the Kuno we know," said Leon Cornelius,
another member of "Kuno's Friends." He said he had seen
several huge catfish in the lake.

Low water levels and a summer heat wave probably killed
the catfish, among the biggest found in Germany. The
northern city of Bremen plans to stuff it and put in a
museum.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2003 09:00:29 -0500
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 14 August 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
14 August 2003

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- desultory
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Steve Kowit
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Saudi Secrets
6. Science News - Dark Future for Universe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
desultory (DES-uhl-tor-ee) adjective

1. Marked by absence of a plan; disconnected; jumping from one thing to
another.

2. Digressing from the main subject; random.

[From Latin desultorius (leaping, pertaining to a circus rider who jumps
from one horse to another), from desilire (to leap down), from salire
(to jump). Other words derived from the same Latin root (salire) are sally,
somersault, insult, result, saute, salient, and our recent friend, saltant.]

  "The green lobby complained, and the media covered the story in a
   desultory way, but everyone continued to behave as though there was
   lots of time."
   Gwynne Dyer; Climate Change: Not Clear on the Concept;
   Monday Morning (Beirut, Lebanon); Jul 13, 2003.

  "For most of the match, the play could be described as either dazzling
   or desultory."
   Roy Masters; Origin Hopes Have Hit Man Flannery Going in For the Kill;
   Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Jun 2, 2003.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:

Equitant
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0307/030704popl.htm

Oak Street Wall
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0306/030615oakstwall_2812.htm

LAST ISSUE:
Point Reyes National Seashore
http://www.lhostelaw.com/03calif/03ptreyes.htm

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Steve Kowit
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
"WHEN HE PRESSED HIS LIPS"
by Steve Kowit

When he pressed his lips to my mouth
the knot fell open of itself.
When he pressed them to my throat
the dress slipped to my feet.
So much I know -- but
when his lips touched my breast
everything, I swear,
down to his very name,
became so much confused
that I am still,
dear friends,
unable to recount
(as much as I would care to)
what delights
were next bestowed upon me
& by whom
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
American Memory - from the Library of Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ammemhome.html

Bob Hope - (1903-2003)
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/hope.obit/

The World Clock - Time Zones
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Saudi Secrets Are Safe With Bush
by Joe Conason

At the nexus of diplomacy and secret intelligence,
governments almost never speak forthrightly about their
purposes. When ranking officials decide what can be
revealed and what must be concealed, political
expedience is at least as important as national
security. And on the rare occasion when such an
official publicly demands the disclosure of
embarrassing information, as the Saudi foreign minister
did last week, an ulterior motive should be assumed.

So regardless of any claims to the contrary, it seems
prudent to remember that the White House and the House
of Saud are likewise best served by keeping all the
sensitive files locked away. Both houses would be
unwise to risk speaking candidly about each other now—a
caution that applies with special emphasis when the
residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue bear the name of
Bush.

On July 29, Prince Saud el-Faisal paid an extraordinary
visit to the Bush White House. For an hour, he and
George W. Bush discussed the 28-page section of the
joint Congressional report on 9/11 that evidently
implicates agents of his country´s government in the
terrorist attack. The prince´s ostensible reason for
coming to see the President—whose family has long
maintained close connections with the Saudi royals—was
to ask Mr. Bush to declassify those 28 pages because,
as he declared at a press conference: "We have nothing
to hide, and we do not seek, nor do we need, to be
shielded."

That glibly ridiculous assertion is contradicted by the
repressive habits of his family´s autocratic regime,
which has a lot to hide from its own people as well as
ours. Besides, the prince knew before he landed in
Washington that the President would decline his plea.
Foreign ministers don´t meet with any head of state,
particularly not the leader of the world´s only
superpower, unless they already know what the meeting´s
outcome will be. In this instance, the President´s
negative answer could have been ascertained via embassy
cable within hours, or by telephone within minutes.

As Senator Charles Schumer suggested, the prince
visited the President to improve the kingdom´s image
rather than to inform the American public. The Saudis
requested the release of the Congressional report´s
incriminating pages with absolute confidence in a
denial by their old friend George W., who insisted that
releasing the report´s unflattering references to Saudi
Arabia might somehow undermine the "war on terror."

The New York Democrat, like other legislators of both
parties seeking to pry loose those 28 pages, discounts
that clichéd excuse. Senator Richard Shelby, the
Alabama Republican who oversaw the joint Congressional
probe, has said that "90 to 95 percent" of the pages
being withheld "would not compromise, in my judgment,
anything in national security."

Why, then, is the Bush administration so determined to
prevent the public from learning what Congressional
investigators discovered about Saudi connections to
9/11? Conventional answers involve the kingdom´s
control of the world´s largest oil reserves, its
influence over the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries, its potential assistance in achieving peace
between Israelis and Arabs, and its proclaimed alliance
with the United States against Al Qaeda.

In steeply descending order of persuasiveness, all
those stated reasons possess some merit. The problem is
that the Bush administration—as well as the President´s
family and its associates—is scarcely able to assess
the merits with any degree of objectivity. After all,
if they reveal damaging information about the Saudis,
what might the Saudis reveal about them?

For more than three decades, Saudi Arabia has sought to
influence American politicians, often through
investment in American business. While they have
occasionally sought out Democrats, they are far more
comfortable with Republicans—and in particular, with
Bush Republicans. At the moment, for example, the
kingdom´s defense attorney in a lawsuit brought by
families of 9/11 victims happens to be James Baker,
that ultimate Bushie whose résumé includes stints as
Secretary of State and Treasury. (Mr. Baker´s last big
court case was Bush v. Gore.)

Commercial connections between the Saudis and the
Bushes extend from limited-partner investments in
George W.´s failed oil ventures more than 20 years ago
to the Carlyle Group, a mighty merchant bank that
currently employs Mr. Baker, former President George
Herbert Walker Bush and a host of lesser family
vassals. Saudi money has also figured in several of the
most significant political scandals of the postwar era,
notably the Iran-contra affair and the Bank of Credit
and Commerce International blowup. Whatever the Saudis
might say about any of those matters is probably better
left unsaid—not only to protect state secrets, but also
for the sake of Bush senior, the former C.I.A. director
and suspected Iran-contra conspirator.

The U.S. government knows many unflattering stories
about the Saudi rulers. Unfortunately, they know many
and perhaps worse about ours. The preference for
silence and secrecy is understandably mutual.

You may reach Joe Conason via email at:
jconason@observer.com.
This column ran on page 5 in the 8/11/2003 edition of
The New York Observer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Science News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Dark Future for Universe

By Helen Briggs BBC News Online science reporter

Astronomers have confirmed by a new method one of the
saddest stories of the Universe - one day the stars in
the sky will all stop twinkling. As old stars die, new
ones are born, but, for billions of years, the rate of
star formation has been in decline.

According to recent estimates, there are 10 times more
stars in the visible Universe than all the grains of
sand on every beach and desert in the world.

The good news is that they should last for a very long
time yet. One day, however, the Universe will fade into
darkness. "It'll be thousands of millions of years
before you get big changes in the night sky," says the
appropriately named Alan Heavens of Edinburgh
University, UK.

"The Universe will carry on forever, as far as we know,
but eventually all the stars will go out and it will
become a very dark and very cold place."

Fossil record

It has been known for many years that the rate of star
formation is slowing.

This has been estimated by observing very distant
galaxies. The light from these galaxies has taken
thousands of millions of years to reach Earth, giving a
picture of what they were like when they were very
young.

Professor Heavens and colleagues used data from the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey, one of the most ambitious
astronomical survey projects ever, to get a more
complete picture of the history of star formation.

They looked at what they call the "fossil record" of
the Universe - the star light from 40,000 nearby
galaxies.

Galaxies shine with the combined light of all the stars
in them. Old stars tend to give out red light while
youngsters glitter blue.

The astronomers analysed the spectrum of light using a
new compression method to cope with the vast amount of
information.

It confirms what we already knew - that star formation
peaked around six billion years ago, when our own Sun
came into being.

Nevertheless, it gives a more accurate, if gloomy,
prediction of what the Universe might be like in the
distant future.

Story from BBC NEWS: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/3148041.stm>

Published: 2003/08/14 04:38:42 GMT

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = == =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 10:34:34 -0500
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 01September2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
1 September 2003

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- ventripotent
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Mary Oliver
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Dirty Secrets
6. More Reading - Carbon Dioxide not a pollutant
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
ventripotent (ven-TRI-pot-ehnt) adjective

Having a large belly; gluttonous.

[From French, from Latin ventri- (abdomen) + potent (powerful).]

The word ventriloquism, the art of speaking such that the voice
seems to come from somewhere else, is derived from the same root.
Ventriloquism is, literally speaking, speaking from the belly.
-Anu

  "This wight ventripotent was dining
   Once at the Grocers' Hall, and lining
   With calipee and calipash
   That tomb omnivorous -- his paunch."
   Horace Smith; The Astronomical Alderman; 19th century.
      (Calipee and calipash are parts of a turtle
       beneath the lower and upper shields, respectively)

  "The actor must, at all costs, inflict upon you the well-oiled
   machinery of ventripotence, whereas, to the reader, it is his
   mind which drips fatness."
   James Evershed Agate; A View of "The Beggar's Opera"; 1922.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Asparagus and Horned Melon
http://www.lhostelaw.com/030215/index.htm

LAST ISSUE:
Equitant
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0307/030704popl.htm

Oak Street Wall
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0306/030615oakstwall_2812.htm
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The Summer Day
Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

from New and Selected Poems, 1992
Beacon Press, Boston, MA
Copyright 1992 by Mary Oliver.
All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Labor Day
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-ff12.html

Arts & Letters Daily
http://www.aldaily.com/

Portals to the World (from LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/portals.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Dirty Secrets
No president has gone after the nation's
environmental laws with the same fury as George W. Bush
-- and none has been so adept at staying under the
radar.

Osha Gray Davidson
September 1, 2003

IN THE EARLY 1980s you didn't need to be a member of
EarthFirst! to know that Ronald Reagan was bad for the
environment. You didn't even have to be especially
politically aware. Here was a man who had, after all,
publicly stated that most air pollution was caused by
plants. And then there was Reagan's secretary of the
Interior, James Watt, who saw no need to protect the
environment because Jesus was returning any day, and
who, in a pique of reactionary feng shui, suggested
that the buffalo on Interior's seal be flipped to face
right instead of left.

By contrast, while George W. Bush gets low marks on the
environment from a majority of Americans, few fully
appreciate the scope and fury of this administration's
anti-environmental agenda. "What they're doing makes
the Reagan administration look innocent," says Buck
Parker, executive director of Earthjustice, a nonprofit
environmental law firm. The Bush administration has
been gutting key sections of the Clean Water and Clean
Air acts, laws that have traditionally had bipartisan
support and have done more to protect the health of
Americans than any other environmental legislation. It
has crippled the Superfund program, which is charged
with cleaning up millions of pounds of toxic industrial
wastes such as arsenic, lead, mercury, and vinyl
chloride in more than 1,000 neighborhoods in 48 states.
It has sought to cut the EPA's enforcement division by
nearly one-fifth, to its lowest level on record; fines
assessed for environmental violations dropped by nearly
two-thirds in the administration's first two years; and
criminal prosecutions-the government's weapon of last
resort against the worst polluters-are down by nearly
one-third.

