Daily Archives: July 4, 2007

Let freedom ring

July 4, 20071:05 a.m.

If you haven’t read the Declaration of Independence in a while, you can do so here today — the inspiring document’s 231st birthday. It’s sobering to realize that the signers were committing treason, prompting Benjamin Franklin to observe, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
Have a fine, safe holiday.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (189)

Open thread 7/4

July 4, 20071:04 a.m.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Open thread | Comments (33)

Bumpy riding on the Straight Talk Express

July 4, 20071:03 a.m.

It’s still half a year until the first primary vote is cast. Anybody think John McCain can still have a bounce? As it is, things look bleak, with the Arizona Republican shedding staffers and down to $2 million in campaign money. How the GOP front runner has fallen. Is it all about Iraq? Iraq plus immigration? Or did McCain’s moment come and go, say, in 2005?
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Presidential race | Comments (29)

Declaring war on cyberbullies

July 4, 20071:02 a.m.

Cyberbullying — anonymously posting abusive and malicious attacks on someone online — has become such a problem in South Korea that the government has clamped down on it with a new law.
Under the “Internet real name system,” South Korean bloggers on major Web and media portal sites must give operators their names, Social Security numbers and other personal information before they’re allowed to post messages.
What do you think, WE Bloggers? With cyberbulling on the rise in the United States, too, are we in need of such safeguards?
Posted by Randy Scholfield

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Web/Tech | Comments (24)

They should speak American anyway

July 4, 20071:01 a.m.

At a recent State Department briefing, a reporter asked how many of the 200 foreign service officers stationed at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad could speak fluent Arabic. The answer: 10.
It’s emblematic of our failure to understand the culture and language of a country we’re occupying.
Posted by Randy Scholfield

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Foreign affairs | Comments (34)