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Recent Z Nightly Commentaries
Author: For the Good of us All, Just Focus on Yourself
Aug 22, 1999
It took some time, but I think I've come to understand why so many people favor school vouchers. I was hung up on the separation of church and state and worried about decreased funding for inner- city schools. But I've seen the light. My only question now
Solomon: In the Nation's Capital, Media Fixations Prevail
Aug 21, 1999
Few phrases in American politics have more negative connotations than "inside the Beltway." In this rarified and unreal zone, we often assume, the activities of politicians and bureaucrats are disconnected from the main concerns of most Americans. But it
Raptis: Life Complexities / Quakes
Aug 20, 1999
In 1943 as the Nazis were rounding up the Jews of Salonica in a part of the city, a 16-year-old girl (not a Jew) stood by in the street watching with curiosity (and I hope with horror) as the Nazis were loading them on trucks.
Solomon: Broadcasting and Democracy: Oil and Water
Aug 18, 1999
Is it really possible for broadcasting and democracy to mix? In theory, yes. But right now, the prospects look bleak.
Landau: Pinochet and Valdez
Aug 17, 1999
Juan Gabriel Valdes, Chile's new foreign minister, will meet with Secretary of State Madeline Albright to ask her to help return Augusto Pinochet to Chile. Since last October, British authorities have held Pinochet on a request from the Spanish Judge Balt
Weisbrot: Trade Wars: Where's the Beef
Aug 16, 1999
Should countries have the right to set health and safety standards for the food that their citizens eat? Should they be allowed to exclude foreign-produced foods that don't meet national standards? Or should these questions be decided by the World Trade O
Halimi: Media Critics of the World Unite
Aug 15, 1999
Few countries publish as many books and articles on media criticism as the United States. Logically, all of this good work has little to no effect on the shaping and publication of news. Any adequate criticism, which describes media indoctrination (overt
Shalom: Affirmative Action
Aug 14, 1999
In the present dreary political climate, another court decision against affirmative action might not warrant special comment. But a ruling last month by a Federal District judge in Savannah, Georgia, is worth considering if only because it illustrates the
Bronski: The Exciting Sex Life of Gay Toys
Aug 13, 1999
It has become a commonplace that gay people are everywhere. We are everywhere - is even on bumper stickers. We are Martina and Greg, Rupert and Ian, Ellen and Will on Will and Grace.
Wise: Hate Crimes
Aug 12, 1999
There is no question so irrelevant as the one to which all or nearly all can respond in like fashion. Thus, asking people their views on child molestation, or whether or not they'd like the schools to be "better" has always seemed absurd: like asking if t
Albert: Prison Policy
Aug 10, 1999
About 25 years ago I was at a dinner party with a bunch of leftist economics faculty and grad students, and I posed a hypothetical question to engender some dinner debate. If you had only two choices, I asked, would you open all prison doors and let every
Gonsalves: Aiding Africa
Aug 09, 1999
As part of a U.S. State Department special envoy, Tony Lake, former national security adviser to President Clinton, recently met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki and Organization of African Unity (OAU) Secreta
Raptis: The Statue of a Benefactor
Aug 08, 1999
After WWI at the Versailles peace conference, in 1919, an irregular line of nations, north to south from Finland to Albania, with Britain controlling Greece and Turkey, was designated a "cordon sanitaire" to divide Europe into two parts; the capitalist We
Shah: What Are You On? Hormones?
Aug 07, 1999
I am not proud, but not ashamed either, to admit I am humbled by hormones. I used to pride myself on being logical: as a philosophy major, I got an A+ in deductive logic in school. But under the powerful effect of estrogens and other biochemicals coursing
Brecher: Review of Panic Rules
Aug 05, 1999
A funny thing happened on the way to the New Millenium: the Old Millenium crashed. According to economist Paul Krugman, "Never in the course of economic events -- not even in the early years of the Depression -- has so large a part of the world economy ex
Prashad: Behind the Front; Nuclear Deterrance Indo-Pak Style
Aug 04, 1999
May, 1998. India and then, Pakistan, tested nuclear devices of questionable ferocity to launch themselves as nuclear power States. Both countries made diplomatic bids to join the discriminatory nuclear bargain currently being flogged to the world as a tes
Mokhiber: Biotech Untamed
Aug 02, 1999
When Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman wanted to address the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to rave about the biotech industry and its wonders, he called Gene Grabowski.
Glass: Hacks Versus Flacks
Aug 01, 1999
The London media world is under fire and taking shelter. Prime Minister Tony Blair's head flack, Alistair Campbell, has challenged the patriotism of the British press. It's as if Sid Blumenthal had questioned the loyalty under fire of the New York Times o
Peters: Give em Ritalin
Jul 31, 1999
Although there is no medical proof that there is such a thing as Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), over 3.5 million children in the United States are diagnosed as having some form of it.
Aug 23, 1999
Teacher, There's a Brand Name in My Math Problem