Monthly Archives: December 2003

Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop

The Dowbrigade considers himself a normal, red-blooded American news-junkie, not sick or subversive or overly enamored with schadenfreude. Lately, however, we have had to question our taste if not our sanity, for when we look deep into our soul, God … Continue reading

Posted in Prose Screeds | 6 Comments

Dowbrigade Loses Another Title

World’s Biggest Snake Discovered in Indonesia Its a good thing Norma Yvonne is on vacation, far, far away from here, or she wouldn’t go near the computer for a week just from seeing a snake this big on the screen. Honestly, … Continue reading

Posted in ESL Links | 42 Comments

Proximity Cards – No Need to Swipe

Cards that can be read from your pocket, without having to be swiped? Incredible convienience, or an invitation to electronic pocket-picking? How long til your student ID chip is implanted under your skin during your freshman physical? Thank goodness this … Continue reading

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Bush Popularity Falling Falling

People considering a tandem skydive would trust cartoon character Homer Simpson over US President George Bush, according to research. The public voted the daft dad of hit TV show "The Simpsons" as their number one choice if they were participating … Continue reading

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Lost in Translation

The Globe’s political coverage takes a turn for the lyrical, as Peter Canellos whips up some wacky images in a review of the convoluted rhetoric concerning foreign policy flying around the campaign, and the difficulty in parsing political pronouncements and … Continue reading

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American Values Questioned

James Caroll, in a Boston Globe op-ed piece, mentions some alarming statistics concerning the US criminal justice system. He makes the argument that racism has been so effectively and insideously institutionalized under the guise of the "War on Drugs" that we … Continue reading

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Detained Suspect Claims to Be Ben Franklin

December 30, 2003 – Washington — The FBI is warning police nationwide to be alert for people carrying almanacs, cautioning that the popular annual reference books covering everything from abbreviations to weather trends could be used for terrorist planning. In … Continue reading

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Picture on the Scratchpad

photo via T. Adams

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Naval Undersea Warfare Center Tests Blogs

Blogging, or keeping a weblog, is often seen as a solitary effort. An individual can type frequent updates onto their log, sharing opinions or ideas with anyone with Internet access. The future of blogging could look a lot different. The … Continue reading

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Waiting for The One

The Dowbrigade, whose social life makes Airport Ramada look like Paris Hilton, has been invited to a party tonight. Not exactly a New Year’s Eve party (that would be too much to ask for), but close; a Day-Before-New-Year’s-Eve Party.  Actually, … Continue reading

Posted in ESL Links | 5 Comments

Rock of Ages

Joan Anderman, writing in today’s Boston Globe, has some very interesting observations on inter-generational taste in music. She is a music critic, and up on Foo Fighters or Ben Harper or Korn or Sheryl Crow, while her kids go nuts … Continue reading

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Date Rape or Xenophobia?

This story from today’s Globe highlights the lack of consistency in resolution of legal conflicts, especially if one of the parties is a citizen and the other is not. And extra-especially if one of the parties is Harvard… CAMBRIDGE — … Continue reading

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