Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:44:18 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Thomas Bray :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Thomas+Bray istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/be-not-afraid/45476/ Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST As 2006 draws to a close you will doubtless be hearing a lot of jeremiads on how things are running down, running out, and generally not as good as they used to be. In truth, however, I cannot end the year — and with it my regular weekly column — on a pessimistic note. Yes, the Iraq war seems a mess; yes, government still spends too much money badly, and yes, the culture ain't what it used to be. But if you think things look bleak now, you weren't around when I started writing a column in the... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/detroit-at-deaths-door/45111/ Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST Back in the early 1980s, when the dollar still bought about 240 yen, Detroit's auto companies were clamoring for pressure on Japan to "revalue" its currency. In an interview back then, the chief executive of Ford Motor Co., Philip Caldwell, told me flatly, "If we can get the yen to 180 to the dollar, Ford can do the rest." Well, today the yen is about 117 to the dollar and Detroit is still at death's door. Ford and General Motors are conducting mass buyouts of their unionized and white-collar... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/is-more-college-intelligent/44684/ Wed, 6 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST At both the federal and state level, Democrats have made universal access to college education a major priority. As Michigan Governor Granholm puts it: "You need a quality education for your children — and today, that means an affordable education." Ms. Granholm's first step: a proposed $4,000 "merit" grant to every kid who continues his or her education beyond the high school level. Democrats in Congress likewise are clamoring for more grants and subsidized loans. If some college is good... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/environmental-intervention-is/44301/ Wed, 29 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST The Supreme Court will hear arguments today in a case that could bring a lot more rust to a struggling rustbelt. A coalition of 12 states, including Massachusetts, California, and New York, as well as several cities and numerous left-wing environmental organizations, want the high court to order the Environmental Protection Agency to consider regulations on emissions of carbon dioxide. The regulations in question would officially affect only new automobiles. But the implications of a victory... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/dwindling-desire-for-welfare/44005/ Wed, 22 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST The Democratic sweep in the midterm elections has liberals — and some special interests — dreaming of a revival of welfare-state politics. But in one of the welfare states, Michigan, the appetite for fresh entitlements, higher taxes, and a new binge of spending appears distinctly limited. True, Michigan earlier this year enacted a higher minimum wage, something six other states have now accomplished by referendum. But the effect will be mostly symbolic, unless of course you happen to be a... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/u-michigans-contempt-for-voters/43548/ Wed, 15 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST The elitest cocoon within which academia is embedded was on full display in last week's post election performance by Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University of Michigan. Voters in Michigan, like voters in California and the state of Washington before them, had just given 58% to 42% approval to a ballot proposal banning the use of race-based preferences in state hiring, contracting, and university admissions. But rather than accept such an affront to the gods of diversity, Ms. Coleman took... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/back-to-first-principles/42651/ Wed, 1 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST In 2003 the U.S. Supreme Court, in a split decision, ruled that the University of Michigan's undergraduate admissions systems amounted to an unconstitutional racial quota. But the court did allow state schools, if they wished, to continue using a more "holistic" system aimed at giving minorities the benefit of the doubt. Dial forward three years. According to data once again wrested from the university under a Freedom of Information Act request, the Center for Equal Opportunity, based in... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/do-elephants-have-ideas/42196/ Wed, 25 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST Nancy Pelosi, John Conyers, Barney Frank, and Charlie Rangel may be the Democrats that Republicans are trying to get voters to hate. But if the House goes Democratic this fall, the person and his agenda to watch may be John Dingell, the Michigan Democrat in line to return as chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. Sane Democrats understand, after all, that Mr. Conyers's ranting about the need to repeal the Patriot Act or hold impeachment hearings would be a non-starter... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/who-are-the-progressives-these-days/40903/ Wed, 4 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST If you are trying to detect long-range political trends, keep your eye on the more than 200 propositions scheduled to appear on 32 state ballots this November. In 1994 the big issue on state ballots was term limits. A decade later it was gay marriage. On both issues the conservative view emerged as a solid winner. This year could be different, but there still appears to be lots of conservative energy at the grassroots level. Curbs on government takings will be on the ballot in at least 12... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/devos-weathers-counterattack/40417/ Wed, 27 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST With the help of $15 million or so in advertising, much of it fueled by his personal fortune, Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos is in a statistical dead heat with incumbent Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm in the polls. Success for Mr. DeVos, however, may depend on keeping the spotlight on Ms. Granholm's economic record — or lack of it. She remains personally popular with a substantial majority of Michigan voters. But her re-elect numbers are running below 50%, reflecting a... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/buzz-on-ddt/39990/ Wed, 20 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST The environmental left has received some severe blows lately. One is the declining cost of oil, which environmental nannies fear will lead Americans to forget that they have a moral duty to consume less fossil fuel. The other is a decision by the World Health Organization to lift its ban on the use of the insecticide DDT for combating malaria in the Third World. The latter strikes at the heart of the modern environmental movement, which was spawned in part by Rachel Carson's famous 1962... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/terminator-is-girlie-man/39575/ Wed, 13 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST At the 2004 Republican National Convention, Arnold Schwarzenegger brought a roar from the faithful with his admonition to the economic pessimists on the left, "Don't be economic girlie men!" But when it comes to the environment, it turns out that the Terminator has a distinctly softer, gentler side himself. Last week the California governor signed into law a measure that would require a 25% cut in carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2020. Even assuming that global warming is the threat it's... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/preference-in-detroit/39271/ Thu, 7 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST Federal judge Arthur Tarnow did his legal duty last week: contrary to fears I voiced earlier, he ruled that he couldn't keep the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, which would ban the use of preferences in state hiring and college admissions, off the fall ballot. But the judge just couldn't bring himself to let it go at that. A Bill Clinton appointee, he clearly felt he owed it to his friends on the left to make a contribution in kind to their scare campaign against MCRI, which is being depicted... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/drop-dead/38773/ Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST Even candidates for state office are trying hard to turn the off-year elections into a referendum on President Bush. Case in point: Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm, had harsh criticism of Bush — and by implication, her Republican opponent for governor, Dick DeVos — for refusing so far to meet with Detroit auto executives about the "crisis" now being experienced by domestic manufacturers. As I wrote in July, not since Gerald Ford's "Drop Dead" message to New York City in the 1970s has a... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/judges-strange-ruling/38358/ Wed, 23 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST If anybody needed a reason to think twice about delivering the Senate — and the White House — to the Democrats, they need only take a close look at two of the more liberal judges on the federal district court in Detroit. First up, of course, is Anna Diggs Taylor, the Jimmy Carter appointee who issued a hyperventilating decision last week declaring the Bush wiretaps of foreign telephone calls unconstitutional. The legal reasoning in the decision — or rather the lack of it — has embarrassed even... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/no-serious-opponent/38024/ Wed, 16 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST Last weekend was the 25th anniversary of a turning point in Western civilization — the Mr. Reagan tax cut of 1981. Aside from an approving editorial in the Wall Street Journal, however, there was hardly a peep in the mainstream media. That's not surprising. Ronald Mr. Reagan and his tax cuts remain highly suspect in the highly statist world of the national press corps. Among the chattering classes, and even among many tax-cutting enthusiasts, there is still little appreciation of the broader... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/lessons-from-fidel/37549/ Wed, 9 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST It's hard to imagine today that Fidel Castro was once a preeminent concern of American foreign policy. But the longer he clung to power, the less important he seemed to become — another failing pretender to the title of "revolutionary." It's a reminder that only the truth lasts. Communism has always and everywhere been a lie, a cover for the age-old lust for absolute power. The boatloads of desperate refugees, eager to share in what Cuban-Americans were building for themselves in America, told... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/humanity-and-humility/37164/ Wed, 2 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST This past weekend in Milwaukee friends and relatives of my brother, Charles W. Bray, gathered to, as they put it, celebrate his life. That life had come to a somewhat early end the prior weekend, at the age of 72, after a short bout with pneumonia. For me and the rest of the family, of course, Charlie's passing evoked great personal sadness. He was the sort of guy — smart, interesting, funny, loving — who lit up every room through which he passed. His death was also an occasion, however, for... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/accounting-for-health-care/36738/ Wed, 26 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EST Corporate America is moving rapidly to cut employee and retiree health costs, as evidenced by the recent agreement between General Motors and the United Auto Workers to trim $15 billion from health care over the lifetime of workers, retirees, and their dependents. Even that may be too little too late. But it's a lot better than most state and municipal governments are doing. If anything, health care costs are even more out of control in these sectors, thanks to the predilection of politicians... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/where-the-bison-roam/36287/ Wed, 19 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EST BOZEMAN, Montana — The Middle East is erupting, the economy is cooling, the climate is melting down. Let's talk buffalo. The other day, in company with some vacationing friends from back East, my wife and I visited the Madison Buffalo Jump State Park outside Logan, Montana, about 20 miles west of here. When we arrived, there were only two other people there. It wasn't hard to see why. "Beware of Rattlesnakes," warned a sign at the parking lot, which was enough to persuade the ladies to stay in... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/good-for-america/35864/ Wed, 12 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EST In 1953, General Motors chief executive Charles "Engine Charlie" Wilson famously declared that "what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa." GM was then the biggest company in the world, directly employing 600,000 workers and dominating the market for that quintessential product of the 20th century — the automobile. How times change. GM is still No. 3 in terms of sales ($196 billion in 2005), but it employs less than 130,000 hourly workers in the United States (a... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/immigrations-multicultural-enemy/35226/ Wed, 28 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EST House Republicans may have dealt a death blow to President Bush's efforts at "comprehensive" immigration reform, refusing to negotiate a compromise with a Senate bill they claimed amounted to "amnesty." As Brian Bilbray's recently successful campaign to succeed the disgraced Duke Cunningham in Orange County, Ca., seemed to show, there is short-term gain to be had for Republicans who talk tough about immigration. But over the long run it seems unlikely that Americans are going to have much... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/capturing-our-future/34843/ Wed, 21 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EST The tide may be running in favor of Democrats in much of the country - though President Bush's free-fall in the polls appears to have ended - but in Michigan, Governor Granholm, tabbed as a Democratic star only four years ago, is in deep trouble. The likely GOP candidate for governor, businessman Dick DeVos, has surged to a 48-40 lead over Ms. Granholm (with 12% undecided) in a Detroit News/WXYZ-TV poll released a week ago. Other polls have showed them in a dead heat - with none showing Ms... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/raiding-the-ford-foundation/34437/ Wed, 14 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EST The Ford Foundation is one of those organizations that conservatives love to hate - and not without reason. Scratch the bank account of a liberal activist cause, and chances are good you'll find a big fat deposit from the Ford Foundation. But an investigation announced recently by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, a Republican, has even some conservatives concerned. Cox says he is focusing on governance and potential conflicts of interest, but his real beef appears to be the foundation's... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/paulson-takes-charge-focus-like-a-laser/34027/ Wed, 7 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EST The environmental left is hopeful that George Bush's pick for Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, will serve as a voice of the Green agenda within the administration. "Anyone who is prudent enough that the world's markets will trust him to run the U.S. Treasury would also be prudent enough to think that global warming is a big enough risk that we need to minimize it," blogged Sierra Club honcho Carl Pope following the announcement. "Paulson fits in this category - and he may bring enough clout... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/corn-stalking-capitol-hill/33320/ Wed, 24 May 2006 00:00:00 EST The chief executives of Detroit's Big Three automakers pulled up to Congress last week in gaudy cars tricked out to tout the virtues of ethanol, the corn-based substitute for gasoline. In addition to tax subsidies for filling stations that carry ethanol, the CEOs were there to persuade lawmakers to "reform" health care and "level the playing field" internationally. Oh, but lest you think Detroit is looking for a bailout, GM Chairman Rick Wagoner was quick to set everybody straight. "We weren't... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/be-sure-to-keep-the-dog/32920/ Wed, 17 May 2006 00:00:00 EST My old friend and colleague, Tony Snow, got off to a "rocky start," according to the Associated Press. Added the New York Times: "Press Secretary's First Gaggle: 'Just a Mess.'" A "gaggle," for those of you unversed in Beltway lingo, an off-camera meeting between reporters and the White House press secretary. Until Sept. 11, gaggles were usually held in the press secretary's office. Snow, who is George W. Bush's new press secretary (and a former editorial writer for The Detroit News), decided... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/devils-they-know/32511/ Wed, 10 May 2006 00:00:00 EST Democrats hope that George Bush's miserable poll numbers will help them reclaim control of Congress this fall. But polls also show that the Democratic Party's overall approval ratings are almost as deep in the tank as the Republican rating. Voters may be expressing dismay at the alternatives. That would be understandable. The relentlessly partisan House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, as Speaker? Senator Robert C. Byrd, the ancient king of pork from West Virginia, as head of... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/investigate-government-on-oil-prices/32101/ Wed, 3 May 2006 00:00:00 EST Republicans from George Bush on down caved last week to the latest round of hysteria by agreeing, among other ideas, to yet another investigation of gasoline prices. Never mind that every time the matter has been reviewed, the verdict has been the same: market forces account for virtually all of the supposed "gouging." Not that one need have warm fuzzy feelings towards the oil companies and their extremely well paid executives. As the founder of economics, Adam Smith, observed in 1776, "People... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/when-abe-lincoln-lied/31678/ Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST The president "lied" us into war. Much of the pre-war intelligence was wrong. The civilian defense chief was detested as "brusque, domineering and unbearably unpleasant to work with." Civil liberties were abridged. And many embittered Democrats, claiming the war had been an utter failure, demanded that the administration bring the troops home. George Bush? Well, yes - but also a president who looms far larger in American history, Abraham Lincoln. One is struck by the parallels in reading Doris... Thomas Bray http://www.nysun.com/opinion/al-gore-express/31212/ Wed, 19 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST Despite nearly two decades of panicky reports about a planet melting down, only 35% of Americans think global warming "will pose a serious threat to you or your way of life in your lifetime," according to a recent Gallup Poll. The reaction of the environmental pessimists, along with the doomsters in the press, has not been to rethink their position but to redouble their scare tactics. A documentary movie chronicling Al Gore's shrill campaign to approve his beloved Kyoto Treaty has just been... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/republicans-build-walls/30853/ Wed, 12 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST Okay, the Democrats aren't offering much of an agenda beyond an effort to paint George W. Bush as a one-man axis of evil. But insofar as there is a Republican agenda these days, it seems to consist mostly of walls - walls against immigration, walls against foreign investment, walls against Asian goods and even walls to opportunity. One of the more shocking examples was South Carolina GOP Senator Lindsey Graham's voyage to China, in company with New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, to... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/who-designs-american-cars/30431/ Wed, 5 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST It's tough enough controlling costs when the unions have a monopoly over the supply of labor in your industry. It's even tougher when the government decides what products you can produce. That's essentially what Washington does with its corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, standards. Last week Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, the lone Democrat in the Bush Cabinet, finalized fuel economy rules that will require SUVs, vans and other "light trucks" to achieve 24 miles per gallon by... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/whod-have-thought-it-could-happen/30040/ Wed, 29 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EST 'Who'd have thought, 25 years ago, this could happen?" That was the reaction of Mike Belsito, a member of United Auto Workers Local 652 in Lansing, to last week's agreement to offer buyouts of between $35,000 and $140,000 to factory workers at General Motors and its spinoff, Delphi. You can sympathize with his sense of shock. But actually it was pretty clear 25 years ago what was going to happen. In 1979, after all, Chrysler had already been forced to run to Washington for an emergency bailout... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/when-judging-bush-its-compared-to-what/29618/ Wed, 22 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EST Bruce Bartlett, one of the original supply-siders and a former member of both the Reagan and Bush 41 administrations, has written a feisty book, "Imposter: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy," that is climbing the best-seller list and getting a lot of attention. There's nothing quite so delicious in the eyes of much of the media as a conservative who turns on his own, and Bartlett does so with both barrels blazing. He likens Dubya to the hated Richard Nixon and... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/conservative-prudence-required/29192/ Wed, 15 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EST Last week South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds signed into law a bill banning most abortions, setting the stage for a full-frontal assault on the Roe v. Wade decision that so deeply poisoned the politics of the late 20th century. Don't expect Roe v. Wade to get overturned anytime soon. These things take years, and at last count five of the nine justices on the Supreme Court are considered pro-choice. Even if President Bush were to succeed in appointing one more justice to the Supreme Court, giving... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/as-hillary-takes-the-oath/28778/ Wed, 8 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EST As Hillary Clinton took the oath of office yesterday - her husband beaming in the background, though he has made it clear he won't be picking the menus for state dinners - she felt mixed emotions. On the one hand she was America's first female president. On the other hand, she now had Responsibility, with a capital R. And her main responsibility was to defend America, a task vastly complicated by the fact that Iraq was once again in hostile hands, Iran had successfully tested a nuclear device... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/backdoor-eminent-domain/28383/ Wed, 1 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EST State after state is rushing to bar government from "taking" private property for transfer to another private entity. It's part of a populist firestorm triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in a New London, Conn., case in which homeowners were ordered out of their houses in order to make way for a city-ordered redevelopment scheme. But this could be only the opening shot. Tempers also are growing short over the use of "regulatory takings" - government-imposed rules that deprive owners... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/beyond-the-tale-of-gods-green-soldiers/27985/ Wed, 22 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST When the National Association of Evangelicals, representing some 45,000 churches with a congregation of about 30 million, decided against adopting a policy statement calling for action against global warming last month, it merited only a few mentions in the mainstream press. When a far smaller splinter group of 80-90 evangelicals, calling itself the Evangelical Climate Initiative, issued a demand for government restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions, which are thought to trap heat within the... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/americas-flat-earth-schools/27664/ Wed, 15 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST I googled "the world is flat" the other day and got an astonishing 78 million hits. A fair chunk are attributable to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman's bestselling book, "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century." It is now conventional wisdom that the world is "flat" - Friedman's clever shorthand for the fact, as he puts it, that "the global competitive playing field [is] being leveled" by technology, trade and large populations of well-educated people. You can... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/addicted-to-economic-growth/27253/ Wed, 8 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST I admit it. I am addicted to oil. Parson Bush has found me out. But I have something else to confess. I am addicted to food as well. I eat every day, often three times a day. I am addicted to houses; my wife and I own two of them. I am addicted to water; I drink it all the time, even swim in it. Of course America is addicted to oil, in the sense that it uses a lot of the stuff. But as Bush also pointed out, the American economy is the envy of the world. There is a close connection between the... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/age-of-the-big-six/26874/ Wed, 1 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST In 1979 the federal government bailed out Chrysler Corp. on the premise that it was too important a piece of the American economy to be allowed to fail. A quarter century later, President Bush appears to have decided that neither General Motors - once the target of federal trustbusters - nor Ford is too big to fail. He didn't flatly rule out federal aid, but in an interview he pointedly suggested that the American automakers need to develop "a product that's relevant." And, he added, "I think... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/assisted-suicide-is-tough-sell/26482/ Wed, 25 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST The Supreme Court last week overturned former Attorney General John Ashcroft's finding that dispensing opiates and barbiturates for the purpose of assisted suicide violates federal drug regulations. Oregon's "Death with Dignity" law stands. The high court decision mostly revolved around technical issues involving state and federal jurisdiction. But some have speculated it may also lead to a renewed flurry of interest in other states in mimicking the Oregon law. Under that law, if two physicians... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/church-state-common-ground/26166/ Thu, 19 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST Shortly before Christmas a federal judge in Pennsylvania threw out a local school board's effort to include "intelligent design" as part of the high school science curriculum. His outspoken ruling, which denounced intelligent design as "a sham," received national attention. At nearly the same time, a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a display in a Kentucky courthouse that included the 10 Commandments. That decision went virtually unnoticed, probably because it... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/tax-breaks-for-toyota-in-michigan/25710/ Wed, 11 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST Is Toyota, fast closing in on General Motors as the world's biggest car manufacturer, preparing to set up shop on the Big Three's own turf in Michigan? Such a thing would have been unthinkable a few years ago. But Toyota officials say Michigan is among the states being seriously considered for a massive new engine plant. And Michigan's Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, up for reelection next year, has made clear she will spare no effort to make it happen, despite her party's long antipathy to... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/let-our-children-know-this/25332/ Wed, 4 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST Dear Louisa, Doug, Jimmy and Katie: Under the Christmas tree this year were two "memory books" to be filled out by your grandparents. The gifts were a bit disconcerting: a reminder that Nana and Papa won't be around forever. But they were also flattering: Who among us does not want to think their memories will be treasured by future generations? The books are mostly concerned with the sort of detail ("The first car I drove was ___," "I once got into hot water for ___") that will make for fun... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/if-you-think-america-is-repressive/25064/ Wed, 28 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST Spying on e-mail and cell phone traffic without a warrant. Searching offices and residences without a court order. Locking citizens away for weeks or months without filing charges. Sound like your worst nightmare about the supposedly lawless Bush administration? Perhaps. But I refer to restrictions on civil liberties that are taking place not in the United States but, in the order in which I cited them, Canada, France and Great Britain. All three countries are cited as moral superiors to the... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/fascism-of-the-left-in-michigan/24811/ Wed, 21 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST Momentum continues to build for a noisy showdown over racial preferences in Michigan. Just how ugly the issue could become was starkly demonstrated last week in the state capital. The state's Board of Canvassers, a four person body split by law between Democrats and Republicans, was meeting to decide whether to certify for the 2006 ballot a referendum that would ban the use of race in state hiring and admissions policies. But no sooner had the meeting started than a mob of mostly black students... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/gms-social-contract/24474/ Wed, 14 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST Batten down the hatches. The "social contract" argument is back. In a widely-read Wall Street Journal essay last week, General Motors chief executive Rick Wagoner argued that his hard-pressed company isn't seeking a bailout. It simply wants the chance to compete on a level playing field, he argued - before going on to ask for government relief from health care costs and a too strong dollar, among other things. "Some argue that we have no one but ourselves to blame for our disproportionately... THOMAS BRAY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/irresponsible-attacks-spark-bush-reply/24105/ Wed, 7 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST Critics yelped that there was nothing new in President Bush's "plan for victory" speech at the Naval Academy last week. In the strict sense, they were right: The speech was a reiteration of Mr. Bush's longstanding position that the exit strategy for Iraq is victory. But at the very least the president's speech served to remind everybody that the critics have no plan of their own, beyond Rep. Jack Murtha's demand for an immediate withdrawal of all American forces. That's such a disastrous idea...