The administration has abdicated the decades-old
federal responsibility to protect native animals and
plants from extinction, becoming the first not to
voluntarily add a single species to the endangered
species list. It has opened millions of acres of
wilderness-including some of the nation's most
environmentally sensitive public lands-to logging,
mining, and oil and gas drilling. Under one plan,
loggers could take 10 percent of the trees in
California's Giant Sequoia National Monument; many of
the Monument's old-growth sequoias, 200 years old and
more, could be felled to make roof shingles. Other
national treasures that have been opened for
development include the million-acre Grand Canyon-
Parashant National Monument in Arizona, the 2,000-foot
red-rock spires at Fisher Towers, Utah, and dozens of
others.

And then, of course, the White House has all but denied
the existence of what may be the most serious
environmental problem of our time, global warming.
After campaigning on a promise to reduce emissions of
the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, Bush made an abrupt
about-face once elected, calling his earlier pledge "a
mistake" and announcing that he would not regulate CO2
emissions from power plants-even though the United
States accounts for a fourth of the world's total
industrial CO2 emissions. Since then, the White House
has censored scientific reports that mentioned the
subject, walked away from the Kyoto agreement to reduce
greenhouse-gas emissions, and even, at the behest of
ExxonMobil, engineered the ouster of the scientist who
chaired the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change.

So why aren't more people aware that George W. Bush is
compiling what is arguably the worst environmental
record of any president in recent history? The easy
explanations-that environmental issues are complex,
that war and terrorism push most other concerns off the
front pages-are only part of the story. The real reason
may be far simpler: Few people know the magnitude of
the administration's attacks on the environment because
the administration has been working very hard to keep
it that way.

Like any successful commander in chief, Bush knows that
putting the right person in the right place is the key
to winning any war. This isn't just a matter of
choosing business-friendly appointees for top
positions. That's pretty much standard operating
procedure for Republican administrations. What makes
this administration different is the fact that it is
filled with anti-regulatory zealots deep into its rank
and file-and these bureaucrats, unlike James Watt, are
politically savvy and come from the very industries
they're charged with regulating. The result is an
administration uniquely effective at implementing its
ambitious pro-industry agenda-with a minimum of public
notice.

Take the case of mountaintop-removal coal mining. As
the name implies, this method-the predominant form of
strip mining in much of Appalachia-involves blasting
away entire mountaintops to get at coal seams below and
dumping the resulting rubble, called "spoil," into
adjacent valleys. In some cases, valleys two miles long
have been completely filled with spoil. Opponents had
hoped that a court-ordered Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) would crack down on the practice, which
has buried at least 1,000 miles of Appalachian streams
and destroyed tens of thousands of acres of woodland
that the EPA describes as "unique in the world" for
their biological diversity. But when the Bush
administration released the EIS this spring, it not
only gave mountaintop removal a clean bill of health;
it also relaxed what few meaningful environmental
protections existed and focused on how to help mining
companies obtain permits more easily.

So how did a process mandated by a federal judge "to
minimize, to the maximum extent practicable, the
adverse environmental effects" from mountaintop removal
become a vehicle for industry? Two words: Steven
Griles. Never heard of him? You're not supposed to.
Steven Griles is one of industry's moles within the
Bush administration. Before coming to work as deputy
secretary of the Interior, Griles was one of the most
powerful lobbyists in Washington, with a long list of
energy-industry clients, including the National Mining
Association and several of the country's largest coal
companies. On August 1, 2001, Griles signed a
"statement of disqualification," promising to stay
clear of issues involving his former clients. Despite
that promise, according to his own appointment calendar
(obtained by environmental groups through the Freedom
of Information Act), Griles met repeatedly with coal
companies while the administration worked on the
mountaintop-removal issue. Griles has denied discussing
the "fill rule" in any of those meetings. But on August
4, 2001-three days after signing his recusal letter-he
gave a speech before the West Virginia Coal
Association, reassuring members that "we will fix the
federal rules very soon on water and spoil placement."
Two months later, Griles sent a letter to the EPA and
other agencies drafting the EIS, complaining that they
were not doing enough to safeguard the future of
mountaintop removal and instructing them to "focus on
centralizing and streamlining coal mine permitting."
Griles is now the subject of an Interior Department
investigation for possible ethics violations.

With key positions in the hands of industry veterans,
the administration has been able to pursue one of its
most effective stealth tactics -- steering clear of
legislative battles and working instead within the
difficult-to-understand, yawn-producing realm of agency
regulations. It's a strategy that has served Bush well,
especially in his push to give the energy industry-
which donated $2.8 million to the 2000 Bush campaign-
access to some of the nation's last wildlands. In
Congress, where the administration's agenda must endure
full public scrutiny, Bush's effort to allow drilling
in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has failed
repeatedly. But there was little public debate over a
plan to drill 66,000 coalbed methane gas wells in the
Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana-a massive
project that will result in 26,000 miles of new roads,
48,000 miles of new pipelines, and discharges of 2
trillion gallons of contaminated water, disfiguring for
years the rolling hills of that landscape. That plan
was hatched behind closed doors, by the secretive
energy task force headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Cheney task force is behind another of the
administration's pet projects-protecting utilities from
having to comply with a law enacted 26 years ago. Some
30,000 Americans die each year because the federal
government is unwilling to take meaningful steps to
enforce the Clean Air Act's standards for coal-fired
power plants. Nearly 6,000 of those deaths are
attributable to plants owned by a mere eight companies,
according to a study by ABT Associates, which
frequently conducts assessments for the EPA. (The
companies are American Electric Power, Cinergy, Duke,
Dynegy, FirstEnergy, SIGECO, Southern Company, and the
Tennessee Valley Authority.)

When Congress passed the current air-pollution
standards in 1977, it grandfathered in these aging
plants and some 16,000 other industrial facilities
around the country. Under a provision known as New
Source Review, the plants could perform routine
maintenance without having to install cleaner
technologies, but any substantive changes or expansions
leading to increased emissions would force the
operators to meet the new standards. The grace period
was expected to last just a few years-a reasonable
compromise, it must have seemed to Congress at the
time. Yet, for nearly three decades these facilities
have gotten around the New Source Review rules by
continually expanding and calling it "routine
maintenance."

In 1999, the EPA's then-director of enforcement, Eric
Schaeffer, tried something radically new: He actually
enforced the law. The agency filed suit against eight
power companies that together emitted one-fifth of the
nation's total output of sulfur dioxide-a deadly
compound that is also the leading cause of acid rain.
Soon, violators started lining up to negotiate
settlements. By the end of 2000, two of the largest
power companies had agreed to cut emissions by two-
thirds. And then George W. Bush took office. The new
administration immediately leaked its intentions to
expand, rather than close, the New Source Review
loophole (see "No Clear Skies"). By March 2002, EPA
administrator Christine Whitman was telling Congress
that if she were an attorney for one of the companies
sued by the agency, "I would not settle anything." Not
surprisingly, the two tentative agreements the EPA had
worked out evaporated.

Meanwhile, in a classic bit of greenwashing, the White
House has released a plan called "Clear Skies" that
will, in President Bush's words, "dramatically reduce
pollution from power plants." In fact, Clear Skies
would gut the standards of the Clean Air Act, allowing
companies to wait 15 more years to install state-of-
the-art pollution-control equipment-and even then,
power plants would be emitting far more pollution than
allowed under current law, for a total of 450,000 tons
of additional nitrogen oxide, 1 million tons of sulfur
dioxide, and 9.5 tons of mercury annually.

The administration also wants to sink millions into
reviving the dying nuclear industry, increasing by 50
percent the number of nuclear plants currently
operating in the United States. That's no small feat,
given that not a single new plant has been ordered for
two and a half decades-not since the nation held its
breath in 1979, waiting to find out if a nuclear
doomsday scenario was unfolding at Three Mile Island.
Industry officials insist that with today's improved
technology such a calamity is unthinkable. But that
hasn't stopped the administration from endorsing a $9
billion cap on industry liability, just in case the
unthinkable should occur. Other gifts to nuclear-plant
operators include more than $1 billion in new subsidies
and tax breaks, support for relicensing dangerously
outdated reactors, and at least $18 billion in taxpayer
money for construction of a high-level nuclear waste
dump at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

JUST BEFORE SHE STEPPED DOWN last summer, EPA head
Whitman issued a "state of the environment" report that
fairly rhapsodized about the significance of
environmental protection: "Pristine waterways [and]
safe drinking waters are treasured resources," one
passage declared. "The nation has made significant
progress in protecting these resources in the last 30
years."

What Whitman did not mention was that the
administration has spent two years attempting to
eviscerate the law that brought about most of that
progress-the Clean Water Act of 1972. In January 2003,
the administration proposed new rules for managing the
nation's wetlands, removing 20 percent of the country's
remaining swamps, ponds, and marshes from federal
protection. And wetlands are only the beginning: A
close reading of the proposed rules shows that the
administration is attempting to change the definition
of "waters of the United States" to exclude up to 60
percent of the country's rivers, lakes, and streams
from protection, giving industries permission to
pollute, alter, fill, and build on all of these
waterways (see "Down Upon the Suwannee"). "No president
since the Clean Water Act was passed has proposed
getting rid of it on the majority of waters of the
U.S.," notes Joan Mulhern of Earthjustice-and Bush
might not have tried either, had he been forced to
justify the move in congressional debate rather than
burying it in bureaucratic rule-making.

Even when it seems to bow to environmental concerns,
the administration often manages to leave a back door
open for industry. This summer, after more than two
years of foot-dragging and resistance in court, the
Department of Agriculture finally accepted a Clinton-
era rule placing more than 58 million acres of national
forests off limits to road building (and thus logging).
But it added two caveats: Governors could obtain
exemptions for federal forests inside their borders (as
several have already done); and the rule wouldn't apply
in much of Alaska, where the largest stretches of
roadless wild forest are located. In June,
Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey-a veteran timber
lobbyist who is now the chief architect of the nation's
forest policy-announced that nearly 3 million acres of
land could be opened to timber sales in Alaska's
Tongass National Forest, the planet's largest pristine
temperate rainforest and home to several species of
animals found nowhere else on earth.

The White House has also been darkly brilliant at using
the courts to do its dirty work-through methods such as
"sweetheart suits," the practice of encouraging states
and private groups to file lawsuits against the federal
government, and then agreeing to negotiated settlements
that bypass environmental laws without any interference
from Congress or the public. In perhaps the most
egregious such case, in April the state of Utah and the
Interior Department announced that they had reached a
settlement involving 10 million acres of federal lands
set aside in the 1990s for possible wilderness
designation. The deal will allow Utah to sell oil and
gas rights on what had largely been pristine areas,
including the Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Monument with its multihued cliffs and Cedar Mesa, a
fragile desert area near Monument Valley that holds
world-renowned archaeological sites-and that is now
slated to host a jeep safari.

