Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:58:43 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Cal Thomas :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Cal+Thomas istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/if-you-build-it-they-wont-come/80732/ Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to take up the appeal lodged by environmental groups that focused on a two-mile stretch of border fence in the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area near Naco, Ariz. The fence, which has been built since the petition was filed, is a vital part of the Bush administration's drive to secure the border between America and Mexico. The Supreme Court's decision is a welcome and needed victory in the war against illegal immigration and efforts to preserve... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/get-out-while-you-can/72259/ Tue, 4 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST As one group attempts to use California public schools as laboratories to assist children in "coming out" with their nontraditional sexual orientation, another is urging parents to come out from these schools and educate their children with their values at home or in private schools. Sunday, a group called "Exodus Mandate" began placing literature in scores of Southern California church lobbies, urging parents to take charge of their children's education and oppose attempts by activists and... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/un-super-size-me/71855/ Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST If you believe big media, the economy is in trouble. If you worry about job layoffs and your inability to pay bills, you may be thinking about voting for Democrats this fall, which is the point of the negative press coverage. Every four years when a Republican is president, big press outlets carry stories about economic gloom and doom. But is it true? It depends on the standard you use. Last week, the Washington Post carried a story that is a metaphor for what ails us. It was about a Maryland... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/exhuming-hillarycare/69905/ Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST In the 1990s, Judicial Watch, an organization that seeks to hold Democrats and Republicans accountable to the law, pursued members of the Clinton administration. The organization's founder, Larry Klayman, filed several lawsuits to expose alleged cover-ups in Commerce Department trade missions and the suicide of White House aide Vincent Foster. When George W. Bush became president, Mr. Klayman demonstrated that he could also go after Republicans. In 2002, he sued the Bush administration in an... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/threat-from-turkey/64795/ Thu, 18 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EST Just as it appears America may have turned an important corner in Iraq with the reported disabling of Al Qaeda, Turkey is threatening to invade northern Iraq in an attempt to stop attacks by Kurdish rebels on Turkish territory. House Democrats added fuel to the combustible situation when the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Oct. 10 passed a resolution that recognizes as genocide the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The resolution is opposed by the Bush... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/economic-sacrifices/63962/ Thu, 4 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EST WOODSTOCK, VT. — The Wall Street Journal, no left wing publication, reports that Republicans may soon lose the votes of some economic conservatives. In part, it's because of the unending war in Iraq and social policies they don't like, but they might swallow hard and continue to vote Republican anyway if GOP fiscal policies did not mimic the Democrats when it comes to the deficit and spending. Maybe what the GOP needs is a fall foliage trip to Vermont where there is an oasis in a desert of... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/cheating-college-students/62963/ Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST "If you can read this, thank a teacher," says the bumper sticker on the car in front of me. But literacy is more than the ability to read a bumper sticker. It also includes the accumulation of basic knowledge combined with a way of thinking that allows an individual to lead a life that is personally productive and contributes to America's health and welfare. For the second year in a row, America's elite universities and colleges have failed to rise above a "D plus" on tests of basic knowledge... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/threat-of-a-superstate/60960/ Tue, 21 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST Britain's New Labour, despite criticism from Prime Minister Brown of a government that has grown too fast and costs too much, has been quietly planning a vast expansion of government. The Sunday Telegraph recently reported that the Economic Research Council, Britain's oldest think-tank, has concluded that if the growth is allowed to happen, a huge superstate will be created that will cost overburdened taxpayers 170 billion pounds, which is equivalent to about $340 billion American. That is more... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/competence-over-ideology/60169/ Thu, 9 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST The last — but unfortunately not the final — "debate" among Republican presidential candidates aired Sunday at 10:30 a.m. EST in the apparent hope that no one would watch. Few did. But among those who watched, or who read the transcript, ideology once again seemed to take precedence over something the voters might consider of greater importance in next year's election. That something is competence. While Senator Brownback and Governor Romney sparred over who was pro-life first — the Republican... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/superficial-debate-more-facts-please/59235/ Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EST Credit CNN with trying to shake things up in an otherwise dull, exasperating, and too-long campaign season with its YouTube Democratic presidential "debate" Monday night. There was a good deal of silliness, like Senator Dodd claiming he has white hair because he's a hardworking senator — what does that make senators with dark hair, dyed hair, or no hair? There were also poignant moments, like the woman who suffers from breast cancer wanting to know more about preventive medicine. As before... