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Archive for November, 2006

Citizenship test

Thursday, November 30th, 2006

by Doc Opp

Immigrants who want to become US citizens are required to take a civics test, which ensures they have a basic understanding of how the U.S. government works and the history of the nation. I was reading recently about some proposed changes to the test and it got me thinking about the test in general [...]

Immigration and The American Economy

Tuesday, November 28th, 2006

by Mike

The biggest mistake we can make, with regards to immigration, is to underestimate the complexity of the American economy.
Pro-immigration forces like to say that immigrants are doing jobs that Americans refuse to do. At face value, that makes sense. Most Americans would shun the idea of becoming migrant farm workers. After all, [...]

The Rise and Fall of the Powell Doctrine

Monday, November 27th, 2006

by Mike

The Vietnam War was a debacle for military strategists and planners. The Pentagon entered that war thinking along the lines of most World War II era strategists: the guy with the biggest guns and the most men at the point of contact will win most fights. But in Vietnam, we out-manned and out-gunned [...]

Airlines Idea

Monday, November 27th, 2006

by Doc Opp

I have spent 30 hours on airplanes or in airports in the last 7 days - the unfortunate consequence of Thanksgiving falling immediately following a conference. I noticed a large number of families with small children traveling — no doubt due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
As I sat through my fourth 3 hour+ flight of [...]

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 23rd, 2006

by Mike

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! Give thanks, eat well, watch some football, take a nap. And pray for those who aren’t able, for whatever reason, to do any of those things.

The Two Christmases

Monday, November 20th, 2006

by Mike

I think it’s all time that we came to recognize a fundamental truth about the Holiday Season: there are two Christmases celebrated in December. And that’s ok.
One Christmas is the religious, Christian Christmas; a celebration of the birth of Christ, the messiah, the bringer of mankind’s salvation. We celebrate this Christmas by reading [...]

A Freedom Loving People?

Friday, November 17th, 2006

by Mike

When it comes to freedom, Western Civilization thinks that we’ve cornered the market. Certainly, we’ve had our moments of “liberty, fraternity, and equality”. We like to think of ourselves as being democratic and open-minded. We claim to uphold lofty ideals, like freedom of expression, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. [...]

Al Qaeda In Iraq

Thursday, November 16th, 2006

by Mike

It seems that just about everyone lately agrees that some kind of change in Iraq policy is needed. The biggest thing we need to do in Iraq, however, is define our goals. The Bush Administration has continually redefined success over the years: first it was removing Saddam Hussein and getting rid of his [...]

Racial Insensitivity In The United States Senate

Wednesday, November 15th, 2006

by Mike

Senator Trent Lott’s comeback has begun. The Senator, unsurprisingly, won reelection from Mississippi in a landslide. And now he has eked out a win as the new minority whip. His win prompts three basic questions: Did the GOP just elect a racist to a leadership position? What does it mean to [...]

A Servant of Two Masters

Tuesday, November 14th, 2006

by Mike

“No one can serve two masters.” That’s the first thought I had when I heard that Florida Senator Mel Martinez will become the next chairman of the RNC, but will also retain his Senate seat.
The party chairman has many formal duties, including fund raising, money allocation, party building, etc. More importantly, the chairman [...]