In the wake of New York City's ban on restaurant use of trans fat, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the ban is "not going to take away anybody's ability to go out and have the kind of food they want, in the quantities they want. . . . We are just trying to make food...
POLITICS
Is This Any Way to Help the Homeless?
Mary Baker and Ruth Neikirk love to cook. What's more, they love to cook for poor people. They do it frequently, preparing meals at home and bringing them to their church in Virginia. "I love it," Mary says. "I can take a little bit of something, like a soup bone? And...
Sticking it to Low-Skilled Workers
In the first hundred hours of the just-started session of Congress, the new leadership promises to raise the minimum wage. The Democrats won't be opposed by many Republicans. President Bush says he'll go along with a higher minimum wage if it's coupled with tax and...
Rules More Important Than Personalities
Not that many complimentary things are said about politicians. When a problem arises, people say, "Government ought to do something." They seem to have forgotten that it's the politicians who are running the government. Many think things can be changed by electing...
Pluto, Democracy and Science
Back in September 2006, Gus Van Horn blogged about a first grade teacher who got her students to start a school-wide petition to protest the demotion of Pluto to "dwarf planet" status on the grounds of "sticking up for the little guy," (or more accurately, the frigid,...
The Imperative of Lecturing
Every class in elementary and junior high school should be in a lecture format. The teacher must be an authority on the subject, he must grasp its basic purpose, he must carefully define the knowledge to be conveyed by reference to that purpose, and he must present...
America’s Sanction of its Enemies
On March 1, 1973, eight Palestinian Black September killers stormed the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Khartoum during a send-off party for American Charges d'Affairs George C. Moore. They took Moore, U.S. Ambassador Cleo A. Noel, Jr., Belgian Charges d'Affairs Guy Eid, and...
Diplomacy Only Encourages North Korea’s Belligerence
There is only one solution to the “North Korea problem”: the United States and its allies must abandon the suicidal policy of appeasement.
The Sex Police vs. The Heart Attack Grill
The motto at the popular Heart Attack Grill in Tempe, Ariz., is: "Taste ... worth dying for!" That's because it serves only artery-clogging food like big hamburgers (the biggest is called the "Quadruple Bypass") and "Flatliner Fries," which are boiled in lard. The...
Reinstating the Military Draft
Congressman Charles Rangel plans to introduce legislation calling for reinstatement of the military draft. He says, "There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was...
Health Care is Not a Right
Delivered at a Town Hall Meeting on the Clinton Health Plan Red Lion Hotel, Costa Mesa CA December 11, 1993Good morning, ladies and gentlemen: Most people who oppose socialized medicine do so on the grounds that it is moral and well-intentioned, but impractical; i.e.,...
Moral Values Without Religion
Does morality depend upon religion? Most people believe it does, which is a major reason behind the appeal of the religious right. People believe that without faith in a supernatural authority, we can have no moral values--no moral absolutes, no black-and-white...
California Health Care: What’s Next?
It is unlikely that any significant improvements in health care policy will come out of the U.S. Congress in the next two years. However, major changes might develop at the state level--especially in California--for two reasons. First, as the most populous state, with...
Maybe U.N. doesn’t have to stand for Utterly Negligent
In recent years, the United Nations has often gone out of its way to avoid getting involved in the world's trouble spots. It ignored genocide in Darfur. Pulled out of Iraq in 2003. Done nothing to stem Iran's nuclear ambitions. Can an organization this compromised do...
Trans Fats: What Will They Ban Next?
New York City has ordered restaurants to stop selling food made with trans fat. "It is a dangerous and unnecessary ingredient," says the health commissioner. Gee, I'm all for good health, but shouldn't it be a matter of individual choice? A New York Times headline...
Airport Security and Racial Profiling
Charges of racial, religious and ethnic profiling swirl in the wake of US Airways' removal of six imams. According to police reports, the men made anti-American statements, were praying and chanting "Allah," refused the pilot's requests to disembark for additional...
For Life and Liberty: A Marine Sniper’s Story
Last week, MSNBC ran its documentary "For God & Country: A Marine Sniper's Story" which tells the story of Matt Orth, a 22-year-old war veteran of both Afghanistan and Iraq. The footage consisted mostly of interviews with Orth as he chronicled his experiences in...
Flying the Politically-Correct Skies
Six men are sitting together and talking in the boarding area, waiting to enter the plane you will be taking to celebrate Thanksgiving with your family. You notice the men, because ever since 9/11 you take note of other passengers. Three of the men start to pray...
Pattern Recognition vs. Real Understanding
Every year, when I give my first test in a grammar or literature class, some new student asks me whether the test will be multiple choice. Every year, I look him in the eye and say "I can assure you that you will never, in any class, under any circumstances, at any...
The FairTax Book
Last year, talk-show host Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder co-authored "The FairTax Book: Saying Goodbye to the Income Tax and the IRS." It turned out to be a No. 1 New York Times Best Seller. In 2005, the Fair Tax bill was introduced in both the U.S. House of...
Property Theft in America
Do you live in a blighted home in a blighted neighborhood? You might without even knowing it.But don't worry, your local politicians will be happy to tell you -- as soon as some land developer decides your neighborhood would be a great place to build swankier homes or...
Race as a Factor in School Assignment To Create “Diversity”
It might be a hilarious comedy routine to have a group of highly educated judges solemnly expounding on something that everybody knows to be utter nonsense. But it isn't nearly as funny when this solemn discourse about nonsense takes place on the Supreme Court of the...
What Bush Did Wrong in Iraq
The Iraq Study Group has issued many specific recommendations, but the options boil down to a maddeningly limited range: pull out or send more troops to do democracy-building and, either way, "engage" the hostile regimes in Iran and Syria. Missing from the list is the...
Alexander Litvinenko Murder Raises Important Questions About The Future of Russia
The Alexander Litvinenko murder by radiation in London is mysterious -- and important. Has Russia entirely left the Western orbit, reverting to its old Soviet era, Stalinist practices? Is Vladimir Putin, approaching the end of his two terms in office and thinking of a...
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