A minor issue at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) has potentially major implications for the future of Islam in the United States. Starting about a decade ago, some Muslim taxi drivers serving the airport declared that they would not transport...
POLITICS
Economic Inequality: Process and Results
Democrats plan to trumpet the income and wealth gap for political gain in this year's elections. According to The Wall Street Journal article "Democrats' Risky Strategy," Democratic candidates blame Republicans for economic inequality. This strategy might sell...
Frivolous Politics: How to Become a “Racist”
Nowhere is political frivolity more in evidence than in issues involving racial and ethnic groups. Disagree with some policies or demands and you become an instant "racist." The substance of those policies or demands, and the substance of the objections to them, get...
The Battle of Our Era
We are engaged in a vast battle to defend scientific, industrial civilization against irrationalism. Whether the enemy bombs the World Trade Center, abortion clinics, logging equipment, or medical research labs, the target is the same: reason--the use of reason to...
Guantanamo and the Geneva Convention
I oppose any pretense at such a thing as "international law." The concept of "law" implies governmental enforcement. Where there is no government, such as between nations, there can be no law. This is all the more true when nations are at war. War is an attempt to...
Discrimination, Prejudice and Preferences
My previous columns have attempted to reduce confusion by suggesting operational definitions of discrimination and prejudice. Discrimination was defined as the act of choice, and prejudice was the act of decision-making on the basis of incomplete information. Good...
Socialism for the Rich
Although socialism has long claimed to be for the poor, it has probably done more damage, on net balance, to the poor than to the rich. After all, the rich have enough money to leave the country if they think the socialists are going to do them any serious harm. Some...
What to Do About Gasoline Prices
Now that gasoline prices are below $3 a gallon, calls for the government to "do something" to force prices lower have temporarily abated. But it is crucial for us to recognize that no matter what the price of gasoline is, such calls are wrong. All market fluctuations...
Week in Review: Tolerance for Evil Means Condemnation of the Good
This past week has told us more than we wanted to know about ourselves and about our enemies. There was far more controversy over remarks made by the Pope than over the violence unleashed by Muslims against people who had nothing to do with what the Pope said. That...
Discrimination or Prejudice
In recent weeks, I've offered operational definitions for some of the terms used in the discussion of race. The first was discrimination, which can be broadly defined as the act of choice. When one selects one activity, good or person, of necessity he must...
AMA is Wrong About Medicare
The American Medical Association (AMA) is now engaged in an irrational effort to prevent cuts in Medicare payments to doctors. The campaign, which recently included a "fly-in" where AMA members personally appealed to members of Congress in Washington D.C., is...
Conspiracy Theories: Was 9/11 An “Inside Job” and Other Stories
I was recently forced to break off an amicable correspondence of several years because of 9/11 conspiracy theories and this person's acceptance of them. Our conversations became nothing but this person trying to convince me that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 were an...
Legalize The American Dream: Immigration is in America’s Self-Interest
Illegal immigrants are pouring into the United States. Pro-immigration rallies and anti-immigration rallies alternated with equal fervor this spring, while the number of illegals living in the country continued to grow towards 10 million. Pending legislation threatens...
Children as Bombs
As if things weren't crazy enough already in the Middle East, here's the officially sanctioned message in sixth-grade Palestinian textbooks for 11- and 12-year-old kids: "The noble soul has two goals: death and the desire for it." The goal isn't to build magnificent...
Suicidal Hand-Wringing
When you enter a boxing ring, you agree to abide by the rules of boxing. But when you are attacked from behind in a dark alley, you would be a fool to abide by the Marquis of Queensbury rules. If you do, you can end up being a dead fool. Even with a nuclear Iran...
Cheap Shot Journalism
Recently one of those increasingly familiar New York Times editorials disguised as news stories was headlined "Conservatives Help Wal-Mart, and Vice Versa." There was a chart with photos of people from conservative think tanks saying things favorable to Wal-Mart's...
Constitution Day
Each year since 2004, on Sept. 17, we commemorate the 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution by 39 American statesmen. The legislation creating Constitution Day was fathered by Sen. Robert Byrd and requires federal agencies and federally funded schools, including...
Relativism and Religion vs. the Lives of Americans
With the anniversary of 9/11 approaching, here are a few facts worth circulating…
September 11th: Where Have Our Leaders Gone Wrong?
Our leaders have failed to answer the evil moral ideal of Islamic totalitarianism with a rational ideal of our own.
September 11th: Five Years Later
A true “War of Ideas” would be one in which we proclaim loudly and with moral certainty the secular values we stand for: reason, rights, freedom, material prosperity, and personal happiness on this earth.
What is Discrimination?
There's so much confusion and emotionalism about discrimination that I thought I'd take a stab at a dispassionate analysis. Discrimination is simply the act of choice. When we choose Bordeaux wine, we discriminate against Burgundy wine. When I married Mrs. Williams, I...
The New Nomenklatura
One of the bitter ironies of the 20th century was that communism, which began as an egalitarian doctrine accusing capitalism of selfishness and calloused sacrifices of others, became in power a system whose callousness toward others made the "sins" of capitalism pale....
How to Solve America’s Terrorism Problem in 5 Easy Steps
Here is how America could solve her terrorism problem in 5 easy steps: 1. Stop sacrificing American soldiers to bring "freedom" to savages in Iraq. Pull our soldiers out of that hell hole, and let the savages have their civil war. ( Iraq is not and never was the main...
An Open Letter to CEOs: Defend the Profit Motive–or Perish
Dear CEO: As a grateful customer of America's productive businesses--as someone who knows that his well-being depends on yours--I implore you to stop apologizing to your attackers. Stop pledging to "reform," to become "better corporate citizens," to embrace crippling...
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