I define myself as the following word of the day on March 29, 2004:
WORD: arcanum ar-KAY-nuhm (noun)
: A secret; a mystery.
: Specialized or mysterious knowledge, language, or information that is not accessible to the average person (generally used in the plural, arcana).
SYNONYMS: * puzzle
* unknown
* enigma
WORD WISE: Arcanum is from the Latin, from arcanus "closed, secret," from arca, "chest, box," from arcere, "to shut in."
QUOTE: Here we must enter briefly into the technical arcana of employment law.
--Paul F. Campos, Jurismania The Madness of American Law
Monday, March 29, 2004
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Plain English Campaign: Press office: Our latest press release
At the end of the day... we're fed up with clichés.
Plain English supporters around the world have voted "At the end of the day" as the most irritating phrase in the language.
Second place in the vote was shared by "At this moment in time" and the constant use of "like" as if it were a form of punctuation. "With all due respect" came fourth.
The Campaign surveyed its 5000 supporters in more than 70 countries as part of the build-up to its 25th anniversary. The independent pressure group was launched on 26 July 1979.
Spokesman John Lister said over-used phrases were a barrier to communication. "When readers or listeners come across these tired expressions, they start tuning out and completely miss the message - assuming there is one! Using these terms in daily business is about professional as wearing a novelty tie or having a wacky ringtone on your phone.
"George Orwell's advice from 1946 is still worth following: 'Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.'"
The following terms also received multiple nominations:
24/7
absolutely
address the issue
around (in place of "about")
awesome
ballpark figure
basically
basis ("on a weekly basis" in place of "weekly" and so on)
bear with me
between a rock and a hard place
blue sky (thinking)
boggles the mind
bottom line
crack troops
diamond geezer
epicentre (used incorrectly)
glass half full (or half empty)
going forward
I hear what you're saying..
in terms of...
it's not rocket science
literally
move the goal-posts
ongoing
prioritise
pushing the envelope
singing from the same hymn sheet
the fact of the matter is
thinking outside the box
to be honest/to be honest with you/to be perfectly honest
touch base
up to (in place of "about")
value-added (in general use)
At the end of the day... we're fed up with clichés.
Plain English supporters around the world have voted "At the end of the day" as the most irritating phrase in the language.
Second place in the vote was shared by "At this moment in time" and the constant use of "like" as if it were a form of punctuation. "With all due respect" came fourth.
The Campaign surveyed its 5000 supporters in more than 70 countries as part of the build-up to its 25th anniversary. The independent pressure group was launched on 26 July 1979.
Spokesman John Lister said over-used phrases were a barrier to communication. "When readers or listeners come across these tired expressions, they start tuning out and completely miss the message - assuming there is one! Using these terms in daily business is about professional as wearing a novelty tie or having a wacky ringtone on your phone.
"George Orwell's advice from 1946 is still worth following: 'Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.'"
The following terms also received multiple nominations:
24/7
absolutely
address the issue
around (in place of "about")
awesome
ballpark figure
basically
basis ("on a weekly basis" in place of "weekly" and so on)
bear with me
between a rock and a hard place
blue sky (thinking)
boggles the mind
bottom line
crack troops
diamond geezer
epicentre (used incorrectly)
glass half full (or half empty)
going forward
I hear what you're saying..
in terms of...
it's not rocket science
literally
move the goal-posts
ongoing
prioritise
pushing the envelope
singing from the same hymn sheet
the fact of the matter is
thinking outside the box
to be honest/to be honest with you/to be perfectly honest
touch base
up to (in place of "about")
value-added (in general use)
Kansas Offers Free Land to Lure Residents
Kan. Offers Free Land to Lure Residents
Tue Mar 23, 2:03 PM ET - AP to My Yahoo!
By CARL MANNING, Associated Press Writer
MARQUETTE, Kan. - Dean and Jennifer Krehbiel are modern-day pioneers on the prairie. The couple are building a home in this small rural town after being offered free land as part of a giveaway aimed at revitalizing Marquette.
