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The Course of Words

Alas, Richard

Copyright 2007 Ben S. Pollock Humorist Richard Allin died Thursday in Little Rock. He was 77. The following is why he’s important. It’s from the acknowledgments page of my journalism master’s thesis, spring 2003. At the family breakfast table in Fort Smith, 30 to 35 years ago, Dad laughing would read aloud paragraphs from the […]

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The Course of Words

State of the Buggy Whip

The Nobel folks awarded its 2007 literature prize Thursday to Doris Lessing. The wire service story was the usual. It began with the summary lede. Then it had a sliver of who she is — elderly and English but with first-hand knowledge of the Near East and southern Africa, prolifically writing fiction often sci fi, […]

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The Course of Words

Secret Coda

Corrections: For the Record An article on Thursday about the arraignment of three men in the shooting of two New York police officers, one of whom died, misstated the schedule set by a judge for a trial in the case. The trial is expected to begin by February, not by ‘Feb. 30.’ The error occurred […]

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The Course of Words

Deathly Hallowed Words

You can read here the last, first: He had no further intercourse with

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The Course of Words

What Makes America Great

From today’s Democrat-Gazette The site currently under construction isn’t a replica of the original building, but a ‘faithful facsimile.’” — Tommy Jameson, project architect for Little Rock’s new Mosaic Templars black history museum. I’m not trying to advocate more drinking. I’m trying to get more tax revenue for our county.” — Richard Hodo, owner of […]

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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 […]