Monday, October 18, 2004
 Take it away, Jon ...

Jon Stewart’s appearance on Crossfire is something wonderful. Watch the video or read the transcript.

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Friday, July 23, 2004
 The Color Brown? Really?

I just tracked a package on UPS’ website and noticed the following at the bottom of the page:

UPS, UPS brandmark, and the Color Brown are trademarks of United Parcel Service of America, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Tuesday, July 20, 2004
 Shame on you.

Certain insurance companies have been conning our soldiers—especially the new recruits—into buying near-worthless investments.  Among other things, they hire retired officers to go in and give “compulsory briefings” that are actually insurance sales pitches, where, in one example, soldiers are told to sign papers they haven’t read and aren’t allowed to keep, which they are told are “investments” but turn out to be life insurance.  And not just life insurance, but life insurance that costs over 6 times what soldiers are paying for the army-provided life insurance and provides less than 1/6 the coverage.

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Saturday, July 17, 2004
 Characterless Conservatism

As I browse through the blogs of young “conservatives”, I am beginning to think that the term has no meaning, except perhaps as the ambiguous badge of an inchoate, inconsistent identity. . . . In a sense, being a Young Republican is the equivalent of being one of the Goth kids in high school. 

As I browse through the blogs of young “conservatives”, I am beginning to think that the term has no meaning, except perhaps as the ambiguous badge of an inchoate, inconsistent identity. Is there nothing that ties these folks together, other than a fanatical devotion to the President (no-one expects the Iraqi Inquisition!)? 


Tuesday, July 13, 2004
 Red River may have lied -- But can you prove it?

What struck me most about this New York Times article about information deleted from the public version of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report was the following sentence:

The only information about the source known as Red River is an apparent reference to the failed polygraph test, which notes that the intelligence committee staff has asked a polygraph expert from the Department of Defense “about the possibility of a ‘false positive’ “ resulting from a polygraph examination.

The sentence quoted above illustrates for me in a poignant way what I consider to be one of the major flaws in the way our government is currently being run.  If an informant on whose intelligence the decision to go to war may rest fails a lie detector test, I don’t think the appropriate reaction is to go looking for ways to justify ignoring the polygraph result.  That is what a lawyer would do ("It’s not what’s true, it’s what you can prove").  Instead, I believe that our government officials have a duty to do everything they can to determine whether the informant is actually lying or not. 

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Monday, April 05, 2004
 Clubbing Baby Seals is Just Wrong

I plan on pulling back from blogging to focus on other things, but there are occasional things that will bring me back.  One of those things is clubbing baby seals.  Apparently Canada is allowing the clubbing to begin again in earnest.

Now I will admit to being quite the cultural relativist and there is a part of me that says I should be sympathetic to the people who earn their livelihood this way.  The linked NYTimes article indicates that there is a tradition for some of the people who do this.  One could argue that if I want to be morally consistent I should become a vegetarian or something.  You know what?

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 Clubbing Baby Seals is Just Wrong

I plan on pulling back from blogging to focus on other things, but there are occasional things that will bring me back.  One of those things is clubbing baby seals.  Apparently Canada is allowing the clubbing to begin again in earnest.

Now I will admit to being quite the cultural relativist and there is a part of me that says I should be sympathetic to the people who earn their livelihood this way.  The linked NYTimes article indicates that there is a tradition for some of the people who do this.  One could argue that if I want to be morally consistent I should become a vegetarian or something.  You know what?

Opinion • (2) Comments • (1) TrackbacksPermalink


Monday, March 01, 2004
 African-American

My buddy Dawn notes that John Kerry’s wife once called herself African-American (she was born in Mozambique).  Which raises an interesting culturo-linguistic question: What does that mean?

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Thursday, December 18, 2003
 Just who is America?

This poll is a sad attempt by a community with a predetermined belief on gay marriage (which is, of course their right) to present their opinion to Congress as if it were an objective, scientific poll of America.  Let’s get some balance into this damn poll.

Thanks to Daniel Radosh for the link.  I’ve recommended his blog before, and I’ll do it again.  Left of me, but on Rick’s wavelength. Politics aside, he has a great ear for language and an ability to skewer its abusers.

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Thursday, December 11, 2003
 The Lord speaks in mysterious ways

For my money, the best regular football commentary on the web (or anywhere, really) is Gregg Easterbrook’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback column.  I’ve been reading TMQ since it began on Slate, through its all-too-short residence at espn.com, the brief sojourn at footballoutsiders.com and now in its new location at nfl.com.  The highlight of his column, however, is often the non-football entries, as Easterbrook writes persuasively (sometimes) and intelligently (almost always) on subjects ranging from environmental policy to the space program to religion.  I don’t share any of Easterbrook’s religious beliefs, but I do like to read about religion.  In this week’s column TMQ provided an example of the sorts of things that strengthen his faith:

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