The latest conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis is once again resulting in terrible suffering, horrific injuries and casualties on both sides. In previous conflicts, opinion has reflexively and, in my view, unjustifiably tended to favor the Palestinians. This time around, in spite of the usual mob protests in Europe and some of the […]
New Zealand pays price for letting mateship die
From the pre-blog archives, I was reminded of the following article I wrote when a friend posted this article about New Zealand immigrants protesting in Australia. One person commented “Kiwi’s protesting because they can’t access welfare in another country. Sick.” In fact, these New Zealanders are complaining to the wrong government. The reason Australia restricted […]
Who killed bipartisanship in Washington DC?
Democrat Patty Murray, one of my own senators, and Republican Paul Ryan showed some rare leadership in negotiating a bipartisan budget that passed both houses of congress in December. It was far from a perfect piece of legislation and it was done under duress. However, it provides an example of the sort of leadership Washington […]
NPR Report on T-Shirts Exposes What Others Have Written About For Decades
National Public Radio’s (NPR) “Planet Money” team just wound up a series about what goes into making a t-shirt, which I caught on my evening commutes. It followed the t-shirt from the fields where the cotton was grown, to where it was spun in Colombia, to the factory in Bangladesh where it was stitched together. […]
America: The Selfish State?
From the pre-blog archives, this op-ed of mine appeared in Australia’s major daily newspaper, “The Australian”, on May 10, 2004. America: the selfish state? A dispassionate examination of the US shows that recent criticisms are unfair, maintains Nicholas Kerr The recent abuses at Abu Ghraib prison and other incidents in the Iraq war have provoked an angry […]