Q I sometimes hear the word “conversate,” but I can’t find it in any dictionaries. Is this a real word? – R. R., Columbus, Ohio A: “Conversate” is relatively new on the English language scene. Our earliest evidence of the word is from 1987. Its usage seems to be on the rise, although it is […]

Reporters are looking for stories that support their own agendas. The media’s handling of the uranium-from-Africa story was too much for Bob Somerby, one of the better-known Internet commentators of the left. Somerby usually spends a lot of time and energy criticizing George Bush. But recently at his “Daily Howler” Web site, a headline said: […]

Big Food is out to get me and you . . . so let’s chow down for the fight ahead. Good news: It’s not my fault, about the Cheez-Its.I eat a lot of Cheez-Its. I get them at the supermarket, when I’m wandering the aisles, trying to locate the items on a grocery list made […]

The following editorial appeared in the Miami Herald on Tuesday, July 22: The moratorium on taxing Internet services, created in 1998 and extended in 2001, was set to expire this November for good reason – the young industry has had time enough to grow. Since 1998, the number of American Internet users almost doubled to […]

On March 15 a staff writer for The Washington Post filed a story from Houston. It began:“Russell Yates was standing at the podium in front of the Harris County Courthouse when the light drizzle turned into thick, heavy raindrops, streaking the beige brick walls of the building behind him. It was mid-afternoon on a muggy, […]

The following editorial appeared in the Detroit Free Press on Thursday, July 24: The mass graves that epitomize Saddam Hussein’s ruthless reign continue to come to light in Iraq. The United States must provide the resources – far more than it is doing now – to ensure these crimes against humanity get documented and a […]

Since women are from Venus and men from Mars, it’s inevitable that a lot of them will look for love in cyberspace. Seeking romance online is today what looking for Mr. Goodbar was in the previous century.If feminism deprived a woman of the myth of the man on the white charger and the illusion that […]

Certain special aromas can trigger flashbacks to past experiences. Falling in love, bowling a strike, catching a subway just as the doors are closing – life affords us many emotional peaks. But surely one of the Top 10 must involve opening a can of Play-Doh.Oh, the memories one whiff can release! Wham – there you […]

As governor of Texas, George W. Bush espoused a national policy of avoiding “perilous conflicts.” WASHINGTON – Three years ago, Texas Gov. George W. Bush got the foreign vision thing just right. Here’s how he was quoted in the 2000 Republican convention platform:“Let us reject the blinders of isolationism, just as we refuse the crown […]

An international convention was cited as a basis for decisions about U.S. law. Here’s a useful rule of thumb about international conventions, U.N. documents and the findings of foreign courts: Any time an American judge cites one in an American court, something alarming is probably about to happen. The source of the alarm is usually […]