Bloggin' in The Years: 1990

Rush Limbaugh-blowhard, or mad prophet of the airwaves?

On certain weighty, if arid, topics, Limbaugh will discourse (some would say harangue) long and earnestly: 'The tax code is the single greatest power Congress has. It is the means of social architecture in this country. . . . Oil is the fuel of the engine that runs the free world.' Blah, blah, blah.

But when he contemplates the universe of liberal activists and protesters, lecturer gives way to lampoonist and out pours the broad, bruising humor. For in that universe are Limbaugh's favorite enemies: black activists, gay activists, abortion rights activists, homeless activists, animal rights activists, militant vegetarians, environmentalists, artists with erotic tendencies and, above all, 'the NOW Gang.' Such people he sees as crackpot oddball weirdos yet somehow, at the same time, a growing menace. They arouse in him the irrepressible urge to tweak.

'The simple fact of the matter,' Limbaugh is apt to inform dolphin savers and tree lovers, 'is that we are human beings, and we are the most powerful, smartest species, and we can damn well do whatever we want.'

His penchant for the outrageous he explains thusly: 'I demonstrate absurdity by being absurd.'

Who says conservatives can't be entertaining?

A look at Bill Gates' newest offering.

Hailed by some as the product of the year, Microsoft Windows 3.0 is taking the microcomputer world by storm since its release last spring. Windows is a multitasking graphical operating environment with significant memory management capabilities for the IBM 286-plus computer family. It runs on top of MS-DOS, enabling users to create large applications, swap data between applications, and run multiple applications as if each were operating in its own "virtual" machine.

The wave of the future? Should Steve Jobs be worried?

Saddam Hussein is looking to get his butt whipped:

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council today appeared in agreement on a U.S. call to authorize use of military force to end Iraq's occupation of Kuwait, but there was disagreement about whether the draft resolution should set a deadline of Jan. 1 or Jan. 15 for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to withdraw his forces.

Such a resolution, if passed, would not mean that allied forces would attack Iraq immediately as the deadline for withdrawal is passed. Rather, it would allow for the use of "all necessary means," implying the use of force, to end Iraq's occupation of Kuwait anytime thereafter.

Hey, Saddam-we know where you live...