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/responsible-patriotism/57748/ Tue, 3 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EST It's a long way from Washington, D.C., to Washington, Ind., where my father was born a century ago next January and where I am attending a Thomas family reunion. On the drive from Indianapolis, one passes towns that could fill a Norman Rockwell album. My favorite is named Freedom because, though the town has only a single flashing caution light, it displays many flags. If I don't slow down, I will miss both. Driving past miles of cornfields, listening to local radio stations that still play... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/battle-for-the-remote/57501/ Thu, 28 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST Every night around 11 o'clock my wife reluctantly relinquishes the remote control so that I can select the local newscast we will watch. The scene is familiar to millions of people for whom the TV remote can sometimes cause marital friction and spark a battle for the power to determine what others watch. This week, however, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Kevin Martin, will attempt to decide which programs we should watch and how much TV violence is appropriate for us... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/unaffiliated-man/57004/ Thu, 21 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST Mayor Bloomberg was never really a Republican; neither was he really a Democrat, the political party he previously left. From DINO, Democrat in name only, he became a RINO, Republican in name only, and now I guess one might call him, what, an UNO, unaffiliated in name only? Actually, Mr. Bloomberg is to party affiliation what some New Yorkers are to their baseball teams — when they're winning they're all for them, but lose and it's the Bronx cheer. Still, in announcing his new unaffiliated... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/failing-the-next-generation/56530/ Thu, 14 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST PORTSTEWART, Northern Ireland — There are two ways to destroy a nation. One is from without by an invading military force. The other is from within when the people of the nation no longer embrace and promote the history, language, and culture that brought it to prominence and power. Britain has chosen the second option, which is national suicide. In addition to its indefensible immigration policy, which is rapidly diluting British culture, the nation's public schools are giving up classical... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/whose-country-is-this/55867/ Tue, 5 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST A former senator and probable Republican presidential candidate, Fred Thompson, brought Virginia Republicans to their feet last Saturday night in Richmond when he said the public no longer believes in politicians who promise to secure the U.S. border as part of a bipartisan immigration bill. "You've got to secure the border first, before you do anything," Mr. Thompson said. "The members (of Congress) say it's right here in this bill: the border. The response is, 'We don't care what's on a piece... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/sounds-like-a-socialist-village/55608/ Thu, 31 May 2007 00:00:00 EST Senator and Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, has unveiled her economic vision. Should she be given the power to implement it, we can say goodbye to the prosperity and opportunity we have enjoyed since the Reagan years. In a speech at Manchester School of Technology in New Hampshire, Mrs. Clinton said it's time to replace President Bush's "ownership society," which she called an "on your own" society, with one based on shared responsibility and prosperity. Mrs. Clinton said... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/unending-war/55447/ Wed, 30 May 2007 00:00:00 EST Before Congress adjourned last week on another of its lengthy holidays, House Speaker Pelosi repeated a phrase she has previously used about the war in Iraq. She again referred to it as "the Bush policy of unending war in Iraq." She got it partly right. It is an unending war, at least until one side vanquishes the other side. There will be no truce in this war; no "38th Parallel" as with the two Koreas. This war will be unending, not because of the "Bush policy," but because of the... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/giulianis-choice/54486/ Tue, 15 May 2007 00:00:00 EST Republican presidential candidate, Rudy Giuliani, picked the Friday before Mother's Day to tell students at Houston Baptist University that while he "hates" abortion and finds it "morally wrong," one must leave the ultimate decision to a pregnant woman. The young products of conception whose mothers chose to have them listened intently. Mr. Giuliani is betting his post-9/11 image and economic conservatism will be enough to win him the nomination in a party that has not nominated a pro-choice... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/dodging-bullets-at-fort-dix/54230/ Thu, 10 May 2007 00:00:00 EST America dodged another bullet — several in fact — when authorities foiled an alleged terrorist attack on the Fort Dix Army base in New Jersey by six men described by authorities as "radical Islamists." Three of the men are illegal immigrants. The White House press secretary, Tony Snow, said there is "no direct evidence" that the suspects have ties to international terrorism. Perhaps not in the traditional way that "ties" has been defined, but there are other ties that bind people to... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/giulianis-pretzel/52115/ Tue, 10 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EST Rudy Giuliani is playing the role of a contortionist in his attempts to convince enough pro-life voters to support his presidential candidacy. After an unblemished record as a pro-choice mayor of New York City, if you don't count the "blemish" of babies not allowed to live, Mr. Giuliani surprised a lot of people when he said if he is elected president he would name only "strict constructionists" to the Supreme Court. That sounded pretty good to some, until Mr. Giuliani added last week during a... