MICHAEL MOORE ISN’T YOUR AVERAGE MILLIONAIRE CELEBRITY. His oafish, disheveled appearance is both physically and intellectually disengaging, so much so that you might not take him very seriously. You should. Ostensibly, Moore exposes the hypocrisy and misconduct...
POLITICS
A World without Adversity
The first time I had to fire someone, nearly 30 years ago, I lay awake the night before. There was no question that she had to be fired. Her irresponsible behavior was jeopardizing the whole research project that I was running. But she was just 19 years old and a nice...
Tax Me More Fund
In December, the governor of Arkansas created the “Tax Me More Fund,” so people who consider themselves undertaxed can donate more to the state government. Even with the economic recovery underway, state lawmakers nationwide are finding it tough to balance...
The Slavery Reparations Hustle
Don’t bother telling the plaintiffs who sued earlier this year to collect reparations for slavery from three US corporations that they don’t have a legal leg to stand on. They already know it. After all, you don’t need a law degree to recognize that...
Freedom’s Defenders
Memorial Day is always a solemn occasion, but especially so this year, because we have so recently experienced this day’s meaning first-hand. We have seen it in two different ways: we have seen the courage of our troops on the battlefields of Afghanistan —...
“Universal” Health Insurance Will Only Enlarge the Medicare Problem
Simple is usually better, right? So it’s not surprising to hear some members of Congress agreeing with syndicated columnist Molly Ivins on how to reduce the number of Americans without health insurance. “The answer is universal health insurance, a...
In Washington, Hindsight is 20/400
There are serious reasons for criticizing President Bush’s war against terrorism. One reason involves his refusal to support Israel’s self-defense against the openly terrorist organization, the P.L.O. What’s good for the Taliban should be good for...
The “Peace Process” Myth: Negotiations End Wars
Wars usually end with both sides sitting down at a table and signing a peace agreement. From this, some people seem to think that the way to get peace is to start sitting down at a table and beginning negotiations. In other words, start “the peace process”...
The Purpose of a Palestinian State
The April 1 edition of Newsweek carried the ominous headline: How will Israel survive? Most of us thought we’d never have to hear the question again. But with psychopaths cashing in on Iraqi-sponsored life insurance policies at the expense of innocent Israeli...
Options as Expenses
Standard & Poor’s announced this week that it’s taking the revolutionary step of including the expense of employee stock options when it calculates companies’ operating earnings. This is revolutionary because current accounting rules don’t...
The Arab-Israeli Impasse: Winning by Retreating?
How to break the Arab-Israeli impasse? Increasingly, one hears, not just from Palestinians, but from the universities and from media commentators, that things would improve markedly if only Israeli forces immediately left the West Bank and Gaza. Would such a move help...
From Flanders Fields to Roberts Ridge
To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. — John McCrae, “In Flanders Fields,” 1915 We cherish, too, the poppy red That grows...
Foreign “AID” at Taxpayer Expense: What is Seen and Unseen
Now that the International Monetary Fund and its political and media allies are in a full-court press for more money from the American taxpayer, expect to see more stories about the supposedly good things the IMF and other international donor agencies have done and...
The Strange Phenomenon of Black Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism in America, according to a survey commissioned by the Anti-Defamation League, stands at an all-time low. But alarmingly, the survey found blacks three to four times more likely than non-blacks to be anti-Semitic.
Who Says Government Programs Have to Work?
Sex education abstinence programs do not work. Or so the government now tells us. For the last five years, the government spent $500 million on educational programs pushing sexual abstinence. With the program set to expire, Congress recently debated whether to extend...
“Drug Money Supports Terrorism”: Cigarette Taxes and Terrorism
Do you remember those $3.5 million government ads that ran during the Super Bowl — the ones linking drug use with terrorism? “Timmy,” a somber-looking teenager, stared at the camera and said: “I killed mothers. I killed fathers. I killed...
