As we pause on September 11 to remember the stockbrokers, policemen, firefighters and many other fallen Americans, it is vital also to reflect on the progress of the war. For it was precisely to prevent future September 11ths that America responded with force. How...
POLITICS
An America-free 9/11 Commemoration
Leave it to the folks at UC Berkley to make a muck out the upcoming 9/11 anniversary. According to the California Patriot, a student-run publication of the Berkeley Conservative Foundation, a university sponsored 9/11 "Day of Remembrance" will be devoid of any...
The Case in Favor of Tax Havens
Ironically, tax haven nations and territories achieve precisely the goals first set out by the OECD in the early 1960s. Here's how the OECD described (as it still, hypocritically, describes) its initial goals: To achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and...
Teachers Who Hate Tests: Part 3
While we ought to learn from our own experiences, it is even better to learn from other people's experiences, saving ourselves the painful costs of the lessons. In the case of the dominant educational fads of our times, many have been tried out before in other...
Teachers Who Hate Tests: Part 2
One of the objections by the educational establishment to state-mandated tests for students is that this forces the teachers to teach directly the material that is going to be tested, instead of letting the students "discover" what they need to know through their own...
The Media’s Messed Up Priorities in News Coverage
On Aug. 12, CNN aired a "breaking" news conference to update viewers on a matter it considered of global importance: the medical condition of Jason Priestley -- a washed-up, 32-year-old former TV idol who sustained moderate injuries during a Kentucky auto race over...
Teachers Who Hate Tests
Florida's school year has already started early, so that its students will have more preparation before the state-mandated tests that will be administered to them later in the school year. Meanwhile, there is much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth because so...
Ireland’s Sin of Success: The EU’s Assault on Ireland’s Low Tax Policies
Exposing the real nature of its assault, the OECD has also condemned lower tax rates and tax shelters that exist within industrialized countries -- such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Sweden, Hungary,...
The Case for “Destablization”
The president returns to Washington this week after a month on vacation in Texas and three months seemingly on vacation from America's foreign policy. Since June, President Bush has been telling everyone who asks that he has made no decision on Iraq. Making that kind...
Taiwan is not China
The diplomatic storm that blew across the Taiwan Strait last month is over now, but it is only a matter of time until the heavy weather returns. Sooner or later, Taiwan's president, Chen Shui-bian, will again say something that suggests Taiwan ought to be regarded as...
Bush Bails out Brazil–and Wall Street
United Airlines, to stave off bankruptcy, wants $1.8 billion dollars in federal loan guarantees. With the exception of Southwest Airlines, all major airlines now lose money, with United -- one of the highest-cost airlines -- incurring losses of nearly a million...
America: A Sissified Nation
Benjamin Franklin warned, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." But that's what the Bush administration and Congress have asked of Americans -- to give up essential liberty for safety that's...
Slaves to Words
In the old-time comic strip "Li'l Abner," one of the characters revealed that a new stranger in town had spent many years in reform school. Another character replied, "Well, he must be reformed by now." Unfortunately, the same gullibility about words occurs far too...
The Alleged Harm Done By Tax Havens
Tax burdens imposed by the world's welfare states -- especially those imposed on the wealthiest, most successful entrepreneurs and shareholders -- have increased with every passing year. No wonder "Atlas is Shrugging." By accessing tax havens (or any other manner of...
What’s Bugging the Environmentalists?
Whenever I head out for an early evening walk by the neighborhood lake with my husband and toddler, we follow the same routine. Put on our shoes. Take a trip to the Blue's Clues potty. And finally: Spray. We don't give a second thought to applying a small amount of...
Diplomacy does not apply toward Dictators
"The imminence of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the huge dangers it involves, the rejection of a viable inspection system, and the demonstrated hostility of Saddam Hussein combine to produce an imperative for pre-emptive action," Vice President Cheney...
Greenspan on “Infectious Greed”
[Previously], I wrote: "Those on the moral code of altruism have to view all businessmen as guilty, guilty by nature, since their life's work is to seek selfish gain. The current legislative frenzy is just the latest manifestation of the altruist premise: the attempt...
Modern Academia: The Educational Equivalent of Fool’s Gold?
Parents should pay close attention to what courses students are expected to take at colleges and universities. Used to be, parents had to warn their college-bound sons and daughters not to let frat parties and football games interfere with their studies. Now they have...
Relationships: It Only Takes One
Q: In the past year I've gone on a few dates and befriended a few women, but I always find they have poor self-esteem. I hope this is not saying something more about me, in that I only seem to attract such women. However, it just seems that there are so many insecure...
On Tolerating the Intolerable
Q: Dr. Hurd, I believe -- as you write in your articles -- that the U.S. carries moral superiority over many (perhaps all) of the nations [Iran, Iraq, etc.] you list in your article, and I believe it has the right to defend itself. However, the world would probably be...
Investing: Confidence in the U.S. Securities-Trading System
The test of a good system is not whether failures occur but whether they are remedied with speed and certainty. Despite the hysteria generated by media and politicians, the U.S. securities-trading system has clearly met that test. Since a series of corporate...
How Taxpayers Prop Up Sport Mogul’s Profits
Art Modell, owner of the NFL Baltimore Ravens, observed during one of his struggles to get local taxpayers to build him a stadium that "The pride and presence of a professional football team is far more important than 30 libraries, and I say that with all due respect...
Global Warming Science vs. Computer Model Speculation: Just Ask the Experts
In 2001 the National Science Foundation surveyed 1,500 people nationwide and found that 77% believed that "increased carbon dioxide and other gases released into the atmosphere will, if unchecked, lead to global warming ..." Yet half of those polled believed that...
A New “Standard” For Customer “No-Service”
From time to time, I like to write a column about a subject that is near and dear to my heart: customer service. Sometimes I use these columns as a forum to recognize companies who do an outstanding job of providing customer service. Sadly, I so rarely have positive...
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