SEATTLE – Is morality based on some essential truth or is it defined by society? In this highly original critique of American social mores and popular culture, Shattered Tablets (Doubleday), author David Klinghoffer argues that the Ten Commandments are essential to maintaining a morally healthy society. “My main point is that the steady evaporation of religious culture will have very Read More ›
You’ve heard of the trade deficit and attention deficit disorder. Well, several strands of discontent in American life can be traced to what I call the “Authority Deficit.” Whether the context is President Bush’s conduct of the Iraq war, cops unable to make city streets safe or parents struggling to rein in unruly children, authority figures seem increasingly unconfident. It’s Read More ›
Do animals have rights? Bioethicist Wesley J. Smith investigates this issue in light of the dog fighting scandal surrounding football star Michael Vick. Smith argues that the outrage generated by Vick’s alleged actions stems not from any violation of animal rights, but from the violation of his own humanity. Smith reasons that humans are the only conscious organisms in the Read More ›
The shocking collapse of the Minneapolis Interstate 35W bridge will no doubt aid the campaign for the multibillion-dollar roads-and-transit package facing central Puget Sound voters in November. Yet two crucial transportation projects relevant to the Minnesota tragedy are partially on hold — replacement of the central waterfront section of Alaska Way Viaduct on State Route 99, and full funding for Read More ›
This article, published by the Woodinville Weekly, quotes Discovery Institute Fellow Bruce Agnew: Bruce Agnew, director of the Cascadia Center, said, “When the public is presented with facts about the 100-foot-wide rail corridor they say, ‘Well, of course it should be rails and trails. Why would public employees rush to rip up rails?’”
The tempting thought that it is now safe to begin withdrawing from Iraq is being dangled in front of the American people this summer. Maybe if the United States and our allies pull out, or pull over, or pull to the side, the Shiite and Sunni moderates — facing destruction — will summon the ability to defeat al-Qaida and Iran’s Read More ›
The arrest of football great Michael Vick for allegedly participating in a dog fighting/gambling ring has shocked the country. The charges are horrendous: In a throwback to the brutality of the Roman arena in which wild animals were forced to fight and kill each other to the frenzy of the crowd, Vick and his co-conspirators, according to authorities, bred pit Read More ›
It’s summertime along our city’s top tourist thoroughfare, and you know what that means. The sun is shining and the bullets are flying. The other day at 4:35 p.m., shots rang out from the corner of Third Avenue and Pine Street. My colleagues looked out the windows of our eighth-floor offices to see the sidewalk of the avenue packed with Read More ›
Third Avenue in downtown Seattle, especially in the blocks around Pike Pine streets, is so dangerous that ordinary office workers are anxious for their safety when they go out to lunch. In winter, when dark settles at 4:30, female office workers go in twos to their cars or buses. There have been a number of murders and many muggings, some Read More ›
The catastrophic collapse yesterday of a worn down, 40-year-old, 1,900-foot-long bridge with a single steel arch at its center, spanning Interstate 35W across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis had as of this morning resulted in four deaths, up to 30 people unaccounted for, and at least 79 more injured – some quite severely. The fatality toll is likely to grow. Read More ›