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Friday, March 07, 2003 |
scrabble: Dictionary.com Word of the Day. scrabble [Dictionary.com Word of the Day]
Word of the Day for Friday March 7, 2003
scrabble SKRAB-uhl, intransitive verb:
1. To scrape or scratch with the hands or feet.
2. To struggle by or as if by scraping or scratching.
3. To proceed by clawing with the hands and feet; to scramble.
4. To make irregular, crooked, or unmeaning marks; to scribble; to scrawl.
transitive verb:
1. To mark with irregular lines or letters; to scribble on or over.
2. To make or obtain by scraping together hastily.
noun:
1. The act or an instance of scrabbling.
2. A scribble.
Mice kept me awake by scrabbling in the uncovered garbage can.
--Edith Anderson Love in Exile
Rather frantically I scrabble for the recollection of what exactly it does give me.
--Robert McLiam Wilson, Ripley Bogle
In the huddle they'd talk about running "post patterns," and they'd scrabble plays in the grass.
--George Plimpton, quoted in The Last Patrician, by Michael Knox Beran
Heard by Maidment but not seen, the dog, called Rosie, yawned, then pushed herself on to her feet, slipping about on the polished boards with a scrabble of paws.
--William Trevor, Death in Summer
Scrabble derives from Dutch schrabbelen, from Middle Dutch, frequentative of schrabben, "to scrape; to scratch."
8:02:43 PM
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A focus on domestic resistance as anti-war opposition climbs.
Domestic Oppression - it's not just for Arabs anymore!
The forces of state security, from the FBI to a Hennepin County Sheriff, have been advancing the campaign against "the enemy within" – visiting an animal rights group and giving a speech painting various left-wing organizations as potentially dangerous. The specter of domestic terrorism is being invoked just as peace groups are considering non-violent direct action to prevent the aggressive war planned for Iraq.
In a recent speech, Captain Chandler of the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, listed groups such as the Earth Liberation Front, the Animal Liberation Front, Arise! Bookstore, anarchists in general, the tactic of direct action, the Ruckus Society, Anti-Racist Action, and Students Against War as "domestic identified groups that may affect our communities." While he prefaced this statement by saying "We are not calling any of them terrorist", these comments were made during a presentation called "Understanding Terrorism in Minnesota"
Also presenting was Jonathan Bundt. Listed as a 'doctor', Mr. Bundt is a past chief inspector of the Israeli Border Police, a consultant to SWAT teams, a counselor specializing in the psychological impact of terrorism, and according to the University of Minnesota, a MA who stopped his coursework in 1998.
Chandler's comments, reported in Wednesday's Star Tribune, mark a step forward in painting domestic dissent as illicit and possibly illegal. His speech also targeted right-wing groups, which he characterized as "extremely strong" and having made overtures to the FBI to join them. Many of these right-wing groups share a distrust of government and centralized authority. He also said that both the pro-life and pro-choice movements have become much more violent. This seems some kind of parody of balance – while clinic firebombings and the assassination of doctors have been tactics of the pro-life movement, the pro-choice movement is not known to commit violent acts.
This campaign of harassment continued Thursday, when (as reported on the TC-Indymedia newswire) the FBI visited a meeting of the animal-rights group, SOAR. Three officers from the Joint Terrorism Task Force asked for names of group members and the group's mailing list.
These events have reverberated through the activist community, which is responding quickly and pulling together. Students Against War has issued a call for protests to the Star Tribune. A press conference will be held at the State Capitol in St. Paul on Monday, March 10.
While these events are disturbing, they are a pale shadow of the oppression that's going on in the immigrant communities. People have been picked off the streets and sent to undisclosed facilities. Hate crimes have been committed against Somalis and other people from the Middle East, resulting in one local death.
On the national front, the Ashcroft Justice Department is pushing a new security law, dubbed "Patriot 2", which would greatly increase police powers at the expense of judicial review, citizens and immigrants, and state and local governments. |
8:11:09 AM
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