"Today, with the executive order I am about to sign, we will bring the change that so many scientists and researchers, doctors and innovators, patients and loved ones have hoped for, and fought for, these past eight years: we will lift the ban on federal funding for promising embryonic stem cell ... Continue reading
These morally hazardous times
February 8, 2009 By
Giving Congress a blank check is like throwing red meat to sharks. Giving Congress a blank check and screaming Fire!, as President Obama has been doing, guarantees the worst sort of knee-jerk Congressional response: just throw money at everything and hope that something works.The "change we ... Continue reading
Street dreams
November 1, 2008 By
My boyhood, and the Arab political culture I have been chronicling for well over three decades, are anchored in the Arab world. And the tragedy of Arab political culture has been the unending expectation of the crowd — the street, we call it — in the redeemer who will put an end to the decline, who ... Continue reading
Christianity and racial politics
October 22, 2008 By Leave a Comment
In both 2000 and 2004, the most reliable indicator of a voter's support for one presidential candidate or the other was that voter's commitment, or lack thereof, to religious faith. Most pundits were predicting a similar result this year, which explains the massive effort by the Democratic party to ... Continue reading
Moral politics is no oxymoron
October 2, 2008 By
I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody ... Continue reading
Experience is not enough
September 18, 2008 By 4 Comments
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. — Douglas Adams In the late 90's, any company with dot-com in its name became an overnight sensation with investors, whether it was ... Continue reading
Political psychosis
August 8, 2008 By
Oh my. Amy Sullivan, a Christian journalist of the Democratic persuasion, someone I normally find to be thoughtful and rational, has fallen deep into the magic mushrooms with her latest piece in Time Magazine, An Antichrist Obama in McCain Ad?The "story" is that some Democrat talking heads ... Continue reading
What are you worth?
August 6, 2008 By 3 Comments
$7.22 million — that's the value of the average, generic American, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Not too shabby, I say, except that the agency has just cut its previous estimate, which used to be about $800,000 higher.Should I feel insulted?Maybe not. The EPA is ... Continue reading
