Brian Gongol
Would a baby monkey make a better fellow air passenger than a baby human?
West Des Moines won't get the Microsoft server farm after all
At least not for now. The company is putting the project on hold. Which really ought to reinforce the argument that economic-incentive packages like the one that "won" the server farm in the first place are a bad idea.
Dear America: You can't spend your way into prosperity
"Guns, butter, and tax cuts all at once" made the outgoing President one of the most fiscally-irresponsible in history
India bans Chinese toy imports for six months
The reason being given: The risk of lead contamination. What's probably going on: India's government is trying to keep cheap Chinese products out, in order to grant some protection to domestic manufacturers.
The Presidential oath of office does not require a Bible
Nor should it. Thomas Jefferson re-wrote the Christian Testament of the Bible. Jefferson clearly wouldn't have counted as a strong Christian according to today's views, but would anyone dare to suggest that Jefferson wasn't American enough to be President? Everyone's an agnostic about everyone else's god but his or her own. The fact that the Constitution of the United States enshrines freedom of religion -- as well as the freedom to have no religion at all -- is a hallmark of the enlightened thinking that has kept a country of diverse interests together for more than two centuries. And that very same freedom has led to economic and technological innovation, which in turn has led to an era in which the Vatican has a YouTube channel. Really. An environment of religious freedom -- including the absolute right to question and reject religion altogether -- is the only way to go.
UK commentator is astounded no one protests foreign purchases of their newspapers
A hundred years ago, newspapers and magazines were the only media around, so they were the exclusive opinion leaders. Today, online services rival their legacy-media counterparts for influence. Related: Twitter's popularity is growing rapidly.