The idea was borrowed from the homesteading days of the 1800s, when the promise of land for the taking brought settlers by the droves to the Great Plains.
"It was enough of a bonus to allow us to look at the option of building. It sure caught our interest," said Dean Krehbiel, a U.S. Department of Agriculture (news - web sites) conservationist who was looking for a small town near his job in Salina, 30 miles from Marquette.
The Krehbiels moved here from the Wichita area, and their two children, ages 6 and 9, are going to the local grade school. That makes Marquette Mayor Steve Piper a happy man.
"In a small community, you have to keep the school system. Every child you bring in is more money for the schools. The schools are the backbone of the community," said Piper, a third-generation grocer in this town of about 600.
Many Plains towns are struggling to survive. Young people leave, old people die, and storefronts become boarded up one by one.
Marquette is among at least 10 Kansas communities offering free land to attract residents to boost school enrollment and fatten the tax base. Most such programs started in the past year or two, so it is too soon to measure long-term success.
Success, however, depends on what they can offer besides land.
"If the town doesn't have much to offer in the first place — pretty much the definition of a declining town — this approach is unlikely to make any difference. It sounds like a desperation move: `Please, pretty please come live in our town,'" said Frank Popper, an urban studies professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Popper, who spent years studying Plains population decline, said similar programs have been tried in North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota, "but I haven't heard that there have been many takers or noticeable results."
Also, Congress is considering a homesteading law to reward people who relocate to rural areas with tax breaks and other economic incentives.
Marquette has a few things other rural towns don't. It has a downtown that is alive — a dozen well-kept storefronts, some with architecture from the 1880s. It boasts a bank, cafe, furniture store, motorcycle museum, soda fountain and gift shop, art gallery, a couple of bars and Piper's grocery.
It does not have many jobs to offer. But it is less than an hour's drive from three good-sized cities — Salina, Hutchinson and Wichita.
"We have tried bringing jobs to this town, but you might as well bang your head against a brick wall," the mayor said. "We decided it was better to bring in the families and let them work in the surrounding communities. We'll let them find the jobs — we'll provide the housing."
The land giveaway began last May, after the town bought 50 acres of farmland and divided it into 80 building lots, valued around $8,000 each. So far, 21 lots have been handed out, all but one of them to newcomers.
The town built the streets in the new neighborhood — which is situated near the town's rodeo arena — and provided the water, electric, sewer and gas hookups. The only requirement is landholders must build a house within a year and live in it for a year.
So far, four $100,000 three-bedroom homes have been built, and construction is about to start on six more. The Krehbiels hope to be in their new home in April; they are living in rented quarters in the meantime.
The Krehbiels were drawn here by the prospect of living in the kind of place where folks sit on their front porches to enjoy the spring breeze at night.
"I just like the small town for the fact you know people a lot better and they tend to help out more when there is a need. We like being part of the community," said Jennifer Krehbiel, who like her husband grew up in small Kansas towns.
The mayor said he hopes to have all the lots given away by the end of 2005. He said each house will add about $1,000 in tax revenue for a town with a $350,000 annual budget.
The families moving in so far have 26 children. The town has just 127 students in the elementary school, so the homesteading program has created a population boom in the classroom.
"Who knows what it will be like in 10 years if we don't do something?" the mayor said. "We didn't want to just sit here and watch the town get smaller."
Kan. Offers Free Land to Lure Residents
Tue Mar 23, 2:03 PM ET - AP to My Yahoo!
By CARL MANNING, Associated Press Writer
MARQUETTE, Kan. - Dean and Jennifer Krehbiel are modern-day pioneers on the prairie. The couple are building a home in this small rural town after being offered free land as part of a giveaway aimed at revitalizing Marquette.
The idea was borrowed from the homesteading days of the 1800s, when the promise of land for the taking brought settlers by the droves to the Great Plains.
