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Sunday, October 26, 2003

Thank you, Newsweek!   This is the proper way to cite a word that does not exist:   Until now. In a NEWSWEEK interview, McCain for the first time compared the situation in Iraq to Vietnam, where he survived six years of wartime imprisonment, and began openly distancing himself from Bush’s war strategy. McCain, aides say, was rankled by what he saw as a useless, Panglossian classified briefing, especially after reading Donald Rumsfeld’s now infamous internal memo. In it, the secretary of Defense said that Iraq would be a “long slog,” and admitted the government had no “metric” for knowing if it was making net progress in ridding the world of terrorists.   The double quotes indicate that they do not endorse it, minimally, and might go as far as to indicate that they haven’t a clue as to what this turd-in-the-punchbowl word means, if anything. Do not pass judgment, just mark it with quotes, and depend on the intelligence of the reader to cipher it all out. "Hey, Gomer! – the Secretary Of-Defense needs metrics. You got one of them there English wenches?" 8:15:07 PM    comment []

The "other" chicharrones Technically, pasta para duritos, this is what you get when you fry up those little orange pinwheels that you see in the Mexican section of the grocery. I thought you boiled them until I read an article about them in The Rosengarten Report.  Now I know you deep fry 'em. just like pork rinds, or you can nuke 'em too. These were deep-fried in that habanero-infused lard I made last weekend. Then they were spinkled with Louisiana Cajun Seasoning which imparted a blissful veneer to complement the capsaicin soul kiss within. Julio told me that this is the kind of food you nibble on when you're "just drinking." Highly recommended! 2:49:00 PM    comment []

U.S. leaders offering their people war without end   MATT KELLEY Canadian Press Saturday, October 25, 2003 WASHINGTON (AP) - Given the chance to talk with the U.S. defence secretary, one solider asked what was on the minds of many: when will the worldwide fight against terrorism be over? "I mean, should I get my three-year-old ready for air-assault school?" the soldier asked Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during an Iraq tour last month. "I wish I could give you a date but I can't," Rumsfeld said. That would be like estimating when a town will no longer need firefighters or police, he told the soldier. Privately, U.S. administration officials have said for months they see the anti-terrorism fight as a decades-long struggle similar to the Cold War that dominated the second half of the 20th century. A private memo from Rumsfeld to his top aides brought the issue once again to the public's eye last week. "It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another but it will be a long, hard slog," Rumsfeld wrote in the memo, which was leaked to the news media. Y’all remember, about a year ago, when Rayne suggested that we shorten “Salon Blog” to “slog?” It is a real word, one of my favorite types - those that are short but still a little baffling. Here, courtesy of the online American Heritage dictionary, is what Rummy meant: slog   VERB: Inflected forms: slogged, slog·ging, slogs INTRANSITIVE VERB: 1. To walk or progress with a slow heavy pace; plod: slog across the swamp; slogged through both volumes. 2. To work diligently for long hours: slogged away at Latin. TRANSITIVE VERB: 1. To make (one's way) with a slow heavy pace against resistance. 2. To strike with heavy blows. NOUN: 1. A long exhausting march or hike: a slog through miles of jungle. 2. A long session of hard work: an 18-hour slog in the hay fields. ETYMOLOGY: Perhaps alteration of slug3. OTHER FORMS: slog ger —NOUN   More disturbing was his use of the word “metrics.”   "We are having mixed results with al-Qaeda, although we have put considerable pressure on them—nonetheless, a great many remain at large ... we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror.   Other than the hyphenated form, the dictionary has only this:   metrics   SYLLABICATION: met·rics NOUN: (used with a sing. verb) The use or study of metrical structures in verse; prosody.   Donny: You are not using it with a singular verb! You are making up words just like you made up “Weapons Of Mass Destruction.” Stop it! You are sufficiently offensive already without the sloppy word usage, heavens to Betsy, yes.   Editors: When one of these deluded individuals starts making up words, append a “sic” or put it in single quotes like you do when ‘Saddam’ or ‘Osama’ has one of their tapes played on al Jazeera. You are defenders of our language, it is your duty to protect it from people who can’t speak it and attempt to pollute it with new age jargon. They say that those who would destroy us would first corrupt our communications. This war too is never-ending. 10:43:12 AM    comment []