Random Observations about...
January 2003

Who Do You Say That I Am?

Yesterday on St. Louis FM talk radio, I heard an interview with a man who wrote a recent book asserting...

Iraq: What Would Jesus Do?

A while ago the Insomnomaniac posted insightful comments regarding whether the Christian ethic of love should prevent military intervention. The...

France vs. Ivory Coast

Ask yourself, "Why do they hate you?" Back in December, with little media coverage, France sent 2,500 troops to quell...

BBC vs. USA

Last night on my way home I was listening to BBC radio news. In the BBC's productions, I've frequently heard...

Ideals vs. Parties: Tom Daschle's Ravings

A self-identified liberal, quoted elsewhere on Random Observations: Liberals value much more an individual's personal choice and freedom... a conservative...

Ideals vs. Parties: George Bush

During Bush's State of the Union address, he proposed a number of measures which don't sit well with many conservatives...

Tierney: French Weapons Inspectors Helped Saddam

This is buried in the previous post, but just to be clear... Stephen DenBeste, probably among others, is on record...

Why the U.S. Keeps Secrets

One of the complaints I've often heard is: "The U.S. says they have intelligence indicating where Iraq is hiding some...

The U.N. as Self-Parody

With Libya and Syria replacing the US on the UN Human Rights Commission, Saddam's defiance of unanimously-approved "disarm or else,...

I'm Not Making This Up...

Dave Barry has a blog!...

Garry Marshall vs M*A*S*H

Even though I liked "Happy Days", at least through the first several seaons, and same for "Laverne and Shirley", there...

Trying to Understand Both Sides

I try to read broadly, to hear what each political coterie has to say on a given topic. But while...

Affirmative Action Alternative 'Faltering' in Texas?

I was reading left-leaning blog Counterspin Central when I came across a reference to an article which indicated that a...

Rant: PseudoAcronyms

Ladies and gentlemen, behold the United States of America. Now shorten it to an acronym, and we get "U.S.A.". Now,...

Moral Relativism on Campus

This hilarious course at UC Berkeley noted by Mean Mr. Mustard (via InstaPundit) reminds me of a similar incident... I...

Where Do the People of Iraq Stand?

Deb comments on where some Iraqis stand on the prospect of a possible regime change....

Stop! Or I'll say "Stop!" again!

A friend of mine used to chide the effectiveness of the unarmed British "bobbies" with the phrase above. But now...

New Airline Regulations

Two vultures board an airplane, each carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at them and says, "I'm sorry, gentlemen,...

Spic 'n Span: What Happened?

When I was a kid, "Spic 'n Span" was a synonym for clean. I wonder what the origins of that...

Oz, US, Iraq, UN

Fellow St. Louisan Kevin, from FunMurphys.com, makes observations about Australian Prime Minister John Howard's remarks about UN approval not being...

Hollywood: Ad for the DNC?

Conservatives are fond of saying the theoretically-unbiased media are actually biased leftwards. Liberals often respond with the opposite charge. Here's...

Random Observations: The #1 Nude Husband Housework Site!

This is absurd. Random Observations is now AOL search's first returned page when searching for "husband housework nude". Hilarious....

Four-Winged Dinosaurs?

More information about the newly-discovered fossils in this BBC article. Elsewhere on the BBC site, another scientist instead suggests that...

The Iraq Situation

Okay. France is out. Germany's out. The UN has no power nor consistancy, but frankly, due to our "allies". They...

BBC Bias

I'd noticed a lot of what I felt were biased reports from the BBC. Apparently, I'm not alone: the folks...

Straying Netizens

Regular readers (both of you, perhaps?) come by for my stunning wit, engaging commentary, and incredibly behind-the-curve observations. Surely not...

Nostalgia Unleashed

Haha! I read Lilek's Monday piece before any of you did! Nananana! Okay, probably just most of you. The Instapundit...

