Opinion Forum

Jan Barry Interviewed by ABC News

January 15th, 2009

By Tom Carter Jan Barry, one of the authors who writes for Opinion Forum, was interviewed in an ABC Nightline report aired on January 14.  The report, filmed last year, focuses on a toxic waste scandal in Ringwood, NJ that has been controversial for a quarter century.  As an investigative reporter for The Record of New Jersey, Jan and a team of [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: environment, Law, toxic waste
Categories: News, Politics | Comments (0) | Home

Camille Paglia Unleashed

January 15th, 2009

It’s not exactly accurate to refer to Camille Paglia as “unleashed” because she’s never been on a leash.  She’s an intellectual, a professor, an author, a liberal, a feminist, an atheist, a Democrat, and a supporter of Barack Obama.  Yet she respects conservatives, even to the point of listening to and enjoying Rush Limbaugh; she’s critical [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Paglia
Categories: Arts, Life, Media, Politics | Comments (1) | Home

Presidential Pardons

January 14th, 2009

Kevin posted an article on presidential pardons at Preemptive Karma.  It made me think about President Bush’s recent revocation of a pardon the day after he granted it.  In Article II, Section 2, the Constitution gives the president absolute “…Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”  But if the [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Law
Categories: History, News, Politics | Comments (7) | Home

Celebrating Chinese New Year

January 13th, 2009

Chalk up another victory for General Tso’s chicken. According to official government sources, the close ties between the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China were forged 30 years ago by President Carter and Chinese Communist leaders in an historic restoration of diplomatic relations, following breakthrough secret negotiations set in motion in 1971 by President [...]

Articles written by Jan Barry
Tags: Carter, China, Nixon
Categories: History, Humor, News, Politics | Comments (2) | Home

Energy Conservation: Challenges, Rewards

January 12th, 2009

Imagine a light bulb wearing a sweater. That’s the clever image Time magazine displayed to illustrate its current cover story about energy efficiency. That’s a catchy way to call attention to what the newsweekly describes as “those pigtailed compact fluorescent lightbulbs that use 75% less power than traditional bulbs.” And that’s the kind of idea [...]

Articles written by Jan Barry
Tags: conservation, energy
Categories: Life, News | Comments (2) | Home

Free George!

January 11th, 2009

A New York City restaurant, City Crab and Seafood, had an unusually large, 20-pound lobster on offer.  A customer saw it and notified PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).  This is the wacko group that considers animal rights to be at least on a par with human rights.  They want to force the rest of us to stop eating [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: lobster, PETA
Categories: Humor, Life, Politics | Comments (5) | Home

History Repeating…?

January 10th, 2009

Imagine reading this headline: “German People Vote Adolf Hitler Third Most Popular German Historical Figure.” Can you really imagine that? The international condemnation against such an act would be immediate, forceful, and united. It would be a major news story in newspapers, on TV, and the internet. Such an unthinkable action would warrant official statements [...]

Articles written by Trevor Dane
Tags: Putin, Russia, Stalin
Categories: History, Politics | Comments (7) | Home

The False Dichotomy of Left v. Right

January 10th, 2009

In formal logic, we are taught that if a conclusion is in error, then at least one of our premises is wrong. So it is with modern politics (well, not just modern politics). An inordinately large number of people in the United States believe in the supremacy of their party over the other guy. They [...]

Articles written by Brian Bagent
Tags: conservative, liberal
Categories: Politics | Comments (12) | Home

Religion and Conflict

January 9th, 2009

Comparative Religion is an academic field of study that’s particularly relevant to issues the world is struggling with today.  In the broadest sense, it’s an attempt to understand religion by comparing beliefs, practices, histories, political and economic factors, and formal and informal structures.  I’ve been at it for many years, mostly informally and self-directed. Everyone comes to the [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Israel, Palestine, religion, terrorism
Categories: History, Life, Politics | Comments (1) | Home