Two days after the first settlement with Utah-in
another closed-door deal-Interior Secretary Gale Norton
signed a second, more sweeping compact promising that
the federal government would never again so much as
study lands for wilderness designation. And not just in
Utah: The decision, which effectively freezes a
wilderness-protection program that goes back nearly 40
years, applies to more than 200 million acres of
Western lands, an area twice as large as California.

But it's not just the West's spectacular scenery that's
threatened, or even the purity of our air and water-as
important as those are. By using stealth tactics to
pursue a corporate agenda, the Bush administration is
undermining the very landscape of democracy, which
depends on an informed citizenry, transparency in
government, and lively public debate. A culture of
deception and deceit erodes all of these-and that is
probably the most serious "environmental" damage of
all.

From Mother Jones.com
<http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2003/36/ma_494_01.html>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. More Reading
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Bush Administration: Carbon Dioxide Not a Pollutant
By Seth Borenstein
Knight Ridder News Service

Friday, August 29, 2003

WASHINGTON - Carbon dioxide, the chief cause of global
warming, cannot be regulated as a pollutant, the
Environmental Protection Agency ruled Thursday.

The decision reverses a 1998 Clinton administration
position. It means that the Bush administration won't
be able to use the Clean Air Act to reduce carbon
dioxide emissions from cars.

Had the Bush administration decided that carbon dioxide
is a pollutant and harmful, it could have required
expensive new pollution controls on new cars and
perhaps on power plants, which together are the main
sources of so-called greenhouse gases.

Environmentalists are expected to respond by suing the
EPA to try to force it to regulate carbon dioxide. The
real fight is likely to shift to Congress, where some
lawmakers are proposing a new law giving the EPA clear
authority to regulate emissions of gases linked to
global warming.

"Refusing to call greenhouse-gas emissions a pollutant
is like refusing to say that smoking causes lung
cancer," responded Melissa Carey, a climate policy
specialist for Environmental Defense, a New York-based
environmental group. "The Earth is round. Elvis is
dead. Climate change is happening."

EPA General Counsel Robert Fabricant took the opposite
position in his 12-page decision Thursday. "Because the
[Clean Air Act] does not authorize regulation to
address climate change," he wrote, "it follows that
[carbon dioxide] and other [greenhouse gases], as such,
are not air pollutants."

Auto industry representatives lauded Fabricant's
position.

"Why would you regulate a pollutant that is an inert
gas that is vital to plant photosynthesis and that
people exhale when they breathe?" said Eron Shosteck, a
spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers,
a Washington-based industry lobby. "That's not a
pollutant."

The Clean Air Act says the EPA can regulate a substance
if it comes from cars, contributes to air pollution and
"may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public
health or welfare." The same law broadly defines an air
pollutant as "any air pollution agent or combination of
such agents which is emitted into or otherwise enters
the ambient air."

Sierra Club senior attorney David Bookbinder, whose
suit prompted Fabricant's decision, said it was simple:
"Anything that people put into the air can be an air
pollutant. The question `Does it do something bad?' "
is what matters.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2003 09:36:55 -0500
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 15 October 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
15 October 2003

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- octothorpe
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Andrew Hudgins
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Rush´s Drug Use No Joking Matter
6. Weird News - Police Nab Vicious Crow by Getting It Drunk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
octothorpe (OK-tuh-thorp) noun

The symbol #.

[The symbol # is derived from a shorthand way of
writing lb, the abbreviation for the Latin libra
(balance), just as $ is a shorthand way of writing US.
Octothorpe is an alteration, influenced by octo-, of
earlier octalthorpe, probably a humorous blend of octal
(an eight-point pin used in electronic connections) and
someone whose last name was or ended in "thorpe", and
whose identity is subject to speculation. It may be
James Edward Oglethorpe, an eighteenth century English
philanthropist, but more likely it is an Olympic
athlete, Jim Thorpe. In the early 1960s, Bell Labs
introduced two special keys in its innovative touch-
tone telephone keypads, "#" and "*", for which it
needed fresh names. Having eight points, "octo-" was an
obvious first element. Since the engineer involved in
introducing this innovation was active in a group
seeking the return of Jim Thorpe's medals from Sweden,
he whimsically added "-thorpe", creating octothorpe.
(Jim Thorpe was disqualified because of his
professional status, but his medals were restored
posthumously.) The "#" is also known as a pound sign,
crosshatch, number sign, sharp, hash, crunch, mesh,
hex, flash, grid, pig-pen, gate, hak, oof, rake, fence,
gate, grid, gridlet, square, and widget mark.]

Some other eight-based words, other than the obvious
octagon, octave, and octopus, are octamerous, having
eight parts or organs; octane, a type of hydrocarbon in
fuel and solvents; octant, the eighth part of a circle;
octonare and octapody, a verse of eight feet; and
octonary, pertaining to the number eight.

"In Boise, Idaho, US West is testing a system it calls
Voice Interactive Phone, or VIP. By dialing the
octothorpe (#) and 44, then saying 'Messages,' a
subscriber can retrieve voice mail." Gene Bylinsky and
Alicia Hills Moore; Fortune (New York); At Last!
Computers You Can Talk to; May 3, 1993.

The Laundry Cloister - Convento de Cristo - Tomar, Portugal - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/031008_columnshadows_4256.htm>

First Light - Marvao, Portugal - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/031008_marvaomorn_4399.htm>

LAST ISSUE:

Asparagus and Horned Melon
http://www.lhostelaw.com/030215/index.htm
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Two Poems:

The Cadillac in the Attic

After the tenant moved out, died, disappeared—
the stories vary—the landlord
walked downstairs, bemused, and told his wife,
"There's a Cadillac in the attic,"

and there was. An old one, sure, and one
with sloppy paint, bald tires,
and orange rust chewing at the rocker panels,
but still and all, a Cadillac in the attic.

He'd battled transmission, chassis, engine block,
even the huge bench seats,
up the folding stairs, heaved them through the trapdoor,
and rebuilt a Cadillac in the attic.

Why'd he do it? we asked. But we know why.
For the reasons we would do it: for the looks
of astonishment he'd never see but could imagine.
For the joke. A Cadillac in the attic!

And for the meaning, though we aren't sure what it means.
And of course he did it for pleasure,
the pleasure on his lips of all those short vowels
and three hard clicks: the Cadillac in the attic.
--

The Long Ship

Death's settled in my suburbs: weak ankles
just a little weaker and the fingers of my right hand just
a little more like unoiled hinges in the cold.
Death's moved into my right shoulder as a flame.
I tease it, taunt it, test it: Can I carry wood?
Can I still throw the ball? How far and for how long?
What's the new price? Higher, but not too high.

Death, darling,
you've been gentle up till now.
But after the first kiss I return, we know
how your seductions go: each tender kiss
a little coarser. Each night a little further:
caress to rough insistent stroke. Each qualm
and modest scruple brushed aside till metaphor
gives way to metamorphosis—from one
hard, lived cliché to one nobody lives:
Death's built his long ship, he's raised his black
sail over me, and what ship doesn't love
a steady wind, and what ship doesn't love the white
wake curled behind it like lilies on a black stem?

Andrew Hudgins
Ecstatic in the Poison
The Overlook Press
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Best Places to Retire - rate importance of several factors
in constructing this search for the ideal retirement:
http://money.cnn.com/best/bpretire/bpretire_form.html

World Factbook - 2003
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

HealthLibrary from CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Rush´s Drug Use No Joking Matter
by Joe Conason

As a man with firm and simple opinions about almost
everything, America´s most successful radio personality
told his listeners years ago what society should do
about unfortunate people like Rush Limbaugh: send them
to prison.

Back in 1995, arguing against liberal leniency toward
dope fiends, Mr. Limbaugh endorsed the boilerplate
ideology and draconian methods of the drug war with
baritone bombast. "Drug use destroys societies. Drug
use, some might say, is destroying this country," he
intoned. "And so if people are violating the law by
doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to
be convicted and they ought to be sent up."

Displaying characteristic conservative empathy, he
dismissed data showing that blacks are punished more
predictably and more severely than whites for similar
narcotics offenses. Such statistics are meaningless, he
said; all those studies prove is that "too many whites
are getting away with drug use." According to him, the
proper solution is not to treat addiction among all
ethnic groups as a disease rather than a crime, but to
arrest more white offenders—and, of course, to "convict
them and send them up the river, too."

Eight years later, Mr. Limbaugh´s "talent on loan from
God" has suddenly collided with instant karma. If the
story that his former housekeeper told (or sold) to the
National Enquirer is true, then by his own standards El
Rushbo himself should be headed "up the river" for a
spell. His admitted abuse of Oxycontin, a federally
controlled opiate used by millions of patients for the
relief of disabling pain, was plainly illegal, as were
his alleged purchases of thousands of the little "blue
babies."

Luckily for him, however, criminal prosecution is
unlikely, despite the e-mails, voice messages and other
evidence his dealer reportedly kept. To be indicted and
convicted of drug offenses, he would have to be caught
in red-handed possession of his stash. And the
credibility of his accusers in court would be nil—not
only because they sold their tale to the tabloid, but
also because of their own obvious criminal liability.

Legal experts in Florida agree that Mr. Limbaugh´s
high-priced Miami attorney, Roy Black (best known for
defending William Kennedy Smith and Marv Albert), has
little reason to worry that his celebrity client will
do time.

So whatever punishment Mr. Limbaugh must endure will be
handed down in the court of public opinion. He enjoys
the support of millions of character witnesses,
including prominent fellow hypocrites such as his close
friends William Bennett and Newt Gingrich. But they
would all be hard-pressed to describe the mighty radio
mouth as someone who has earned great sympathy. This
is, after all, a man who earned millions by lampooning
the plight of AIDS victims, spreading rumors that
implicated Hillary Clinton in murder and Bill Clinton
in cocaine abuse, and mocking the physical appearance
of their young child. His brilliant career was founded
on daily "entertainment" of this quality.

Mr. Limbaugh specialized in legitimizing the
denigration of the least fortunate. "The poor in this
country are the biggest piglets at the mother pig and
her nipples," he complained. "And I´m sick and tired of
playing the one phony game I´ve had to play, and that
is this so-called compassion for the poor. I don´t have
compassion for the poor." Not even a hungry child or an
unemployed father or an ill elderly woman was deemed by
the great conservative guru to be deserving of his
sympathy.

With that grim record, Mr. Limbaugh now presents a real
challenge to liberal compassion. Rather than the cruel
"joking" he might well have inflicted on an opponent in
his situation, that challenge should be met with
sincere wishes for his recovery and rehabilitation.

