Paul’s Grab Bag

Unconnected thoughts and observations which don’t rate separate blog posts, but when aggregated together might just amount to something: Tasers: This seems like good news, and it comes not a moment too soon: “Police need reasons to believe a suspect is dangerous before firing a Taser and can’t use their stun gun simply because the […]

Athiests in Foxholes

The media occasionally report on Christian evangelicalism and proselytization in the military services, particularly at the military academies.  One journalist who tracks stories about non-believing and minority religion servicemembers coerced into Christian worship is Ed Brayton, who blogs about this and other issues at Dispatches from the Culture Wars. Last week he published a letter […]

Thank-You-Sir-May-I-Have-Another?

My personal thoughts on the arrest of Henry Louis Gates?  You probably think I’m about to say I agree with President Obama that the Cambridge police acted stupidly.  No, actually, I think they acted predictably. Racism is a given in situations like this.  Whites know it; people of color know it . . . if […]

Chad 2 NTSB: u’ve been pwned

Pwn: internet slang term, derived from the verb “own,” meaning to appropriate or conquer, implying domination or humiliation of a rival.  — Wikipedia. From the New York Times, 21 July, 2009: Driven to Distraction U.S. Withheld Data on Risks of Distracted Driving By MATT RICHTEL Published: July 21, 2009 In 2003, researchers at a federal agency […]

Balanced News You Can Count On . . .

. . . to serve the corporate masters.  Warning: NPR kvetching ahead. I thought Diane Rehm’s show started off well this morning: she interviewed presidential science advisor Dr. John Holdren about the latest White House report on climate change.  And here’s the thing: she had him on by himself, not up against a panel of […]

On the Usefulness of Twitter

There has been much said about Twitter, most of it negative, but Twitter is shining today.  I realize this is highly perishable information, but at this moment the hot trending topics include #cnnfail, #iranelection, and #tehran.  Apparently Iran can’t keep its citizens off Twitter, and they’re providing the news and photographic coverage our own media […]