Category: U.S. Politics
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The Precipice that is Syria
Reading Time: 4 minutesThe big question after the Paris Attacks has been whether we should escalate the conflict in Syria. The task of voters, assuming they have a say in this matter, is to decide which facts are relevant to making a decision. There’s no question that ISIS represents a serious threat, and not just…
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Terror in Paris and the Presidential Campaign
Reading Time: 2 minutesI disagree with analysts who say Hillary wasn’t being clear about her platform in the second debate. Hillary was being very clear about what kind of president she’ll be. She was reminded that as Secretary of State she underestimated the threat of ISIS: So you’ve got prescriptions for the future, but how…
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Putin Comes Courting in Syria, U.S. Acts Coy
Reading Time: < 1 minuteYou may be aware that when the Syrian conflict was just getting started Assad offered to team up with the U.S. to fight ISIS. The U.S. said no thank you. Now Putin has offered to help end it with pretty much the same result. You might think the situation is too complex to…
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The ACLU and Corporate America
Reading Time: 2 minutesI’m afraid I’m still focused on the presidential campaign. I didn’t intend to spend so much time on this subject, but it seems the activities of Black Lives Matter and the support they have received from the ‘liberal’ media need some kind of explanation. The media pretends it’s a question of whether BLM…
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Do Black Activists Have a Beef With Bernie Sanders?
Reading Time: 2 minutesIt looks like Bernie Sanders’ campaign has already moved on in responding to Black Lives Matter. I probably should make it clear that the following is just my opinion. On Saturday a group of people belonging to an organization called Black Lives Matter stormed into a Netroots Nation town meeting with the…
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What does Corporate Profitability Have to do with Prosperity?
Reading Time: 6 minutesA recent article on stratfor.com focused on the trend toward automation in agriculture, which this writer presents as a positive development.((How Future Farmers Will Use Technology to Improve Agriculture, stratfor.com analysis. May 13, 2015. Available: https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/us-how-future-farmers-will-use-technology-improve-agriculture)) By contrast, John Lanchester’s review of The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress and Prosperity in a Time…
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Toward Dialogue With the Church
Reading Time: 4 minutesA recent article about the Pope’s address to the European parliament poses questions that I think many of us have been asking ourselves. For example, secularists might be asking why it is important for them to move toward dialogue with the Church. “The Pontiff wasn’t the most obvious person to deliver hard…
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Argentina Fights for Its Life
Reading Time: 2 minutesU.S. Federal Judge Thomas Griesa called a hearing on Friday to discuss the case of Argentina and the vulture funds. In this hearing, Griesa reaffirmed his ruling of June 16 favoring the vulture funds. He also said that Daniel Pollack would continue as mediator. However, he did not clarify what would become…
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Argentina: The Supreme Court’s Wicked Decision
Reading Time: 7 minutesThe U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that Argentina must pay hedge funds that refused to compromise on repayment of Argentinean bonds should be all the evidence Americans need that the Supreme Court is out of control. Many were jarred awake by the Roberts Court’s ruling in favor of Citizens United. However, efforts to…
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My Brother’s Keeper and The Letter
Reading Time: 2 minutesThere are several criticisms of the My Brother’s Keeper initiative, but they are not what I want to talk about here. I think the most meaningful part of this discussion is a letter to President Obama voicing concerns about his initiative and signed by 200 black men. Yes, it’s another criticism, but…