Free Republic

THOMAS SOWELL Foreign "aid" http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Now that the International Monetary Fund and its political and media allies are in a full-court press for more money from the American taxpayer, expect to see more stories about the supposedly good things the IMF and other international donor agencies have done and the lives they have supposedly saved in the Third World. But the reality is very different from the pious stories. When you do something for someone, that doesn't necessarily mean that what you did would not have been done without you. In fact, a case can be made that it...

Thomas Sowell Who is pro-war? To Keep World Peace, We Must Stop Saddam We have heard a lot about anti-war demonstrators. Indeed, we have heard a lot from anti-war spokesmen, as the media continue their corrupt practice of providing free air time to those whose antics provide them with footage for their news broadcasts. But what about those who are pro-war? Who said, "At last the war has begun"? Certainly no one in the Bush administration, nor in the military, nor anyone among the conservative or neo-conservative publications supporting the president's military actions. That headline appeared in bold letters across...

A recent news story about a teacher who assigned her students to write anti-war letters may have seemed like just an isolated episode, but teachers using students for their own little ego trips is by no means uncommon. Perhaps the worst recent example was a teacher who unleashed her venom on the children of military personnel who had gone off to fight in Iraq. Just last week I received a bundle of letters from students who have apparently been given an assignment to write to me by a teacher in an English class in Flat Rock High School in Flat...

A death in the family is always hard to take, even when it is the death of someone who has lived a long and full life, and was not expected to survive much longer. But it is especially hard when it is the sudden and unexpected death of someone younger, such as the recent death of my niece, whom I will call Margaret, out of respect for the privacy of her children. Only about a month ago, we were relieved to learn that Margaret did not have cancer, as doctors had thought. But she died of a heart attack. It...

A San Francisco sports writer has joined the chorus of those who argue that Pete Rose should be admitted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, despite being banned from baseball for violating one of its cardinal rules, against betting on ball games. The argument is: What have Pete's personal shortcomings got to do with the fact that he had a great career on the field? If we are going to go that route, and accept that kind of reasoning, then the time is long overdue to induct Shoeless Joe Jackson into the Baseball Hall of Fame. After all, Shoeless Joe...

While Senate Democrats are filibustering against the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the federal appeals court, liberals in the media are filibustering against conservative judges in general. The hallmark of these liberal media filibusters is that they can find little or nothing specific to criticize about how the judges have interpreted the laws, so the critics resort to rhetoric, confusion and guilt by association. A classic of this genre was an article in the New York Times magazine section on March 9th, attacking the conservative judges on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. This voluminous article contained not one example...

<p>My favorite salesman in my favorite camera store in Palo Alto, Calif., happened to mention that he lives in the town of Tracy. That is about an hour and a half drive to work in rush hour traffic. Why was this man spending three hours a day on the highway? Because housing prices are so high in Palo Alto — and up and down the whole San Francisco Peninsula.</p>

My favorite salesman in my favorite camera store in Palo Alto, California, happened to mention that he lives in the town of Tracy. That is about an hour and a half drive to work in rush hour traffic. Why was this man spending three hours a day on the highway? Because housing prices are so high in Palo Alto -- and up and down the whole San Francisco peninsula. This is not due to supply and demand in a free market. It is largely due to rich busybodies who have promoted severe restrictions on the building of housing under a...

Liberals have been throwing money at problems for so long that it should not be surprising that they are now ready to throw money at the problem they have with the predominance of conservative talk show hosts on radio. For a change, rich liberals will be throwing their own money at a problem, rather than the taxpayers' money. The game plan seems to be to have limousine liberals write some big checks to get a liberal radio network started, leading to an instant Rush Limbaugh on the left! The dry runs thus far have not been promising. Articulate liberals...

It is a painful reminder of human folly, irresponsibility, and exhibitionism that millions of "anti-war" demonstrators have somehow convinced themselves that they have some special aversion to war. No sane human being wants war. There would be cheers throughout the White House if Saddam Hussein decided to pack his bags and go into retirement somewhere. The real question is: What are the alternatives at this point? The alternative proposed by France is precisely the alternative that led France into disaster and humiliation in World War II. France "gave peace a chance," both before and after that conflict began. In violation...

