In Friedrich Hayek’s “The Constitution of Liberty”, he lays the groundwork for his argument for liberty in part through the idea that advances in civilization come in the form of the ability of an individual to take advantage of knowledge he does not possess: “In other words, it is largely because civilization enables us constantly [...]
I once commented to a friend, “If you have to say ‘I am entitled to my opinion’… you’re not.” In a similar, but more verbose vein, we have Plato: “Now I observe that when we are met together in the assembly, and the matter in hand relates to building, the builders are summoned as advisers; [...]
In today’s Washington Post, titled “A Hawk Questions Himself as His Son Goes to War”. It is one of the most honest, accurate assessments of the war that I’ve read.
It’s confirmed over at Newsweek. So… will we see an indictment of Bush’s top political operator on Federal charges? It’s unclear whether Rove actually used Plame’s name, but it is known that he identified her as Joseph Wilson’s wife, which would be public knowledge: “Cooper wrote that Rove offered him a ‘big warning’ not to [...]
The war in Iraq is finally proving to be a liability for President Bush. I say “finally” because the facts do seem to be clear: the war was based on a false pretense (with the “Downing Street Memo”, one might even say “lie”), and the occupation was poorly (if at all) planned; this has resulted [...]
Salon posted an immensely informative article on the stem cell debate today. Writing in a question and answer format, Farhad Manjoo manages to cover the entire spectrum of issues surrounding stem cells in his piece: what an embryo is, the relationship of embryos to in vitro fertilization, an explanation of cell line quality, the argument [...]
Yesterday’s late compromise on the issue of judicial filibusters handed an early victory to John McCain in his efforts to advance his chances at winning the Presidency in 2008. While many conservative special interests are displeased with the compromise, the majority of Americans hold disdain for the Senators battling over the filibuster, according to polls. [...]
Because they fear victory, and for good reason. This is a great background article, as it explains that South Korea knows that the North will eventually fall, so the biggest concern is one of timing. It explains how the economic consequences of immediate reunification would be disastrous for South Korea, causing them to tolerate the [...]
Certainly everyone has heard the rhetoric that we must address the issue of Social Security “reform” as soon as possible because for every year that passes, the system’s income shinks and its outlays grow, requiring that any solution in the future be more drastic than one today. While I challenge most of the assertions made [...]
The Terri Schiavo case seems to be making more Americans aware of the fundamental changes in the Republican party that have taken place over the past ten years. The new Republican party has abandoned basic conservative principles and taken to extraordinary levels of hypocrisy to please the religious right. Consider the following: President Bush, who [...]