Random Observations about...
March 2004

Bush, Mercury, and the Clean Air Act

If you've been paying attention to the news lately, you've heard the EPA's latest warnings about the purported dangers of mercury consumption in fish. Could this be the first blow of a one-two punch?

New Anti-Anti-Spam Technique

From the BBC: Good news for spammers, the smart filtering software used to catch spam can be beaten. With a...

Another Liberal Trick

Bunnie Diehl recounts seeing someone engaged in an "evil" smear campaign against the Bush at a recent party in Washington, DC. Apparenty, the trick has worked just fine...

Richard Clarke, Republican?

Clarked seemed to tell the 9/11 committee that he should not be suspected of any partisan motivations or loyalties because he was a Republican. But is that what the record really shows? Pull the thread and watch the sweater unravel...

UK's Blunkett: Make the Innocent Pay!

The Sunday Herald: WHAT do you give someone who’s been proved innocent after spending the best part of their life...

Myth: Hilter was a Leftist

Was Hitler a leftist or rightist? Today we look at a leftist argument that Hitler's alleged leftist tendencies are nothing more than a conservative myth. What we find instead is a stunning display of bad logic, nonstandard definitions, omitted data, and ad homen arguments about rightists.

Al Franken on Believing in God

At one [Al-Anon] meeting, we had to share something about a higher power. And I said that as a Jew,...

How the Media Chooses Your Candidates

What changed the press coverage of Howard Dean? Who wants to dominate AM talk radio now? A New York Times article profiling Al Franken provides a fascinating peek at how the message you hear is being crafted behind the scenes.

Gotta Love those "Enlightened" European Morals

Ananova: A group of Swedish teachers are in trouble after they were filmed by pupils going off with prostitutes while...

Release the Presidential Daily Briefings?

I occasionally spend some time in a deliberate effort to see the world through the "other" (leftist) point of view....

Japanese WWII Internment: The Rest of the Story

The story of US internment of Japanese families is one I was taught in school. But, once again, I'm learning that I wasn't told the whole story. Lately, this has been a familliar feeling.

US, French Foreign Policy Not Equivalent

The French government pursues foreign policy with goals and techniques which would be wholly unacceptable to most US citizens. Gabrielle says US critics who characterize French opposition to the US as moral have no idea what they're talking about...

White Racism

Racism is inevitable, but, like crime, disease, and poverty, that doesn't make it desirable. A few comments from a white racist provide fertile ground for clarifying why I'm opposed to racism in all it's forms.

Woodrow Wilson: Anti-Communist, Leftist

James Loewen reveals some damning information about Democratic President Woodrow Wilson's foreign anti-democratic foreign policies, stuff they probably didn't teach you in school...

Responding to a Critic (Sokal Hoax)

Apparently, thanks to a kind link from John Ray, Random Observations has attracted a bit of criticism; and that's not necessarily a bad thing...

Intellectual Freedom Chilled at CU Boulder

Colorado Senate hearings produce appalling evidence of professors harrassing conservative students. But what goes down in the Senate itself is no less jaw-dropping...

Poststructuralism and the Sokal Hoax

This is definitely ancient news, but thanks to a link from John Ray I stumbled across the Sokal Hoax. Besides...

Kerry's "Brown Shirt" Social Service Plan?

Note: Since I wrote this, I've been corrected: Kerry only offered to pay for tuition at public university levels, not...

Kerry on Education

There's been much discussion among conservatives (how sad that it should be limited thusly) about Kerry's recent dissembling. And indeed,...

France Aids Chinese Hegemony

In which France teams up with China to do to Taiwan what al Qaeda did to Spain.

The Kerry "Foreign Leaders Love Me" Quote

This isn't the sort of thing I normally wade into; I'm not a big fan of petty partisan politics. But...

Democratic Underground on Terrorism in Spain

So how do the Spanish bomblasts play in the Democratic Underground? Once, again, we get a chance to do a little study of applied psychology. One can only hope that DU is some kind of elaborate Republican hoax; if these commenters represent any significant subset of the Democratic faithful, our country is in deep, deep trouble.

European Slaves in Africa

The Guardian: North African pirates abducted and enslaved more than 1 million Europeans between 1530 and 1780 in a series...

Random Quips

If you have any trouble sounding condescending, find a Unix user to show you how it's done.- Scott Adams, Creator...

France Negotiates with Terrorists, Censors Media

Reuters: A shadowy group is threatening to blow up sections of track in France's SNCF state railway network if it...

Hollywood and Christians: A Theory of Motive

Saturday, I went hiking with a group of friends by the bluffs of the Missouri River. As we were walking...

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