Category Archives: Academic

American national character: Rocky and Bullwinkle

Posted on March 12, 2007 by Stephen W. Browne

“The Dogma of Otherness is a worldview that actually encourages an appetite for newness. A hunger for diversity. An eagerness for change. Tolerance, naturally, plays a major role in the legends spread by this culture. (Look at the underlying message … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic, Culture | 5 Comments

American national character: MAD Magazine

Posted on March 10, 2007 by Stephen W. Browne

“This theme is so prevalent, and so obvious, that even though you can see where I am going with it — and hate the inevitable conclusion — you aren’t going to dispute the core fact. You have to sit there … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic, Humor/satire, Social Science & History | 4 Comments

David Brin’s Otherness

Posted on March 8, 2007 by Stephen W. Browne

I encountered an idea that was to become one of the foundations of my world-view years ago in a short essay by science fiction author David Brin. Like Thomas Sowell’s ‘A Conflict of Visions’, which I will post about anon, … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic, Social Science & History | 10 Comments

The Bilingualism scam and tips for langauge learning

Posted on November 17, 2006 by Stephen W. Browne

My wife came home from a parent-teacher meeting the other day, mad as hell. Why? Because the whole meeting was in Spanish. Both my wife and I can follow Spanish a bit, but she’d have been totally lost if she … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic, Personal | 5 Comments

Observations on Arabs

Posted on September 9, 2006 by Stephen W. Browne

Journalist Jill Carroll is back home now, and detailing her experiences as a captive of the jihadists in Iraq in the Christian Science Monitor.( http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0814/p01s01-woiq.html ) I’m sure the details will prove fascinating, but the upshot of what she has … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic, Culture, Politics, Terrorism, War | 89 Comments