"It was enough of a bonus to allow us to look at the option of building. It sure caught our interest," said Dean Krehbiel, a U.S. Department of Agriculture (news - web sites) conservationist who was looking for a small town near his job in Salina, 30 miles from Marquette.
The Krehbiels moved here from the Wichita area, and their two children, ages 6 and 9, are going to the local grade school. That makes Marquette Mayor Steve Piper a happy man.
"In a small community, you have to keep the school system. Every child you bring in is more money for the schools. The schools are the backbone of the community," said Piper, a third-generation grocer in this town of about 600.
Many Plains towns are struggling to survive. Young people leave, old people die, and storefronts become boarded up one by one.
Marquette is among at least 10 Kansas communities offering free land to attract residents to boost school enrollment and fatten the tax base. Most such programs started in the past year or two, so it is too soon to measure long-term success.
Success, however, depends on what they can offer besides land.
"If the town doesn't have much to offer in the first place — pretty much the definition of a declining town — this approach is unlikely to make any difference. It sounds like a desperation move: `Please, pretty please come live in our town,'" said Frank Popper, an urban studies professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Popper, who spent years studying Plains population decline, said similar programs have been tried in North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota, "but I haven't heard that there have been many takers or noticeable results."
Also, Congress is considering a homesteading law to reward people who relocate to rural areas with tax breaks and other economic incentives.
Marquette has a few things other rural towns don't. It has a downtown that is alive — a dozen well-kept storefronts, some with architecture from the 1880s. It boasts a bank, cafe, furniture store, motorcycle museum, soda fountain and gift shop, art gallery, a couple of bars and Piper's grocery.
It does not have many jobs to offer. But it is less than an hour's drive from three good-sized cities — Salina, Hutchinson and Wichita.
"We have tried bringing jobs to this town, but you might as well bang your head against a brick wall," the mayor said. "We decided it was better to bring in the families and let them work in the surrounding communities. We'll let them find the jobs — we'll provide the housing."
The land giveaway began last May, after the town bought 50 acres of farmland and divided it into 80 building lots, valued around $8,000 each. So far, 21 lots have been handed out, all but one of them to newcomers.
The town built the streets in the new neighborhood — which is situated near the town's rodeo arena — and provided the water, electric, sewer and gas hookups. The only requirement is landholders must build a house within a year and live in it for a year.
So far, four $100,000 three-bedroom homes have been built, and construction is about to start on six more. The Krehbiels hope to be in their new home in April; they are living in rented quarters in the meantime.
The Krehbiels were drawn here by the prospect of living in the kind of place where folks sit on their front porches to enjoy the spring breeze at night.
"I just like the small town for the fact you know people a lot better and they tend to help out more when there is a need. We like being part of the community," said Jennifer Krehbiel, who like her husband grew up in small Kansas towns.
The mayor said he hopes to have all the lots given away by the end of 2005. He said each house will add about $1,000 in tax revenue for a town with a $350,000 annual budget.
The families moving in so far have 26 children. The town has just 127 students in the elementary school, so the homesteading program has created a population boom in the classroom.
"Who knows what it will be like in 10 years if we don't do something?" the mayor said. "We didn't want to just sit here and watch the town get smaller."
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
This is to bizarre. . .
Pastor Dies Watching 'Passion of Christ'
Pastor Dies Watching 'Passion of Christ'
Tue Mar 23, 9:50 AM ET - Reuters
BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil (Reuters) - A Brazilian pastor died of an apparent heart attack while watching the Mel Gibson film "The Passion of the Christ," witnesses say.
Jose Geraldo Soares, a 43-year-old Presbyterian pastor, had reserved two movie theaters at a Belo Horizonte shopping mall on Sunday afternoon to see the film with his family and the congregations of two local churches.
But halfway through the movie, Soares' wife noticed that he was no longer awake. A doctor who was also watching the film tended to Soares, but the priest was already dead.
"He was calmly watching the movie next to his wife," said Amauri Costa, a family friend who also attended Soares' funeral on Monday.
