For many years now, American students have been coming in at or near the bottom in international tests of mathematics. Meanwhile, our schools have been entertaining themselves with “new math,” “fuzzy math” and everything other than...
POLITICS
Moochers and Looters Gather Around the Remains of the World Trade Center
Vultures and looters can always be expected in the wake of tragedies; they take advantage of increased opportunities to steal. Looters were arrested in New York — caught stealing from shops in the rubble of the World Trade Center. The losses caused by these...
More Muslim Enemies from Within
There was a venomous hatefest in the nation’s capitol on Halloween night. It was hosted by Malik Zulu Shabazz of the militant New Black Panther Party. Deadly rhetorical spores of Anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism permeated the air for more than four hours. But...
Education of Blacks in America: Do Facts Matter? Part II
The history of the education of blacks in America has become politicized to the point where it is barely recognizable as history, rather than as an arsenal of horror stories to be used in the political wars of today. Many of these horror stories are true, even if...
Don’t Give a Penny to Amtrak
“I assume I’m talking to a big fan of rail,” says Michael Dukakis with a laugh. “Right?” To tell the truth, I have no strong feelings about train travel one way or another. But Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor and now...
Education of Blacks in America: Do Facts Matter?
Recently a young black man sent a thoughtful e-mail to me. Among his kind comments was an expression of sympathy for the racism that he thought blacks of my generation must have experienced in going through college. In reality, it is his generation of blacks who have...
A Purple Heart for Dan Rather? Not!
Will Dan Rather please shut up? The veteran teleprompter reader for CBS News wants Americans to know that when he sits behind his hollow anchor desk, he isn’t just warming a chair. Rather actually fancies himself fighting on the front lines against terrorism....
“Get the Hell Out of My Way!”
That’s what John Galt, the individualist hero of the novel Atlas Shrugged , — Ayn Rand’s great celebration of laissez-faire capitalism — said to the federal bureaucrats. And there’s no better message to send to Washington today....
With Allies Like These Who Needs Enemies?
Of the five countries described below, can you identify the one(s) excluded from the US-led coalition in the war on terrorism? Country A is free and democratic, a steadfast ally of the United States. Its citizens know what it means to be victimized by terrorism, and...
Heisting Cipro: Charles Schumer vs. American Innovation
Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) rightly chastised House leaders last month (Oct. 19, 2001) for panicking in the face of anthrax attacks. But Schumer’s own behavior has been a shameful spectacle of political panty-bunching. Count him among the many Chicken...
Of Halloween Spoilsports and Spiders
This will be my 16-month-old daughter’s first Halloween on foot. Last year, she was a baby bunny who toured the neighborhood in Daddy’s arms. This year, she’ll be a kitten — clambering up porch steps, clutching her goody bag, and marveling at...
Social Security “Trust Fund”
According to the unanimous preliminary report of the special commission appointed to look into Social Security, the amount of money coming into the system will be insufficient to pay out what was promised by 2016. By 2030, the choice will be to reduce Social Security...
“Ignorance” Pays in a Mixed Economy
While people might be motivated by non-economic factors, from a strictly economic point of view it simply doesn’t pay individual voters to learn about and take action against the myriad assaults emanating from the political area. That’s what my colleagues...
Privacy for Government, But Not For Private Citizens
It began three years ago in an ugly encounter between a motorist and the police. It ended earlier this summer in a dreadful opinion by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. And as the noted civil-liberties lawyer Harvey Silverglate observes in a characteristically...
Who Does the “Reparations for Slavery” Charade Really Benefit?
Blacks have already been the first victims of the campaign to get reparations for slavery. The longer this futile campaign goes on, the more additional blacks will be victimized. How have blacks been victimized thus far? Some have been asked to supply identifying...
The Ultimate (Surprise) Broadband Killer Application
The other day, a colleague of mind was bemoaning the lack of killer internet applications to drive the demand for bandwidth. He noted that the only killer internet application was e-mail, and that it was a low bandwidth application. Well, I have a different...
