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I spent a good part of yesterday catching up on some of my journals and periodicals. I must have read a dozen articles in three or four different publications. There was an interesting article about the competition in ebooks now that Apple's iPad is out to rival Amazon's Kindle. A…
We have become so accustomed to the language of rights in our society that we're beginning to miss the trap that lies beneath that bait. Governments move to establish and preserve the rights of certain parties only because those who have particular responsibilities are failing to fulfill them. Take the…
As of this writing we're still awaiting the final House vote on health care reform, although, with the President's "cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die" executive order promise to Bart Stupak, the outcome seems anticlimactic. It's pretty clear that, by the time you read this, health care reform will be the law of the land.…
Unable to convince members of their own party to commit political suicide, Democratic leaders are contemplating the use of a procedure called, "deeming," to bring the health care reform bill to passage. In this procedure House members do not need to actually vote for the Senate bill; they can simply…
The present Administration is making a concerted effort to change the face of governance in this era of image and information. These past few weeks of trying to push through a health-care reform package offer a study in the new approach to governing President Obama and his cohort have determined…
In one of his movies Steve Martin plays an LA weatherman whose life is boring and pointless because the weather is always the same, the forecast is always the same, and he is thus in a huge emotional and professional rut. He even takes to taping the weekend weather forecasts…
Unemployment in America currently stands at around 10%. But that's only part of the picture. If we add to that number all those who have simply given up seeking employment, or who are employed in jobs well beneath their qualifications and past experience, the number rises to closer to 20%.…
More information is being gathered in our day than can be stored in all the computers, everywhere in the world. According to a special report in The Economist (February 27th), advances in technology now permit the daily gathering of quantities of data so vast, that a special science has developed…
The term, "show trial," came into the vernacular during the Soviet period. In a show trial an innocent is dragged before the court for a hearing and sentencing that usually led to years in the gulag. The accused was doomed before the opening arguments. The judge already knew what he…
What an odd name for a legislative procedure that promises to alienate Republicans and Democrats even more than at present and drive the wedge between Congress and the White House even deeper into the wood of government: Reconciliation? Not to mention the way this maneuver, if it succeeds, will further…
Saturday night Fox News host Glen Beck wowed the faithful as keynote speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. His address was, in typical Beck fashion, a lesson in history as much as an exhortation to action, and both Democrats and Conservatives felt the ruler across the wrist.…
You will recall the story of King Saul who, charged with eliminating the Amalekites, spared the best of the spoil and took the king captive as a kind of political trophy. Confronted by Samuel concerning why he had not accomplished the task appointed to him by the Lord, Saul blamed…
Word yesterday that the White House has formally approved the construction of two new nuclear power plants, to be built in Georgia. If there was ever a "better late than never" scenario, this is it. American industry has more genius and resources for making nuclear power a key player in…
The business community has watched in amazement the near-meltdown of Toyota over the past several weeks. The Japanese car maker has recalled some 9 million vehicles worldwide to repair problems of which they were aware, but "which the firm has only belatedly taken seriously", according to The Econmist (February 13th…
The Obama Administration is positioning itself to receive the credit for what they consider to be imminent success in Iraq. Talking with Larry King on Wednesday night, Vice-President Joe Biden claimed that the success enjoyed in the past year and the upcoming draw down of troops will be viewed as…