Well, probably not, but my heart dropped to my stomach when I started reading this. I am a cougher, and I did work in a newspaper office (though I no longer work there). My cough is not nearly so bad as to fit the LW's description, but the idea that it could have bothered someone enough to write a letter to Salon fills me with dread.

Let me just start by saying that while this person may have a health problem in terms of his cough, the LW has a much more serious problem. Yes, I'm sure your co-worker coughs intentionally for the sole purpose of annoying you. And what exactly is your basis for being "sure" it's stress, when the doctors have said otherwise? Are you a doctor? Have you even talked to your co-worker about his problem? Or are you one of those twits who thinks all illnesses are stress-related and can be cured by incense and New Age music?

Anyway, I can tell you that from the symptoms you describe it sounds a lot like acid reflux, or more specifically Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), which is what I have. And as much as I loooove annoying my co-workers, let me tell you it's not worth it. The feeling is usually a tickling sensation in the lower throat that quickly gets to be unbearable, forcing you to cough in order to try to expel whatever you feel is there. The problem is that there's nothing there, and nothing gets expelled, resulting in a dry cough. Once in a while, the cough will be so strong that it will actually go all the way down to the stomach (which is where the irritation is coming from), resulting in some violent contractions and maybe giving a couple of minutes of relief. Medicine like Nexium or Aciphex helps very little, if at all, and dieting likewise has limited results. Fortunately, mine was fairly mild. I was so afraid of bothering my co-workers that I would sit and let the irritation build up until I couldn't stand it, then sneak to the bathroom or the hallway and let loose (scary for anyone who hapenned to be in the stall or walking in). I had to see 5 different doctors to even get it diagnosed correctly, and am considering surgery pretty soon. So, in short, if it's annoying to you, think of how much more annoying it is to the co-worker.

My point is that this letter is pointless. If he were completely unaware of his problem and not doing anything to change it, you would have a case. But to complain about a legitimate health problem that the guy is actively trying to fix and then arrogantly pronounce your own ignorant "neurosis" diagnosis instead strikes me as beyond callous.

P.S. If it actually is acid reflux, your colleague may want to consider the Plicator - a new procedure that supposedly takes only 20 minutes and is minimally invasive:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroesophageal_reflux_disease#Other_treatments

"as if the statelessness and desperation of the Palestinians had not already bolstered terrorism throughout the region."

I'm counting down the minutes until Dayenu or David Sugarman or whoever takes issue with this sentence. Don't you know that to suggest that terrorism has any actual historical or political causes is to 'justify' it and to be anti-semitic? No, we all know that terrorists blow stuff up because they're Evil(tm) and they love killing people. End of story.

...and the tennis game doesn't even differentiate what side you're swinging from. PS3 all the way.

Good point about the iphone study though.

*Flash back to sometime between 1994 and now, Dick standing in the family kitchen, hands trembling, finger pointed at Mary*

"What?! You're a lesbian?! I... I... SADDAM WILL PAY FOR THIS!!!"

...is precisely because it is 'progressive'. Conservativism, by definition, places emphasis on maintaining old institutions and ways of life. But once you decide to change those things in the name of progress, the question of what to change them to is wide open.

Let me put it another way. When one side is clearly more intellectual than the other, you are obviously going to have a lot more disagreement. So when the Republicans have a whole lot of people on their side who are content to simply wave their flags and shout two-word slogans, when their entire platform is based on venal, vulgar, base hatred catering to the lowest common denominator, of course they are going to have an easier time than the Democrats, whose voter base, by virtue of our INGENIOUS two-party system, must encompass the agnostics, the liberal Christians, the socialists, the true libertarians (as opposed to the corporate oligarchs who call themselves such), the anarchists, and so forth, not to mention a portion of the same blue-collar anti-intellectuals that the Republicans appeal to.

Solution #1: We all jam crayons up our nose like Homer Simpson did and enjoy harmony through mediocrity.

Solution #2: Build a freakin' multi-party system already!!!

P.S. Yea, yea, 'elitist snob', 'this is why the Democrats never win, because they're so condescending', etc... *yawn*