For more than two centuries, the political left has crusaded against the punishment of criminals. Anyone familiar with history can find 18th century writers saying the same things that today's critics, politicians, judges and the ACLU are saying about how terrible it...
Thomas Sowell
Death of a Dream? On the Anniversary of Martin Luther King’s Speech
What is vital to the interests of black “leaders” and the Democratic Party is to keep blacks paranoid and dependent. For that, everything must be blamed on “racism.”
A Tale of Two Wars
Here we are, five months after the war in Iraq began, and we haven't yet solved all of that country's problems. Who would have thought that we would? Apparently a significant section of the American media either thought that we would or is simply piling on the Bush...
A Lesson for Arnold Schwarzenegger: Warren Buffet to the California Democrat’s Rescue
Just a week ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger was the political sensation of California -- and of the national media, with his face on the cover of both Time and Newsweek. Polls showed him leading everyone in the horde of candidates for governor by a wide margin. Now Arnold...
California’s Real Elections
Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a big splash in the media by entering the California governor's race. But the real news out of California came a few days before Arnold's political bombshell. The latest census data show -- for the first time -- that more Californians...
Justice Anthony Kennedy vs. Mandatory Sentencing Laws
Justice Anthony Kennedy won an outburst of applause at a recent meeting of the American Bar Association in San Francisco when he criticized mandatory sentencing laws. "Every day in prison is much longer than any day you've ever spent," Justice Kennedy said. "A country...
Cameras in the Courtroom
It is fascinating to watch special interest groups seeking privileges for themselves in the guise of protecting the rights of other people. A recent issue of Editor & Publisher magazine -- the trade journal of newspapers -- argued for allowing the use of cameras in...
Peers and Pied Pipers
Some years ago, while walking across the campus of Stanford University, I happened to encounter the late Glen Campbell, then head of the Hoover Institution, where I work. Glen was also a regent of the University of California and the regents had just made some...
Are Cops Racist? How the War Against the Police Harms Black Americans
If an incident involves a white cop and a black criminal, you don’t need to know the facts to know how many in the media will react.
Random Thoughts for July 2003
Random thoughts on the passing scene: Have you ever heard a single hard fact to back up all the sweeping claims for the benefits of "diversity"? Some people were upset, not by Dusty Baker's off-hand remark that races differ in their responses to hot weather, but by...
Weapons of Political Destruction
The Vietnam War showed how dangerous it is to allow a President of the United States to lie us into armed conflict, as Lyndon Johnson did by inflating a minor incident in the Gulf of Tonkin into a means of stampeding Congress into authorizing an escalation of military...
Who’s Rich, Part 2
Someone once pointed out that there are at least 50 colleges that claim to be among the top 25 colleges in the country. There is a similar congestion among the 400 "richest" Americans, as shown in data recently released by the Internal Revenue Service. While much of...
Who’s Rich?
Congressman Patrick Kennedy, a Rhode Island Democrat, recently declared to fellow party members at a Washington night spot, "I don't need Bush's tax cut" and added that he had never worked a day in his life. A number of other rich people have at various times likewise...
Summer Reading, Part 2
In an era when so many uninformed people act as if they know it all, it is refreshing to get requests from people who want to educate themselves on particular subjects or just to get the basic education that they feel they missed when they were in school or college....
Summer Reading, Part 1
From time to time, parents write to ask how they can counter all the steady diet of slanted political correctness their children are getting in the schools and colleges. The summer vacation is probably as good a time as any to get them something to read to let them...
“Saving” Bay Meadows
In typical California style, T-shirts have begun to appear with the slogan, "Save Bay Meadows." What are Bay Meadows? A lovely pristine natural vista? Not really. Bay Meadows is an old race track that has seen better days, both physically and financially, and is...
No Media Bias?
Denials of media bias seem to have become more frequent or more vehement lately. Some in the media try to dismiss the accusation as old stuff. But the only real question is whether it is true, because the truth doesn't wear out with the passage of time. Media bias...
The Fourth of July
Why do we celebrate the Fourth of July? After all, we are taught from kindergarten to the universities that all cultures are entitled to equal respect. Why then celebrate the creation of a nation that is no better than any other nation? Indeed, if you heard only the...
Defining Market Share: A Glimpse at Reality
According to The Times of London, the city of Munich has replaced Microsoft Windows with a Linux operating system in 14,000 of its computers. This provided a glimpse of economic reality, completely contrary to the premise on which Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson...
Saving Racism in our Universities
There was some talk recently about upcoming vacancies on the Supreme Court because some retirements were expected. However, the High Court's decision on affirmative action suggests that there are already vacancies, even though no one has resigned. We can only hope...
Drugs and Politics: Prescription Drug Benefits for the Elderly
In the midst of a bipartisan stampede toward "prescription drug benefits for the elderly," someone needs to ask the question: Why should seniors be singled out to be subsidized by the taxpayers, except that their votes are being sought by both parties? We have all...
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