In the light on the obvious non-effectual nature of nuclear negotiations with Iran, six other Arab states decided they want to be nuclear powers. Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, UAE and Saudi Arabia all have announced plans to start working on nuclear technology. The obvious implication is that this “peaceful” research well within the “sovereign...

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At a recent campaign rally the College Democrats had on campus, one of the main issues discussed was the rising interest rates on federal student loans and the increase in tuition in general. The gist of it was that the undergrads don’t want to pay as much for college (or don’t think they should...

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The seemingly perennial debates surrounding Catholic universities in actualizing their claimed Catholic identity seems to revolve around the concept of “academic freedom.” To be frank, higher education in general succeeds and is a benefit to society when all questions can be asked and people are free to inquire and research. The problem is that...

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The New Jersey ruling opening the door to gay marriage in the state is a last minute boon to Republicans. While Democrats will say that Republicans are using the politics of division (as they supposedly did in 2004) to get votes in November, the reality is, it was never Republicans putting gay marriage on...

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The reactionary hand-wringing about the Military Commissions Act of 2006 is wholly devoid of intellectual support and contradicted by the Geneva Conventions themselves. The flaccid objections are based in three parts: that unlawful combatants can be anyone, Habeas Corpus is a right enjoyed by military combatants, and a misunderstanding of the Geneva Convention documents...

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The conflict between science and religion (particularly Christianity) is centuries old. It probably preceded Galileo though Galileo is the portrait scientists hold up when any Christian dares to question the work of a scientist. Both the debate over embryo-destroying stem cell research and intelligent design are the latest battles in this ages old war....

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Recently an undergraduate student began circulating on Facebook a 10 + 1 point plan for the “liberation of students at the University of Illinois.” Apparently I didn’t get the memo that there was still slavery going on in Champaign. This movement started in a response to a suggestion that the various cultural houses be...

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This year, in all but literature and peace, United States researchers took home the Nobel. From economics, to physics, to medicine, to chemistry, US researchers are bar none the best in the world. This is on top of the Times Higher Education Supplement that ranks US universities as the best in the world. Why...

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Universities like to celebrate how diverse their campus community is. They’ll have culture houses for this minority and that minority. At the University of Illinois in Champaign they even have an African American Homecoming which is a distinct and concurrent celebration during the normal homecoming on campus. There is no campus community; there are...

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Last week at Columbia University, members of the International Socialist Organization and other student groups violently rushed the stage during a speech by Jim Gilchrist of the Minuteman Project. This is the same university that employs this year’s Nobel Prize winner in economics. They are obviously capable of intelligent endeavor. In a rare moment...

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It is no secret that the campus environment has been reformed into an institution for political inculcation. At some point, many professors exchanged a solid liberal arts and classical education for the petty advancement of political objectives. That’s why it is no surprise that recent studies found that student both have a lacking understanding...

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Like most college campuses, the University of Illinois in Champaign has a vocal anti-war movement. This movement, while at least publicly saying they “support the troops”, does everything they can to enforce every bad image upon them. Luckily, the anti-war movement’s volume is matched by their inability to get much accomplished. Because they value...

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However, this issue, coming out as it did, gave the Democrats a key attack to use against Congressional Republicans. Until now, the Democrats were essentially running against Bush. You may get some voters with that, but odds are, mostly the ones who’d vote for you anyway. When’s the last time an anti-war activist voted...

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Think Progress is reporting that Air America radio will announce filing for bankruptcy protection on Friday according to three independent sources. The company has experienced financial difficulties throughout its tenure, continuing to request infusions of capital and suffering the loss of several high-profile hosts. Five employees were laid off Tuesday without severance. The radio...

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Bush has admitted to the requisite “high crimes and misdemeanors” to allow for impeachment. It doesn’t matter that these supposed crimes aren’t truly crimes; he has effectively admitted to them being illegal and makes it impossible to claim otherwise. He has shown fundamental weakness leading up to the election that makes Congressional Republicans that...

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It appears the Congressional GOP has sounded the death knell for immigration reform legislation until after the elections. It is a good thing that the current package of immigration reform has died. Amnesty would be one thing but the current package is far more than just amnesty. In addition to amnesty they get two...

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This clip is from the Associated Press stylebook. It is used by newspapers across the country to provide guidelines in how stories should be written. By and large, many guidelines are neutral and simple are matters of style (i.e. capitalization, punctuation, etc). However, in this one entry, standing unique in comparison to the whole...

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The ACLU is upset that New Jersey schools are asking students for Social Security Numbers when they enroll for school. As usual they are upset for the wrong reasons and deceiving the public in the process. First, the ACLU is at the forefront of litigation and lobbying to prevent the United States from having...

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While the provocation of hostilities falls squarely on the shoulders of Hezbollah (and in the case of Gaza, Hamas), Israel misprosecuted the war. That was bad enough. Worse is the “diplomatic” efforts to achieve peace that apparently the world isn’t really behind. The United Nations comes in, promises peace and then doesn’t meet the...

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It has been one year after the largely ineffectual response to the disaster of Hurricane Katrina. Despite the failures on all levels of government, it seems that history shows that Bush bears the full brunt of the blame for the failures. While Bush and FEMA do bear some blame for the aftermath, there are...

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