Archive | March, 2003

On January 27, 2003 the Hamilton College Objectivist Club, Chaplaincy, Hillel, Dean of Students’ Office, Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center, and government department brought Dr. Daniel Pipes to Hamilton College. Dr. Pipes began his visit with a Q&A seminar on the subject of his recently published book, Militant Islam Reaches America. Tracing the spark of […]

According to press reports, representatives of the Bush Administration met with North Korean representatives last month in secret talks and demanded that North Korea dismantle, not freeze or simply deactivate, the Yongbyon reactor as a condition for any substantive US-North Korea talks. I applaud this example of firmness, and hopes that this report is an […]

The Smithsonian’s African American history museum in Washington, D.C., states that while instances of slavery can be found throughout human history, the practice of slavery did not become “dehumanizing” until white Europeans came along and took slaves to the Americas. The museum’s West Africa exhibit, which opened Feb. 3 and continues through the end of […]

A little over a year ago, on March 5, 2002, President Bush made a serious mistake by imposing tariffs on imported steel. At the time, there were many, including myself, who said that the negative impact of this action on steel consumers would be much greater than any benefit to steel producers. Thus the economy […]

He calls Bush, Cheney, and Ashcroft the “real axis of evil.” He blamed 9-11 attacks on too many White people and not enough Black men on the planes. And in his Oscar Night diatribe, film-maker Michael Moore used his win of an Academy Award to rant against a “fictitious” President Bush, “fictitious election results,” and […]

Random thoughts on the passing scene: Never before in history has the word “unilateral” been thrown around so gratuitously when the issue was war. Only in recent years has there been any question that a sovereign nation takes the solemn step of going to war unilaterally. What a farce to have Cameroon or Portugal deciding […]

Let’s talk about the economics of mass destruction — the single most dangerous idea in economic policy… the Phillips Curve. Even if you don’t know it by that name, you’ve been its victim. The Phillips Curve is the formal construct representing the idea that full employment causes inflation. We haven’t heard much of the Phillips […]

Most Americans have never heard the acronym “IOLTA,” but if you’ve ever been involved in a real estate closing or had an attorney hold your funds in escrow, than you’ve probably been affected by IOLTA. What does that mean? It means the government is taking money from you without your knowledge or consent. And your […]

The most common reason I hear people opposing war against Iraq — indeed, any war initiated in defense of the United States — is opposition to “violence on principle.” This is what I hear from young people particularly often: “We have no right to use our military might against innocent civilians.” The huge, life-threatening error […]

When it came down to it, two of America’s closest Cold War allies — France and Germany — were unwilling to bear the responsibility of major powers when it came to Iraq. They weren’t there when we — and the world — needed them. Instead, they carped, complained, delayed and even sabotaged efforts by the […]

Many observers, intoxicated by the initial promise of the March 19 decapitating air strike against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, now are unrealistically impatient with the progress of the war against Iraq. In particular, some elements of the American and international media are chomping at the bit to declare that the U.S. is bogged down and […]

Should our tax dollars fund our troops fighting in Iraq, or the Smithsonian’s national worm collection? If it’s business as usual up at the Capitol, then this is the type of question Congress will grapple with in the coming weeks. And if history is our guide, the outcome is too close to call. On March […]