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/snow-falling-in-spring/51368/ Wed, 28 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST Nobody dislikes Tony Snow. By acclamation, people who know him say the White House press secretary is the most decent, kind, and encouraging human being they have ever met. Speaking from personal experience, I can testify not only to his inner warmth and outer kindness, but also to the goodness of his wife, Jill, and their three children. The return of Mr. Snow's colon cancer comes only days after Elizabeth Edwards announced the return of her breast cancer. Mr. Snow was quick in his warm... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/buying-and-selling-votes/51248/ Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST There are laws — even ethics rules — against buying votes in Congress. Lobbyists — Jack Abramoff and others — went to prison for attempting to buy votes and congressmen, and Randy "Duke" Cunningham and Bob Ney went to prison for selling them. As with so many things Congress does, the rules it makes for others do not always apply to some of its members. In the scandalous, short-sighted sellout of American troops in Iraq, a slim Democratic House majority passed a measure that speaker and top vote... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/renewing-eduction/50516/ Thu, 15 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST Congress will soon decide whether to renew President Bush's signature education program No Child Left Behind, the goal of which is to bring every public school student to grade level in reading and math by 2014. Though leaving no child behind may be a worthy goal politically and socially, some are questioning whether it is an obtainable one. Robert Linn, co-director of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing at UCLA, recently told the Washington Post... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/march-madness-has-begun/50031/ Thu, 8 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST It's time for that annual ritual known as March Madness. No, this March Madness isn't about college basketball. It's about how much money Congress plans to attach to appropriations bills to curry favor back home with their pet projects. This is the Democrats' first opportunity now that they're back in the majority to prove they meant it when they promised to do things differently. This after 12 years of Republican control in the Congress and its failure to do anything about the misspending it... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/gingrich-challenge/49856/ Tue, 6 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST Admit it, you hate politics: the gotcha games in which a quote can be taken out of context and used as a pretext for bashing one's opponent; the sound bites replacing reasoned argument; the focus groups and pollsters who tell candidates what to say instead of encouraging them to believe in something; the concentration on gaining and then maintaining power for its own sake; the enormous cost of elections, which transforms politicians into servants of those who give the most money. Is it possible... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/ex-president-raking-in-that-cash/49478/ Wed, 28 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST President Clinton is one of a kind, but we knew that already. No president before him has managed to cash in from his time in office with such shameless abandon. A Washington Post story by John Solomon and Matthew Mosk is staggering in its revelations of Mr. Clinton's greed. In the six years since he left the presidency, Mr. Clinton has taken in nearly $40 million — between $9 and $10 million of it last year. Mr. Clinton averaged "almost a speech a day" in 2006. Twenty percent of his fees... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/racing-to-the-bottom/48113/ Tue, 6 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST In the race to the bottom for votes to win office, or to preserve themselves in office, it would be difficult to out-run Republicans as they pander to the Hispanic vote by refusing to control our southern border against an invasion by millions of illegal aliens. Democrats are trying and they may soon pass Republicans in their cynical pursuit of political power. At the Democrats' "winter meeting" (they used to call it a "retreat," before that word conjured up negative implications about the... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/dishonoring-our-veterans/46722/ Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST " … to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan..." There has never been a more succinct statement about the obligation and privilege the nation has to care for its military veterans than that brief clause in Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address. But the New Jersey legislature thinks setting aside a day on which to remember those who have bought our freedom with their blood is not as important as it used to be. New Jersey legislators have unanimously... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/when-politics-becomes-messianic/45518/ Thu, 21 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST As we approach the day once known as Christmas, before it became "holiday," there is a sense that the Messiah, which the day is supposed to acknowledge, is rapidly being supplanted in the public consciousness by a new American religion called politics. Consider the number of "messiahs" who present themselves as redeemers and who claim the ability to deliver the masses from their "deplorable" conditions — conditions from which only government can save them. For faithful Democrats, there is... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/finishing-the-job-we-started/44737/ Thu, 7 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST By its own admission, the Iraq Study Group has submitted a "flawed" report to the president, to Congress, and to the American people. While the report properly calls for Iraq's government to do more to reconcile warring factions, take greater control over its defense, and defeat insurgent-terrorists, the ISG falls into a trap set by panel co-chair James Baker, who has long believed that what America and Israel do determines the behavior of unelected dictators and religious fanatics. "Given the... