argosy (AHR-GUH-see) noun
1. A large ship, or a fleet of ships, especially one carrying valuable cargo.
2. A rich source or supply.
Shortening of Italian nave Ragusea (ship of Ragusa), after Ragusa, a maritime city on the Adriatic sea, modern day Dubrovnik, Croatia. Earliest documented use: 1577.
paladin (PAL-uh-din) noun
1. A strong supporter of a cause.
2. A heroic champion.
From French paladin, from Italian paladino, from palatinus ([officer] of the palace). After Palatine, the name of the centermost of the seven hills on which ancient Rome was built. Roman emperors had their palaces on this hill. Other words such as palace and palatine derive from the same source. The 12 peers in Charlemagne's court were also called paladins. Earliest documented use: 1592.
damascene (DAM-uh-seen, dam-uh-SEEN)
verb tr.: To inlay a metal object with gold or silver patterns; to gild.
noun: A native or inhabitant of Damascus.
adjective:
1. Relating to Damascus or the Damascenes.
2. Having a wavy pattern as on Damascus steel.
3. Sudden and significant.
After Damascus, the capital of Syria. Earliest documented use: around 1386.
A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th US President, served (1953-1961) lived (1890-1969), retired to a farm near Gettysburg, PA, now run by the National Parks Service, where he raised cattle, welcomed distinguished visitors and became an expert on the Battle of Gettysburg. The Eisenhower National Historic Site comprises the Eisenhower's home, farm, & their mementos. See photos plus two of Eisenhower's paintings at: http://travelphotobase.com/s/PAGDDE.HTM
Find two more Eisenhower paintings at: http://www.whha.org/whha_publications/publications_documents/whitehousehistory_21.pdf
The Eisenhower College Collection ISBN: 0840212895 / 0-8402-1289-5, Nash Publishing, 1972 contains 50 plates including one of George Washington and two of Abraham Lincoln.

When it comes to corporate colors, brown belongs to United Parcel Service Inc., Owens Corning protects its own shade of pink, and Tiffany & Co. has domain over robin's-egg blue. On Jan. 24, the famed French shoemaker Christian Louboutin SA stepped into the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan to make the case that it should effectively own the exclusive right to use red—it calls the shade "China Red"—to coat the bottoms of its popular, pricey high-heeled shoes. Mr. Lewin and his client were in court hoping to reverse a lower-court ruling that appeared to suggest Louboutin shouldn't be allowed to hold a trademark for its signature red-soled shoes, sported in recent years by red-carpet A-list celebrities nationwide, from actresses Scarlett Johansson and Halle Berry to singers Beyoncé and Christina Aguilera. Last August, Manhattan Federal Judge Victor Marrero denied Louboutin's request to stop another iconic French fashion house, Yves Saint Laurent, from selling a line of shoes whose tops, as well as bottoms, are red. Louboutin was granted a trademark registration to use the red for its shoe soles in 2008. But in his opinion denying Louboutin's injunction, Judge Marrero strongly suggested that the registration was granted in error. He acknowledged that trademarks can be given for the colors on products, chiefly when a single color is used only to identify or advertise a brand, like the pink used for Owens Corning's insulation. Susan Scafidi, a law professor at Fordham University and an expert in law and fashion who has been following the case, said that she hoped the appellate court would correct Judge Marrero, who, in her opinion, "colored well outside the lines" in his ruling. "There are broader issues raised by this case, and they're that fashion designs really have no protection," she said. "The industry has been trying for 100 years, but intellectual property law still stops right at fashion's door." ASHBY JONES http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203718504577181360914355808.html

January 25 Dunkin' Brands Inc. and Target Corp.'s in-store cafes among other chains have made the switch from white to brown napkins. Next week, Cascades Tissue Group is trying what marketers long considered the unthinkable: brown toilet paper. It is pitching beige rolls, dubbing the product "Moka." Brown paper products are becoming an obvious way for consumers to show that they care about the environment. They assume the products are made with recycled materials or didn't involve whitening chemicals. Now, however, white paper can be made from 100% recycled fibers and whitened without the chemical chlorine, traditionally the primary complaint against it. Still, Cascades says dropping the extra step of bleaching reduces the environmental impact of Moka toilet paper by about 25% compared to their white recycled paper because of energy savings and other benefits. At least one company adds brown pigments to non-chlorine bleached diapers to drive home the environmental message. The diapers need "visual differentiation," says Louis Chapdelaine, product director of fibers at Seventh Generation Inc., a Burlington, Vt.- based company that specializes in eco-friendly household cleaning products and paper. It's important "not so much that it's brown, it's that it's not white," he says. All diapers, if left undyed, would be the color of raw plastic or semi-translucent, he says. SARAH NASSAUER http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203718504577180852718515394.html?mod=WSJ_article_MoreIn_Life%26Culture