Mark Kleiman says that General Petraeus’ recent denouncement of the use of torture demands that those “who accuse those who oppose torture of being foolishlly ‘soft,’ ignorant of the realities of asymmetric warfare, and indifferent to the risk of more terrorist attacks here, now need to say whether they want to apply their slander to…
Author: marc
Marc is a software developer, writer, and part-time political know-it-all who currently resides in Texas in the good ol' U.S.A.
A Bad Week to be a Teacher
First, Michael van der Galien says that group of teachers from Tennessee need to be fired and quick. Why? From CNN: Staff members of an elementary school staged a fictitious gun attack on students during a class trip, telling them it was not a drill as the children cried and hid under tables. … “The…
Farmers Branch, TX: Illegal Renters Not Welcome
According to the Houston Chronicle residents of Farmers Branch have voted to make it illegal for landlords to rent to illegal immigrants: Voters in this Dallas suburb became the first in the nation today to prohibit landlords from renting to most illegal immigrants. The ban was approved by a vote of 68 percent to 32…
Guiliani & Abortion – Finally Some Sense
Rudy Guiliani recently ensured that anti-abortion Republicans would have to look elsewhere for a candidate who represents them on that issue by re-stating his belief in the procedure. Speaking at Houston Baptist University’s Mabee Teaching Theater, he said: “I believe you have to respect their viewpoint and give them a level of choice,” the former…
Hate Crime Laws are Anti-American
The Ayn Rand Institute says that the federal hate crimes law that the House recently voted to expand should be done away with rather than being broadened. I concur. From the article: “The government’s job is to punish criminals for initiating force against other citizens; objective laws that ban the use of force and fraud…
Doing Whatever It Takes
Locke High School in the Watts area of Los Angeles is making news not because of poor performance or school violence, but because the school’s teachers have voted to secede from L.A.’s Unified School District. Says the LA Times: Three cheers for its courageous teachers and stalwart principal, who have chosen to break with the…
America Competes Act (Farce?)
The U.S. Senate recently passed, with no discernible fanfare whatsoever, a bill entitled the America Competes Act. According to EdNews.org: the bill would increase research investment by: • Doubling funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) from approximately $5.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2006 to $11.2 billion in Fiscal Year 2011. • Setting the Department…
Pro-America Europe?
The winds of change may have shifted again in Europe. France yesterday elected Nicolas Sarcozy, the conservative candidate, as its president. As Marc Schulman notes, this is now the second European country who failed to take the U.S.’s side in regard to Iraq that has moved back to the right, Germany being the first. Hopefully…
Pushing Back on Islam
As I recently wrote in “Assimilating Islam“, I believe it’s important that Americans and our justice system establish clear lines about what we will and will not allow to take place vis-a-vis the Islamic-ification of this country. It’s also quite tricky as our systems have a built-in preference for freedom of association, religion, and speech….
The God Debate
Is there a God who actively works in Earth’s affairs? Those who answer “No” have virtually nothing to discuss with those who assent, whether deist, agnostic, or atheist. What common ground is there when the most fundamental question is answered differently? To me it seems that the atheist position is nonsense. Given that matter and…