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Oprah Winfrey's poke at the short-sighted materialism of some low-income students has delighted conservative commentators, but that doesn't mean she's wrong. Liberals love to "speak truth to power," but the powerless need to hear the truth, too. Knowledge, after all, is power. Don't keep it to yourself, I say. Spread it around. That's why the Queen of Daytime Talk did poor folks a favor when she candidly explained in a Newsweek interview why she decided to build her lavish new school for impoverished teenagers, the $40 million Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, in South Africa instead of the United...

The argument liberals use most often to justify socialist programs is that they want to help those who are disadvantaged. And it's important to remember that this refers to their definition of "disadvantaged" - a specific criteria they've determined to explain why a certain person or group of people is unable to enjoy the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as the majority. These individuals are in need of special federally mandated privileges to make up for this embedded shortcoming and wipe away hundreds of years of unfairness. And as far as I'm concerned, there is...

/begin my translationChina, "A Pressure Cooker Which Can Blow Up Anytime"Seven Oppressions in China: an Analysis by Asia Weekly Ji Hae-bum hbjee@chosun.com  04/26/05  Chinese society  is like a 'pressure cooker' with its safety lid tightly closed. recent anti-Japanese protest served as a way to relieving pressure from 7 oppressions by (Chinese) authorities.  The latest (May 1st) issue of 'The Asia Weekly' in Hong Kong assessed, "For last 15 years, under the slogan, ' Stability is above everything else,' China repressed the freedom of public assembly, which was guaranteed in their constitution, thus closing the channel for expressing discontent and frustration. (Recent) Anti-Japanese protest  is...

US Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, who had hoped to replace George W. Bush as president yesterday, instead sat in the cold and clapped as the Republican began a second four-year term. Iowa Democratic Senator Tom Harkin patted Senator Kerry on the back shortly before the inauguration Senator Kerry had hoped would be his. As Mr Bush delivered his inaugural address, Senator Kerry, about 10m away on the steps of the US Capitol, joined other lawmakers and the crowd in repeated applause. Senator Kerry looked relaxed, at times wistful. He frequently smiled, able to hide any disappointment over what...