Religious freedom: a confined policy

Freedom of religion is an established right in the United States; the First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees it to every person.  In the U.S., no person may be discriminated against on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.  Equal opportunity is among our most cherished tenets; it is the product of much national [...]

Why the surge is a failure

“Never was so much false arithmetic employed on any subject, as that which has been employed to persuade nations that it is their interest to go to war.  Were the money which it has cost to gain, at the close of a long war, a little town, or a little territory, the right to cut [...]

The Iraq War, in the tradition of Jonathan Swift

Before reading:
Read Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”. This will help you understand the title and the tone.
http://www.uoregon.edu/~rbear/modest.html
Watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFptybbietQ
Intellectuals will understand the nature of this piece without explanation, and those readers who do not will find themselves inspired to defend the Iraqi people, which the media has taught them are subhuman.
It is satirical.  It is supposed to [...]

B.J. Lawson: a common sense conservative

Remember when Republicans were elected to downsize government? In 1994, the American people were inspired by the prospects of economic freedom to vote Republicans into office. In 2001, George W. Bush was expected to come in and aid them in that effort. It did not happen. Under Bush and the Republican [...]

So many reasons to love Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine was, by some accounts, the most well-read Englishman ever to live. If you are reading this, regardless of who you are, or how many Nobel prizes you have won, you can rest assured that Paine’s education was more complete than your own. When you read his commentaries on money and the [...]

Iran: the bait that could hook the world’s biggest shark

The rhetoric coming from Tehran, whether it be anti-American, anti-Israeli, Holocaust-denying, or ambiguously nuclear, is accompanied by a confidence that one would not expect from a nation that the United States could crunch like a cockroach. We may call Ahmedinejad evil, unscrupulous, radical, or unreasonable, but it would be a mistake to think of [...]

Unjust war: are passive Americans responsible?

“A policy of overthrowing or destabilizing every regime our government dislikes is no strategy at all, unless our goal is international chaos and domestic impoverishment.” – Ron Paul
I received a good question about a post in which I asserted, “those who henceforth perpetuate the lie that the surge is working are war criminals, and perpetrate [...]

Iraqis have a voice, “but nobody listened.” Will you?

I have written a book; and if it cannot be refuted, it cannot be condemned. But I do not consider the prosecution as particularly leveled against me, but against the general right, or the right of every man, of investigating systems and principles of government, and showing their several excellencies or defects.” – Thomas [...]

Going hiking (05.16.08)

Yesterday we went to Zevat, a beautiful old city with a history of violence.  I bought a photograph (artistic double exposure) of a man praying at the Western Wall.  The drive north to Zevat was highlighted by the border fence between Jewish Israel and the Palestinian Authority.  There is a quiet but undeniable animosity between [...]

IDF Base (05.21.08)

Yesterday we went to Ben Gurion’s grave.  We rode camels–surprisingly friendly animals.  We enjoyed Bedouin hospitality, which included sleeping in tents and eating good chicken, meatballs, pita, hummus, vegetables, rice, and of course, bug juice.
Last night we were treated as new recruits in the IDF by our Israeli soldiers.  They made us run, stand at [...]