Monthly Archives: December 2008

Cool Christmas journalism

Posted on December 30, 2008 by Stephen W. Browne

I worked a couple hours on Christmas. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to pursue an idea I had for a photo essay. I’m a wordsmith by profession, but lately the miracle of digital photography has enthralled … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Happy Holidays

Posted on December 24, 2008 by Stephen W. Browne

Note: the following appeared as op-eds in the Valley City Times-Record on subsequent weekends. Hanukkah, festival of light and freedom “For eight days they celebrated the re-dedication of the altar… Then Judah and his brothers and the entire congregation of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

The Pole who saved the world, and taught a lesson nobody is listening to

Posted on December 21, 2008 by Stephen W. Browne

If you go here, you’ll find a column on Col. Ryszard Kuklinski by an author who attended a seminar on him and his role in preventing WWIII at Langley (CIA HQ.) http://townhall.com/columnists/DavidRStokes/2008/12/21/the_spy_who_really_came_in_from_the_cold I have the book on the stack of … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Social Science & History, War | 2 Comments

The economy is fine, but I think winter is here…

Posted on December 20, 2008 by Stephen W. Browne

Last weekend we got a blizzard with driving wind that left about a foot of snow on the ground. I went out in it and walked to the grocery story, about a half-mile away, only to find everything in town … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Question from a reader

Posted on December 19, 2008 by Stephen W. Browne

I received the question below from a reader who found my old post, “Observations on Arabs” found here: http://rantsand.blogspot.com/2006/09/observations-on-arabs.html It amazes me that I still get comments on that one. It pleases me that this time it’s not calling me … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Chicago politics

Posted on December 11, 2008 by Stephen W. Browne

Note: This appeared as an op-ed in the Valley City Times-Record weekend edition. “One of the peculiarities of the American Revolution was that its leaders pinned their hopes on the organization of decision-making units, the structuring of their incentives, and … Continue reading →

Posted in News commentary, Politics | 5 Comments

An indelicate question…

Posted on December 7, 2008 by Stephen W. Browne

Looking over a previous post, ‘A bad time for lovers,’ I was reminded of a question a late friend of mine asked many years ago, “Why is it that the best lays are usually disasters as human beings?” He was … Continue reading →

Posted in Relationships | 5 Comments

Are we a generation of wussies? part 2

Posted on December 7, 2008 by Stephen W. Browne

“A fateful characteristic of our violent age is the non-violence, the incredible meekness of the victims. Almost without exception, the social scientists are telling us that Americans are at present more violent than they were in the past. Yet anyone … Continue reading →

Posted in Free Speech, Politics, Social Science & History | 8 Comments

Who’s to blame, part 2

Posted on December 6, 2008 by Stephen W. Browne

Writing this comes hard. I’ve been outlining this in my head, and found that I really didn’t want to do it much. Not because I’m sad, disappointed, or fearful of the future, but because I’m mad as hell. Not at … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 12 Comments

Why don’t they call…?

Posted on December 3, 2008 by Stephen W. Browne

Over here http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTJhMjA1MDZiNDkzYTE0MzI0NmI2MjdiMTNiMDBhYTg= at National Review Online, Tom Gross asks the following questions: So why are so many prominent Western media reluctant to call the perpetrators terrorists? Why did Jon Snow, one of Britain’s most respected TV journalists, use the … Continue reading →

Posted in Media bias, Terrorism | 7 Comments