What if the National Security Agency (NSA) knows it is violating the Constitution by spying on all Americans without showing a judge probable cause of wrongdoing or identifying the persons it wishes to spy upon, as the Constitution requires? What if this massive spying has come about because the NSA …
Read More »Only IRS employees could expect rewards for not paying taxes
Did you enjoy Tax Day? You know, April 15, the day you spent countless hours or perhaps days preparing for in order to obey the Internal Revenue Service’s rules demanding you report every single penny you spent and where you spent it. Only when you’ve detailed for the government how …
Read More »Ukraine crisis — Orwell's "1984" and Putin's Ukraine agenda
I remember reading George Orwell’s “1984” when I was in high school. It felt particularly real to me because I came from the world in which what seems like fiction to others was my reality. For those who don’t know, “1984” is about communism and the scary, paranoid world that …
Read More »It may soon be easy to carry a permitted concealed handgun in California
California may soon join 42 other states in letting people carry concealed handguns once they meet certain objective criteria. Thursday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state couldn’t ban both concealed and open carry guns. The court also struck down the so-called “good cause” requirement for getting …
Read More »President Obama should learn from Gov. Christie's apology
It has been 50 years since President Kennedy invoked words from John Winthrop’s “City Upon a Hill” to talk about the great responsibility that comes with serving in government. While the original passage is centuries old, many of its ideals still hold true today, namely the principles of trust and …
Read More »Carter worse than Obama? At least Carter didn't fib
Many observers, including myself, have drawn unflattering comparisons between the disastrous administration of Jimmy Carter – considered by many our worst president ever – and that of President Obama. On reflection, I think we’ve been unkind to Mr. Carter. While he had many faults, Carter seldom lied. On the other …
Read More »Let's make this Christmas season more about “we” than “me”
Almost every single one of my 6th-graders wanted to be rich and famous. I was teaching middle-school math in New York City public, and one day I asked them, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” There were essentially four responses: 1. Rapper 2. Supermodel. 3. Professional …
Read More »Why Jennifer Lawrence, 'Hunger Games' shouldn't be catching fire at the box office
“Catching Fire,” the second movie in the “Hunger Games” series, opens this weekend. We are likely to hear a lot about the acting, the film’s pacing, and even how the new director handled the sequel. But what ultimately gets a free pass is the brutal violence and cruelty being marketed …
Read More »The media war over George W. Bush’s stent
From Benghazi to the health of former President George W. Bush, wild unsubstantiated assertions by the news media take the place of real reporting. Fox News is left to set the record straight, yet frequently it doesn’t get the credit it deserves. The stent placement in President Bush’s coronary artery …
Read More »America's leadership vacuum makes 9/11 anniversary even harder
Born and bred in Canada, I settled in New York City on September 9, 2001. I came via Durban, South Africa, after enduring the U.N.’s virulently racist “anti-racism” world conference. On September 11, watching the smoke rise from a hundred blocks away and enveloped by the grieving everywhere, I was …
Read More »