April 26, 2003

Incest

›
While writing an essay on Senator Rick Santorum’s recent comments on the legal status of homosexuality and other sexual practices (see “ Ric...
April 15, 2003

The Next Battle for Iraq

›
The first of many promised meetings to discuss the future polity of Iraq was held today in Ur. The U.S. government has not yet released a li...
April 14, 2003

Looting

›
In light of the administration’s stated intention to use the infrastructure of the former government of Iraq as a basis for an interim gover...
April 9, 2003

Man-to-man

›
While watching the NCAA women’s basketball final last night. I was surprised to hear a female announcer on ESPN describe the Tennessee women...
March 20, 2003

No Protest Today

›
Anti-war demonstrations are planned today for a number of U.S. cities, Pittsburgh among them. With war in Iraq having started last night, I ...
March 18, 2003

Thanks, But No Thanks

›
Not surprisingly, Iraq seems to have rejected out of hand our demand that it give us its country. Praying for peace seems about the only al...
February 24, 2003

Thought Experiment

›
NASA has continued to dismiss warnings from engineers concerning possible tile damage that may have occurred on liftoff. Even if fatal damag...
January 27, 2003

Travel Tip

›
I gave some late Christmas presents this year—packets of small, colored cable ties for use on luggage, in lieu of padlocks. The Transportati...
January 23, 2003

On Reaching Consensus

›
One of Terry Gross’s guests on Fresh Air today was antiwar demonstration organizer Mara Verheyden-Hilliard. The interview was tedious, with...
January 9, 2003

A FrontPage Story

›
As you may have noticed from the home page of Lionel Deimel’s Farrago , I maintain the site with Microsoft’s FrontPage 2000. FrontPage is a...
January 6, 2003

Where Do They Come From?

›
I stopped at my local Wild Birds Unlimited store a few weeks ago and bought a thistle feeder to go with my wooden “house” feeder. This tube...
January 5, 2003

Where Did the Other Calorie Go?

›
I heard an ad promoting sugar the other day, presumably the work of some sugar trade group, possibly The Sugar Association, Inc. (see below)...

Far Apart

›
This morning, and not for the first time, I heard an NPR reporter say of a negotiation something like “both sides are still far apart.” Such...
December 6, 2002

Deconstructing an Icon

›
We live in a culture suffused with icons we seldom consciously analyze. I realized this the other day when I was expecting a delivery from F...
October 4, 2002

Letter on Iraq

›
After thinking about doing so for weeks, I wrote my senators and congressman yesterday about how Congress should deal with the Iraq situatio...
September 18, 2002

Inspections in Iraq

›
Much to the disgust of the Bush administration, Iraq has just agreed to admit weapons inspectors unconditionally, though there are not-so-su...
August 5, 2002

Too Fond of a Good Thing?

›
We sometimes seem to get hung up on titles that were once appropriate but are no longer. This thought was inspired by the recent World Youth...
July 5, 2002

Puns

›
I would like to propose a class of puns. I don’t know if this is a recognized class or, if it is, whether it has a name. (Reader comments ar...
June 18, 2002

Quotation

›
You never know what you will be remembered for. Of all the words spoken and written by Richard Nixon, for example, the former President is p...
June 17, 2002

Unpatriotic?

›
Much has been said of the plan of The Stanley Works’ plan to reincorporate in Bermuda. The plan reputedly will save the company $20,000,000 ...