Iraq War Funds Mishandled
By Gina-Marie Cheeseman04/30/2007
An AP article appeared on April 30 with the title, “Bush seeks cooperation on U.S. war funds.” The story mentioned the House and Senate bills approved last week which approved an additional $124.2 billion.” The story failed to mention the bills provide more money than Bush originally sought to fund the military in Iraq. Also absent from the story was the amount of money already spent on the Iraq war.
Continue reading 'Iraq War Funds Mishandled'
The Remedy to our Cultural Malaise
By Philip Mella04/20/2007
As is often the case in profound atrocities such as that in Virginia on Monday, the cultural aftershocks are only latently beginning to register. We now hear that mass murderer, Cho, may have had a mental illness to which authorities may not have appropriately responded. That he was a loner with a long list of festering hatreds is perhaps all we truly know.
Continue reading 'The Remedy to our Cultural Malaise'
Free Trade & Mexican Workers: Recipe for Disaster
By Gina-Marie Cheeseman04/19/2007
A factory in my hometown of Fresno which makes the Quickie wheelchair moved part of its fabricating and welding division to a plant in Tijuana. Only about ten workers are affected in the Fresno factory and the company told The Fresno Bee, Fresno’s only daily newspaper, they were moved to the customer service division. However, Fresno Bee’s article failed to mention an important acronym, NAFTA, and the effects it has had on Mexican workers, let alone an important word in Tijuana, maquiladoras.
Continue reading 'Free Trade & Mexican Workers: Recipe for Disaster'
Are Imus' Critics Sincere About Zero Tolerance?
By Terry Mitchell04/16/2007
In response to Don Imus' hateful remarks about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, we have had to listen to one guardian of public civility after another lecture us on subject of the common decency. However, most of them seem disingenuous to me.
Continue reading 'Are Imus' Critics Sincere About Zero Tolerance?'
Our 21st Century Challenge
By Philip Mella04/13/2007
As we have argued in these columns, historical comparisons often provide an enlightening context to our challenges, persuasively arguing that ours is not the unique age it appears to be, that in fact, as George Bernard Shaw wrote (and borrowed from the Bible), "there is nothing new under the sun."
Continue reading 'Our 21st Century Challenge'
Understanding the Religion of Global Warming
By Michael Hussey04/12/2007
This topic has been picking up steam through the years and the post-"Inconvenient Truth" world, it is encouraging to see a lot of other opinionated folks are picking up on this as well. See here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Continue reading 'Understanding the Religion of Global Warming'
Obama flawlessly spouts out 6.3 cliches per minute
By Michael Hussey04/11/2007
Every time I hear Obama speak, I can't help but laugh. For the sake of my own entertainment, I counted and highlighted the cliches from Obama's speech announcing his run for the Democratic nomination. 126 cliches in total, and according to the C-Span video, it lasted 20 minutes (from 6:30 to 26:30).
Continue reading 'Obama flawlessly spouts out 6.3 cliches per minute'
Have We Lost All Sense of Proportion?
By Terry Mitchell04/11/2007
Don Imus' deplorable remark about the Rutgers Women's basketball team being "nappy-headed ho's" deserved to be met with harsh criticism. However, what we actually got was a reaction that was way out of proportion to the original action. Even some otherwise-intelligent people helped lead the charge and carry the whole backlash to ridiculous levels. I'm starting to wonder if there would have been any more outrage, had Mr. Imus killed some of those women.
Continue reading 'Have We Lost All Sense of Proportion?'
Federal Government’s Response to January Citrus Freeze
By Gina-Marie Cheeseman04/08/2007
A rare January freeze destroyed the citrus crops of California’s San Joaquin Valley, causing over $1 billion of damage. Thousands of people became jobless as a result in small towns where the citrus crop is the biggest business. President Bush waited two months to declare the destroyed citrus crops a disaster area.
Continue reading 'Federal Government’s Response to January Citrus Freeze'
What the First Quarter Fundraising Numbers Mean
By Terry Mitchell04/05/2007
Now that we've seen the first quarter fundraising totals from the major presidential contenders in both parties, what should we make of them? While nothing definitive can really be derived from these early numbers (see Phil Gramm in 1995 and John Edwards in 2003), we can discern some early patterns starting to take shape and can draw some reasonable conclusions.
Continue reading 'What the First Quarter Fundraising Numbers Mean'