The OED
A most appealing web site for lovers of the English language is the Oxford English Dictionary . The site is well organized and offers an intriguing and fascinating tour.

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#102

Some thoughts
Some thoughts:

Read any good poetry lately? Ruth Lilly, 87 years old and heir to the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical fortune gave $100 million to Poetry, an almost obscure literary magazine which never published any of her poems. Poetry has a circulation of about 11,000 and in 2002 celebrated its 90th anniversary. Slight increases in the payment to poets are likely, said the editor.

Various studies and surveys tell us 49 percent of American marriages end in divorce. Second and third marriages are as likely to end in divorce as first marriages. It almost seems as though people spend less time to selecting a mate than they do to finding a parking space closest to the door at Wal-Mart. Of course, this doesn’t explain the 68 percent divorce rate in Belarus where there is no Wal-Mart.

Since the butler didn’t do it, according to the Queen, what are we left to think? The amusing tales of British Royalty in the fading days of 2002 are keeping the masses amused, which is one reason the English are unlikely to dump the Royals as predicted by some British watchers. After all, entertaining the masses is as much a worthwhile Royal function as opening a new mall, christening a ship or running with hounds.

Is it possible the administration was pandering to the Christian Coalition and right-wing extremists in the Republican Party leading up to the November elections? Let’s face it. Why now are Administration voices finally speaking out against the anti-Islam rants of Falwell, Robinson and Swaggert? Also, why this week, two weeks after the election, for the first time has the President said war is his last resort?


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#101

"Slut and stool pigeon"
In the late 40's and early 50's, Elizabeth Bentley and Whittaker Chambers were star performers during the hunt for Soviet spies in America. Chambers produced documents given to him by American government officials. But Bentley was more fun. She was a courier and the lover of a philandering Soviet agent. J. Edgar Hoover embraced her and then must have suffered massive headaches from his star informer's antics and stories. Her enemies called her a "slut and a stool pigeon," amid a flurry of uncomplimentary comments. Ultimately, Bentley's story stuck and has been buttressed over time as more and more information has come out about Soviet espionage, most notable through the Venona Project. A new biography (Red Spy Queen, Univ. of North Carolina,) by Kathryn S. Olmstead gets a good review from Michael J. Ybarra (The Wall Street Journal, November 20, 2002.)

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#100

Skin check is very important
Completed the work on the three basal cell carcinomas with my dermatologist today. On Tuesday he scrapped and burned a growth on my back, on Wednesday he did the same to a growth on the right side of my scalp and today he cut on my right forehead. The doctor sent today's cuttings (forehead was worst than other two locations) to the biology lab while I was still on the table and telephone report followed shortly giving me the all clear to go on my way. The doctor stiched me up (he did stitches internally and externally) while the flesh sample was en-route to the lab. I questioned him about this and he said in only about five percent of the cases did he have to cut the stitches and continue the work. I like a man with confidence.

I will take out my own external stitches in about seven days. The internal will disintegrate on their own. Daily, I have to cleanse the wounds and apply new bandages for a couple of weeks, perhaps three weeks for the forehead. The literature the doctor gave me said it is an "old wives tale" that wounds heal better in the air. I apply a medication to my back and forehead, but surprisingly Vaseline to my head. I got a haircut in the Robert Duvall style on Tuesday afternoon. It makes dressing my hair easier and less likely to interfere with the wounds when I don't have to comb, brush, fold and tuck those 137 hairs across my head from left to right.

I will return for a checkup in about six months and annually for five years. I plan to make an annual visit part of my normal annual physical routine.

One of the more surprising things about all this is that two spots on the left side of my scalp which I worried about (and two children urged me to see about) were shrugged off as meaningless by the dermatologist. He saw things we didn't. (See reference to confidence in Para one above.)

The worst part of the procedures is the needle to deaden the area to be worked on. Having needles stuck in your head is a thrill only for a masochist. I applied ELA-Max (a local anesthetic) about 45 minutes before the procedures began but thought that of minimal value. The first and second shots were the worst. Who knows how bad they might have been without the ELA-Max?

