Categories
News, Spin

Thrust, Parry and the Other One

By which is meant, when you withdraw the rapier to prepare to strike again, as parry means to deflect and thrust is thrust. Crossing swords naturally refers to former President Carter’s blunt criticism over the weekend of current President Bush, particularly his foreign policy. Can’t get harsher than say “the worst,” which is the quote. […]

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Brick Bats Reportage

No Lone Zone

We visited family over the weekend, driving almost six hours to Warrensburg-Knob Noster, Mo. A half-dozen or so in-laws were there, for the retirement ceremony of a 25-year airman, a stepbrother-in-law. His last deployment was to Whiteman Air Force Base. The career began in fuels and ended in the branch’s financing branch, ensuring personnel and […]

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Body, Home, Street

Twin Double-Feature

Scott Shackelford wrote a thoughtful column for today’s Northwest Arkansas Times, about a possibility we Ozarkers should make a pitch for: A cinema specializing in small films. Malco Theatres Inc., which has a number of multiplexes in the area, is building a 12-screener in Fayetteville just down from Northwest Arkansas Mall on Joyce Boulevard. We […]

Categories
News, Spin

Dash it, Ashcroft

I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up during the first administration of the second Bush, I was taught that John Ashcroft was the anti-attorney general. Both his foes and his supporters seemed to agree that he was a proud religious-right zealot in terms of God-first, Constitution-maybe, and the remaining job description […]

Categories
Life Lessons

Who Are These People?

Copyright 2007 Ben S. Pollock Memoir. As much as can be mocked of the genre — (1) Was the life of “X,” no matter his or her accomplishments, so fascinating that we’d want the least of details? Often no, and (2) Memory even corrected by research distorts both the facts and the truth — I […]

Categories
The Course of Words

Hail, Commodius, seen Caesar?

Copyright 2007 Ben S. Pollock Commodity. I didn’t know that was a bad word. During the early years when I covered business while reporting a lot of subjects, I learned that one invested in commodities. It is an article of trade or commerce, especially a product that can be processed and resold, such as in […]