Month: February 2007

Ever hear of a Hobson’s choice? [A] Hobson’s choice is an apparently free choice that is really no choice at all. The phrase is said to originate from Thomas Hobson (1544–1630), a livery stable owner at Cambridge,...

Also at DKos. Launching an air and naval war against Iran to compensate for failures in Iraq and Afghanistan would be like setting the barn on fire to keep the horses from freezing to death: counterintuitive, counterproductive...

Our journalist friends from France briefly explain why solar and cosmic radiation make manned space travel to Mars or beyond not feasible — unless you want to die quickly. “A theorised solution would be to generate a...

The Human Rights Watch site informs that the basic principles of international humanitarian law underlying military occupation are long established. They are based primarily on the 1907 Hague Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws...

It certainly is nice to see that there are a number of pretty strong Democratic candidates for the 2008 election. Even more so since this country is going to hell in a bucket (and I am not enjoying the ride nearly as much as the...