But what would rehabilitation mean? In the statement he
released last week, Mr. Limbaugh said his addiction had
grown from a prescription of pain medication. By
proffering that explanation, he only demonized
effective medicines that rarely cause problems for the
millions who badly need effective opiates to relieve
disabling agony. Both he and the nation would be better
off if he resolved instead to deal with the real
problems that afflict him.

According to his biographers, Mr. Limbaugh has always
been a terribly insecure and often lonely man. His
chronic projection of rage against women, gays, blacks,
liberals, Democrats and others is a symptom. Addiction
is a psychiatric diagnosis, which most often occurs in
people who medicate themselves to relieve psychic pain.
His repeated failures to conquer his drug dependency
suggest that he has yet to obtain the kind of therapy
he needs.

While he examines his issues in seclusion over the next
month or so, he might also ponder the social injustices
of the drug war. Wealthy and well-connected junkies
like Mr. Limbaugh get treatment and prayers; poor and
obscure junkies get prison and scorn. Even a dittohead
should be able to understand why that is wrong.

You may reach Joe Conason via email at:
jconason@observer.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Police Nab Vicious Crow by Getting It Drunk
Tue Oct 14,10:50 AM ET
Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!

BERLIN (Reuters) - German police apprehended a vicious
crow which was attacking passers-by by getting it drunk
on bait laced with alcohol, authorities said Monday.

The bird eluded its captors after attacking a woman and
a young girl at the weekend until cat food soaked in
high-alcohol fruit schnapps proved too tempting to
resist.

"The crow was completely smashed," said a spokesman for
police in the western city of Dortmund.

Police said the crow was sleeping off its hangover in a
local animal home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net (Unverified)
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 09:47:08 -0500
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 21 October 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
21 October 2003

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- ipse dixit
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- B. H. Fairchild
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - The Man Who Knew
6. Weird News - Judge Takes Pleasure Listening To Lawyer Plead
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
ipse dixit (IP-see DIK-sit) noun

An assertion without supporting proof.

[From Latin, literally, he himself said it.]

The term ipse dixit is the Latin equivalent of the Greek autos epha,
referring to Pythagoras, as in, The master (Pythagoras) said it so it must
be true and no proof is needed. In our modern world, this has many forms:

Child: Why do I have to go to bed at eight every day?
Parent: Because I said so.

Employee: Why do we have to do this project if it's going to be scrapped anyway?
Boss: Because I said so.

-Anu

  "The state had relied so heavily upon the ipse dixit that `it is a nuisance
   because I say it is,' the Supreme Court could not as a matter of law say
   whether a nuisance in fact existed."
   A Two-Front Battle For Property Rights; Christian Science Monitor (Boston,
   Massachusetts); Sep 18, 1992.

  "Nor was it what the framers of the Indiana Constitution intended. Even
   though the state held a constitutional convention in 1850-51 to repair
   what even back then was a sargassum sea of ipse dixits, nobody paid any
   attention."
   Ruth Holladay; Ruth Holladay Column; The Indianapolis Star (Indiana);
   Jul 29, 2003.

Doorways - Obidos, Portugal - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/031006_obidosdoors_4063.htm>

Hillside Buildings - Sintra, Portugal - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/031005_sintra_3898.htm>

LAST ISSUE:
The Laundry Cloister - Convento de Cristo - Tomar, Portugal - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/031008_columnshadows_4256.htm>

First Light - Marvao, Portugal - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/031008_marvaomorn_4399.htm>

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
A Starlit Night

All over America at this hour men are standing
by an open closet door, slacks slung over one arm,
staring at wire hangers, thinking of taxes
or a broken faucet or their first sex: the smell
of back-seat Naugahyde, the hush of a maize field
like breathing, the stars rushing, rushing away.

And a woman lies in an unmade bed watching
the man she has known twenty-one, no,
could it be? twenty-two years, and she is listening
to the polonaise climbing up through radio static
from the kitchen where dishes are piled
and the linoleum floor is a great, gray sea.

It's the A-flat polonaise she practiced endlessly,
never quite getting it right, though her father,
calling from the darkened TV room, always said,
"Beautiful, kiddo!" and the moon would slide across
the lacquered piano top as if it were something
that lived underwater, something from far below.

They both came from houses with photographs,
the smell of camphor in closets, board games
with missing pieces, sunburst clocks in the kitchen
that made them, each morning, a little sad.
They didn't know what they wanted, every night,
every starlit night of their lives, and now they have it.

B. H. Fairchild
32 Poems Magazine
Volume 1, Number 1
Summer 2003
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Google's Price Comparisons
<http://directory.google.com/Top/Home/Consumer_Information/Price_Comparisons/>

Google Viewer
<http://labs.google.com/gviewer.html>

Exercise Guide
<http://weboflife.ksc.nasa.gov/exerciseandaging/cover.html>

In the run-up to the war in Iraq, one moment seemed to
be a turning point: the day Secretary of State Colin
Powell went to the United Nations to make the case for
the invasion.

Millions of people watched as he laid out the evidence
and reached a damning conclusion -- that Saddam Hussein
was in possession of weapons of mass destruction.

Correspondent Scott Pelley has an interview with Greg
Thielmann, a former expert on Iraqi weapons of mass
destruction. Thielmann, a foreign-service officer for
25 years, now says that key evidence in the speech was
misrepresented and the public was deceived.
--

“I had a couple of initial reactions.
Then I had a more mature reaction,’ says Thielmann,
commenting on Powell's presentation to the United
Nations.

“I think my conclusion now is that it's probably one of
the low points in his long, distinguished service to
the nation.’

Thielmann's last job at the State Department was
director of the Office of Strategic Proliferation and
Military Affairs, which was responsible for analyzing
the Iraqi weapons threat for Secretary Powell. He and
his staff had the highest security clearances, and
everything – whether it came into the CIA or the
Defense Department – came through his office.

Thielmann was admired at the State Department. One
high-ranking official called him honorable,
knowledgeable, and very experienced. Thielmann, too,
had planned to retire just four months before Powell´s
big moment at the U.N.

On Feb. 5, 2003, Secretary Powell presented evidence
against Saddam to the U.N., and the speech represented
a change in Powell´s thinking. Before 9/11, he said
Saddam had “not developed any significant capability in
weapons of mass destruction.’ But two years later, he
warned that Saddam had stockpiled those very weapons.

“The gravity of this moment is matched by the gravity
of the threat that Iraq´s weapons of mass destruction
pose to the world,’ said Powell.

At the time of Powell's speech, Thielmann says that
Iraq didn't pose an imminent threat to anyone: “I think
it didn't even constitute an imminent threat to its
neighbors at the time we went to war.’

But Thielmann also says that he believes the decision
to go to war was made first, and then the intelligence
was interpreted to fit that conclusion. For example, he
points to the evidence behind Powell´s charge that Iraq
was importing aluminum tubes to use in a program to
build nuclear weapons.

Powell said: “Saddam Hussein is determined to get his
hands on a nuclear bomb. He is so determined that he
has made repeated covert attempts to acquire high-
specification aluminum tubes from 11 different
countries even after inspections resumed.’

“This is one of the most disturbing parts of Secretary
Powell's speech for us,’ says Thielmann.

Intelligence agents intercepted the tubes in 2001, and
the CIA said they were parts for a centrifuge to enrich
uranium - fuel for an atom bomb. But Thielmann wasn´t
so sure. Experts at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
the scientists who enriched uranium for American bombs,
advised that the tubes were all wrong for a bomb
program. At about the same time, Thielmann´s office was
working on another explanation. It turned out the
tubes' dimensions perfectly matched an Iraqi
conventional rocket.

“The aluminum was exactly, I think, what the Iraqis
wanted for artillery,’ recalls Thielmann, who says he
sent that word up to the Secretary of State months
before.

Houston Wood was a consultant who worked on the
Oak Ridge analysis of the tubes. He watched
Powell´s speech, too.

“I guess I was angry, that´s the best way to describe
my emotions. I was angry at that,’ says Wood, who is
among the world´s authorities on uranium enrichment by
centrifuge. He found the tubes couldn´t be what the CIA
thought they were. They were too heavy, three times too
thick and certain to leak.

Months later, Thielmann reported to Secretary Powell´s
office that they were confident the tubes were not for
a nuclear program. Then, about a year later, when the
administration was building a case for war, the tubes
were resurrected on the front page of The New York
Times.

“I thought when I read that there must be some other
tubes that people were talking about. I just was
flabbergasted that people were still pushing that those
might be centrifuges,’ says Wood, who reached his
conclusion back in 2001. “It didn´t make any sense to
me.’

The New York Times reported that senior administration
officials insisted the tubes were for an atom-bomb
program.

“Science was not pushing this forward. Scientists had
made their determination their evaluation and now we
didn´t know what was happening,’ says Wood.

In his U.N. speech, Secretary Powell acknowledged there
was disagreement about the tubes, but he said most
experts agreed with the nuclear theory.

“There is controversy about what these tubes are for.
Most U.S. experts think they are intended to serve as
rotors in centrifuges used to enrich uranium,’ said
Powell.

“Most experts are located at Oak Ridge and that was not
the position there,’ says Wood, who claims he doesn´t
know anyone in academia or foreign government who would
disagree with his appraisal. “I don´t know a single one
anywhere.’
--

Thielmann says the nuclear case was filled with half-truths.
So why would the Secretary take the information that Thielmann´s
intelligence bureau had developed and turn it on its head?

“I can only assume that he was doing it to loyally
support the President of the United States and build
the strongest possible case for arguing that there was
no alternative to the use of military force,’ says
Thielmann.

That was a case the president himself was making only
eight days before Secretary Powell´s speech. It was a
State of the Union address that turned out to be too
strong: “The British government has learned that Saddam
Hussein recently sought significant quantities of
uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us
that he has attempted to purchase high-strength
aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear-weapons
production.’

After the war, the White House said the African uranium
claim was false and shouldn´t have been in the address.
But at the time, it was part of a campaign that painted
the intelligence as irrefutable.

“There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons
of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing
them to use against our friends, against our allies,
and against us,’ said Cheney.

But if there was no doubt in public, Thielmann says
there was plenty of doubt in the intelligence
community. He says the administration took murky
information out of the gray area and made it black and
white.

Powell said: “My colleagues, every statement I make
today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are
not assertions. What we are giving you are facts and
conclusions based on solid intelligence."

Solid intelligence, Powell said, that proved Saddam had
amassed chemical and biological weapons: “Our
conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a
stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical-
weapons agent. That´s enough to fill 16,000 battlefield
rockets.’

He also said part of the stockpile was clearly in these
bunkers: “The four that are in red squares represent
active chemical munitions bunkers. How do I know that,
how can I say that? Let me give you a closer look.’

Up close, Powell said you could see a truck for
cleaning up chemical spills, a signature for a chemical
bunker: “It´s a decontamination vehicle in case
something goes wrong.’