Reparations: America’s New Slavery
Reparations for descendents of slaves is picking up steam — not among the 80 percent of the population who (according to polls) oppose it; but with big name politicians in one of our two major parties. (Guess which party?) The Governor of California, Gray Davis,...
Warrus Interruptus: Bush’s Retreat and Reversal
“You cannot support terrorists of one kind and be with us in the war on terrorism against Al Qaeda.” — Condoleezza Rice, President Bush’s National Security Advisor, commenting on P.L.O. Chairman Yasser Arafat’s known sponsorship of...
Sexism in Hollywood?
Does sexism explain the “underrepresentation” of women in Hollywood? “If you look at the number of women working behind the scenes,” said Martha Lauzen, a San Diego State University professor, “they’re dramatically underrepresented...
Warnings from the CIA: Could Bush Have Prevented Sept 11th?
The Democrats have spent the past eight months looking for some way to gain political advantage over the Republicans without having to offer any actual leadership in the War on Terrorism. Their latest gambit is to blame President Bush for failing to act on vague CIA...
America’s Biggest Crook: Her Politicians
The Enron case made headlines because fraud and deception of such magnitude is fairly unusual in the corporate world. Washington fraud and deception of a much greater magnitude doesn’t make the headlines because fraud and deception in government is standard...
Peace Through Strength: Lessons From History
Imagine if your child were being bullied on his school playground. You would do one of two things: either urge your child to fight back, if he can, or insist that the school authorities take responsibility for restraining if not expelling the bully. You would not...
Tired of Race?
University of California Regent Ward Connerly, who led the fight that ended group preferences in California state government, has moved on to promote an initiative that would forbid state agencies from identifying individuals by race. Decades ago, such a proposal was...
The History and Nature of Capitalism According to Microsoft’s Encarta
Most politicians and economists do not recognize capitalism’s crucial characteristic. Given the state of the world today it’s easy to see why. In his widely acclaimed speech of September 20, 2001, President Bush said, “Terrorists attacked a symbol of...
Fidel’s Fig Leaf for A “Useful Idiot”
Fidel Castro loathes anyone who champions freedom and democracy, but for Vladimiro Roca, who was freed this week after nearly five years in prison, he harbors a particular hatred. Roca is a scion of Cuba’s communist elite. His father was Blas Roca, a founding...
Trading Places on Taxes: Russia and the United States
Eleven years ago, the Soviet Union was a communist dictatorship, an “evil empire,” in the words of President Reagan. But today, the Cold War is a fading memory, and the nation that used to represent international socialism has junked its...
The New High Plateau: The Valuation Conundrum
The best reasons for the current era of high equity valuations aren’t very good. Just a few weeks before the great stock market crash of 1929, America’s first celebrity economist, Irving Fisher, made one of history’s worst market calls when he said,...
An America President in Communist Cuba
Two major stories emerged last week regarding Cuba; one story you probably know — Jimmy Carter was in Cuba — and the other you probably do not. The contrast represents the complete inversion of what really matters. An American president in Cuba, current or...
Analyze This
For the past 10 months, the attorney general of New York, Eliot Spitzer, has been investigating Merrill Lynch & Co. Although he hasn’t charged anyone with a crime, he has accused the firm of misleading customers by hyping stocks to win investment-banking...
“Reporting” on Taxes
The Associated Press ran a rare article explaining exactly who pays the federal income taxes. They state that the top 5 percent of income earners pay more than 55 percent of the total federal income taxes. (To be eligible for the top 5 percent, one must have an annual...
Expel Arafat Now
The Bush administration has fielded a great deal of criticism for its handling of the Middle East crisis. Many have focused on questions of timing and tone: Should White House officials have stepped in sooner? Should they have put pressure on Israel to pull back...
Political Correctness Imprisons Speedy Gonzales
From Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, to Wile Coyote’s Roadrunner-catching Acme ingenuity, Warner Brothers’ hilarious Looney Tunes have filled generations of Americans with innocent childlike laughter. Unfortunately, political correctness run amok is depriving...
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