Putsch
Monday August 20, 2001
- TITLE: "Putsch" A German word (from 1920) defined as "A secretly plotted and suddenly executed attempt to overthrow a government."
- "…perestroika …" From the Merriam-Webster folks
Pronunciation: "per-&-'stroi-k&
Function: noun
Etymology: Russian perestroika, literally, restructuring
Date: 1986
: the policy of economic and governmental reform instituted by Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union during the mid-1980s
- "…Brother Can You Spare …" a depressing, Depression-era song recorded at about the same time by in 1932 Rudy Vallee and Bing Crosby. It was originally written for a Broadway musical, "New Americana" by E. Y. Harburg And Jay Gorney. The verses which were parodied really read:
Once I built a railroad
I made it run
Made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad
Now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower up to the sun
Brick and rivet and lime.
Once I built a tower,
Now it's done.
Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits
Gee we looked swell
Full of that yankee doodle dee dum.
Half a million boots went sloggin' through hell
And I was the kid with the drum!
Say don't you remember?
They called me Al.
It was Al all the time.
Why don't you remember?
I'm your pal.
Buddy, can you spare a dime?
- "…Second largest in history …" From the Kessler piece referenced in the column: "The president is scheduled to talk about the budget outlook in a speech Tuesday at Harry S. Truman High School in Independence, Mo., where he will note that the overall surplus this year will still be the second largest in history, and he will call on Congress not to pass excessive spending bills."
- "…Godzilla headlines…" A reference to the previously mentioned scare headlines above. Godzilla, according to the movie database, has been in the title of a movie at least 34 times.
- "… string theory …" I am more than a little shocked over the number of people who claimed to be physicists and who decided to weigh in on the string theory discussion of last Friday. The only thing I understood was that I should have written Planck's Length as 10^(-33) cm.
- Mullings' Catchy Caption of the Day:
Hillary and Bill Clinton show the body language which has
fueled rumors that their marriage may be on the rocks. An
unidentified woman who was entered in the "silliest hat contest"
looks on hungrily.
( Photo: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
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