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MILITARY MATTERS
Now that I am of such an advanced age that the Army of the United States or the United States Army cannot call me to return to active duty, there are two matters that I would like to discuss this morning. The first has to do with being a volunteer and the second has to…
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CHRISTIAN MINGLE REVISITED
A little more than a month ago, I constructed an essay called “Christian Mingle.” The genesis for that essay had to do with the many television advertisements that I have heard whose title was Christian Mingle. Now that I know a bit more about Christian Mingle, it is time to do another essay called “Christian…
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GREAT PARKING LOT IN THE SKY
As most of you know, I do not follow Republican politics very closely. But this year there has been a major exception to the rule. The Herman Cain/Michele Bachmann/Rick Perry enjoyment has been endless as the Republicans vie for their party’s nomination to run against Barack Obama. The Republicans have been at it for several…
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SEXUAL MATTERS
For a good number of years, I have been pursuing the art of a wordsmith. But all of that has now gone by the wayside as we have seen the Republican primaries take place. Much to my dismay, the aspirants to Barack Obama’s job have brought up a collection of terms of which I am…
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FURTHER THOUGHTS ABOUT THE LANGUAGE OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS
In recent weeks I have been listening to television and radio reports about something “going viral.” I was having a hard time trying to realize what the phrase “going viral” meant. My wife, who pampers me, explained that “going viral” simply meant that the report had gained a tremendous amount of circulation. I could have…
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AGAIN, THE LANGUAGE OF THE AMERICANS
As most of you know, I am an astute observer of the language that was inherited by our ancestors, which had its origination first in the Saxon people and then in the English. Perhaps this essay should be classified as an essayette. But that is a concern for another day. There are three entries in…
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A POLYGAMY OF ESSAYETTES – ACT TWO
You may recall that I sent you some essayettes in a previous mailing. The essayettes were not long enough to be a full essay and so when they are gathered together I call them a polygamy of essayettes. I will freely concede that the word polygamy is almost always used in conjunction with a practice…
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THE MOTHER TONGUE REVISITED
Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court Justice, is a man who has his head in the sand. He insists that the law is what was written in 1776 – 1789 without any improvements to the law or the language. You may recall that Scalia is the person who gave us George W. Bush when the hanging…
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THE SILVER DOLLAR BLUES
I am going to reach into racetrack terms to introduce this essay. At tracks where horses and dogs race each other, there is a highlight of the afternoon called the Trifecta. This means that when a bettor picks the winners of the Trifecta, he will be rewarded with extra cash. I have been to the…
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SUMMERS AND/OR SOMMERS
I have consulted with grammar experts here and in New York City and the general conclusion is that the title to this essay is something like an adverb. I was largely unschooled on the matter of grammar in the English language. So if there is a mistake in the labeling of this title as an…