The shouting match that broke out at the March 1 “Arab Summit” in Sharm El-Sheikh, an Egyptian Red Sea resort, was instructive on a number of levels. What it mostly confirmed was that even Arabs don’t like (or trust) Arabs. Behind all the wrangling...
POLITICS
Mr. President, Will Your Words Have Weight?
President Bush said in his press conference this week that “the fundamental question facing the Security Council is will its words mean anything; when the Security Council speaks, will the words have merit and weight?” That question, frankly, does not...
Innocents in War
If President Bush makes the solemn decision to go to war with Iraq, he must not shackle our nation–as he did in Afghanistan–with his own personal religious or altruistic notions. As President, he has no right to worry about civilian causalities in enemy...
Beyond Iraq: Growth Beyond the Risk of War
We may be facing an unusual moment in the history of market valuations in which both risk and expected returns are on the rise at the same time — and unfortunately, at the moment risk is winning. Clearly, fears of the domestic consequences of possible war with...
Polls, Palestinians and the Path to Peace
Why are Palestinians so angry at Israel? There are two possible reasons. Political: They accept the existence of a Jewish state but are angry with this or that Israeli policy. Rejectionist: They abominate the very existence of Israel and want to destroy it. Which is...
The Bull Case
Whether you look at it as a fundamental investor, a value investor or a technical investor, the market is getting ready to take a turn for the better. Let’s start with fundamentals. All the evidence shows that the economy is gradually improving —...
Putting a Terrorist’s Capture in Context
While one might have concluded that the weekend arrest of Sept. 11 attack coordinator Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was a fundamental blow to America’s enemies, such a conclusion would be a grievous mistake. Attorney General John Ashcroft, citing the capture, boldly...
“Diversity” For Thee, Not Me
My favorite salesman in my favorite camera store in Palo Alto, California, happened to mention that he lives in the town of Tracy. That is about an hour and a half drive to work in rush hour traffic. Why was this man spending three hours a day on the highway? Because...
Iraq: Waiting Game is a Fool’s Game
I have to strongly disagree with Mickey Kaus and Daniel Drezner — both have recently argued that it would be to President Bush’s realpolitikal advantage to delay the war against Iraq, and start it closer to the 2004 election. Kaus in Slate (2/28/2003) says...
An Open Letter On Revolution in Iran
The Internet is a powerful tool for international understanding. This writer, through a chain of various links, found the web log of an anonymous Iranian girl. She had quoted the parts of President Bush’s State of the Union speech on Iran. “Different...
Humble Pie: A Truly Sinful Dessert
While channel surfing the other day I saw a man telling his daughter to be proud of herself. The next channel had a preacher telling his congregation that pride is a “sin.” This little coincidence perfectly illustrates our culture’s schizophrenia...
Warren Buffet on Derivatives: Good For Me, But Not For Thee
Warren Buffett is warning that derivative securities are a “mega-catastrophe” and “financial weapons of mass destruction” in the sneak preview of this year’s annual letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, published in the latest...
The Withering Blix-Krieg
When the Bush administration agreed to subcontract its Iraq policy to a Swedish civil servant–chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix–many feared that Blix would be an accommodating diplomatic type, eager to smooth relations with his Iraqi handlers and play...
The Rot in America’s Universities: Islands of Repression in a Sea of Freedom
TORONTO – How fares freedom of speech at Canadian universities? It looked pretty grim back in September 2002, when a mini-intifada prevented Benjamin Netanyahu, former prime minister of Israel, from speaking at Concordia. Then last month, Ali Hassan and his...
What “Preemptive War”?
One of the mantras that the protesters against war with Iraq are currently using, sadly with some success, is that such a war would be “preemptive”, rather than retaliatory and in defense of the United States, and therefore unjustified morally. Iraq, a...
Gore Vidal is A Disgrace to Historians Everywhere
Gore Vidal, famous historian and author, has a new book out. Its title explains not only everything that is wrong with Gore Vidal, but also everything that is wrong with the field of history today. The title is, Dreaming War: Blood for Oil and the Cheney-Bush Junta. I...