Soares is at least the second person to die while watching "The Passion," which opened in Brazil on Friday. Peggy Scott, 56, died of a heart attack on Feb. 25 in Wichita, Kansas while watching film's climactic crucifixion scene.
The film, which was praised by Catholic leaders in Brazil as a faithful depiction of events in the Bible, has been criticized by many for its violent and bloody portrayal of Christ's final hours.
Pastor Dies Watching 'Passion of Christ'
Pastor Dies Watching 'Passion of Christ'
Tue Mar 23, 9:50 AM ET - Reuters
BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil (Reuters) - A Brazilian pastor died of an apparent heart attack while watching the Mel Gibson film "The Passion of the Christ," witnesses say.
Jose Geraldo Soares, a 43-year-old Presbyterian pastor, had reserved two movie theaters at a Belo Horizonte shopping mall on Sunday afternoon to see the film with his family and the congregations of two local churches.
But halfway through the movie, Soares' wife noticed that he was no longer awake. A doctor who was also watching the film tended to Soares, but the priest was already dead.
"He was calmly watching the movie next to his wife," said Amauri Costa, a family friend who also attended Soares' funeral on Monday.
Soares is at least the second person to die while watching "The Passion," which opened in Brazil on Friday. Peggy Scott, 56, died of a heart attack on Feb. 25 in Wichita, Kansas while watching film's climactic crucifixion scene.
The film, which was praised by Catholic leaders in Brazil as a faithful depiction of events in the Bible, has been criticized by many for its violent and bloody portrayal of Christ's final hours.
Yahoo! News - World Photos - Reuters:
Sat Mar 20,12:29 PM ET
A Brazilian anti-war protester holds fake U.S. currency, modeled after the dollar bill but showing an image of U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) and referring to the September 11 attacks, during a demonstration along Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, March 20,2004. Anti-war protests are taking place in many cities around the world on the anniversary of U.S.-led war in Iraq (news - web sites). REUTERS/Bruno Domingos
Sat Mar 20,12:29 PM ET
A Brazilian anti-war protester holds fake U.S. currency, modeled after the dollar bill but showing an image of U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) and referring to the September 11 attacks, during a demonstration along Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, March 20,2004. Anti-war protests are taking place in many cities around the world on the anniversary of U.S.-led war in Iraq (news - web sites). REUTERS/Bruno Domingos
Songs Written by Fred Rogers
By The Associated Press
Two popular songs written by Fred Rogers, the host and creator of "Mister Rogers Neighborhood," the longest running series on PBS:
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (1967)
It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
It's a neighborly day in this beauty wood,
A neighborly day for a beauty.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.
So, let's make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?
Won't you please,
Won't you please?
Please won't you be my neighbor?
It's Such a Good Feeling (1970)
It's such a good feeling to know you're alive.
It's such a happy feeling: You're growing inside.
And when you wake up ready to say,
"I think I'll make a snappy new day."
It's such a good feeling, a very good feeling.
The feeling you know that
I'll be back when the day is new
And I'll have more ideas for you.
And you'll have things you'll want to talk about.
I will too.
It's such a good feeling, a very good feeling.
The feeling you know that we're friends.
Source: Family Communications Inc.
By The Associated Press
Two popular songs written by Fred Rogers, the host and creator of "Mister Rogers Neighborhood," the longest running series on PBS:
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (1967)
It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
It's a neighborly day in this beauty wood,
A neighborly day for a beauty.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.
So, let's make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?
Won't you please,
Won't you please?
Please won't you be my neighbor?
It's Such a Good Feeling (1970)
It's such a good feeling to know you're alive.
It's such a happy feeling: You're growing inside.
And when you wake up ready to say,
"I think I'll make a snappy new day."
It's such a good feeling, a very good feeling.
The feeling you know that
I'll be back when the day is new
And I'll have more ideas for you.
And you'll have things you'll want to talk about.
I will too.
It's such a good feeling, a very good feeling.
The feeling you know that we're friends.
Source: Family Communications Inc.
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