Home > Keywords > Authors > David R. Hoffman

David R. Hoffman

  • THE PERILS OF VISERAL VOTING
    15 September 2008 par (Open-Publishing)
    1 comment

    One could almost envisage John McCain’s cheshire grin as his strategists whispered into his ear: “Voters are basically stupid. It’s not about substance; it’s about style. It’s not about knowing the issues; it’s about appealing to the worst in human nature, while pretending you’re appealing to the best.”
    “Think about it John! Voters have elected movie and television stars to governorships, to Congress, and even to the presidency. Oftentimes, if those stars die while in office, voters (…)

  • THE LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR
    3 September 2008 par (Open-Publishing)
    2 comments

    By David R. Hoffman
    Over ten years later, I still remember the lecture. My law professor had drawn two squares on the chalkboard and labeled them A and B.
    “These squares,” he explained, “represent two neighboring factories that manufacturer the same product. The product is of the same quality and sold for the same price. It is manufactured for export only, so all profits come from overseas markets.”
    “The problem,” he continued, “is that manufacturing this product is environmentally (…)

  • THE INFORMANT QUANDARY
    18 April 2008 par (Open-Publishing)
    2 comments

    (This Originally Appeared as a Two Part Article in Pravda.Ru)
    To those who have never had any dealings with America’s criminal “justice” system, and to those who have been victims of crime, prosecuting attorneys are often viewed as noble crusaders, fighting for truth and justice against the machinations of “slimy” defense lawyers who will do anything to ensure that the guilty go unpunished.
    Even the rhetoric reflects this perception. If criminal defendants are wrongfully convicted, it (…)

  • VOTE FOR ME !!
    9 April 2008 par (Open-Publishing)
    6 comments

    By David R. Hoffman
    For almost five years I have served as Legal Editor of Pravda.Ru. During this time I have been praised and criticized for my work. And I’ve appreciated them both. When someone praises my work, I know there is at least one kindred spirit out there in cyberspace, so I don’t feel so alone. When someone criticizes my work, I know they at least took the time to read what I wrote.
    But now it is time to expand my horizons. I am no longer content to sit behind a (…)

  • THE TRUE JUDAS
    20 March 2008 par (Open-Publishing)
    3 comments

    The popularity of Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code has also renewed interest in the Gnostic Gospels, the “heretical” texts that were banned from the traditional Bible and considered lost until copies were discovered in the Egyptian desert in 1945.
    Thanks largely to passages in the Gospel of Phillip, The Da Vinci Code has raised intriguing questions about the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Yet lost in this “Codemania” are the equally intriguing questions raised by the (…)

  • The Chickens Come Home to Roost
    14 March 2008 par (Open-Publishing)
    2 comments

    In several previous Pravda.Ru articles, particularly American Morality Scam and American Morality Scam Part II, I explained that by limiting the definition of “morality” to issues involving human sexuality, religious, business and political leaders are able to treat their fellow human beings as sadistically, unjustly or callously as they want, secure in the knowledge their deeds will never be labeled “immoral” by the corrupt power structure.
    I also explained that this reality was evidenced (…)

  • Affirmative Action, An Idea Whose Time Has Gone?
    12 February 2008 par (Open-Publishing)
    2 comments

    In 1965, during a commencement speech at Howard University, then-President Lyndon Johnson stated, “You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, ‘You are free to compete with others,’ and still justly believe that you have been completely fair.”
    With those words, the idea of affirmative action was born. Although it has been distorted and misused over the years, affirmative action simply (…)

  • one solitary life
    17 January 2008 par (Open-Publishing)
    2 comments

    Nature is an oxymoronic creature. On the surface it can be breathtaking in its beauty and panoramic displays of life. Yet its very existence depends upon death. Herbivores kill and consume plant life in order to survive. Carnivores kill and consume other animals. And omnivores kill and consume both.
    Although their position at the top of the food chain has caused most humans to become omnivores, this dominant position has also compelled them to exploit plants and animals not simply for (…)

  • Devil protects his own
    15 January 2008 par (Open-Publishing)
    3 comments

    by David R. Hoffman, Legal Editor of Pravda.Ru Copr.
    The recent assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto—who prior to her death had been heralded as a champion of democracy and moderation—compelled me to examine the phenomenon that George Bernard Shaw once termed “the extreme form of censorship.”
    I subsequently learned that those who stand for justice, peace, tolerance and positive social change are disproportionately the victims of assassination, while those who (…)

  • Revolution, if not now, when?
    11 June 2007 par (Open-Publishing)
    3 comments

    by David R. Hoffman
    Perhaps the most ironic thing about modern day America is the realization that, even though the nation was created through revolution, talk of revolution is almost nonexistent. This is perplexing, particularly since many of the conditions that fueled revolutionary rhetoric during the Nixon era of the late 1960s and early 1970s have reappeared today.
    During Nixon’s presidency America was mired in Vietnam—fighting a war on foreign soil that was fabricated on nothing but (…)