Who’s to Blame? Who Do You Think???

by | Oct 4, 2003 | POLITICS

At a dinner for local writers who gathered at the home of the president of Seton Hall University, a noted Catholic institution of higher learning, the conversation turned to terrorism and once again I was treated to the “blame America” version of what is...

Saving Mideast Studies

by | Oct 4, 2003 | POLITICS

“Intellectual thugs,” huffed Rashid Khalidi, now of Columbia University. “Cyber-stalking,” whined Juan Cole of the University of Michigan. “Crude McCarthyism” sniffed David Bartram of the University of Reading....

Heroism and Doing Your Job

by | Oct 3, 2003 | POLITICS

I once argued with my former coworker about firefighters. She didn’t consider them heroes, as they were widely and properly called after September 11, 2001, because on that day, like any other, “they were just doing their jobs,” she said. Obviously,...

Find Stocks with Low Price-to-Sales Ratios

by | Oct 3, 2003 | POLITICS

If you’re skeptical of what businesses report as “earnings” — their official profits — you have a right to be. Earnings are an artifice of what are called generally accepted accounting principles, and, while GAAP earnings are universally...

What is Poor?

by | Oct 2, 2003 | POLITICS

The Census Bureau recently released its annual report on poverty in the United States. It was widely reported that the number of people officially defined as poor rose by 1.7 million, raising the poverty rate from 11.7 percent of the population to 12.1 percent. None...

Watch Out for the Pander Bears

by | Oct 2, 2003 | POLITICS

I hate to say it, but it’s looking like my technician friend Fred Goodman was right when he issued a sell signal a couple of weeks ago. Yes, earnings are surging and the economy-wide recovery is accelerating, with the technology sector leading the way. But in...

Is It Permissible?

by | Oct 1, 2003 | POLITICS

We all can agree that having money to pay our mortgage or rent on time is very important. Since some people are spendthrifts and don’t manage their money well, what about a congressional mandate whereby mortgage or rent money is deducted from our paychecks each...