Monthly Archives: November 2006

Whatever they’re calling it these days – the KGB still has a long arm

Posted on November 28, 2006 by Stephen W. Browne

Former KGB/FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko died in London a few days ago. Reportedly, some of his last words were, “The bastards got me.” He seems to have been poisoned with a radioactive isotope of Polonium, ironically enough. The element Polonium … Continue reading →

Posted in News commentary, Politics, Social Science & History | 3 Comments

Ruminations

Posted on November 26, 2006 by Stephen W. Browne

I see that Charles Rangel (D-NY) has floated the idea of bringing back the draft. The Democrats, who may be suicidal but not that suicidal, immediately shot the idea down. The Republicans must be terribly disappointed, they were probably hoping … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Racism versus Culturism

Posted on November 24, 2006 by Stephen W. Browne

After I published “Obsevations on Arabs” on the Atlasphere and on my blog, I got a lot of interesting feedback. Many people with experience in the Gulf chimed in with their own observations, mostly in at least qualified agreement. One … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Social Science & History | 21 Comments

Great flicks that bombed

Posted on November 22, 2006 by Stephen W. Browne

As a general rule, if something is really popular with the entertainment-consuming public, it’s no guarantee that it’s any good, but if it’s unpopular then it probably is pretty bad. There are exception to the latter. Here are five movies … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Philosophy | 7 Comments

Ruminations

Posted on November 21, 2006 by Stephen W. Browne

You want to know the difference between Libertarians and Conservatives? The Democrats now have control of congress. After assailing the Republican “culture of corruption” the new Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (notorious for using “undocumented” Mexican labor on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Ruminations, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Religions that never were – but might be

Posted on November 19, 2006 by Stephen W. Browne

Hymn to Mithras, sung by the XXX Legion stationed at the Wall (Hadrian’s) north of Eboracum (modern York). Mithras, God of the Morning, our trumpets waken the wall!Rome is above the Nations, but Thou art over all,Now as the names … Continue reading →

Posted in Book reviews, Literature, Martial arts, Philosophy | 2 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

Ruminations

Posted on November 14, 2006 by Stephen W. Browne

Remember when we met PC at my son’s preschool? When they asked us to tell him not to make guns out of leggo blocks? Well Monika asked her if he had done that lately. She said no, now he makes … Continue reading →

Posted in Ruminations | 2 Comments

Libertarians emerge as "spoilers"

Posted on November 13, 2006 by Stephen W. Browne

My friend Bob Bidinotto comments here http://bidinotto.journalspace.com/about why the Democrats took over the House and Senate by a razor-thin margin, attributing it in part to Rush Limbaugh’s disgraceful mocking of Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s symptoms and in part to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 6 Comments

The great political discussion of our time

Posted on November 9, 2006 by Stephen W. Browne

Well, the mid-term election is over and the pontificating has begun. It turned out about like expected, no surprises. The Democrats got control of the House and the Senate, though by one of the narrowest margins in the history of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments