Complacent Europe

At a symposium at my college reunion last week, my classmates — refugees from the ’60s, still lefties after all these years — were complaining that America wasn’t enough like Europe. You know, compassionate and unstressed, with free health...

“Endangered Species” Cost USA Billions

At a time when this nation is engaged in a war, putting the lives of its soldiers in harm’s way to end the threat of Middle Eastern terrorism, it would seem inconceivable that it would also be wasting billions to protect some species of salmon or the shortnose...

How to Play the Rate Hike

I’m going to be on vacation all next week, riding horses on the western slope of the Rockies at the fabulous Home Ranch in Clark, Colorado. No phones. No TV. No Internet. No markets. So I’ll miss the Federal Reserve’s meeting on June 30. It’ll...

Random Thoughts for June 2004

Random thoughts on the passing scene: The best thing about buying a house is that it puts an end to the exhausting process of house-hunting. Although Ronald Reagan was the only actor to become President, he was one of the few politicians who was not acting. Do the...

The Error of the Self-Esteem Movement

In recent decades, the field of psychology made a mistake. That mistake was treating self-esteem as the root of mental health. The root of mental health is actually personal responsibility. Personal responsibility refers to a core conviction that you are in the...

Old World Love of Status Lives Strong

Spain’s Crown Prince Felipe has married former TV anchorwoman Letizia Ortiz, in the country’s first royal wedding in nearly a century. This occurred to the delight of thousands of onlookers who braved heavy rains, as well as representatives of the Royal...

Summer Deprogramming

Parents who are worried because their children are receiving a steady diet of politically correct propaganda in the schools and colleges often ask for suggestions of things they should get for their children to read, in hopes of de-programming them. The summer is a...