Monthly Archives: December 2009

Lesley Stahl on Huckabee

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Stephen W. Browne

“Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don’t mean to do harm — but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they … Continue reading →

Posted in Media bias, Op-eds, Social Science & History | Leave a comment

Christmas time is hear by golly

Posted on December 23, 2009 by Stephen W. Browne

Note: An abbreviated version of this appeared as the Christmas weekend op-ed in the Valley City Times-Record. Christmas time is here again, and in the words of that great songwriter Tom Lehrer, time to reflect on what we deeply and … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor/satire | 2 Comments

Martial arts and combatives, Part 1: What’s out there?

Posted on December 20, 2009 by Stephen W. Browne

I’ve written here about the study of one of my two primary martial arts styles Pekiti Tirsia Kali , and about the new fad for the study of “combatives” based on the training for soldiers and OSS operatives that evolved … Continue reading →

Posted in Martial arts | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The magic wand and the club; a political fable

Posted on December 17, 2009 by Stephen W. Browne

“Government is not reason. It is not eloquence. It is force, and like fire, a dangerous servant and a terrible master.” –George Washington (attributed) Two brothers were walking through a dark forest one day, when they came upon an object … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor/satire, Politics | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Doing the police report in a small town

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Stephen W. Browne

“Qui custodiet ipsos custodies?” (“Who shall guard the guardians themselves?”) -Juvenal The professions of law enforcement and journalism are alike in one way and different in another. They are alike in that neither of us could do our jobs without … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Separation of Sport and State

Posted on December 13, 2009 by Stephen W. Browne

George Will, who’s more of a baseball guy, published a column on the Bowl Championship Series, and what Re. Joe Barton (R-TX) wants to do to fix it. “Rep. Joe Barton, who considers the BCS part of the axis of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

On the cover of Rolling Stone

Posted on December 12, 2009 by Stephen W. Browne

OK, not on the cover, in the comments section of an online article. Just couldn’t resist the allusion. I recently got an email from a friend that read as follows: “I think they’re finally beginning to get it. Maybe….” (With … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Climategate, a new record in scientific fraud

Posted on December 4, 2009 by Stephen W. Browne

This has got to be a record for the greatest scientific fraud ever, by any criteria you care to name: number of people involved in falsifying data, the amount of money involved, the consequences of acting on the doctored data, the number of people who fell for it, etc. Continue reading →

Posted in Hard Science, Politics | Tagged , | 5 Comments

A martial artist looks at the White House party crashers

Posted on December 2, 2009 by Stephen W. Browne

Tareq and Michaele Salahi, in hot water for crashing the White House party, are now saying they had applied for invitations and showed up, “to just check in, in case it got approved since we didn’t know, and our name … Continue reading →

Posted in Martial arts | Tagged , , | 2 Comments