Another lean week for noms of distinction. Maybe the scolding didn't work
after all...

Collectively, the Committee wanted to scream Throw Me Somthing, Mister -
anything, in fact, just give us something to work with!  Well, The Beat Goes
On and a keen Eye captured more monikers than we originally thought were
there.  Invictus checked in by cellphone from the Dolly Pontoon concert, so
the committee stumbled along with only 2/3rds its usual allottment of
dewberry brandy & nary an antimacassar hit Miss I's Persian rug.  The
Committee found itself more divided than it has been in months.  Miss I
liked the moralistic, upright names including The Truth Shall Set You Free
and Heel Thyself ("But Miss I, that is not a spelling error, it's Tongue in
Cheek humor - oh never mind.") and she especially liked the wholesomeness of
the Chicken Soup Lady (in fact, Miss I has a suspicion that it's her old friend
from Mayberry).  Then there was the story of her long lost love who fought
valiently in the original effort on the Normandy coast, evoked by D-Day
Invasion 2004.  Invictus feigned poor reception on the cell phone to hurry
things along.  Mal kept talking about double entendres and clever innuendo
and argued long and hard for Porgie Tirebiter and Slush. Invictus said the
only double worth discussing was Hot Links Body Double.  Miss I vetoed that
because she thought Concerned Late Night Viewer might construe it to be in
poor taste.  Trust Invictus to be ever on the edge.  Discussion about Time
Has Been Like Verlaine & Rimbaud was Totally Eclipsed by Mal's insistence on
explaining the obvious.  "Porgie from the Dwarf, get it?  And Slush as in the
meltdown of a snowball?  So many levels to these names!"  Invictus suggested
that perhaps Mal ought to spend some time at the University of World Peace
to learn about true consciousness raising on multiple levels.

Sometimes the ad hoc committee wonders if any of us have an Inkling what is
really going on.  (For what it's worth, Inkling was the favorite going into
the committee meeting.)  While we might be Notalgic for the Good old days
when the partisan lines were simple (Righty Tighty Lefty Loosey), things
have changed. Now, it makes little difference whether you're Politically
Cynical or Cynically Political, money talks. If the IHL Board or USM
administration have any Higher Calling, it's to turn a profit.

Gold mines take a while to dig. Without income, the best way to improve the
profit margin is to cut costs. Whether this is achieved by Bulk Purchasing,
by implementing Suggestions for the Liberry, or just commandeering the hard
earned savings from the chairs (to which a number of Senator(s) can probably
attest) is immaterial. A "man of action" does not think himself In Need of a
Wordbuilder or in need of much of anything other than complete agreement by
those closest to him.

Recent Coastian events underscore the need for us to realize that the Boss
Man is the one who exerts the authority (or as Truth would say Authori-tay).
Sometimes this isn't the person who has been given the authority, but
without a COAST Guard, we predict the Kenbot will continue to run the show
there. Even a Poor Farmer Boy from rural Lamar County knows that!  Not
Another Fried Squirrel  - not even one - could become the new rallying cry.

As usual, the ad hoc committee feels the need to suck up to "that other
committee" (as Miss Information calls it), so we'll nominate Mr. Wonderful's
Night Crew as well.

Although it reminds the Committee (or perhaps because it reminds the
Committee) of the string of articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education
under the theme of "Degrees of Suspicion", A Matter of Degree gets this
week's prestigious as ever Nom d'Aplomb award.  As Mal says "It works on so
many levels!"  Congratulations and pick up your award  here.