Category Archives: Politics

I didn’t say it

Posted on September 3, 2008 by RB

The McCain campaign is rallying around Sarah Palin: Tennessee congresswoman Marsha Blackburn suggested that Palin’s work on the parent-teacher association of her son’s school gave her useful experience for the vice-presidency. “Every woman in this room knows that if you … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 1 Comment

What was McCain thinking?

Posted on August 29, 2008 by RB

Hmmm. (Skip the first 8 minutes, it’s just the old man rambling.) She’s young, good-looking, inexperienced, a bit ideological, and a member of a marginal group; just like Barack Obama, actually. But she’s running for VP, not to be the … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 25 Comments

Summing-up the Beijing Games

Posted on August 27, 2008 by RB

The LA Times boils China’s Olympics down to their real essence: Yet what planners in Beijing miscalculated is that no matter how well you teach performers to smile, the strain behind the lips is still detectable. The near-hysterical drive by … Continue reading →

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Like I said

Posted on August 26, 2008 by RB

I hate to say “I told you so” (actually, I love it, but play along), but the director of the Beijing games’ opening and closing ceremonies touts the obedience of his countrymen in boosting his own work: China’s most famous … Continue reading →

Posted in Fascism | 1 Comment

Mao’s Little Helper

Posted on August 21, 2008 by RB

John Schwartz generally works the tech beat at the New York Times, but he’s written a fine review of “Snow Falling in Spring”, a children’s book about Mao’s China. We join the narrative in the middle of the account of … Continue reading →

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Presidential Candidate Tech Policies

Posted on August 17, 2008 by RB

Now that Michael Phelps has won 17 dozen gold medals with chocolate chips and the world has been made safe for democracy for another Olympiad, we can turn to more trivial matters such as the technology policies of our presidential … Continue reading →

Posted in Net Neutrality, Politics | 5 Comments

Hail the new China, just like the old China

Posted on August 16, 2008 by RB

Another day, another deception from the People’s Republic of China’s Olympics. Remember the cute assemblage of children in colorful ethnic dress carrying the flag in the Opening Ceremony? They weren’t what they appeared to be: Media reports said the children … Continue reading →

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More Olympic fakery

Posted on August 12, 2008 by RB

Not content to slip under-aged girls onto their gymnastic team, Chinese officials also engaged in some sleight of hand in the Opening Ceremony. We’re not talking about the Clone Army that performed all the synchronized drumming, but the little girl … Continue reading →

Posted in Fascism | 10 Comments

The People’s Republic of Conformity

Posted on August 11, 2008 by RB

The first thing to annoy me about the Beijing Olympics is China’s evident cheating in girls’ gymnasitcs, where they’ve flouted the minimum age standard by making false passports for a couple of children. If Chinese gymnasts He Kexin and Jiang … Continue reading →

Posted in Fascism | 16 Comments

Obama: Not a Serious Person

Posted on March 20, 2008 by RB

The great Obama speech on race in America impressed a lot of people, but they were already Obama supporters. It left me cold, and more than a little offended. To compare his grandmother’s probably rational fear of black men on … Continue reading →

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