Articles Posted by Ralph E. Stone

I was born in Massachusetts; graduated from Middlebury College and Suffolk Law School; served as an officer in the Vietnam war; retired from the Federal Trade Commission (consumer and antitrust law); travel extensively with my wife Judi; and since retirement involved in domestic violence prevention and consumer issues.

  • Death of the Celtic Tiger

    by Ralph E. Stone on Dec 13, 2010 | 2 Comments

    On December 7, 2010, Irish lawmakers narrowly approved tax hikes as part of an $8 billion budget “slash-and-tax plan” imposed as a key condition of Ireland’s international bailout. How did Ireland get into this economic mess? Because Irish banks engaged in reckless lending during an overinflated real estate bubble. Sound familiar?

    Posted in Opinion, Politics

  • Republicans Poised to Accelerate
    Climate Change Armageddon

    by Ralph E. Stone on Nov 18, 2010 | 5 Comments

    Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) and Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-California) probably represent the views of global warming debunkers. Senator Inhofe called “the threat of catastrophic global warming the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.” And Representative Rohrabacher called the science behind global warming “emotional junk science.” Even that eminent scientist Sarah Palin called global warming studies “snake oil science.”

    Posted in Opinion, Politics

  • Time for Palestine to Unilaterally Seek
    International Recognition
    of an Independent State

    by Ralph E. Stone on Nov 07, 2010 | 7 Comments

    Israel must be pleased with the mid-term election results; it means there will be less pressure on Israel to resume peace negotiations. Netanyahu and his right-wing Likud party love Republicans.

    Posted in Opinion, Politics

  • Bob Dylan: “The Brazil Series” Paintings & Drawings in Copenhagen

    by Ralph E. Stone on Oct 28, 2010 | No Comments

    “The Brazil Series” is exhibited in a large well lit gallery. In a gallery alcove, there is a timeline of Dylan’s career. The painting are exhibited in the main part of the gallery. On a back wall, there a video of the curator discussing Dylan’s paintings interspersed with Dylan sketching and four persons expressing their views of the paintings. The timeline, the video, and the painting and drawing labels are in English. (English is the common language among the Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden).

    Posted in Arts/Entertainment, Culture, Politics

  • U.S. Admits to Infecting Guatemalans
    with Venereal Disease

    by Ralph E. Stone on Oct 17, 2010 | 3 Comments

    In an Oct. 1, statement, the U.S. government acknowledged that between 1946 and 1948, U.S. Public Health Service physicians deliberately infected at least 696 Guatemalans with syphilis and gonorrhea without their knowledge or consent to study the effect of venereal disease.

    Posted in News, Opinion

  • The Demise of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?

    by Ralph E. Stone on Oct 14, 2010 | 1 Comment

    On May 27, 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to act to end DADT with an amendment to the proposed Department of Defense appropriations bill, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (Amendment). The Amendment sets forth a two-step plan that would lead to the repeal of the policy, starting with the delivery of a “Working Group” report by the Pentagon on the implementation of the repeal to Defense Secretary Robert Gates by no later than December 1, 2010.

    Posted in Culture, Opinion, Politics

  • Courage to Vote “Nay” on Iraq War Resolution

    by Ralph E. Stone on Oct 11, 2010 | No Comments

    Senator Boxer’s vote was prescient because it was ultimately established that the Bush administration had intentionally built a case for war with Iraq without regard to factual evidence. No weapons of mass destruction were ever found in Iraq and Saddam Hussein had no links to al Qaeda.

    Posted in Opinion, Politics