borg.org

Category: Politics

  • Battling ISIL: For the Hearts and Minds of our own Citizens

    Last night President Obama said we will attack ISIL (or ISIS or IS…). Yes, they are extremely nasty, it makes sense to attack people who massacre religious minorities and behead US reporters. Even the Pope agrees that in this case violence must be met with violence. That is the easy part. But the scariest aspect […]

  • JFK: Conspiracy? Jackie is a Clue

    I don’t know who did it.  But it wasn’t Lee Harvey Oswald. Previously I was doubtful, based on holes in the “single bullet theory”.  But today I realize it is much simpler. As a kid I paid attention to hearings the US House held on the assassination, but since then haven’t been bothered to look […]

  • Merkel's Telephone: How Secure Does She WANT it to be?

    The news that the NSA has been listening in on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone had me wondering, as a techie who has paid some attention to computer security, how would I recommend the Germans secure her phone?  It is an interesting puzzle to think through.  And part of my approach would involve other European […]

  • Syria and Sarin: What are the consequences of saying sarin gas carries no punishment?

    To Congressman Capuano, Senator Warren, and Senator Markey Sirs, Madam: I write this open letter as a constituent and supporter, to encourage you to help President Obama on the matter of Syria. Certainly there are good reasons to not get involved in their civil war, and I share those concerns. I have been sickened to […]

  • Syria and Sarin: Let the Punishment Fit the Crime

    I am watching MSNBC, and Chris Hayes suggested that after the break he would tell us what we should do next about Syria.  Okay, that might be interesting, but let me see if I can answer the question first. It seems quite possible–though by no means certain–that Syria’s leader Assad has used Sarin gas. President […]

  • Race in America 2013

    I am a privileged white man, so I am supposed to tread carefully here, but I am willing to blunder over many topics, so here goes. When I was a kid, during the era of civil rights protests, people were beaten, humiliated, terrorized, tortured, and killed for working for equality for blacks, or just being […]

  • Guns are Like Racism, or Porn

    Outlawing guns is going to be difficult, we are awash with them. And a lot of fellow countrymen are clinging to them and will not be interested in having them taken away. We need to change our attitudes. We haven’t outlawed racism, but we did make it no longer respectable in polite company. It is […]

  • Susan Rice is Bad Choice for Secretary of State–at the Moment

    When I heard what Ambassador Rice had to say about Benghazi, what she said repeatedly on all those Sunday shows that day, I was startled but I withheld judgement, I figured she knew something I didn’t.  Well, it seems she knew less than did an informed member of the general public. We need a Secretary […]

  • The Southern Strategy and How the Democrats will Rescue the GOP

    I read a story about how it was the gay vote that pushed Obama over the top. No, other stories say it was single white women. No, it was blacks. No, it was Latinos. No, it was east Asians. No, it as unions. No, it was all of the above. Had Romney shaved off just […]

  • Intentionally "Pulling a Biden", Mark II, "True Crime"-Edition

    Today the Des Moines Register lamented that they had a great phone interview with Obama (seeking their endorsement), that he was lucid and frank and enlightening (I forget the details, I am vamping, but you get the general idea), but that it was off-the-record.  They wrote a blog posting about it, moping over the great […]