But Thielmann disagreed with Powell's statement: “My
understanding is that these particular vehicles were
simply fire trucks. You cannot really describe as being
a unique signature.’ ----------------------------------
----------------------------------------------Satellite
photos were also notoriously misleading, according to
Steve Allinson, a U.N. inspector in Iraq in the months
leading up to war.

Was there ever a time when American satellite
intelligence provided Allinson with something that was
truly useful?

“No. No, not to me. Not on inspections that I
participated in,’ says Allinson, whose team was sent to
find decontamination vehicles that turned out to be
fire trucks.

Another time, a satellite spotted what they thought
were trucks used for biological weapons.

“We were told we were going to the site to look for
refrigerated trucks specifically linked to biological
agents,’ says Allinson. “We found 7 or 8 of them I
think in total. And they had cobwebs in them. Some
samples were taken and nothing was found.’

Allinson watched Powell´s speech in Iraq with a dozen
U.N. inspectors. There was great anticipation in the
room. Like waiting for the Super Bowl, they always
suspected the U.S. was holding back its most damning
evidence for this moment.

What was the reaction among the inspectors as they
watched the speech?

“Various people would laugh at various times because
the information he was presenting was just, you know,
didn't mean anything, had no meaning,’ says Allinson.

And what did he and the other inspectors say when
Secretary Powell finished the speech?

“They have nothing,’ says Allinson.
--

If Allinson doubted the satellite evidence,
Thielmann watched with worry as Secretary Powell told
the Security Council that human intelligence provided
conclusive proof.

Thielmann says that many of the human sources were
defectors who came forward with an ax to grind. But how
reliable was the defector information they received?

“I guess I would say, frequently we got bad
information,’ says Thielmann.

Some of it came from defectors supplied by the Iraqi
National Congress, the leading exile group headed by
Ahmed Chalabi.

“You had the Iraqi National Congress with a clear
motive for presenting the worst possible picture of
what was happening in Iraq to the American government,’
says Thielmann.

That may have been the case with Adnan Sayeed Haideiri,
whose information was provided by the Iraqi National
Congress to the U.S. Government and The New York Times.
He appeared on CBS News.

Haideiri said he was a civil engineer and claimed to
have visited many secret weapon-production sites. The
government thought he was so valuable they put him in a
witness protection program. The White House listed him
first in its Web page on Iraqi weapons.

“He was basically an epoxy painter,’ says David
Albright, a physicist who has investigated defectors
for his work with the U.N.

Albright studied a transcript of Haideiri´s claims: “If
you read a transcript of an interview that he went
through, he has no knowledge of chemical, biological,
or nuclear weapons.’

What did they find from Haideri's information? Nothing,
says Albright.
--

But there was a good deal more in Secretary
Powell´s speech that bothered the analysts. Powell
claimed Saddam still had a few dozen Scud missiles.

“I wondered what he was talking about,’ says Thielmann.
“We did not have evidence that the Iraqis had those
missiles, pure and simple.’

Powell warned that empty chemical warheads found
recently by the U.N. could be the tip of the iceberg.
“They were shells left over from the Gulf War. Or prior
to the Gulf War, from their past programs,’ says
Allinson.

Powell, however, made several points that turned out to
be right. Among them, he was right when he said Iraqi
labs were removing computer hard drives; he was right
that Iraq had drawings for a new long-range missile;
and he was right about Saddam´s murder of thousands of
Iraqi citizens.

But, an interim report by coalition inspectors says
that so far, there is no evidence of a uranium
enrichment program, no chemical weapons, no biological
weapons, and no Scud missiles.

The State Department told 60 Minutes II that Secretary
Powell would not be available for an interview. But
this month, he said the jury on Iraq is still out: “So
I think one has to look at the whole report. Have we
found a factory or a plant or a warehouse full of
chemical rounds? No, not yet but there is much more
work to be done.’

Powell added that Iraq was a danger to the world, but
the people could judge how clear and present a danger
it was.

As for Greg Thielmann, he told 60 Minutes II that he´s
a reluctant witness. His decision to speak developed
over time, and he says the president´s address worried
him because he knew the African uranium story was
false. He said he watched Secretary Powell´s speech
with disappointment because, up until then, he had seen
Powell bringing what he called “reason’ to the
administration´s inner circle.

Today, Thielmann believes the decision to go to war was
made -- and the intelligence was interpreted to fit
that conclusion.

“There´s plenty of blame to go around. The main problem
was that the senior administration officials have what
I call faith-based intelligence. They knew what they
wanted the intelligence to show,’ says Thielmann.

“They were really blind and deaf to any kind of
countervailing information the intelligence community
would produce. I would assign some blame to the
intelligence community, and most of the blame to the
senior administration officials.’

The administration wants to spend several hundred
million dollars more to continue the search for
evidence.
--

After turning down repeated requests for an
interview by 60 Minutes II, Colin Powell spoke
to the BBC Wednesday afternoon about Thielmann's
claim that he misinformed the nation during
his February U.N. speech.

"That's nonsense. I don't think I used the word
'imminent' in my presentation on the 5th of February. I
presented, on the 5th of February not something I
pulled out of the air. I presented the considered
judgment of the intelligence community of the United
States of America -- the coordinated judgment of the
intelligence community of the United States of
America," said Powell, according to a transcript of the
interview released by the State Department.

"The investigation continues. There is an individual, I
guess, who is going on a television show to say I
misled the American people. I don't mislead the
American people and I never would. I presented the best
information that our intelligence community had to
offer."

When the BBC interviewer pointed out that Thielmann was
considered the leading expert for Iraqi weapons of mass
destruction in his department, Powell replied: "I have
many experts in my department, and there are many
differences of opinion, among any group of experts. And
it's quite easy for a television program to get this
individual and then they complain. But to try to turn
it around and say that 'Secretary Powell made this all
up and presented it, knowing it was false,' is simply
inaccurate."

Powell again refuted the charges in an Oct. 16
interview with National Public Radio.

"It wasn't hyped. It wasn't overblown," said Powell, in
a transcript released by the State Department. "I would
not do that to the American people, nor would I do that
before the Security Council, as a representative of the
American people and of the President of the United
States."
© MMIII, CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Unbelievable
Mon Oct 20, 9:31 AM ET
from Yahoo's Oddly Enough - Reuters

BORDEAUX, France (Reuters) - A French judge was placed
under official investigation for "sexual exposure" in a
courtroom, prosecutors said on Friday, after a
newspaper reported the judge masturbated while a lawyer
pleaded her case.

The 39-year old judge masturbated for several minutes
on Wednesday while listening to a female lawyer
addressing the court in a case dealing with a dispute
between neighbors, regional paper La Charente Libre
said.

One of the paper's reporters saw the judge "making
unambiguous gestures after discretely lifting his
judicial robe and opening his trousers," it said.

The judge was temporarily suspended from his
professional duties and examined by a psychiatrist, a
prosecutor in the southwestern town of Angouleme said.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 05:57:46 -0600
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 29 October 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
29 October 2003

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- avatar
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Bruce Beasley
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - a) The Pentagon's pope
and b) States and cities challenge EPA air pollution rules
6. Weird News - Podiatrist Charged with Billing for Legless
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
avatar (AV-uh-tahr) noun

1. A manifestation of a deity in Hinduism.

2. An embodiment of a concept.

3. A representation of a person or thing in computers, networks, etc.

[From avatar (descent, as of a god from heaven to the earth), from ava-
(away) + tarati (he crosses).]

"Nearly forgotten today, Downing was a national avatar of taste, a sort of
cross between Martha Stewart and Frank O. Gehry and was the likely
choice ..."
Kevin Baker; The Daily, Death-Defying Commute; The New York Times;
Oct 17, 2003.

"The idea was to demonstrate the levels of service on Alaska Airlines by
contrasting them with an avatar of how not to run an airline."
Airline Fires Back at Low-cost Rivals; International Herald Tribune
(France); Oct 19, 2003.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:

Segnette Dawn - Bayou Segnette - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0310bs/031025_segnettedawn_4451a.htm>

Waiting for the Peleton - Madrid - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/030928_madridboy_3433.htm>

LAST ISSUE:

Doorways - Obidos, Portugal - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/031006_obidosdoors_4063.htm>

Hillside Buildings - Sintra, Portugal - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/031005_sintra_3898.htm>

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Lord's Prayer

Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt
find it after many days… for thou knowest not
what evil shall be upon the earth.
— Ecclesiastes

Old One, who art in heaven, the ground's
hacked with rain-dents in ice here,
on earth, choked as it is

through months of mud & dim, threshheld.

Old One, supraliminal,
unfathered &
extramundane:

down how many deep-settled & alien

layers will your hallowing
seep? Daily your bread's cast on the waters, & daily
the sops drift in,

algae-scummed, demanna-ing. So the kingdom,

as it comes, disintegrates, grain by grain. Old One,
Tetragrammaton,
unutterable

as thy hallowed & devoweled name,

pass across us, trespass us, like that
squall of crow in the square
as it jabs its beak in the puddle's

overlapping circumferences of disturbed

surface, drop by hailed raindrop, smoothed
loose by wind
so it flashes transparent,

to the underlamina's burnt-brick glaze

then deflects again, in a skim, the streetlamp's
midmorning flush. Our Father,
unfathering,

be done, be done

with thy will, with its
unbroken last testament. Giver of days
like these, trinkets & tokens, the quotidian´s

temptation, all otherwhere occluded:

in the circadian, sleep's
drag & draw through daylong litanies
of sitcom & beer-guzzle &

bedlamp's spluttered Amen. So be it,

Old One, half-
lightstreaked & macrocosmic & half
coiled down inside the quanta, imperceptible

ground, evil-deliverable & self-clustering.

As it is
in heaven, let it seem, at least,
as if it were on earth

(the half-flayed sycamore rattling

loose its last seedballs & stalks, as the crow
flaps from the grass-sludge's
hierogram of bootmark & bird-scratch)

visible & inscrutable scrawl,

thine, let it be thine Old One, thy signatory
X: let these dimmed-
out days seem that

much willed, unharrowed though it is here, kingdom becoming & unbecome, amen.

Bruce Beasley
Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion
Issue #38
Spring 2003
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
All about the Neocons - from the Christian Science Monitor:
http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/neocon101.html

The Elegant Universe - from NOVA:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/

The Library of Congress Research Tools:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/tools.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
States and cities challenge EPA air pollution rules
- Associated Press
Lawsuits filed Monday by 13 states and more than 20
cities — which seek to block changes to the Clean Air
Act — contend that new rules from the Bush administration
would weaken protections for the environment and public health.
http://members.cox.net/lhoste/ianews/031029.htm

The Pentagon's pope
- The Guardian
The troubles besetting Donald Rumsfeld, who is still
the US secretary of defence, continue to grow. The
blundering Pentagon chief was in hot water again
last week over a series of church and prayer breakfast
speeches made by his deputy under-secretary for
intelligence, Lieutenant-General William Boykin.
http://members.cox.net/lhoste/ianews/031029.htm#2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Podiatrist Charged with Billing for Legless
Tue Oct 28,10:23 AM ET
Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A federal grand jury has indicted a
Los Angeles podiatrist on fraud charges for billing Medicare
for procedures on patients that turned out to have no feet
or to have been dead.

