The Anthrax Assassin

We are meant to think, apparently, that Bruce Ivins, the civilian US Army scientist who committed suicide after becoming the FBI’s main suspect in the 2001 anthrax killings, was guilty.  He was an insider, he had access to anthrax, he was brilliant but troubled, he had a long history of making homicidal threats, he exhibited […]

I’ve Got a Secret

Some maniac went on a cross-town cop-shooting rampage today.  From what I see on the news, he shot a policeman on the west side of Tucson, then shot two additional pursuing policemen as he headed east.  They caught him somewhere in my neighborhood.  One policeman is on life support and not expected to live.  I’m not […]

Must Maintain Purity of Essence

There’s always been a strong strain of puritanism in military leadership, perhaps nowhere stronger than in the U.S. Air Force.  The latest expression of it is the outright banning of blogs and blogging on USAF computer networks, including USAF-operated internet cafes at bases worldwide. For years now, the USAF has filtered liberal and progressive web sites […]

Outrageous

Up to the rank of colonel, the military grows and promotes its own officers, independent of political influence.  This is sacred.  Is there a military man or woman anywhere, active or retired, alive or dead, who would not be outraged to learn that President Bush wants to take control of the promotion of military lawyers? […]

Arabs on a Plane

Wow, the left side of the blogosphere is up in arms over this story, about the woman who demanded to be let off a departing flight after becoming frightened by Arab passengers she thought were acting suspiciously.  Witness this blog entry, titled “racist hysteric apologizes for targeting DOD-approved swarthy people,” and particularly the reader comments below […]

Big Brother is Slipping

Everybody’s seen Easy Rider, right? So Donna and I were flipping through channels the other night, and we caught the last half hour of Easy Rider on American Movie Classics.  Something struck me as really odd, and I’m wondering if anyone else saw the same thing. There’s Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and the two prostitutes in […]