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/rumsfeld-memo/44625/ Tue, 5 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST A memo by Donald Rumsfeld, the outgoing defense secretary, recommending changes in American strategy in Iraq is being spun in some quarters as a declaration of capitulation. In fact, it is akin to what an assistant coach for an underperforming NFL team might hand to the head coach, if the assistant seeks to alter a game plan so that his team will win. Winning in Iraq, however, does not seem to be a priority for growing numbers of American politicians. They are like the crowd at a football game... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/show-some-outrage/44210/ Tue, 28 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST The French journalist and novelist Alphonse Karr is credited with saying, "The more things change, the more they remain the same." Though Karr lived in the 19th century, his insight could well apply to the United States Congress in the 20th and 21st centuries, especially when it comes to spending, the last truly bipartisan and unchanging indulgence of both parties. Following the election that will put them in the majority come January, Democratic leaders announced that they had taken the pledge... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/my-trip-to-guantanamo/43154/ Wed, 8 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST The position of the European left and liberal Democrats on the detention center for suspected terrorists captured on the battlefield has been this: American troops are torturing people on American territory and denying them their civil and human rights. Senator Durbin of Illinois said so in a speech on the Senate floor on June 14, 2005: "If I did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/what-exactly-do-voters-really-want/42787/ Thu, 2 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST Conservatives who are upset that Republicans haven't done enough during their 12 years in control of the House and Senate and nearly six years in control of the White House need a slap in the face. Republicans may have controlled all three branches of government, but conservatives haven't. If conservatives believe enough has not been done to advance their agenda, let them work to elect more conservatives, not hand control of Congress over to a party controlled by far-left liberals who have no... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/secretary-rices-view-of-the-world/42576/ Tue, 31 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST Sitting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in her office recently reminded me of why I loved a professor I had in college. Like him, she is so interested and enthusiastic about her subject that the depth and breadth of her knowledge becomes contagious. Dressed impeccably in a dark St. John's knit (yes, ladies, I know these things), Ms. Rice expounded on the world and its trouble spots like the professor she once was and desires to be again. We disagreed on only one major issue, which I... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/case-for-continuing-the-gop-majority/41359/ Wed, 11 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST Republicans have a fair story to tell about what they've accomplished over the last two years, but their narrative has been interrupted by the trashy subplot of Mark Foley and his trolling for male House pages. Democrats are constantly changing their narrative when it fails to match reality. The reason Democrats don't talk about the deficit like they used to is because it has dropped from the $423 billion predicted by President Bush, as recently as last February, to $250 billion, according to... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/no-safe-places/40973/ Thu, 5 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST If terrorism has made us feel unsafe and insecure, the latest shootings in a one-room Amish school in Lancaster County, Pa., can only multiply our fears. Anyone who has ever visited Lancaster County, as I have on many occasions, experiences it as a base of tranquility in a turbulent world. Many tourists go there because they want to experience the lost virtues of their childhoods. Many doors are unlocked. It appears someone has pushed the pause button on the History Channel. This embrace of... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/laughing-at-honor/40766/ Tue, 3 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST In the press accounts of Congressman Mark Foley's resignation from the House over allegations of sexually explicit e-mails between himself and House pages, one frequently encounters the word "disgraced" modifying Mr. Foley's name and "scandal" to describe his behavior. These are moral words, created for the purpose of labeling aberrant (and abhorrent) behavior. To show how far we have drifted from any sociological, not to mention theological moorings, consider these definitions from dictionary... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/clinton-gives-another-famous-finger-wag/40406/ Wed, 27 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST President Clinton shook his left index finger at Chris Wallace during an interview on "Fox News Sunday," denying charges he and his administration did too little to catch Osama bin Laden and ward off the 9/11 terror attacks. Leaning forward and appearing angry, Mr. Clinton said, "At least I tried. That's the difference in me and some, including all of the right-wingers who are attacking me now. They [the Bush administration] had eight months to try. They did not try. I tried. So I tried and... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/wisdom-and-judgment-deficiency/39948/ Tue, 19 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST And now for the definition-impaired, the meaning of the word "naive": "deficient in worldly wisdom or informed judgment." There was plenty of that on display last week in Pittsburgh and in Washington. At the annual National Conference of Editorial Writers Convention in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania governor and former general chair of the Democratic National Committee, Ed Rendell, addressed a group of pundits on the subject, "Will the Real Democratic Party Please Stand Up?" After running through... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/fiscally-irresponsible/36006/ Thu, 13 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EST The following is not parody. House Republicans are being told by their leaders to run campaigns this fall on a platform of fiscal discipline that includes cutting spending. This from a party that has given us new entitlement programs resembling Lyndon Johnson's Great Society; this from a party that has set new records in "earmarks" for pork barrel projects in their home districts and states; this from a party that under Ronald Reagan at least tried to eliminate the Department of Education, but... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/can-a-mormon-be-president/35527/ Thu, 6 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EST Consider the following scenario: four candidates are running for president in 2008. One is a pro-choice Protestant who believes in balanced budgets and would cut spending and lower taxes, but is divorced and remarried to someone who has also been divorced. The second candidate is a Catholic, who is pro-life, but who believes in tax increases and more government spending to help the poor. This candidate is married, but during the '60s he smoked dope and lived in an ashram with two women. The... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/heal-thyselves/34761/ Tue, 20 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EST Is there anyone in America who doesn't know that our hospitals are in trouble, along with the rest of the health care system? Three reports released last week by the Institute of Medicine confirm that. As The Washington Post summarized it, "Emergency medical care in the United States is on the verge of collapse." Dangerous overcrowding and an inability to provide necessary expertise to treat patients in a safe, timely and efficient manner are the main reasons. The report recommends that... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/hillary-factor-not-easily-defined/33717/ Thu, 1 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EST The Washington Post carried a strange story on its front page Tuesday (May 30). It was headlined, "Clinton Is A Politician Not Easily Defined: Senator's Platform Remains Unclear." Were the story about a Republican politician, the Post headline might characterize such a person as having no convictions and being opportunistic. The tone of the piece by Dan Balz resembles that of a supporter who wishes Hillary Clinton would be clearer about where she stands on which issues. Balz writes: "Clinton's... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/mitigating-factors/32419/ Tue, 9 May 2006 00:00:00 EST "America you lost. I won!" shouted Zacarias Moussaoui after an Alexandria, Va., jury rejected the death penalty for his admitted role in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack that killed nearly 3,000 people. Some may interpret that remark as self vindication, but what if it has another meaning? Could he have meant that the United States has lost its sense of justice and that the verdict was an example of the moral squishiness that Islamofascists believe characterizes so much of this country? If... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/running-on-empty-2006-05-02/32003/ Tue, 2 May 2006 00:00:00 EST So it has come to this: A group of Senate Republicans has proposed $100 rebates to low-income people to ease their "pain at the gas pump." They also are entertaining the possibility of higher taxes on oil industry profits, as if government does a better job of spending money than private industry. Have they forgotten the last time government imposed a "windfall profits tax" from 1980 to '88? Oil production fell (but demand grew) as "big oil" had less incentive to explore. A history of this bad... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/flight-93-soars-a-needed-film/31769/ Thu, 27 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST The first impression one gets from the film "United 93," which opens April 28, is that it's predictably normal. Pilots and flight attendants go about routine business, from safety checks to making sure there is enough sugar for passengers. Conversations are about nothing consequential. This normalcy contrasts with the utter abnormality of 9/11 and it is what grips our stomachs, refusing to let go until long after the 111-minute film ends. The debate about the movie started a few weeks ago when... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/getting-serious/31413/ Fri, 21 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST While going through boxes during a move some years ago, I found Esso gasoline receipts from the '60s (Esso subsequently became Exxon in the United States). I showed them to my children and they were stunned. The price for a fill-up then was $3. Today, the price of gasoline has shot past $3 a gallon and some petroleum analysts predict prices equaling Europe's of $4 or more per gallon by summer 2007. That would mean a cost of $80 to fill a 20-gallon tank. No study or special commission is needed... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/merry-go-round/31186/ Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST What is one to make of the six retired generals who, in recent days, have called not only for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, but have questioned whether U.S. troops should remain in Iraq much longer? Only that it will further embolden America's enemies who are betting that the United States is weak, morally corrupt and lacks the stomach for protracted conflict. It is apparently less newsworthy that other retired generals, including Richard B. Myers, former chairman of the... CAL THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/term-limits/30645/ Fri, 7 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST To paraphrase Richard Nixon, Democrats won't have Rep. Tom DeLay to kick around anymore. DeLay's announcement that he will resign from Congress before the November election came in the wake of his former deputy chief of staff pleading guilty to conspiracy and corruption charges. Tony C. Rudy has told federal prosecutors about a criminal enterprise of influence-buying he claims was run out of DeLay's office. DeLay has denied any knowledge or involvement with the alleged scheme and is reportedly...