The UN’s International Kangaroo Court
America’s court system — the most fair, free and transparent in all the world — isn’t perfect. But that doesn’t mean its power should be usurped by jurists 8,000 miles away who are not elected, selected or directed by anyone responsible...
Social Security’s No Accounts
Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt, the saying goes. It’s exactly what we’re getting from opponents of Social Security reform, who have staged sign-wielding protests in more than 40 cities to convince Americans that the premier New Deal program is...
Emasculation of American Intelligence Services
Aren’t you a bit perplexed at how rapidly our FBI and CIA identified, arrested or detained so many people involved in the terrorist attack? The answer’s easy. The FBI and CIA had a lot of information about terrorists and their organizations before the...
The War Against Boys
The motto used to be: “Boys will be boys.” Today, the motto seems to be: “Boys will be medicated.” Of nearly 20 million prescriptions written last year for drugs to treat “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,” most were for...
A Slackening Nation of Work-Avoidance Wimps
The first newspaper job I ever had was a very brief summer stint as a press inserter. You stand in front of a mammoth piece of machinery along with a dozen or so other workers. Grab a pair of earplugs and haul a 25-pound stack of advertising supplements over to your...
Keep the The Star-Spangled Banner as the National Anthem
Heard the one about the Georgetown lawyer held captive by a British naval commander while his fleet bombarded an American fort? Being an attorney he liked words, and after witnessing a barrage lasting longer than a day, he felt inspired to write a poem on the back of...
Helping Argentina Recover, Without IMF “Help”
Argentine officials visited Washington last month to discuss the country’s efforts to address its economic crisis with the International Monetary Fund. They recently received a temporary reprieve when the IMF agreed to speed up a $1.2 billion payment of its...
The Battle Over Islam
The Islamic-Christian Summit met, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, for two days in Rome. They sought to issue a joint statement of condemnation of the terrorist attacks. Nineteen Christian and a dozen Muslim delegates — members of the clergy, scholars and...
On Sept 11: Open Letter to University Students
The events of September 11 have been the primary subject of discussion on college campuses across America. A patriotic fervor has been revived, with flags popping up in virtually every yard and on every car. However, after reading the editorials that appeared in last...
Loose Lips in American Academia and the Press
Some of the intelligentsia are yelling louder than ever that they are being silenced. Professors, journalists and others who have made grossly offensive remarks in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attack are shocked that other Americans are criticizing them...
Forty Centuries of Wage and Price Controls
Even the Department of Energy’s study found that price caps — which, let’s not forget, are what got California into this mess in the first place — won’t improve the energy situation. In fact, they’ll likely make it worse. The study...
The American Taliban is All Green
On September 11th, the Environmental News Service, {http://enn.com} one of the main sources of every bogus environmental claim, shed big crocodile tears about the attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. The event evoked a sudden realization by Jerry Kay,...
The Many Faces of Islam
“The terrorists’ directive commands them to kill Christians and Jews, to kill all Americans and make no distinctions among military and civilians, including women and children.” So said President Bush in his September 20th address to Congress and the...
Bioterrorism: Don’t Worry, Be Happy!
Here is the surest way for government officials to stoke nationwide fear about bioterrorism in this country: Treat the American public like children. Public-health bureaucrats have grown smugly accustomed to telling us what we should think — instead of what we...
Should We Go to Mars? Wrong Question: Property Rights Key Issue in Going to Mars
Is it worth going to Mars? Let each individual decide for himself. The government’s only role should be to protect property rights. Recognition of that role is the breakthrough needed by the heroic pioneers who say, “I should go to Mars.”
King of Sluggers: Barry or The Babe?
This season, Barry Bonds has been a Giant in more than name. While baseball fans and the media have been focussed on his record-breaking home-run feats, far less attention has been paid to his other feats that have been even more spectacular — and, in fact,...
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