Archive | August, 2002

Diplomacy does not apply toward Dictators

(2002.08.31 ) Politics

“The imminence of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the huge dangers it involves, the rejection of a viable inspection system, and the demonstrated hostility of Saddam Hussein combine to produce an imperative for pre-emptive action,” Vice President Cheney told a national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in [...]

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"Francisco's Money Speech"

(2002.08.30 ) Politics

The following is an excerpt from Atlas Shrugged, © Copyright, 1957, by Ayn Rand. It is reprinted in Capitalism Magazine by permission of the Estate of Ayn Rand.May not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of her Estate. “So you think that money is the root of all evil?” said [...]

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Greenspan on “Infectious Greed”

(2002.08.30 ) Politics

[Previously], I wrote: “Those on the moral code of altruism have to view all businessmen as guilty, guilty by nature, since their life’s work is to seek selfish gain. The current legislative frenzy is just the latest manifestation of the altruist premise: the attempt to cage “the beast” that is [...]

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The Myth of Catastrophic Global Warming

(2002.08.29 ) Politics

Last month, the Bush White House, citing a “new” study, revisited its position on global warming. The media went into a feeding frenzy and, like an e-mail scam that won’t die, the global warming debate has again been resuscitated. Unfortunately, the “new” study is based on the same old studies [...]

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Modern Academia: The Educational Equivalent of Fool’s Gold?

(2002.08.27 ) Politics

Parents should pay close attention to what courses students are expected to take at colleges and universities. Used to be, parents had to warn their college-bound sons and daughters not to let frat parties and football games interfere with their studies. Now they have to warn them about the studies [...]

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Alan Greenspan: Ayn Rand’s Failed Student

(2002.08.26 ) Politics

As legend has it, Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan was once a member of Ayn Rand’s 1960′s salon. He was an invited guest at Rand’s apartment and apparently was close enough to have read her epic Atlas Shrugged as it came off her typewriter. How lucky for him. But if [...]

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Relationships: It Only Takes One

(2002.08.25 ) Politics

Q: In the past year I’ve gone on a few dates and befriended a few women, but I always find they have poor self-esteem. I hope this is not saying something more about me, in that I only seem to attract such women. However, it just seems that there are [...]

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On Tolerating the Intolerable

(2002.08.24 ) Politics

Q: Dr. Hurd, I believe — as you write in your articles — that the U.S. carries moral superiority over many (perhaps all) of the nations [Iran, Iraq, etc.] you list in your article, and I believe it has the right to defend itself. However, the world would probably be [...]

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How Taxpayers Prop Up Sport Mogul’s Profits

(2002.08.23 ) Politics

Art Modell, owner of the NFL Baltimore Ravens, observed during one of his struggles to get local taxpayers to build him a stadium that “The pride and presence of a professional football team is far more important than 30 libraries, and I say that with all due respect to the [...]

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Investing: Confidence in the U.S. Securities-Trading System

(2002.08.23 ) Politics

The test of a good system is not whether failures occur but whether they are remedied with speed and certainty. Despite the hysteria generated by media and politicians, the U.S. securities-trading system has clearly met that test. Since a series of corporate accounting scandals began last fall with the disclosure [...]

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