Should Genes Be Patented?

On October 2000, I argued in “Who Owns Your Genes?” that naturally occurring genes should not be patented because they are not inventions, but discoveries of what already exists in nature. On January 2001, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) issued...

The Price of Peace “At Any Price” is Death

You cannot make sense of the Israeli-Palestinian war without first making sense of 1993. That year found Israel in reasonably good shape. Its economy was the most powerful in the Middle East. Its military power was respected and feared throughout the region. Its...

Cloning In A Free Society?

“Life is creation, not a commodity,” says President Bush, defending his view that all cloning should be permanently outlawed. Life is a creation of whom — and for whose purpose? Do we make our own lives, for our own sakes, or is somebody else doing...

A Reparations for Slavery Scam at Tax Time

At tax time this year, some blacks are going to end up paying more than they owe — and not all of it to the Internal Revenue Service. Confidence men are especially targeting elderly blacks in the South, charging them a fee for filing claims for tax refunds based...

Ozzy and Busta: MTV’s Drunken Stupor

Once again, MTV is basking in the glow of critical acclaim. This time it’s a cultural breakthrough called “The Osbournes,” a “brilliant” (Time magazine) reality show chronicling the family life of heavy metal has-been Ozzy Osbourne....

Campaign Finance Reform Diversions

There’s a story about Catholic priests who contracted to have a new church built for their congregation. When the church was completed, and just before the priests came for their final inspection, the contractor cemented a Buddhist statue in the center of the...

Is America Winning?

With the war on terrorism now six months old, it’s time to review the bidding. How goes the war? Let’s grade four areas:* Military: The bulk of the war in Afghanistan was won in two months. Trouble was, to minimize casualties, U.S. troops avoided some of...

Who is Janis Sposato?

In response to last week’s DeadHijackerVisa-gate, the Immigration and Naturalization Service “reassigned” four managers to replace four other managers — whom the agency refuses to name — in order to “begin the process of...