Restore the Pledge of Allegiance to its Original Meaning
This week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reconsider its ruling striking down the Pledge of Allegiance. They were right to do so; the court’s decision is consistent with the nation’s founding principles, which are casually discarded by...
Capitalism Is the Cure for Africa’s Problems
A specter is haunting Africa-the specter of starvation. At least 2.5 million Zambians currently face famine, as do millions more across southern Africa-in Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The United Nations estimates that more than 14 million Africans face possible...
“War Jitters” are Pure Uncertainty
It’s almost painfully clich
The Iraq Inspections Charade
The long-simmering Iraq crisis finally appears to be coming to a boil. Hans Blix, the chief U.N. weapons inspector, has ordered Iraq to begin destroying its prohibited Samoud 2 missiles. The Iraqis generously have offered to “study” the matter, although...
Random Thoughts for February 2003
Random thoughts on the passing scene: Everything is relative. In most of coastal California, Ted Kennedy would be politically middle of the road — and, in San Francisco, right of center. A lot of what is called “public service” consists of making...
Nelson Mandela Shows His True Anti-Freedom (Red) Colors
Former South African President Nelson Mandela claims the United States wants a holocaust and that President Bush covets Iraqi oil. But what does Mandela want, and has he used any evidence to justify his claims? The standard line is that he was in jail for 20+ years...
The Fetish of “Relevance”
One of the many fashionable idiocies that cause American schools to produce results inferior to those in other countries is the notion that education must be “relevant” to the students — and especially to minority students with a different...
Saddam and Bush: A Dialogue Not Worth Having
President George Bush has been thrown the gambit by Saddam Hussein. In his interview with CBS News anchorman Dan Rather, Saddam proposed that Bush debate him before the world on live television. Establishing a dialogue in the midst of a crisis sounds on its face like...
Twin Disasters: Teacher failure and Student failure in Education
When critics point out the abysmal performances of schools in ghetto neighborhoods, teachers defend themselves by pointing out the disinterested, disruptive, and sometimes dangerous students they have to deal with. But teacher failure and student failure are not...
In Defense of the Cowboy
Those who oppose war with Iraq–from foreign heads of state to homegrown antiwar protesters–employ a common expression of contempt for the American war effort. America, they sneer, is acting like a “cowboy.” A mock interview with Saddam Hussein...
Al Sharpton: The Democrat’s David Duke
If Sharpton were a white skinhead, he would be a political leper, spurned everywhere but the fringe. But far from being spurned, he is shown much deference.
Death to Dictators!
Recently I found myself arguing with some woman who asked me to sign a “Stop the War” petition while I was in the village area of my hometown. On every corner the anti-war folks were staked out trying to collect signatures. When I told her I couldn’t...
Dictatorship by the Numbers in Venezuela
The leaders of the Venezuelan opposition have demanded immediate new elections to replace would-be dictator Hugo Chavez, arguing that the referendum scheduled for this August will give Chavez time to establish a dictatorship and render elections meaningless. These...
Nothing Wrong With Breaking a Buck: On Delisting Dollar Stocks
One of the consequences of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the recession, the three-year bear market and the impending war with Iraq is that investors have fewer choices. For example, between January 2000 and December 2002, the number of stocks listed on NASDAQ, the...
Let’s Roll–For Real
“Let’s Roll” became a rallying cry in the wake of the worst attack on America. The phrase, uttered by Todd Beamer, one of the passengers aboard flight 93, before he and other passengers charged the cockpit, was the perfect calling for an angry,...
Bravo for Not Sanctioning a Sham
Reader Ben Rathbone pointed me to this letter that he wrote, and I applaud the position taken. Here’s the background: [On February 22, 2003, the] 24-hour Arabic cable news network, Al-Jazeera, will be broadcasting a two hour “open dialogue” from the...
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