Prosecutors said on Friday that Robert Ken Kasamatsu, 41,
used the names and numbers of about 100 Medicare
beneficiaries, some of whom he had never seen, to create and
submit bogus claims totaling more than $600,000 between 1996
and 2000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeannie Joseph said Kasamatsu
obtained Medicare information for the fraudulent bills from
the nursing homes where he sometimes saw patients.

He submitted bills for "two-foot" services on about 40
Medicare recipients who had had one or both feet amputated,
and for 30 people who had died, Joseph said. She added that
in some cases, Kasamatsu treated one foot while claiming to
have treated both feet.

"A lot of people called into Medicare when they got their
statements and noticed that there were these charges from
this doctor and they had never seen him," Joseph said. "They
got a number of complaints and that's what started the ball
rolling."

He was indicted by a grand jury in Santa Ana, California, on
Wednesday on two health care fraud charges. If convicted, he
faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 08:54:19 -0600
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 13 November 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
13 November 2003

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- nonesuch
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Kurtis Lamkin
4. HotSites - Heavenly Bodies
5. Reading List - Freedom and Security
Bush takes quiet aim at "green" laws
6. Weird News - McDonald's Annoyed by Dictionary Word 'McJob'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
nonesuch also nonsuch (NUN-such) noun

A person or thing without an equal.

[From none, from Middle English non, from Old English
nan + such, Middle English such, from Old English
swelce.]

"Truth is, he's (Noel Perrin) a nonesuch, combining the
`humorous stoicism' that he calls `the basic New
England characteristic' with a hands-on approach to
rural living." Frank Levering; Book World: Noel Perrin:
Back Down On the Farm; The Washington Post; Dec 9,
1991.

"She was a nonesuch, a nonpareil, yet seemed Pallid and
slightly wilted now, a flower Long after the rainy
season." David Wagoner; The Return of Orpheus, Poetry
(Chicago); Jan 1998.

Rooftops in Granada, Spain - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/031001_granadaroofs_3663.htm>

Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea)- Jean Lafitte NHP - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0310bs/031025_trefrog_4578a.htm>

LAST ISSUE:
Segnette Dawn - Bayou Segnette - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0310bs/031025_segnettedawn_4451a.htm>

Waiting for the Peleton - Madrid - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/030928_madridboy_3433.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Kurtis Lamkin
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
"jump mama"

pretty summer day
grammama sittin on her porch
easy
rockin her grandbaby in her wide lap
ol men sittin in their lincoln
tastin and talkin and talkin and tastin
young boys on the corner
milkin a yak yak wild hands baggy pants
young girls halfway up the block
jumpin that double dutch
singin their song
kenny kana paula
be on time
cause school begins
at a quarter to nine
jump one two three and aaaaaaah. . .

round the corner comes
this young woman
draggin herself heavy home from work
she sees the young boys
sees the old men
but when she sees the girls she just starts smilin
she says let me get a little bit of that
they say you can't jump
you too old

why they say that
o, why they say that

she says tanya you hold my work bag
chaniqua come over here girl i want you to hold my handbag
josie could you hold my grocery bag
please
kebè take my purse
she starts bobbin her head, jackin her arms
tryin to catch the rhythm of the ropes
and when she jumps inside those turning loops
the girls crowd her sing their song
kenny kana paula
be on time
cause school begins
at a quarter to nine
jump one two three and
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
she jumps on one leg -- aaaaah
she dances sassy saucy -- aaaaah
jump for the girls mama
jump for the stars mama
jump for the young boys sayin
jump mama! jump mama!
jump for the old woman sayin -- aww, go head baby

and what the young girls say
what the young girls say
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Kurtis Lamkin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Heavenly Bodies
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/

HubbleSite
http://hubblesite.org/

Kathie
http://members.cox.net/lhoste/kathie.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Excerpt from Freedom and Security
Policy Speech by Al Gore to MoveOn.org on Nov. 9, 2003
Full Text of Speech:
http://members.cox.net/lhoste/ianews/ianews.htm#3

So it seems to me that the logical place to start the
discussion is with an accounting of exactly what has
happened to civil liberties and security since the
vicious attacks against America of September 11, 2001 –
and it´s important to note at the outset that the
Administration and the Congress have brought about many
beneficial and needed improvements to make law
enforcement and intelligence community efforts more
effective against potential terrorists.

But a lot of other changes have taken place that a lot
of people don´t know about and that come as unwelcome
surprises. For example, for the first time in our
history, American citizens have been seized by the
executive branch of government and put in prison
without being charged with a crime, without having the
right to a trial, without being able to see a lawyer,
and without even being able to contact their families.

President Bush is claiming the unilateral right to do
that to any American citizen he believes is an “enemy
combatant.’ Those are the magic words. If the President
alone decides that those two words accurately describe
someone, then that person can be immediately locked up
and held incommunicado for as long as the President
wants, with no court having the right to determine
whether the facts actually justify his imprisonment.

Now if the President makes a mistake, or is given
faulty information by somebody working for him, and
locks up the wrong person, then it´s almost impossible
for that person to prove his innocence – because he
can´t talk to a lawyer or his family or anyone else and
he doesn´t even have the right to know what specific
crime he is accused of committing. So a constitutional
right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness that we
used to think of in an old-fashioned way as
“inalienable’ can now be instantly stripped from any
American by the President with no meaningful review by
any other branch of government.

How do we feel about that? Is that OK?

Here´s another recent change in our civil liberties:
Now, if it wants to, the federal government has the
right to monitor every website you go to on the
internet, keep a list of everyone you send email to or
receive email from and everyone who you call on the
telephone or who calls you – and they don´t even have
to show probable cause that you´ve done anything wrong.
Nor do they ever have to report to any court on what
they´re doing with the information. Moreover, there are
precious few safeguards to keep them from reading the
content of all your email.

Everybody fine with that?

If so, what about this next change?

For America´s first 212 years, it used to be that if
the police wanted to search your house, they had to be
able to convince an independent judge to give them a
search warrant and then (with rare exceptions) they had
to go bang on your door and yell, “Open up!’ Then, if
you didn´t quickly open up, they could knock the door
down. Also, if they seized anything, they had to leave
a list explaining what they had taken. That way, if it
was all a terrible mistake (as it sometimes is) you
could go and get your stuff back.

But that´s all changed now. Starting two years ago,
federal agents were given broad new statutory authority
by the Patriot Act to “sneak and peak’ in non-terrorism
cases. They can secretly enter your home with no
warning – whether you are there or not – and they can
wait for months before telling you they were there. And
it doesn´t have to have any relationship to terrorism
whatsoever. It applies to any garden-variety crime. And
the new law makes it very easy to get around the need
for a traditional warrant – simply by saying that
searching your house might have some connection (even a
remote one) to the investigation of some agent of a
foreign power. Then they can go to another court, a
secret court, that more or less has to give them a
warrant whenever they ask.

Three weeks ago, in a speech at FBI Headquarters,
President Bush went even further and formally proposed
that the Attorney General be allowed to authorize
subpoenas by administrative order, without the need for
a warrant from any court.

What about the right to consult a lawyer if you´re
arrested? Is that important?

Attorney General Ashcroft has issued regulations
authorizing the secret monitoring of attorney-client
conversations on his say-so alone; bypassing procedures
for obtaining prior judicial review for such monitoring
in the rare instances when it was permitted in the
past. Now, whoever is in custody has to assume that the
government is always listening to consultations between
them and their lawyers.

Does it matter if the government listens in on
everything you say to your lawyer? Is that Ok?

Or, to take another change – and thanks to the
librarians, more people know about this one – the FBI
now has the right to go into any library and ask for
the records of everybody who has used the library and
get a list of who is reading what. Similarly, the FBI
can demand all the records of banks, colleges, hotels,
hospitals, credit-card companies, and many more kinds
of companies. And these changes are only the beginning.
Just last week, Attorney General Ashcroft issued brand
new guidelines permitting FBI agents to run credit
checks and background checks and gather other
information about anyone who is “of investigatory
interest,’ - meaning anyone the agent thinks is
suspicious - without any evidence of criminal behavior.

So, is that fine with everyone?

Listen to the way Israel´s highest court dealt with a
similar question when, in 1999, it was asked to balance
due process rights against dire threats to the security
of its people:

“This is the destiny of democracy, as not all means are
acceptable to it, and not all practices employed by its
enemies are open before it. Although a democracy must
often fight with one hand tied behind its back, it
nonetheless has the upper hand. Preserving the Rule of
Law and recognition of an individual´s liberty
constitutes an important component in its understanding
of security. At the end of the day they (add to) its
strength.’

I want to challenge the Bush Administration´s implicit
assumption that we have to give up many of our
traditional freedoms in order to be safe from
terrorists.

Because it is simply not true.

In fact, in my opinion, it makes no more sense to
launch an assault on our civil liberties as the best
way to get at terrorists than it did to launch an
invasion of Iraq as the best way to get at Osama Bin
Laden.

=============

Bush takes quiet aim at 'green' laws
from the November 07, 2003 edition of The Christian Science Monitor

Excerpt:
There's a risky dimension to shifting federal environmental policy -
even in the name of "balance" - that leaves the administration open to
criticism. In a memo to Republican leaders earlier this year, GOP
pollster Frank Luntz warned that "the environment is probably the
single issue on which Republicans in general - and President Bush in
particular - are most vulnerable."

One indicator: Last week, 13 states and 20 cities sued the Bush
administration for its plan to adjust Clean Air Act regulations in a
way critics say will increase the emission of harmful pollutants. EPA
officials this week acknowledged that investigations of several dozen
power plants thought to be in violation of the Clean Air Act will be
dropped, confirming suspicions for critics of the administration plan
allowing power plants to upgrade without reducing emissions.

While Democrats are more likely to be considered "green" than
Republicans, much of the support for increased environmental
protection is bipartisan.
Full Text:
http://members.cox.net/lhoste/ianews/ianews.htm#4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
McDonald's Annoyed by Dictionary Word 'McJob'
Tue Nov 11, 8:31 AM ET
Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Brad Dorfman

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Dictionary publisher Merriam-
Webster has hit a McSore Spot with McDonald's Corp.
over the inclusion of the word "McJob" in its latest
Collegiate Dictionary.

The latest edition of the dictionary defines "McJob" as
"a low paying job that requires little skill and
provides little opportunity for advancement."

In an open letter sent to the media on Friday, Jim
Cantalupo, chairman and chief executive of the world's
largest fast-food chain, took issue with the inclusion
of the word and definition.

The definition "is not only an inaccurate description
of restaurant employment, it's also a slap in the face
to the 12 million men and women who work hard every day
in America's 900,000 restaurants," Cantalupo said.