The doctor said the damage to my skin could have been done years ago and is only now manifesting itself. This was surprising and I urge anyone suspicious of any growth to have it checked by a dermatologist. My regular physician has been looking at me for a few years but nothing he saw sounded any bells. I believe a specialist is called for as we advance in age.


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#99

Salute to veterans
This is the annual Veterans' Day weekend. Veterans of World War II are dying at the rate of 1,800 a day, according to Peter Jennings last night. A good way to thank these men is to be a good person yourself and to have respect for each other.

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#98

Sincerely, Andy Rooney
November 8, 2002

Mr. Andy Rooney
CBS
524 West 57th Street
New York New York 10019

Dear Mr. Rooney,

I am reading Sincerely, Andy Rooney. I found it in one of those remainder warehouses where books are discounted up to 80%. Your book didn’t reach that level, but I am satisfied it is worth the $4.50 I paid for it.

Sincerely,




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#97

Post election observations
At the end of the day on November 6, our country had experienced an interesting 24 hours of mixed interests and concerns. Republicans return to Washington in control of the Congress, the Fed meeting in Washington slashed interest rates a half point in an effort to jump start a sluggish economy and Winona Ryder was found guilty of shoplifting in Los Angeles. Somewhere in the middle of the country, a wheat farmer asked, "Is anyone interested in me?"

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#96

Short-circuit at Circuit City
The new Circuit City location in North Charleston, SC, opened formally this afternoon at 6 p.m. I was there at 5:10 p.m. and was shocked to find close to 400 people already in line. Some were sitting in lawn chairs, at least one was in a wheelchair and others were eating and drinking out of picnic coolers. In the paper this morning, CC advertised they would give a free DVD player to the first 100 people in line. I believe tickets for the new James Bond movie are also being given away. I actually thought by getting there 50 minutes early I would have a shot at one of the DVDs. Who knew that many people would be reading the paper this morning? Don't these people have morning jobs? Anyway, I turned my Lincoln (Ford Co. motto: "There are those who travel. And those who travel well.") around and parked discreetly near the mess hall (aka: K&W Cafeteria) and went in for my dinner. I treated myself to a slice of apple pie since I wasn't going to get a free DVD player.

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#95

A friend passes
I learned today my long-time friend Albert "Bud" Sessoms, formerly of North Charleston, S.C., died on October 10, 2002, in North Carolina, after being admitted to a hospital. He had been in a nursing home where it is believed by some members of his family he was given incorrect medicine for his emphysema. At the hospital, a reaction set in and he passed within two days. My e-mails to him of recent date had been returned.

I contacted one of his sons, Eugene, who is on staff at the College of Charleston, and he told me what he knew of his father's passing. Bud was a good friend, had some strange ways and was always waiting for the next big deal to come down the pike. He was interviewed for a head waiter's job one day and the interviewer asked, "You do have a tux, I hope?" Bud replied, "Certainly, doesn't everyone." He told me later he rushed out and rented one immediately after the interview.

Bud and I frequently met to talk and discuss world events (we solved many a problem, but no one listened) over a few beers and to eat one of those big, delicious hamburgers at Harold's on Dorchester Road, North Charleston. On occasion we would also shoot a little pool there.

I hired him as a counselor when I was director of the South Carolina Commission for Farmworkers. He had a bad set of tires on his car and an African-American on staff took him to a place to get new tires on credit. Bud said he was embarrassed to have a black man vouching for him (remember this was 1966) and left without the tires. In later years he would not have thought twice about a black man doing him a favor. Bud was not a racist. One Christmas, to teach his four sons the true meaning of Christmas he had them gather up all their unopened presents and the family took them to the John C. Calhoun homes and distributed them to poor black children who otherwise would have had nothing for Christmas.

Bud was what we would call a character. There are not many like him who have passed this way.

