Entries
More Jobs, Better Pay: What the GOP Can Do
In my column for CNN, I explain why Rick Perry's record on job is both his greatest strength and weakness: Gov. Rick Perry enters the presidential race with one big advantage and one big impediment. The advantage: his record of job creation in Texas. His impediment? His record of job creation …
Don't Underestimate Rick Perry
img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101386" title="Rick Perry" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-08/rick-perry2.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="300" />Res Judicata: Legal Immigration is Not the Answer
The bad economic news, especially persistently high unemployment, requires an examination of our immigration policy. The U.S. currently admits about 800,000 legal immigrants per year, all of whom are authorized for employment. This goes on year in and year out, regardless of the level of …
Who Do I Support with Pawlenty Gone?
I have been supporting Tim Pawlenty for president this go round. Now it appears I have to find a new candidate . My reasons for supporting him were that he was from a Democrat leading Midwestern state and had run a generally conservative administration. He seemed like a serious man with a nice …
Courts Must Say Who is a Security Risk
In the bad old days of the Cold War, when Soviet espionage and subversion was rampant, it was a given that in questions of security versus individual rights, preference was given to the state. In other words, in sensitive areas of national security, if suspicions of treason or of being …
The Straw Poll Scam
Why doesn't the national Republican Party discourage the presidential hopefuls from participating in the Ames Straw Poll? While the benefits of this event to the Iowa GOP are perfectly clear, I don't see any benefits to the party as a whole, and there may even be some harm. The straw poll has …
Summer Reads: DiPeso on You Are Not a Gadget
The Internet has been touted as a paradise for individual liberty and democracy – a platform from which every point of view can be heard, a global town hall where the ideas of free individuals are the raw materials for the wisdom of the crowd. Not so fast, says musician, virtual reality developer…
Romney Gets His Challenger
For two years, disaffected conservative Republicans have shopped for an alternative to Mitt Romney. They have worked their way through Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, and Donald Trump among others. The Ames straw poll turned a spotlight on Michele Bachmann. Until now, anti-Romney Republicans have …
Mitt Romney: Goldbug?
Romney's campaign filed FEC reports indicating the candidate's personal wealth to be between $190 million and $250 million. The most important sentence is buried in this Los Angeles Times article: "The couple owns between $250,001 and $500,000 in gold."
Standing By for a Crappy Airport Job
I've always thought that working at an airport must be one of the most depressing jobs available. Far, far away from the center of a city, and often, in an ugly, poorly-designed environment. However, here in Toronto, we are lucky to have the Billy Bishop Airport, a small property in the heart of …
Summer Romance: Why You Should Not Diss Online Dating
img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101133" title="date" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-08/date.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="300" />The Prowl: Breaking Up Soulmates is Hard to Do
It is August recess and I could not be happier. My daily responsibilities have diminished to the point where all I did today was write a single, one-page memo on surface transportation funding and water my boss' plant. August recess, however, is not going well for two close friends of mine. …
The Fat Diaries: Drawing the Line at 1% Milk
Summer is almost over and the weather has gone from molten to within mortal endurance. I’ve been going outside a little more, and began to examine my diet again to make sure I was on the right track. Sadly, my rock-hard zero tolerance for goodies has softened a little. I wondered if I could …
Uday Hussein: Iraq's "Devil"
The "queen" of true crime novels, Ann Rule, once described the hopeless psychopath, or "lust killer", as someone who feels that "there are no other real people in his world. Only him. Other people exist only to fulfill--or deny--his needs." She might as well have been describing Uday Saddam …
No One Likes A Loser
img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101124" title="Irabu" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-08/irabu.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="300" />Let Federal Housing Loans Expire
img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101085" title="Housing Loan" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-08/housing-loan.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="298" />No Criticism Please, We're British
img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101060" title="PD*27913545" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-08/london-police.jpg" alt="" width="460" height="288" />Be Euro-Scared, Very Euro-Scared
img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101064" title="frankfurt_euro" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-08/frankfurt_euro.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="359" />Pawlenty and Bachmann Spar in Iowa Debate
A spirited debate tonight on Fox News, but one where the winner ultimately turned about to be someone who said the least substantively. Frontrunner and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney escaped unscathed - no one seriously challenged him, and with expectations that he would be targeted, …