The American public probably spends more time listening to, reading about, and arguing over sports than any other topic.  On its face, this might seem absurd, but is quite understandable since this is probably the only topic on which the majority of Americans can understand the issues and feel that they might have some impact upon the issues and results of the game.  That this is the current condition of American society shall, however, remain a topic for another commentary.

Currently, there are two issues that the American public and the media, who make their living feeding into American’s sports frenzy that have captured their attention.  The first is Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED), and the second being the discovery that sports agents are involved in college athletics.  These are two issues that are going to be discussed from a contrarian perspective – the viewpoint which is different from that which the majority of talking heads on sports radio. Read the rest of this entry »

Having just returned from my two week business trip to China, I thought I would share my perspectives and insights with the readers of my blog.  Sometime next year, I will probably hit the century mark in terms of the number of trips that I have made since the winter of 1986.  With each trip there are new experiences, visiting new factories, witnessing new developments, and a renewed sense of both awe and concern.  The sense of awe is in the speed of changes taking place and the decisiveness with which both the Chinese government and Chinese people seem to be going forward to modernize China.  The sense of concern is the apparent lack of appreciation of these changes in the Western world, and our inability to respond with an equal sense of vigor.   Read the rest of this entry »

In an earlier blog I discussed my fear that the comparisons between Vietnam and Afghanistan were so compelling as to strongly argue against increasing our troop presence in Afghanistan as was being proposed by the U.S. military.  The recent publication of the Rolling Stones article profiling General McChrystal only serves to reconfirm by earlier fears, and increases my concerns in two areas.  The first is the increasing power of the U.S. military in developing our foreign policy, and the second is the evident naiveté demonstrated by President Obama during his first months in office. Read the rest of this entry »

There has been and shall continue to be a significant amount of heat generated regarding the balance of trade figures that invariably will show the United States having a negative trade balance.   The figures will suggest that the United States imports more than we export.  This will be attributed to, at least in regard to our trade with China, to the fact the Chinese currency (the Yuan) is undervalued in relationship to the U.S. Dollar. 

 The problem with the pundits offering balance of trade figures as evidence of the need for China to revalue its currency is that they do not understand what is included and not included in the determination of the balance of trade figures.  These figures are based on data that dates back to the 19^th century, the age of mercantilism and ocean shipping.  Back then, trade figures were relatively easy to determine and calculate.  One merely counted the number of cartons or crates being unloaded from a ship and the value of each crate.  One did the corresponding counting for the number and value of crates or cartons being loaded aboard a ship for export.  It was truly a simple mathematical formulation and quite easily derived from a simple process of counting boxes and determining the value of each box either being imported or exported.  Believe it or not, that remains the basic system used today. Read the rest of this entry »

A good friend of mine recently forwarded to me a commentary by Jim Wallis, founder of the Sojourners Community, that was published on the Huffington Post. Mr. Wallis was challenging the Fox News commentator, Glenn Beck, in regard to Mr. Beck’s support for the Arizona Immigration Law. The essence of Mr. Wallis’s commentary was that the Arizona Immigration Law is contrary to the concept of Christian social justice and was in opposition to Mr. Beck’s concept of equal justice as being the foundation of social justice.

The issue that truly needs to be discussed is not whether or not equal justice equates to social justice, but the role of moral judgment in the application of laws that are the foundation of western civilization. It is not an easy topic or subject to grasp or grapple with, as it touches upon one of the most basic concepts regarding society founded upon the concept of law, rather than the concept of a society founded upon rule or subject to the whims of a ruler. Read the rest of this entry »