Perspectives: A Blog

  • Self-defense?

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    At least nine dead in an Israeli attempt to block ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. That’s bad enough. But the twisted logic of the Israeli government on the botched interception of the six boats…

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  • Responding to Torture – What You Can Do

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    Beginning in 2001, lawyers at the Department of Justice sought to make torture part of the American arsenal in the war on terror. To overcome legal barriers to the use of torture, they simply redefined…

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  • Those cannot remember the past…

    … seem to be running the Texas Board of Education. On Friday, March 12, 2010 this body decreed that some changes be made to the Texas curriculum. (The New York Times ran the story on Saturday.) This…

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  • Mad Money: Further reading

    If you’re curious about the cost of military spending — not just in dollars, but in tradeoffs for other things — schools, bridges, healthcare, and so forth — you could do worse than consult the National…

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  • Mad money

    Back in November 2007, I noted that the United States had spent roughly $1550 per person — American man, woman, child — on the war in Iraq. It won’t come as surprise that we’ve spent a…

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  • Childish thoughts

    A few days ago, my son, eyelids drooping after a long bedtime story, perked up so that he could ask a question. Background: he’s been telling us all — his mother, his sister, and me…

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