Normally, when a Philadelphia newspaper columnist levels undeserved criticism at a local athlete, it is hardly noteworthy. But the latest attack against Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb isn’t the typical “we eat our young grilled and with a side of fries” commentary from a Philly sports columnist. Instead, it comes from the head [...]

The concept of equal pay for equal work is one that most people nowadays would probably endorse. And I think that’s a good thing. The egalitarian in me thinks that while differential effort, training, ability, and perhaps seniority should be rewarded, other dimensions ought not to matter. And this is officially supported [...]

You may not have been aware, but there is a War on Christmas brewing! (That link, by the way, is to a wonderful Adam Cohen piece in the New York Times; sadly I could only find the Times Select version of it, but if someone finds a copy that doesn’t require a paid subscription, [...]

Today, I was on jury duty. I can’t say I enjoyed it, but I have to hand it to Mercer County; they do what they can to make an unpleasant experience more tolerable.
One thing they did was show a video of what we would be doing as jurors (made me feel like [...]

The big news from Iraq today is that voting for the next round of elections has begun. Hopefully the security situation in Iraq will allow a full, free, and fair election, and that Iraqis will chose a slate of candidates who are honestly interested in compromise. This should be a good day for [...]

I think a lot about rights. Not rights vs. lefts, or rights vs. wrongs, but those unaliable ones that we’re supposedly endowed with by virtue of being human. Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness being the ones the Declaration of Independence talks about, and if you replace “happiness” with property you have Locke’s [...]

I thought I should post a quick update on the NYU union story. Well, not so much an update as a related NYU union story. Apparently NYU is banning the sale of coca-cola products on its campus because coca-cola refuses to deal with unions!. While at the same time, their grad students [...]

Condaleeza Rice was in Germany today, trying to defuse European complaints about America’s handling of the “War on Terror”. She once again asserted that the CIA policies of rendition and of operating secret prisons in Eastern Europe were reasonable and useful policies that make the world a safer place, and once again asserted that [...]

A friend pointed out this “polemic” on feminism and how to get more elite women into positions of power. Apparently the article has been causing quite the stir.
I had already read several of the NY Times articles referenced at the beginning and found them fairly unsatisfactory in the sense that they describe a world [...]

Just after 2AM this morning, North Carolina executed Kenneth Lee Boyd. It was the 1000th execution in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty (after a five year moratorium). As an ardent opponent of the death penalty, I figured that this might be a good time to talk about [...]