More than 1,000 people who own McDonald's restaurants
got their training serving customers behind the
counter, he said, taking issue with the notion that
work in the fast-food outlets is a dead-end job.
Cantalupo also pointed to members of McDonald's top
management, including President and Chief Operating
Officer Charlie Bell, who began their careers working
as crew members at McDonald's restaurants.

"In fact, McDonald's trains more young people than
America's armed forces," Cantalupo said.

He also said the company has a trademark on the word
"McJOBS," which refers to its program for training and
placing people with disabilities.

Cantalupo called for Merriam-Webster to eliminate the
definition in its next edition and on its Internet
site.

In a statement, Merriam-Webster stood by the
definition.

"For more than 17 years, 'McJob' has been used as we
are defining it in a broad range of publications,
including The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report,
Publishers Weekly, Rolling Stone, The Times (London),
The Boston Globe, Ms., Harper's, The New Republic, Utne
Reader, The Vancouver Sun," the statement said.

It said "words qualify for inclusion in the dictionary
because they are widely and commonly used in a broad
range of carefully edited sources."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = == = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 21:44:51 -0600
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 19 November 2003

             <:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
                  19 November 2003
            Happy Equal Opportunity Day
  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- picayune
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Billy Collins
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Call Me a Bush-Hater
6. By The Numbers - Harper's Index
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
picayune (pik-uh-YOON) adjective

1. Of little value or significance.

2. Petty, small-minded.

noun

1. A Spanish-American coin equal to half the value of a real (a silver
coin).

2. A small coin, especially a five-cent piece.

3. Something or someone of little value.

[From French picaillon, from Provençal picaioun, a small coin.]

   "One could criticize the book as having a progovernment bias, but such
   criticism would be picayune and, I believe, wrong."
   Hawley, F. Frederick, Terrorism in America: Pipe Bombs and Pipe Dreams.
   (book reviews), Social Forces, Mar 1, 1995.

   "Well, it is not supposed to be good form these days to dwell on the
   picayune personal problems, especially of Republicans, but, you know,
   I've never been much for form. So, of the speaker, Gingrich's three
   recent personal problems - his mother, his historian and his book -
   the book is potentially, I think, the most serious."
   Schorr - Reality Sets in for New Congress, Weekend Edition - Saturday
   NPR, Jan 14, 1995.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:

Rua Direita - Obidos, Portugal - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/031007_obidosstreet_4095.htm>

Waiting On A Good Set - Ericeira, Portugal - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/031006_surfing_4030.htm>

LAST ISSUE:
Rooftops in Granada, Spain - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/031001_granadaroofs_3663.htm>

Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea)- Jean Lafitte NHP - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0310bs/031025_trefrog_4578a.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Billy Collins
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The Lanyard

by Billy Collins

The other day I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room,
moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one into the past more suddenly—
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid long thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that´s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light

and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift — not the worn truth

that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hand,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing
http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/

Federal Forms
http://www.fedforms.gov/

The Pulitzer Prize Photographs
http://www.newseum.org/pulitzer/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Call Me a Bush-Hater
by Molly Ivins
From The Progressive
November 14, 2003
<http://members.cox.net/lhoste/ianews/ianews.htm#5>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. By The Numbers - Harper's Index
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Harper's Index
October 2003

Age at which a Missouri basketball prodigy was welcomed
into "the Reebok family" last May : 3

Amount, in inches, by which the average North Korean 7-
year-old is shorter than the average South Korean 7-
year-old : 2.9

Percentage of U.S. doctors who say they have not told
patients about a treatment because their insurance
didn't cover it : 31

Number of U.S. troops who have died in Afghanistan and
Iraq in the last two years : 354

Number who died in Vietnam in 1963 and 1964 : 324

Percentage points by which George Bush Sr.'s approval
rating in August 1991 exceeded his son's last August :
11

Reelection campaign funds raised by Bush Sr. as of June
1991 and by his son as of last June, respectively : $0,
$67,687,000

Percentage of Americans who believe that George W. Bush
was legitimately elected president : 54

Percentage who believed this in March 2001 : 56

Years before Enron declared bankruptcy in 2001 that the
IRS asked the SEC to investigate the firm : 2.5

Number of SEC investigations of Enron that resulted : 0

Percentage of Americans who will save less than $100 on
their 2006 federal taxes as a result of this year's tax
cut : 88

Average amount these Americans will save : $4

Estimated market value of the usable body parts of an
adult human : $46,000,000

Percentage of Iraqis who said in July that they would
rather live under the Americans than under Saddam
Hussein : 29

Ratio of Liberia's GDP last year to the amount
Americans spent on skis : 1:1

Number of Democratic legislators absent for this year's
213–210 vote restricting workers' overtime-pay
eligibility : 7

Number of Virginia Republican Party officials fined
this year for eavesdropping on Democratic Party
conference calls : 3

Year in which Donald Rumsfeld gave Saddam Hussein a
pair of golden spurs : 1983

Sources: <http://www.harpers.org/harpers-index/listing.php3?src=1&sub_date=2003-10-01>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 11:27:34 -0600
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> Happy Thanksgiving - 27Nov2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
27 November 2003

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~

THIS ISSUE:

Photos of Thanksgiving morning in New Orleans
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0311/03gvth.htm

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Fri, 05 Dec 2003 07:08:05 -0600
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 05 Dec. 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
5 December 2003

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- codswallop
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Katha Pollitt
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Inside Story of How Washington is Losing its Battle
6. Weird News - 425 million old penis found
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
codswallop (KODZ-wol-uhp) noun

Nonsense.

[Of unknown origin. According to a popular story, a
fellow named Hiram Codd came up with the design of a
soft-drink bottle with a marble in its neck to keep the
fizz. Wallop was slang for beer and those who preferred
alcoholic drinks dismissively referred to the soft-
drink as Codd's Wallop. This story is unproven.]

"Raising taxes is impossible politically? Poppycock and
codswallop, says the Conference Board." William Watson;
The 0.2% Solution; National Post (Canada); Nov 11,
2003.

"Mr Norris's mouth cuts a grim strip across his face as
he drips scorn on the commission's reasons for the
decision, dismissing it as codswallop, as showing a
`lack of commercial reality'." Claire Trevett;
Unsmiling Airline Chief Takes Defeat in His Stride; The
New Zealand Herald (Auckland, New Zealand); Oct 24,
2003.

FocusGroup
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0311\031128focusgroup.htm

LAST ISSUE:
Photos of Thanksgiving morning in New Orleans
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0311/03gvth.htm
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Katha Pollitt
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Small Comfort
Katha Pollitt

Coffee and cigarettes in a clean cafe,
forsythia lit like a damp match against
a thundery sky drunk on its own ozone,

the laundry cool and crisp and folded away
again in the lavender closet-too late to find
comfort enough in such small daily moments

of beauty, renewal, calm, too late to imagine
people would rather be happy than suffering
and inflicting suffering. We're near the end,

but O before the end, as the sparrows wing
each night to their secret nests in the elm's green dome
O let the last bus bring

love to lover, let the starveling
dog turn the corner and lope suddenly
miraculously, down its own street, home.

from The New Yorker

Copyright by Katha Pollitt.
All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
DAILY ROTATION - links to headlines from 250+ tech sites
http://www.dailyrotation.com/index.shtml
(submitted by subscriber Jean L'Hoste)

DAILY WHIRL - links to headlines from 100+ legal news
and information sites
http://www.dailywhirl.com/

The Evolution of the U.S. Conservation Movement-
from the Library of Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amrvhtml/conshome.html

In New York the mood is buoyant as the American economy continues to
purr at a satisfying rate, but 250 miles to the south in Washington DC
there is increasing private gloom among those in the know that events
in Afghanistan and Iraq are going badly wrong - and growing despair
about what to do about it.
GO TO FULL ARTICLE:
http://members.cox.net/lhoste/ianews/ianews.htm#6
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Tiny fossil may be oldest male Presence of sex organ is
convincing

By JAMES GORMAN New York Times

A 425-million-year-old fossil found in Herefordshire,
England, may be the oldest record of an animal that is
unarguably male.

In the paper published today in the journal Science,
the scientists name the creature Colymbosathon
ecplecticos, which they say means swimmer with a large
penis.

Colymbosathon was only two-tenths of an inch long, said
David J. Siveter, a geologist at the University of
Leicester.

There are many fossils, some earlier, that
paleontologists judge to be male by overall size or
other characteristics. But fossils may be a bit like
the sonograms that prospective parents inspect so
carefully -- only the presence of a penis is considered
definitive.

Ostracode shells are common fossils and used in studies
of ancient climate and of the pace of evolution. They
are also used in oil exploration to help determine the
age of drilled cores. Modern ostracodes are everywhere.
They are common in oceans, shallow seas, rivers and
lakes.

What is more remarkable than the sex of the fossil,
Siveter said, is that the discovery pushes back the
presence of ostracodes 200 million years. Some fossils
were presumed to be ostracodes, but with no soft body
parts it was hard to know for sure, and such fossils
are exceedingly rare.

The new fossil, of calcite found in volcanic ash, has
modern descendants that are almost exactly the same,
down to two hairs on the end of its swimming
appendages.

It also offers a striking example of evolution almost
standing still.

"This," Siveter said, "is an animal whose basic ground
plan hasn't changed in 425 million years." It evolved
hardly at all.

A geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston,
Va., Thomas M. Cronin, who uses ostracodes in a variety
of research, said that it was "unbelievable to see the
similarity with the living forms."

Cronin also praised the detail with which the fossil
was reconstructed. Siveter and his colleagues ground
the fossil down 20 microns (one one-thousandth of an
inch) at a time, taking a digital photograph at each
step. The photographs were combined in a computer to
create a precise, three-dimensional, virtual
reconstruction.

The ostracodes, Cronin said, have another claim to
fame. Some are bioluminescent, with flashing patterns
that are different for each species. They are, he said,
"the fireflies of the sea."

It was only in December that other researchers
announced at a conference that they had found a 400
million-year-old ancestor of the daddy long legs that
had an identifiable penis. Before that, the
recordholder was another ostracode, from Brazil, a mere
100 million years old.

Siveter's colleagues, who contributed to the research,
were Derek E. G. Briggs of Yale University and Mark D.
Sutton and Derek J. Siveter, both of Oxford. The
Siveters are twin brothers.

Photos:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/1000901.asp?0cv=TB10&cp1=1

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 08:43:09 -0600
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 17 December 2003

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
17 December 2003

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- internecine
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Linda Pastan
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Let it flow, let it flow?
6. Weird News - Weird News
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
internecine (in-tuhr-NES-een) adjective

1. Of or relating to conflict within a group or nation.

2. Mutually destructive.

3. Characterized by bloodshed or slaughter.

[From Latin internecinus (deadly), from internecare (to slaughter),
from inter- + necare (to kill), from nex-, nec- (death). A few other words
derived from the same root are pernicious, noxious, obnoxious, and necrosis.
Some positive words originating from the same root are nectar, nectarine,
innocent, and innocuous.]

