Category Archives: Mere Opinion

Thoughts, often reaction, off-the-cuff and perhaps short on research

Just The Facts, Ma’am: The Vatican Embassy Closing

by James J Heaney Posted on 5 December 2013

Fact-checking is a decadent industry.  Mainstream fact-checkers at the Washington Post and PolitiFact rate politicians’ claims on multi-point scales ranging from “Pants On Fire” to “The Geppetto Checkmark.”  To manage these multi-point scales, fact-checkers must resort to subjective measurements of “relevant … Continue reading →

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The Trouble With Snowden

by James J Heaney Posted on 4 December 2013

I have been raising the alarm loud and long on my Facebook page over the NSA’s decision to take up the mantle of the surveillance state that the Stasi laid down twenty-five years ago.  But I haven’t said much here on … Continue reading →

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The Campaign to Rename the John Roach Center

by James J Heaney Posted on 30 October 2013

EDIT: Much as I’ve enjoyed writing this post (the quotes especially!), reading the reaction to it (discussion is good!), and digging deeper into the subject (who started this campaign?), it turns out that the subject falls within the parameters of … Continue reading →

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I Hate Banned Books Week

by James J Heaney Posted on 30 September 2013

Every year, the American Library Association, pious lover of books, freedom, and openness to sharing absolutely all ideas regardless of their content (unless you live in Cuba or your particular set of crazy ideas doesn’t follow rigid leftist doctrine), runs a weeklong event called “Banned … Continue reading →

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Why Republicans Will Always Lose, by Douglas Adams

by James J Heaney Posted on 19 March 2013

Reading the much-talked-about GOP “autopsy” today, trying to put together some impromptu thoughts about it for a Senate District meeting tonight, I find myself reminded of a passage from Douglas Adams’ novel Life, The Universe, and Everything.  Slartibartfast, a hapless … Continue reading →

Posted in Mere Opinion, Politics | 1,803 Comments

GUEST POST: A Good and Proper Trouncing of Pro-Amendment Heffalumps and Woozles, by David Allender

by James J Heaney Posted on 6 November 2012

This piece was published on Facebook on Sunday, November 4, 2012.  It is reposted with permission from the author.  My response is here. There is a particular kind of violence in this world that has always bothered me. It hides … Continue reading →

Posted in Analysis, Mere Opinion | 1,257 Comments

The Great Democratic Turnout Miracle

by James J Heaney Posted on 27 October 2012

During this cycle, likely voter polls have consistently shown more Democrats showing up to vote than Republicans. Actually, that is a bit of an understatement.  It is perfectly normal for Democrats to outnumber Republicans, even at the polls, even in strong Republican … Continue reading →

Posted in Horse Race, Mere Opinion, Politics | 2,546 Comments