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#94

Tracing phone calls
From Slate magazine on the Internet today:

Laugh the next time you see a TV cop tell someone to keep a caller on the line to help trace the call because:

"Digital switches have sped up the process of tracing phone calls by the police. Beginning in the mid-1980s, phone companies began using electronic switching systems (ESS), which can automatically identify any caller's number within a fraction of a second. Those numbers can then be correlated with information from an automatic location indicator to find the phone's address. There is no foolproof way to avoid tracing on an ESS network when making a direct-dial call. (And don't think for a second that hitting *67, which masks your number to Caller ID boxes, can foil a police trace; it only works against civilians.)"

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#93

Richard Helms, spymaster, dies
The shadows have darkened forever for Richard Helms who died at his home outside Washington on Tuesday, October 23, 2002. Helms was a career intelligence operative who headed the Central Intelligence Agency during administrations of Presidents Johnson and Nixon. He was fired by Nixon for refusing to use the CIA to head off the FBI Watergate investigation. During his career Helms hid in the shadows of the intelligence world and is only known to have made one public speech - to newspaper editors. I would rank Helms as one of the top three CIA directors along with Allen Dulles and Bill Colby. Helms was a role model for the current director George Tenet who had Helms' portrait temporarily moved from the directors' wall at the agency headquarters to hang in his personal space.


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#92

On the train, October 2002
I rode the Amtrak to Washington last week prepared to give some advice to President Bush on foreign and domestic policy but he was out hustling the party faithful for dollars for political cronies - old and wannabe - he hopes will jump up and salute when he sends a note to Congress. Any congressman who gets elected with the President’s help better tow the line least he or she be called on the carpet by the leadership and condemned as an ungrateful, miserable little shit. Since the President chose not to be at home when I was in the city I transported myself to the suburbs for four days. Life in the Washington suburbs is not comparable to life in South Carolina. It is all get up and go in heavy traffic and everything seems to cost more. During my stay a shooter was terrorizing whole communities from southern Maryland to southern Virginia. He or she had shot eight or nine people and killed seven or eight. There were more shootings while I was there. I was happy to be heading back to Charleston. My mother, before she died in the spring of 2002, reminded me I once said I would never live further south than Washington. I also said in my youth I would not smoke nor drink. Three plans that went astray. I did give up the smoking in January 1974. Actually I had quit earlier but started again in the winter of 1973 when I went to Saigon after Secretary of State Henry Kissinger initialed the cease fire in Paris. Back to the Amtrak. Along the route between Charleston and Washington the train passes through innumerable small towns in South and North Carolina and Virginia. At one time when automobiles and personal transportation was minimal the train stopped at many of these towns but now limits stops to the larger cities. Passengers are expected to travel on their own to these stops to catch the train. Where the train does stop, and in between, looking from the window one can see shops and businesses closed, buildings empty and in some instance a ghost town appearance. Did these earlier businesses move to the other side of town, perhaps to a mall or out to the suburbs where they are more people? Or had the shops and stores dried up or been replace by Wal-Mart and Costco? Had the proprietors died off without any survivors willing to work the long hours necessary to make a small success of hardware, drugs or dry goods stores? What happened to all these people and where did they go? The homes along the railroad are largely what used to be called trailers but in today’s politically correct world are referred to as mobile homes. Some yards around these are littered with broken auto parts and children’s toys. There is an abundance of folding aluminum and plastic lawn chairs around trailers. Some of the sticks built homes are in need of repair, especially paint, but occasionally one is a pleasant surprise and model for others: fresh paint, yard tidy, grass cut and an American flag flying from the porch. Who are the people who still live by the side of the tracks, especially in the well-kept homes? It must take a lot of effort and hard work to keep a house neat and looking good alongside the tracks. The train rolls on and riders are as ignorant of the people who live along the tracks as they are of the riders. It would be nice to know if one of them was wondering who I was looking out the window at the same time I wondered about them. Would this be thought confluence?