Analysis of Israeli Action

January 8th, 2009

Time magazine published an interesting article today about the Israeli assault on Gaza and broader issues Israel faces, to include inevitable demographic pressures.  Time’s analysis isn’t pro-Israel, but it’s more objective than might be expected.  The article includes one statement that I strongly agree with: …there’s something tragic, too, in Israel’s predicament: in any confrontation with its [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Arab, Israel, Palestine
Categories: News, Politics | Comments (5) | Home

Texas Philosophy

January 7th, 2009

Just to lighten the mood a little, here’s some Texas philosophy, followed by a few translations of Texas expressions for you furriners:

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Humor
Categories: Humor | Comments (2) | Home

Israel-Palestine Videos

January 6th, 2009

The conflict in Gaza has widened the divide between people who support Israel and those who support the Palestinians.  Others who try to remain in the middle are finding that where survival is concerned, there is no viable middle ground. Based on objective history and current reality, I find it impossible to accept moral equivalence arguments which hold that both sides are equally at fault [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Israel, Palestine, terrorism
Categories: News, Politics | Comments (5) | Home

Coleman vs. Franken

January 6th, 2009

These words can be found in Article 1, Section 5 of the Constitution: Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members…. Either the House of Representatives or the Senate can refuse to seat anyone sent to join it by any congressional district or state.  This power is [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: conservative, liberal, press
Categories: Media, News, Politics | Comments (4) | Home

I Like Ike

January 5th, 2009

I wrote this post a couple years ago as part of an autobiography I’m working on. Current news out of the Middle East reminded me how a president a long time ago addressed a crisis in that region and other hot-button military issues. My hero when I was growing up was Dwight D. Eisenhower. His nickname was so famous, that’s all he had to put on [...]

Articles written by Jan Barry
Tags: Eisenhower
Categories: History, Military, News | Comments (2) | Home

Death of Jett Travolta

January 5th, 2009

Some of you already heard that John Trovalta’s son died, but for those of you who haven’t here’s the story. John Trovalta’s son Jett, 16, was last seen entering the bathroom on Thursday.  His caretaker found him unconscious in the bathroom late Friday morning.  “We are heartbroken that our time with him was so brief. We [...]

Articles written by Amber
Tags: Preston, Travolta
Categories: Life, News | Comments (6) | Home

Inevitable Birthdays

January 4th, 2009

Today is my birthday.  They just keep coming, year after year; there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it.  But, I guess that’s better than the alternative. As a kid, I felt cursed because my birthday was so close to Christmas.  I’d get presents on Christmas, then a few days later I’d [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: birthday
Categories: Life | Comments (9) | Home

Reality in Gaza

January 3rd, 2009

There are three items in the press that should be read by anyone interested in understanding the reality of the conflict now raging in Gaza. Alan Dershowitz has written an article in the Christian Science Monitor, ”Israel, Hamas, and Moral Idiocy.”  Charles Krauthammer’s column in The Washington Post is headlined “Moral Clarity in Gaza.”  The Boston Globe has published a [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Israel, Palestine, terrorism
Categories: Military, News, Politics | Comments (14) | Home

Popular Google Searches

January 2nd, 2009

The most popular TV show on the internet in 2008 is Fox’s “American Idol.”  It hit as the most popular reality show on Google.  Number 2 was “Lost,” and then “Saturday Night Live” followed by “Big Brother” and “Dancing with the Stars.”  I never miss a show of “Dancing with the Stars.”  I absolutely love [...]

Articles written by Amber
Tags: ice cream, literature, music
Categories: Arts, Life | Comments (2) | Home

No More Bratz Dolls!

January 1st, 2009

Do you know that the company that makes Barbies has sued the company that makes Bratz, and now they can’t sell Bratz dolls anymore?  Only Barbie dolls!  You can read the details here.  Just a little of the article says: … a federal judge banned MGA from making and selling its popular Bratz dolls. “It’s [...]

Articles written by Amber
Tags: Barbie, Bratz, Law
Categories: Life, News | Comments (10) | Home

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