In itself there is nothing wrong with free trade provided it stays on target of mutual benefit for participating nations as a whole . Unfortunately, actual practice loses sight of this. Canada, for instance, does benefit in its importation at bargain prices — but at our expense — of pharmaceutical products from its neighbor, while it exports “American” cars. Trade with China benefits a hungry consuming nation via — Wal-Mart, et al — but does little for the Chinese people working at sub par wag...
In spite of the impression that liberals wish Bush ill-will, I must say I was happy he finally had some good news in Iraq with the spectacular courage of the people there. More importantly the good news could mean that our troops may at long last get a breathing spell and events will wind down, meaning hopefully that they will be home sooner. Of course, the thugs will continue their destructive ways but eventually they will be forced to give in to the reality that the general populace is deter...
Must I stand accused of feminine hysteria in reacting to the chauvinist George Will who cynically attacked the MIT biology professor Nancy Hopkins for her “hysterical” reaction to Harvard’s president suggesting that genetics — “a gender difference in cognition” — helps explain the lack of women’s proclivity to science? Will promptly attributes the professor’s hysterics to the “solecism” on the part of Harvard’s Summers daring to offend “progressive sensibilities.” Not unlike the infamous Thomas...
The penetrating question asked thirty-five years ago and came back to haunt Kerry in the election is that you don’t ask a military man to die for his country for a mistake. “Country right or wrong” was invented for just such occasions. To be sure Vietnam was a war of vainglory, but it was not in vain despite the manner in which it was terminated. The US had heroically fought for ten years in behalf of another people who, we believed, was worthy of assistance in forging a democracy under thre...
For social security to be under attack is nothing new — conservatives have for seventy years viewed it as nothing but an anti-poverty program. Poverty to conservatives is a matter of bad choices made in one’s lifetime of incompetence. Being low on the economic scale is no excuse for not putting aside a nickel or dime on every dollar made or going to night school to upgrade one’s pathetic existence. As for those truly incapable — orphans and disabled — there are abundant private charitable instit...
A better way for the poor and young to invest in the market is to forgo a hefty percentage of their tax return exemption and dependents to IRAs in the name of the taxpayer and in the names of dependents. When the children reach working age, each percentage of exemption would go into the child’s original retirement account. Is it wise economics to wish for further devaluation of the dollar in order to improve exports? Will the Democratic Party have the guts to position Dean as its chairman? — I d...
My inbox We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA. Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title "C"ntarea Americii, meaning "Ode To America") in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei "The Daily Event" or "News of the Day". ~An Ode to America~ Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the ...
Intuition, Descartes claims, is certitude that does not require deduction; however, deduction or the reasoning process always requires intuition as first principle. Primary intuition is a given by the presence of consciousness. No one not in a coma can deny consciousness or the intuitive sense of self. That Descartes said, “I think therefore I am” is not entirely correct; what he should have said was that he intuits his existence in virtue of his sense of identity and does not entail thinking...
Suave sophist George Will, who eloquently expresses deceitful logic, pits the generation of 18-29 year olds who, he admits, voted heavily for John Kerry, against the older traditional generation. This Starbuck group of discriminating taste is restive over social security as it exists whereas the Maxwell House generations still favor the old percolating brand of governmental choice less mandate for retirement. If this were the case that the younger generation, used to many options in their liv...
Not a year goes by for as long as I can remember that the subject of reassessing and reforming public education becomes a central issue as though the education profession hasn’t been doing just that for the past hundred years as each generation requires a different set of tools. At the turn of the last century, class size was a problem owing to the influx of immigration causing concern for class management, particularly in targeting individually vastly diverse children. When city and state co...
Judging from the current “discovery” of a gigantic black hole 2.6 billion light years away, a layman has to wonder if the “truth” of science is on a path of counter productivity and adding fuel to the incomprehensible, thus engendering blind faith in a mysterious God. Black holes seem to be deadly contradictions to a universe bent on creativity. Just as most of us fail to comprehend the counter productivity of nature’s wrath here on earth that seems bent on destruction preventing utopian ends...
Ever since nomadic primitives, tired of roaming, decided to take residence in caves, territorial rights throughout history has been violated. This was not necessarily a bad thing except for marauding means by which the site was brutally obtained. Ancient people tended to seek out desirable land in order to settle and develop a social contract. Greek and Roman violations brought complex social and physical infrastructures to give birth to relatively enlightened culture and civilization. ...
During the heat of the Presidential election, the possibility of a draft expended many kilobytes on JU. What disturbed me most, being a rancorous old man, was the ugly head that reared up against a citizen’s army. Some went so far as to suggest that the kids of the ‘greatest generation” were not as efficient in fighting as they are now. I suppose what is implied is that we then had the luxury of “overwhelming force” for which the taxpayer today is unwilling to support. Even if Americans were ...
Sowell in one of his usual blustery columns claimed our education system fails to teach kids critical thinking. He then suggests watching old newsreels of Hitler to see the “adoring faces” of his duped audience. “Then read what he says and see it it makes any sense whatever. Yet he convinced others — and himself — that he had a great message and a great mission.” I lack ‘critical thinking” — being the product of public education to advance degrees, so I misread it and assumed he meant B...
747 Cubans left over from the 1980 Boatlift, were finally released from indefinite captivity after serving their crimes — from petty theft to murder. The reason for the eternal captivity was that Fidel refused to readmit them. Why not send them to Iraq as election officials or Afghanistan to work in the poppy fields? Copyright © 2005 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: January 14, 2005. http://stevendedalus.joeuser.com