The Nation & Palestinian/Israeli Death Tolls

Tonight I was reading "Israel's Dangerous Crossroads" in The Nation magazine when I came across this tidbit on Sharon's ability...

Rumsfeld's Olive Branch

Watched FoxNews for a few minutes last night and caught Donald Rumsfeld discussing the current situation. He suggested that one...

Learning Physics from Film

I'm watching 50's alien invasion film This Island Earth. Three nuclear physicists walk into a laboratory and hear a cat...

Random Protest Observations

We've all seen the mainstream media coverage of the anti-war protests this weekend... Right Thinking (from the Left Coast) posts...

The Sun Also Sets

Sigh, apparently Sun Microsystems has posted its largest-ever loss. Just another step along the away to a diversity-free cyberscape....

"Dolphin Safe" Tuna Label Weakend

This article in HealthNewsDigest.com describes how the "dolphin safe" label on tuna has been subtly changed: The Humane Society of...

Lileks on LeCarre

Apparently, James Lileks has also been exposed to the LeCarre Brain Virus, which causes you to lose time and sleep...

What Elves do after Christmas

Usingers sausage is, in the sausage world, really some top-notch stuff: The store also is known for its colorful murals,...

John Le Carre on the U.S.

Far-left liberals live in a very different world than mine. I'd be happy to consider moving to their neighborhood, but...

Good is to Democrat as Evil is to ???

Something that occurred to me while I was corresponding with the bright insomnomaniac: Ever notice that when President Bush uses...

Microsoft Opens Source?

Facing banishment from governments such as Peru, Taiwan, Argentina, Spain, France, and Mexico, Microsoft has offered to reveal its source...

Biblical Archaeology: BBC Again Clueless

BBC News reports on a tablet found beneath the temple mount mosque. The BBC shows its bias and/or complete cluelessness...

U.S. Charity

I have a French friend who would frequently mock Americans for being so "selfish". Mindles H. Dreck and More than...

Precious Moments with Dr. Phil

Happened to see, for the first time, a couple moments of the "Dr. Phil" show. Today: Women who yell at...

Wash as Directed

A true story from my favorite sister... One day my housework-challenged husband decided to wash his sweatshirt. Seconds after he...

BBC: Clare Short *IS* the UK

A lead story in BBC News trumpets "UK 'rejects' lone action against Iraq": A closer reading of the story reveals...

There's No Place Like Home

Or at least the zoo you were raised in. A Danish Wallaby runs away from home, and learns something about...

Signs: Weapons?

Observations about M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs" and it's absense of weapons.

Signs: Miracles and Vi Lurvey

Warning: Minor spoilers. Mel Gibson's character undergoes a paradigm shift (change of mind) based on a "miracle" M. Night Shyamalan...

Racial Criteria for Office?

Did you know that in this century there are still U.S. elections in which race determines fitness for public office?...

Intelligent Dogs

Fellow St. Louis blogger FunMurphys.com points out an article in Science News which indicates that dogs are better at understanding...

Competing Ideas?

When ideas compete on a level playing field, everybody wins! Do I want a country dominated by only one party?...

Interwoven Plays

The New York Times reports on two plays, "House" and "Garden", whose plots -- and actors -- are interwoven. The...

The Speed of Gravity!

Big news boys and girls! For the first time ever, the Speed of Gravity has been measured! And Einstein was...

Less Guns, More Crime

Those of you who knew me years ago know that when a concealed carry referendum came up in St. Louis,...

Vampire Ballets

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What next, the war of 1812?...

The Rise and Fall of Noam Chomsky

I first learned of Noam Chomsky though Computer Science. He was noted for formalizing grammars -- valuable to us CS...

Angry Pols in Tin Foil Hats

Today I did an experiment, and learned something. Recently, new Senate majority leader Bill Frist helped out after a deadly...

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Previously, I've been trying to send various essays and links to each friend I thought might be interested -- sort...

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