Articles Posted by Ralph E. Stone
-
Time to Remove Prohibitions on Women In Combat Jobs
As with the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” debate, opponents of allowing women to choose a combat job argue that the presence of women in small units that must operate for extended periods under fire, would be disruptive, or women would break the unit’s tight cohesion and cripple its fighting spirit. But research has not borne out the myths that women are too weak for combat, can harm a unit’s cohesion, or are more prone to mental health disorders than men in combat.
-
The Toxic Chinese Drywall Controversy
Homeowners complained of a rotten egg smell in their homes and condominiums. The cause of this foul smelling odor is now known to be caused by gases emitted from the defective Chinese drywall, which can cause significant damage to HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning), smoke detectors, electrical wiring, metal plumbing components, and other household appliances. The gases permeate homes and can cause asthma-like symptoms, eye irritation, bloody or runny noses, headaches, sore throats, nausea, insomnia, and irritability.
-
Congress Should Reject US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement
The negotiated U.S.-Colombia FTA will give market access for U.S. agricultural, consumer, and industrial products, and will immediately remove all tariffs on about 80 percent of U.S. goods entering Colombia. This includes immediate duty-free treatment of beef, cotton, wheat, soybeans, many fruits, and other agricultural products. The remaining 20 percent of tariffs will be phased out over a period of 10 years for both agricultural products and industrial products. In addition, the agreement provides protections for U.S. investors that will be enforced through a binding international arbitration program.
-
Will U.N September Vote be Palestine’s Last Hurrah?
The last thing Israel wants is for the issue to end up in the U.N with a vote for Palestinian statehood. But why not the U.N.? Consider that at the creation of Israel in 1947, the U.N. partitioned the land, allotting the Jews 55 percent of Palestine. The Arabs did not agree to this partition. The action of the UN conflicted with the basic principles for which the world organization was established, namely, to uphold the right of all peoples to self-determination. By denying the Palestine Arabs, who formed a two-thirds majority of the country, the right to decide for themselves, the U.N. had violated its own charter. Now is the chance for the U.N. to rectify its 1947 action and give the Palestinians a chance, denied them in 1947, to have a say in their future.
-
Are For-Profit Prisons the Answer
to California Prison Overcrowding?Why is the prison system overcrowded? California’s tough-on-crime policies have led to the passage of hundreds of laws that increased prison terms. One of the most significant was the 1977 policy mandating that every prisoner leaving the system get paroled resulting in thousands of ex-convicts being sent back to jail each year for minor parole violations. Last year’s change in parole laws, which allows some non-violent offenders to avoid parole and others to avoid getting sent back to jail for minor violations, was a step in the right direction.
-
Charleston: A Hodgepodge of Impressions,
Trivia and HistoryThe Sesquicentennial did go out of its way to point out that Charleston’s economic and political power were attained on the backs of thousands and thousands of slaves. As of 1860 the percentage of Southern families that owned slaves has been estimated to be 43 percent in the lower South, including South Carolina. Half the owners had one to four slaves. A total of 8000 planters owned 50 or more slaves in 1850. According to the 1860 U.S. census, 393,975 individuals, representing 8 percent of all U.S. families, owned 3,950,528 slaves.
-
The Future of U.S. Nuclear Power
While we shouldn’t forget Three Mile Island and Chernobyl and the recent disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, we need a rational discussion about the future of nuclear power in this country without misinformation and histrionics. By 2030, power demand in the U.S. is expected to double. To meet this demand for power without fossil fuels, we need both nuclear power as well as renewable energy.
The Hunger Site
Recent Comments