It is a painful reminder of human folly, irresponsibility, and exhibitionism that millions of "anti-war" demonstrators have somehow convinced themselves that they have some special aversion to war. No sane human being wants war. There would be cheers throughout the White House if Saddam Hussein decided to pack his bags and go into retirement somewhere. The real question is: What are the alternatives at this point? The alternative proposed by France is precisely the alternative that led France into disaster and humiliation in World War II. France "gave peace a chance," both before and after that conflict began. In...

Random thoughts on the passing scene: Everything is relative. In most of coastal California, Ted Kennedy would be politically middle of the road -- and, in San Francisco, right of center. A lot of what is called "public service" consists of making hoops for other people to jump through. It is a great career for those who cannot feel fulfilled unless they are telling other people what to do. The Empire State Building was built in less time than has already been spent debating what to build on the site of the World Trade Center. One of these days the...

Anyone who thinks that business is gung ho for the free market has just not been paying attention to business. Adam Smith knew better, back in the 18th century. Although he was the patron saint of capitalism, Smith was no fan of capitalists. Any policy advocated by businessmen, he said, "ought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention." In our own time, as in Adam Smith's time, businesses have not hesitated to advocate government interference with free markets. Tariffs on steel and...

Give Minority Youngsters a Lousy Education and Then Admit Them to College By Quotas by Thomas Sowell  (February 9, 2003)   Summary: It has been said that, when Ronald Reagan was governor of California, someone told him that admitting students to the University of California on individual performance alone could mean that all the students at Berkeley might be Asian Americans. "So what?" was the Gipper's response. [CAPITALISM MAGAZINE.COM] It has been said that, when Ronald Reagan was governor of California, someone told him that admitting students to the University of California on individual performance alone could mean that all the...

Not the least of the damage done by affirmative action is damage to the English language. In addition to all the euphemisms concocted to evade the simple fact of racial quotas and double standards, there has long been a fog of obscure phrases shrouding the issues involved. Yet, despite all these murky words, the sunlight of truth still breaks through now and then. A recently published book titled "Increasing Faculty Diversity" represents such a breakthrough, though it too could stand an English translation. Using massive amounts of data released by Ivy League colleges and others, authors Stephen Cole and...

"Mad as the sea and wind when both contend." -- Hamlet "They're talking apples and oranges!" is a familiar frustrated cry from bystanders listening to a furious discussion. It means that while the two sides seem to be arguing about the same thing, they probably aren't. For example, when Democrats in Congress denounce the "unacceptable costs" of President Bush's tax cut proposal, the Democrats are stating their belief that government would be negligent in its duties if it allowed a reduction in the flow of money to Washington --money which the Democrats confidently believe they spend wisely to create and...

It has been said that, when Ronald Reagan was governor of California, someone told him that admitting students to the University of California on individual performance alone could mean that all the students at Berkeley might be Asian Americans. "So what?" was the Gipper's response. Like many other Reagan remarks, it cut through mountains of nonsense and knocked over numerous houses of cards that keep the intelligentsia wringing their hands. A classic example is a recent New York Times story that said: "Asians gain when affirmative action ends. Other minorities don't. What's fair?" Let's go back to square one. Why...

Sometimes a phrase betrays a whole mindset. Someone quoted in the New York Times recently referred to the Bush tax cut as one in which "most of the benefits would be showered on the richest taxpayers." Keeping money that you yourself earned is called having benefits "showered" on you! By this reasoning, anyone who has the power to take something from you and doesn't take it all is "showering" benefits on you. Anyone who has a gun and doesn't use it to kill you is showering life itself on you. Big spenders and big taxers never want to face...

History does not literally repeat itself, but sometimes it comes awfully close. Iraq is not the first dangerous dictatorship that international agreements tried to keep disarmed. Nor is it the first where that effort failed. Back in the 1930s, Germany's military forces were limited by a ban on conscription, by limitations on the number and kinds of weapons it could have, and by a requirement that it station no troops in its own industrialized Rhineland. These requirements were in the treaty of Versailles, which ended the First World War. Demilitarizing the Rhineland was perhaps the crucial provision of these...

<p>Angelo Marinda was a cute little baby but he never lived to see his first birthday because he was another victim of a widespread pretense of knowledge that has produced many tragedies.</p> <p>Twelve days after he was born last April, little Angelo was in a hospital being treated for broken ankles and ribs. Although no one admitted abusing him, ankles and ribs don't break themselves, so he was removed from the home where his unmarried parents lived with relatives.</p>