POLITICS

Memorial Day: What We Owe Our Soldiers

To send soldiers into war without a clear self-defense purpose, and without providing them every possible protection, is a betrayal of their valor and a violation of their rights.

Rosie vs. Reality: What Every Woman Must Know

Suppose a Hollywood star or a political figure publicly announced that he or she favored making all women and families helpless and defenseless against vicious thugs. Would women cheer and vow their undying support for that person? Yet if you believe the published...

P.C. vs. B.C.

Have you read the comics lately? They’re not your father’s funny pages, anymore. The superheroes and silly creatures of old have taken a back seat to more politically correct characters — such as single working women (“Cathy” and...

Poisonous Politics: Arsenic in the Water

Poisonous Politics: Arsenic in the Water

The latest political alarm is about arsenic in our drinking water. Yes, Virginia, there is now, has been in the past, and may forever in the future be arsenic in our drinking water. Obviously not a lot or I wouldn’t be writing this and you wouldn’t be...

Lessons From Luber’s Beige Book of Investor Psychology

Last night I found myself absent-mindedly singing a snippet of a song from Meredith Wilson’s song from The Music Man, “The Sadder But Wiser Girl For Me.” Only to my surprise, the words came out differently…..”A slower and stealthier rally...

Stop Looking for Catalysts — This Isn’t Chemistry Class

One of the bear market arguments I read this weekend stated that last week’s Nasdaq rally was a false rally because there was no catalyst to drive the rally. Well here’s another perspective. Every false rally in the Nasdaq over the past six months has been...

Recent Warming is Not Historically Unique

Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,Now green in youth, now withering on the ground:Another race the following spring supplies:They fall successive, and successive rise–Homer, Iliad, Book VI, Line 181 Recent news coverage portrays the twentieth century...

America’s Problem with Prejudice

America faces the threat of a widespread, corrosive prejudice. I am not talking about racial prejudice — though racial politics has something to do with it. The prejudice I am talking about is aimed at something much broader, much more important than any racial...

The Next Interest Rate Cut Counts

From one perspective, this week’s rally in the Nasdaq seems incredible. Although pummeled by a barrage of bad earnings and earnings warnings from technology companies last week, the Nasdaq managed to rally for four consecutive days — the first time this...

The Case of Dell: Does a Company Own Its Customers?

What criteria do you use to decide whether or not to invest in a company? P/E ratio? PEG ratio? Price to book ratio? Earnings growth? Revenue growth? Market share? All of these criteria have their appropriate use, but I would like to submit for your consideration...

A Lower Debt Should Not Come Before Lower Taxes

Lowering the debt is a good idea–President Bush would reduce it to $818 billion by 2011–but a lower debt shouldn’t come before lower taxes. Can you feel the beat? It’s the sound of Washington liberals banging the national-debt drum to drown out...

Putin’s Choice Over the Future of Russia

The expulsion of Russian intelligence officers and diplomats by the Bush administration did not kick off a new Cold War, but it is a symptom of deteriorating U.S.-Russian relations. Moscow stands to lose much more than Washington if the relationship goes sour. Senior...

Learning from the Money Masters

Last week I noted in this space that while many Internet companies have crashed and burned, the Internet itself is soaring to new heights. Some 100 million new users worldwide are coming online each year, e-mail traffic continues to explode, and people and companies...

The Bankrupt Reparations Movement

The Bankrupt Reparations Movement

The reparations for slavery movement got an airing on a recent “60 Minutes.” America, argue several “black leaders,” owes reparations to blacks for the enslavement and forced labor of black ancestors. America’s “black plight,”...

The Facts vs. “Campaign Finance Reform” Fictions

The Facts vs. “Campaign Finance Reform” Fictions

To crusaders for “campaign finance reform,” as with many other political crusaders, the facts simply do not matter. What matters is their vision — and winning. Facts can be left to others. Most of the arguments for campaign finance reform cannot...

How Arafat Killed The “Peace Process”

The election of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in February prompted much hysteria in the Arab world — and hand-wringing in Washington — over Sharon’s “commitment” to the “peace process.” Ever wonder why the same standards...

Truth vs. Words on China

It looks as though we’ve won. Officials inside and outside the Bush administration are hailing China’s positive response to our carefully crafted letter of regret as validation of the President’s “quiet diplomacy.” The truth, however, is...

The McCain-Feingold Indian Giving Loophole

deep-pocketed special interest group remains curiously silent amid the furor over campaign finance “reform”: Indian tribes. Why? You might think tribal leaders would be swarming Capitol Hill, joining other business groups and trade associations that are...

Grade Padding at Harvard University

Our colleges are losing touch with reality. The padded grades they’re giving out don’t help our students. Harvey C. Mansfield teaches political philosophy at Harvard University. And if there were a class in “how to get yourself into trouble with your...

Devaluation is Not the Answer

In the past few months, I’ve noticed a disturbing shift in attitude towards currency devaluation. An increasing number of economists and journalists are making comments approving currency devaluation as a way to boost economies and “gain...

Who Cares For A Green Latte at Starbucks?

On March 20th, environmentalist activists besieged Starbucks cafes all over the country. Their goal? To impose on the company, and on us, coffee lovers, their own idea of which ingredients should go into our lattes and cappuccinos. This latest campaign, organized by...

Where’s The Profit In Biotech?

Larry Ellison, founder and chairman of software giant Oracle, says that he’d go into genetic engineering if he were starting out in business today. Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr may have made a fortune investing in computer and Internet companies,...

Tax Cut Triggers…for Bigger Government

The budget surpluses over the next 10 years are expected to reach $5.6 trillion, yet Washington insiders are screaming that President Bush’s modest $1.6 trillion tax cut is too big. But if anything, it’s too small. The Bush tax cut is only about half the...

Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts

Random thoughts on the passing scene: Ad for a ski resort: “If swimming is so healthful, why are whales so fat?” Talk about cloning human beings recalls Winston Churchill’s comment about the secrets of the atom, “hitherto mercifully withheld...

The Other Education Crisis

Once a week, 9- and 10-year-old boys at Cleveland Elementary School in Washington, D.C., learn how to be gentlemen. They’re taught to take off their hats when they enter a building. They’re told to open doors for visitors. They learn how to respect each...

Campaign Finance Reform and Other “Feel Good” Laws

Campaign Finance Reform and Other “Feel Good” Laws

It is not often that conservative talk-show host extraordinaire Rush Limbaugh and Harlem’s left-wing Congressman Charles Rangel are in agreement on anything. But they both say that the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill, which has just passed the...

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