Author Archives: dowbrigade

About dowbrigade

Semi-retired academic from Harvard, Boston University, Fulbright Commission, Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manta, currently columnist for El Diario de Portoviejo and La Marea de Manta.

Market Hits High – What Are They Smoking?

  The Dow Jones industrial average opened the fourth quarter by soaring more than 200 points at one point, putting the index well above its previous high set in July. At the close, the Dow was up 191.92 points, or … Continue reading

Posted in business, Politics | 7 Comments

Photo of the Day

It doesn’t get much more real, or more deadly, than this. Japanese reporter Kenji Nagai lies in the street, mortally wounded, trying desperately to catch a final shot as his life flows out of his busted body and a young … Continue reading

Posted in Blogging, Media News, Photos, Serious News | 1 Comment

Deval Wimps Out on Gaming

Governor Deval Patrick expressed reservations yesterday about licensing a casino in any Massachusetts city, clouding the prospects for hotly debated proposals to build resort-style gambling complexes in Boston and New Bedford. “I have some misgivings about a casino in any … Continue reading

Posted in Politics, Sports | 3 Comments

Shoulder Shopping

The Dowbrigade’s local supermarket has been undergoing a major makeover, and it was as if, had we been a pre-super hunter gatherer, the bison herd had suddenly disappeared. Despite completely reoutfitting and reorganizing the entire store, they managed to stay … Continue reading

Posted in Friends and Family, Humor | 2 Comments

Signs of the Apocolypse #885

Frog-deforming infections caused by tiny parasites are increasing because of North American farms’ nutrient-rich watershed, a new study shows. The excess nitrogen and phosphorus found in farm runoff causes more algae to grow, which increases snail populations that host microscopic … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Comic of the Day

This has become a regular point of contention between the Dowbrigade and his main feline spiritual advisor, Chiqui. Rather than walk on our face (always a risky proposition) Chiqui sits calmly and prudently a few inches to one side and … Continue reading

Posted in Blogging, Comics, Friends and Family | 4 Comments

World Wide Web?

WILLS POINT, Tex., Aug. 29 — Most spiders are solitary creatures. So the discovery of a vast web crawling with millions of spiders that is spreading across several acres of a North Texas park is causing a stir among scientists, … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 23 Comments

    It’s back-to-school time so load up with those pencils, notebooks, rulers and, of course, a bullet-deflecting backpack, if you buy the pitch of the security accessory’s Danvers inventors.   Dads Mike Pelonzi, 43, and Joe Curran, 42, dreamed … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 12 Comments

Comic of the Day

The China Conundrum was inevitable. Importing entire Wal-Marts full of goods from a third world country with as creative and casual an attitude towards standards and regulation as China was wound to have repercussions in a country as litigation-loco as … Continue reading

Posted in Comics, Humor | 5 Comments

Curious George Escapes from Peru

NEW YORK (CNN) — Passengers aboard Spirit Airlines Flight 180 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to New York’s LaGuardia International Airport had an unexpected travel companion Tuesday: a small monkey. A passenger who originally departed from Lima, Peru, and connected in … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Buddha Boy’s Back – Preaches Peace – and Quiet

Finally, Ram Bahadur Bomjom, the Buddha Boy, has started preaching. The committee that looks after ‘the modern Buddha’, Namo Buddha Tapoban Committee, assembled a large crowd yesterday in Hallori Jungle in Bara district of southern Nepal that was addressed by … Continue reading

Posted in Wacky News | 16 Comments

Man U Signs 9-year-old – No Joke

MANCHESTER, England: Manchester United, by most measures the #1 sports team in the world, has announced the signing of Rhain Davis, a 9-year-old soccer prodigy from Australia (see photo). Rhain was brought to the attention of the world soccer powerhouse … Continue reading

Posted in Sports | 62 Comments