Articles by Robert McHenry
My Thought Experiment
I usually avoid writing about international affairs because I am far, far from expert in the field but tend to have strong opinions nonetheless. For some folks this would be a recipe for disaster, but I am saved from...
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How Likely Does It Have to Be?
Readers of a certain age, or with a particular antiquarian bent, may recognize these lines: Last night I was dreamin' Dreamed about the H-bomb That was Bill Haley, and in those post-Korea, pre-Cuban Missile Crisis days he was able...
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Eden Without Us?
The October 12 edition of New Scientist magazine ("Science Fact not Science Fiction") offered an article called "Imagine Earth without people" (online version ). Author Bob Holmes imagines what is evidently meant to be a heart-warming future in which all...
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Hail, Hail Rock 'n' Roll!
Name a song that has been recorded by all the following: the Beach Boys; Conway Twitty; the Sex Pistols; Tom Jones; Bill Haley; AC/DC; John Denver; Jerry Lee Lewis; Elton John. No, it wasn't "White Christmas." Or "Stardust." Also Chubby...
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'Shouting Hoo, Hoo, Hoo at the Tops of Their Tongues'
Back in the 1960s and '70s the Harvard Lampoon occasionally put together a parody version of some mainstream (I almost wrote "legitimate") magazine, such as Cosmopolitan or Time or Playboy. If memory serves, there was always a letter to the...
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Categorical Errors
Pluto is no longer a planet. That Pluto was a planet turns out to have been a matter of great public interest, if the media coverage of its demotion is a fair indication. It was on the front page of...
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Another Word War
Mahmood Ahmadinejad, President of the Republic of Iran, has a blog. The day draws ever more nigh when I shall be the last human without a blog, as I am now, so far as I can tell, the only one...
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The Pelican, Briefly
You know how words, phrases, images, half-formed ideas, flit through your mind as you skim more or less idly through your favorite websites? Mostly they go as quickly as they come, leaving no trace, but occasionally something sticks just long...
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American Politics: The Greatest Show on Earth
Most days I don't think about it, any more than you do, but there are times when I just love being an American citizen. It's about the best job a guy (or gal) could have. It pays well, in the...
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