This seemingly arcane dispute took on fresh relevance yesterday as new details emerged on the timeline of last Thursday's breakdowns.

That's not because their arcane disputes held any fascination for most Americans at the time.

Maybe it's just some arcane academic dispute.

Approved last June, they relieved the court of the obligation to rule on hundreds of arcane jurisdictional disputes that had clogged its agenda.

Republicans were similarly caught up in the need to explain such arcane disputes within a trying ordeal to constituents impatient for a plain ending.

This arcane dispute contributes to the electorally damaging impression that the Prime Minister is willing to hammer the country on the anvil of her dogmatism.

The Federal Trade Commission, which started the first investigation in 1991, had steadily retreated as it became mired in the arcane disputes between competitive high-tech companies.

One of the week's more arcane disputes concerned Newsday's much-publicized lists of people who had overpaid city property-tax bills.

Instead, the Bush campaign has shifted the focus to a more arcane dispute.

The election posters that still litter our cities are like the documentary fragments of some remote and arcane historical dispute.