The original meaning of today's term was "deadly", from the prefix inter-
(all the way to, completely) + necare (to kill), from nec- (death). While
writing his 1755 dictionary, the great lexicographer Samuel Johnson
erroneously believed the prefix inter- implied "between" (as in
"international") and defined internecine as "endeavoring mutual destruction"
that, thanks to his popular dictionary, became the primary sense of the word.

  "Jones also gives us a portrait of how Enlightenment-era French citizens
   clamored for self-rule, and an account of the grisly, internecine feuding
   that led to the rise of Napoleon in 1799."
   Washington Is Also Reading; The Washington Post; Mar 30, 2003.

  "During the late 1980s, the veteran Amal militia began an internecine war
   against a radical Shi'ite upstart group named Hizbullah."
   Matthew Gutman; Lawyer: Obeid, Dirani Not Linked to Arad; Jerusalem Post
   (Israel); Nov 9, 2003.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:

FuseBalls
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0311/031128fuseballs.htm

Audubon Oaks - 2003
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0312/031207oaks4851.htm

Audubon Oaks II - 2003
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0312/031207oaks4858.htm

Symbiosis
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0312/m23sunset.htm

LAST ISSUE:

Flamenco - Sevilla, Spain 2003
http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/031003e_flamenco2.htm

FocusGroup
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0311\031128focusgroup.htm

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Linda Pastan
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
A New Poet
Linda Pastan

Finding a new poet
is like finding a new wildflower
out in the woods. You don't see

its name in the flower books, and
nobody you tell believes
in its odd color or the way

its leaves grow in splayed rows
down the whole length of the page. In fact
the very page smells of spilled

red wine and the mustiness of the sea
on a foggy day - the odor of truth
and of lying.

And the words are so familiar,
so strangely new, words
you almost wrote yourself, if only

in your dreams there had been a pencil
or a pen or even a paintbrush,
if only there had been a flower.

from Heroes In Disguise, 1991
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York, NY
Copyright 1991 by Linda Pastan.
All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Time.com celebrates 100 years of flight:
http://www.time.com/time/2003/flight/

CDC Fact Sheet: Influenza (Flu)
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

Using M$ Internet Explorer
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/using/howto/default.asp
(F11 toggles full-screen browser)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Let it flow, let it flow?
By Molly Ivins
Creators Syndicate
Posted on Sun, Dec. 14, 2003

I can't tell whether this administration is flaunting its cynicism, its
contempt for science or its conviction that, when in power, you help your
contributors and fry your enemies -- although how millions of small
children and unborn fetuses came to be enemies of George W. Bush & Co. is
beyond my political or theological understanding.

We are talking about the rollback announced last week in regulating mercury
pollution. Except, of course, that it wasn't announced as a rollback -- it
was announced as a great step forward.

This raises the always timely question "How dumb do they think we are?,"
and this time the answer is, "Profoundly dumb," because it is real hard to
get fooled by this one. You look at the numbers and tell me.

GO THE FULL ARTICLE:
http://members.cox.net/lhoste/ianews/ianews.htm#7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
"Commenting on a complaint from a Mr Arthur Purdey about a large gas
bill, a spokesman for North Westgas said, "We agree it was rather
high for the time of year. It's possible Mr Purdey has been charged for
the gas used up during the explosion that destroyed his house." (The
Daily Telegraph)

Police reveal that a woman arrested for shoplifting had a whole
salami in her knickers. When asked why, she said it was because she was
missing her Italian boyfriend. (The Manchester Evening News)

Irish police are being handicapped in a search for a stolen van,
because they cannot issue a description. It's a Special Branch vehicle and
they don't want the public to know what it looks like. (The
Guardian)

A young girl who was blown out to sea on a set of inflatable teeth
was rescued by a man on an inflatable lobster. A coastguard spokesman
commented, "This sort of thing is all too common". (The Times)

At the height of the gale, the harbourmaster radioed a coastguard on
the spot and asked him to estimate the wind speed. He replied he was
sorry, but he didn't have a gauge. However, if it was any help, the wind
had just blown his Land Rover off the cliff. (Aberdeen Evening Express)

Mrs Irene Graham of Thorpe Avenue, Boscombe, delighted the audience
with her reminiscence of the German prisoner of war who was sent each
week to do her garden. He was repatriated at the end of 1945, she recalled
"He'd always seemed a nice friendly chap, but when the crocuses came up in
the middle of our lawn in February 1946, they spelt out "Heil Hitler."
(Bournemouth Evening Echo)

(Submitted by subscriber David Plavnicky)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

X-Sender: davidlhoste@pop.east.cox.net (Unverified)
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 04:16:39 -0600
To: lhoste@lhostelaw.com
From: "David J. L'Hoste" <lhoste@lhostelaw.com>
Subject: <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> 31 December 2003

             <:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
                  31 December 2003
                   HAPPY NEW YEAR
  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- lambent
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- David J. L'Hoste
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Will We Follow Bush to Wal-Mart America?
6. Weird News - Neuticles -- Canine Cajones Implants
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
lambent (LAM-buhnt) adjective

1. Flickering lightly over a surface.

2. Softly glowing.

3. Marked by lightness or grace (in an expression)

[From Latin lambent, stem of lambens, present
participle of lambere (to lick).]

"What started sometime in 1999 like a lambent flame
snowballed into a big political conflagration and
consequently entered a new chapter last Thursday with
the decision of a faction of the party to decamp to the
Alliance for Democracy (AD)." Tokunbo Adedoja; Plateau
PDP: The Battle Enters a New Chapter; This Day (Lagos,
Nigeria); May 27, 2002.

Constancia, Portugal 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/03europe/031007_constancia.htm>

LAST ISSUE:
FuseBalls
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0311/031128fuseballs.htm>

Audubon Oaks - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0312/031207oaks4851.htm>

Audubon Oaks II - 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0312/031207oaks4858.htm>

Symbiosis
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0312/m23sunset.htm>

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Residue

The notion of a familiar scene
played again in our lives
is sometimes called deja vu.

Technically, this is not deja vu,
which is the notion that a new situation
is actually one experienced before.

Last night I dreamed my father
had new teeth, and as I emerged
from my reverie I debated with myself,

whether he had new teeth or
I was just imagining it.
I'd have to ask him or look, I thought.

Last week I saw my dead father on the street
and several memories fired past synapse before
I was certain it was not him.

Paul Simon thinks these are the days
of miracles and wonder, and I cannot
tell if this is deja vu or not.

-David J. L'Hoste
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - 2003
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Year in Pictures from MSNBC
<http://www.msnbc.com/modules/yip03/>

The Year in Politics from Newsweek
<http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3144249/>

Cures for Hangover
<http://www.askmen.com/fashion/how_to/13_how_to.html>

<http://www.epicurious.com/d_drinking/d07_spirits/hangover.html>

Let's take a look at the concrete numbers. Since Bush
took office, the economy has shed more than 2 million
jobs. Poverty has increased two years in a row, the
first time that has happened in at least a decade.
Twenty-five major American cities saw a 19 percent
increase in demand for emergency food for the hungry.
Health care costs are skyrocketing, with a new study
showing more and more employers forcing workers to pick
up the tab. In other words, for millions of Americans,
the answer is a flat out no, we are not better off.

Still, the White House is pointing to recent macro-
economic indicators that show the economy may be coming
back to life. Job losses have slowed, at least
temporarily. GDP showed healthy growth for the first
quarter in a long time. Seeking political advantage,
the President is pointing to that data and taking
credit for a full-blown recovery and boom. Earlier this
month, for instance, he told a Michigan audience that
the state's economy "looks pretty good."

Go to the full article:
<http://members.cox.net/lhoste/ianews/ianews.htm#8>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
"Neuticles" give castrated dogs virtual virility
Tue Dec 30, 8:03 PM ET

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - The 100,000 implant testicles for
dogs that Gregg Miller has sold may not have done much
for sex life of castrated canines, but they have worked
wonders for the self-esteem of guilty owners.

Miller's self-reproach at having his own dog neutered
in 1993 led him to develop "neuticles" and give animals
a new lease of life, at least in a virtual sense.

"It took two years to get developped," Miller told AFP.
"The reason why I came out with it was the trauma that
I went through neutering my bloodhound 'Buck'."

The dog kept running away when it scented a female and
once got 30 miles (48 kilometers) before it was found.
"It was a miracle I got him back. I was really forced
to get him neutered but once I did, I felt so guilty."

Miller asked his vet if there was any implant "so Buck
can look the same afterwards." There was nothing. So
after a 500,000 dollar investment, Miller's company,
Canine Testicular Implantation Corp. (CTI), carried out
its first "neuticle" implant on a rottweiler named Max
in 1995.

"Max is still alive today and still has his
'neuticles'," Miller said proudly.

Since then the company has supplied 100,000 implants
across America and in 36 countries around the world
including Britain, China, Australia and Spain.

The neuticles come in polypropylene, like firm plastic,
or in softer silicone. The cost is between 60 dollars
and 130 dollars. The operation fee is on top.

"It's a male thing," said Miller. "If I lost mine, I
would want them to be replaced with the implants." But
some people just say they want their dog to look
natural.

Michael Parks, a vet in the eastern Maryland town of
Charlotte Hall, recently carried out his first implant
operation. "The first thing when you hear about
neuticles, is it is just kind of ridiculous," he said.

His client was a Boxer whose female owner was concerned
about how the dog would look after being neutered.

"The testicles are pretty much in plain view because
there is no hair to cover everything up. And from the
behind, you can see it very well, and she was worried
that when we removed the testicles, he was going to
look so much different."

Parks does not believe dogs really feel "physically or
psychologically" that they have suffered a major loss.
"Dogs are not vain and they don't really care how they
look especially between the legs, I don't think the
dogs think about that.

"It is much more for the human. There are a lot of
people who have problems with neutering especially men,
for obvious reason. 'I just can't do that to my dog'."

For Parks, "If it makes a human happy, I think it is a
good product."

Flavia Delmastro, a veterinarian in Fulton, Maryland,
also believes neuticles are more important to humans
than their castrated pets.

"The dogs don't worry about it. They don't see the
difference. If it helps the owner to make the decision
to neuter the animal, I am all for it."

Miller's business has taken off so much that now he is
being asked to provide implants for cats, horses and
even bulls in Spain.

One man in Colorado wanted implants for two water
buffalos and the University of Louisiana sought
neuticles for 25 rats, said Miller. "We do a lot of
horses, a lot of bulls. But 90 percent of our business
is with dogs."

But some owners go too far and seek neuticles that are
too big for the dog. Miller is disgusted.

One medical doctor in Indiana put large neuticles into
a small dog. "The scrotum literally dragged the floor,
it caused scrotal irritation. It was not fair to that
pet, it was very inhumane. We really try to make sure
that the pet is properly sized before we send them
out," he insisted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

-00-