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#91

New leads
On this happy weekend (a daughter's birthday today, the wife's tomorrow) it is noted that the web site Arts and Letters has filed for bankruptcy and is up for sale. Two of the major web site managers are combining their talents at Philosophy and Literature (http://www.philosophyandliterature.com) and this has been substituted for the A&L link on my web site (http://www.archibald99.com) The P&L is fresh and interesting with great links to major publications, essayists and writers. H


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#90

Sightings
Yesterday I saw a man driving his car and shaving with an electric razor. Later, I observed a woman in the Walmart parking lot engaged in conversation on a cell phone she was holding between her shoulder and her ear while she simultaneously opened a car door, helped a small child to get in, and put a large box on the back seat. (Also appeared in The Post & Courier, Charleston, SC, Oct. 9,2002, letters section.)
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#89

Renovating till my birthday
Within a couple of weeks of our return from Canada (see 8/21/2002, below) we started to renovate my study and the family TV area. This week we are almost finished, needing only to get some furniture, blinds for the windows, and hang pictures. Except for the painting this was a DIY job. We put in an engineered floor and while it was a tough, four-day job it has turned out well. We also installed four French doors (two operative) to separate the two areas and allow some privacy. The choice of colors, while initially seemingly brash, is softer and more pleasing to the eye after re-installing the book shelves, desk and furniture. I converted my old desk and credenza into a computer work area by enlarging the credenza top. I had a new top made using walnut planks joined together (72" x 20") and fastened it to the original base and desk. Yesterday was my 71st birthday and I admit to that age only because I feel good and life is good. Being still able to do the work involved in this renovation is a pleasure. Next week I will amend this entry with a picture or two. I am waiting on furniture.


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#88

Salute to the Working Men and Women
Labor Day is set aside to recognize the contributions of millions of men and women who have worked in all aspects of the American experience for over a hundred years. America would not be America without the contributions of these people, living and dead. Thank you, Americans all!

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#87

Trip to Canada and observations
My wife and I recently enjoyed a driving trip to Canada. We visited Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City. On the way there we traveled through South and North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. On the return we came through New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia and North and South Carolina. We had a grand time, enjoyed the sites along the way, rode ferries from New Brunswick to Nova Scotia and from Nova Scotia to Maine. We found that while airline business may be down, Americans are still on the move in their automobiles, trucks, RVs and mobile homes. We visited Ground Zero to pay our respects. Even after all of the TV, magazine and newspaper coverage, we were not prepared for the gapping hole left after the destruction of the World Trade Center and adjoining buildings on 9/11. We were happy to see, however, except for a few buildings still sheathed in builders' cloth and netting while repairs are on-going, most of the buildings on the perimeter of the terrorism have been repaired and are again occupied. People are at work, doing business, selling, buying, creating. It is New York at its finest. Here you can appreciate the comment of one resident on why he lived in New York City: "To be ready to rule the world if it becomes necessary."

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#86

Wow, what an accomplishment
Events in Pennsylvania this past weekend made my chest heave with pride and admiration for old-time Yankee stubbornness, ingenuity and faith. The rescue of the coal miners was another example of the classic line, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." My hat is off is off, not just doffed, to the miners and others who went to the rescue of their brothers in a great demonstration of American determination and technological ability. Those who would do us harm ought to consider this long and hard. (Also appeared in The Post & Courier, Charleston, SC, August 17, 2002, letters section.)


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#85

No TIPS
Congress should think seven times seventy times before funding any TIPS. Contrary to AG John Ashcroft's statements that there would be no database maintained, I am fearful that "unofficial" databases would be created and haunt people for decades. The whole idea of turning delivery men, truck drivers and utility workers et. al. into informants on any organized scale is repugnant in a free society. The proposed Terrorism Information and Prevention System sounds like Orwell, but even worse it is a stark reminder of how people lived in the old Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

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#84

The Bushes
“You have to hand it to the Bush family,” says Bob Shrum, a Democratic strategist. “In nearly six years of two Bush presidencies, there hasn’t been any real job growth at all.” (Quoted in NEWSWEEK, July 29, 2002)

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#83