“Play Ball” …with Taxpayer Money
“Stop us before we spend again!” Baseball owners, in effect, took this position in the recent game of chicken between baseball players and owners, a showdown that resulted in a settlement on the eve of the strike deadline. Texas Ranger owner Tom Hicks, who...
Teachers Who Hate Tests: Part 3
While we ought to learn from our own experiences, it is even better to learn from other people’s experiences, saving ourselves the painful costs of the lessons. In the case of the dominant educational fads of our times, many have been tried out before in other...The Case in Favor of Tax Havens
Ironically, tax haven nations and territories achieve precisely the goals first set out by the OECD in the early 1960s. Here’s how the OECD described (as it still, hypocritically, describes) its initial goals: To achieve the highest sustainable economic growth...The Media’s Messed Up Priorities in News Coverage
On Aug. 12, CNN aired a “breaking” news conference to update viewers on a matter it considered of global importance: the medical condition of Jason Priestley — a washed-up, 32-year-old former TV idol who sustained moderate injuries during a Kentucky...
Teachers Who Hate Tests: Part 2
One of the objections by the educational establishment to state-mandated tests for students is that this forces the teachers to teach directly the material that is going to be tested, instead of letting the students “discover” what they need to know...Ireland’s Sin of Success: The EU’s Assault on Ireland’s Low Tax Policies
Exposing the real nature of its assault, the OECD has also condemned lower tax rates and tax shelters that exist within industrialized countries — such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Sweden, Hungary,...
Teachers Who Hate Tests
Florida’s school year has already started early, so that its students will have more preparation before the state-mandated tests that will be administered to them later in the school year. Meanwhile, there is much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth because...Taiwan is not China
The diplomatic storm that blew across the Taiwan Strait last month is over now, but it is only a matter of time until the heavy weather returns. Sooner or later, Taiwan’s president, Chen Shui-bian, will again say something that suggests Taiwan ought to be...The Case for “Destablization”
The president returns to Washington this week after a month on vacation in Texas and three months seemingly on vacation from America’s foreign policy. Since June, President Bush has been telling everyone who asks that he has made no decision on Iraq. Making that...
High Schools Flunk Science
Physics is the fundamental natural science. Its birth in the 17th century heralded man’s coming of age as a rational being. The discovery of the basic laws of nature led to the industrial revolution and modern technology, demonstrating the enormous practical...Bush Bails out Brazil–and Wall Street
United Airlines, to stave off bankruptcy, wants $1.8 billion dollars in federal loan guarantees. With the exception of Southwest Airlines, all major airlines now lose money, with United — one of the highest-cost airlines — incurring losses of nearly a...
Slaves to Words
In the old-time comic strip “Li’l Abner,” one of the characters revealed that a new stranger in town had spent many years in reform school. Another character replied, “Well, he must be reformed by now.” Unfortunately, the same gullibility...America: A Sissified Nation
Benjamin Franklin warned, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” But that’s what the Bush administration and Congress have asked of Americans — to give up essential...