Free-market, libertarian, conservative extremists on the right are just as dangerous to the economy as those communist, socialistic extremists on the left. As in most things in politics and society, the so-called Golden Mean, to use Aristotle’s phrase, lies in the middle. Too much of the latter leads to economic stagnation; too much of the [… Read More »

RISHON LEZION, Israel — So I was once entering a local pub to meet some friends, and another regular rushed outside while I had been approaching the door. Her eyes were tearing up, and she was wiping them. “Susan,” I asked. “What happened?” “Peter blew smoke in my eyes!” she exclaimed. Read More »

JERUSALEM — For the past five years, hundreds of young Israelis have gathered in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on the first Friday of every July to fight in what is billed as “the largest water war in the world.” No, it is not armed conflict over one of the planet’s most-precious resources — it is [...] [This is a content summary only. Read More »

“The stress and depression [over my debt] has gotten so bad at times that I’ve seriously thought about killing myself. I’ve thought more about walking into a financial aid office, or a bank, and just blowing everyone away. Why even bother robbing them, all cash is traceable now. No, I’d do it because my dead [...] [This is a content summary only. Read More »

JERUSALEM — In the hours before the Jewish Sabbath right now before the Holy City shuts down, Israelis are aflame with condemnations of U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech yesterday on, in part, the Middle East conflict. As I have seen from Israeli pundits on television to commentators on Fox News to my Israeli friends on [… Read More »

I am (surprisingly) not particularly dismayed by Sam’s recent post “Jewish Timeline: Israel and the Theory of Just War.” Perhaps I’ve just become cynical about the whole Israeli-Palestinian thing. Fifteen years ago, I was really into it. Now, I just think they’re probably all nuts. They’re certainly too close to their problems [… Read More »

By Jeff Guevin I am (surprisingly) not particularly dismayed by Sam’s recent post, Jewish Timeline: Israel and the Theory of Just War (though I am somewhat baffled by his choice of title). Perhaps I’ve just become cynical about the whole Israeli-Palestinian thing. 15 years ago I was really into it. Now, I just [...] [This is a content summary only. Read More »

JERUSALEM — Every since Israel forcibly withdrew Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and Hamas later gained power in the territory, relations between the two sides have consisted of a constant level of low-intensity warfare that explodes into something larger once every year or so. Read More »

JERUSALEM — Here in Israel, my ability to view American news-programs is limited by what Israeli cable-television offers. As a result, I can only offer media and marketing analyses — as a former Boston journalist who now works in online marketing — based on what Fox News airs. (The satellite networks here show neither the [… Read More »

When I was in the seventh grade in a southern Illinois junior-high school in the early 1990s, my English teacher assigned a series of public-speaking assignments. We were to choose several topics and then give presentations. Perhaps I had been a little precocious, but I selected overpopulation and the food crisis as one of my [… Read More »

When I was in high school, the two extra-curricular activities in which I participated the most were the student newspaper and the Model United Nations. The club would travel to two national competitions in Chicago and New York City, and I and my partner delegate would often role-play and represent our school’s “country” on the [… Read More »

JERUSALEM — As those who have seen “Lawrence of Arabia” may recall, T. E. Lawrence’s goal of Arab independence from the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) during World War I ran into two not-so-small barriers: the national ambitions of the British and French empires combined with the collective inability of Arab tribal-chiefs to reach a compromise [… Read More »

JERUSALEM — So I was in the middle of a meeting with my boss with one of our marketing company’s clients on Wednesday afternoon. We were discussing mundane topics like SEO strategy, branding, and improvements to the organization’s website while one of the client’s employees was checking something on his computer. “Oh my God…,” he said. [… Read More »

I still do not understand exactly why the United States and the Western world are engaged in military action against Muammar Gaddafi’s government in Libya. And I presume that I am not alone. During a recent trip to Brazil, U.S. President Barack Obama cited two reasons in brief remarks: the need to enforce a United Nations [… Read More »

Vox Day — a self-described Christian-libertarian blogger and WorldNetDaily columnist whose best writings are on economics — has founded an interesting blog with various contributors, Alpha Game, that purports to give men advice on dating successfully from the s0-called “Game” point of view. Read More »

Over at the Facebook page for Considerations, an American college-student once asked me what job sectors will be growing when he looks for a job. I advised him to check the Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read More »

Editor’s note: This is a guest post. There’s certainly nothing spiritual about politicians, but you have to admit that religion is a driving force behind the politics of the United States. We’re a diverse lot — a potpourri of different cultures, a melting pot of religions, beliefs, and principles. However, if there’s one thing most people [… Read More »

BOSTON — I think I could have gone on tour with the band Garbage. Or something like that. Back in early 2002, I had just graduated from Boston University the prior December and started a job as staff assistant for the Beacon Hill Institute, an economic think-tank at Suffolk University, since I had not yet found [… Read More »

What “rights” do (or should) all people have? And how are they determined? U.S. Congressman Ron Paul, a Republican on paper but more accurately a libertarian on policy, highlights this important political and philosophical issue: For Rep Ron Paul (R-TX), education and medical care are not rights but rather “things that you have to earn. Read More »

JERUSALEM — My father was a Vietnam War veteran. I do not have anything exactly relevant to the headlines today to discuss this topic, but I have been watching syndicated reruns of the early-1990s American television show “China Beach” on Israeli television, and it produced some pseudo-vicarious memories. Let me explain. Read More »