Open Thread!

The Fourth Stanza
The Defense of Fort McHenry
Oh, say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,Gave proof through the night [...]

2005, the year in review
These are the stories and events that I see were important in 2005. By all means correct me in the comments section if you think I missed something.
The biggest news story of the year was the death of John Paul II and the election of Cardinal Ratzinger to Pope. [...]

Unpublished ColumnI wrote a short column in reply to this article I read in one of the local papers, but the editors at the Echo Press felt it didn’t deserve space, So I’m going to post it here. There’s going to be a push to expand the prep level school year, and it’s based [...]

2005 in review from around the horn
Deaths
For the troops
Big News Stories
Deaths II
Little known science discoveries
Lists of 2005 lists
h/t Mister Snitch for some of the above.

More reactions to the District 15 Special Elections
Andy Aplikowski
Andy is obviously frustrated, but I think the leadership he’s looking for exists in Ron Carey. I just don’t know if that will be ebough in 2006.
And a nameless buddy of his
Tony Garcia
I actually agree with a lot of what Tony said, except the part where [...]

The Senate District 15 and House District 15b Special Election
How I see it
It’s cliche but true, most battles are won or lost before the battle actually takes place. If you haven’t read Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” and you’re a politico, you’re doing yourself a disservice. When Sue Ek signed the affidavit [...]

Dan Ochsner loses in District 15
The results are in, the Minnesota GOP has lost ground in its fight to take back the senate, the results from the Secretary of State’s office:
Independence DAN BECKER 826 6.96 Republican DAN “OX” OCHSNER [...]

Yes yes, a little late…
Letters to a Liberal
This is an ongoing series addressed to a liberal reader named “timmy.” In these letters I try to show my respect and admiration for those of the liberal philosophy, while clearly (and hopefully persuasively) explain why I place myself on the opposite end of the ideological spectrum.Dear Tim,
We [...]

Roun’ da Hornor News Roundup plus stuff
In a move that shows American democracy can truly be spread across the globe, the Iraqi Sunnis are taking a play from the American Democratic Party and are making wild accusations about widespread voter fraud.
Poland will keep troops in Iraq.
Japanese prefer humanoid robots to real people.
My cat does not [...]