News of the Week
Arab Revolts *************** Syrian protests spread into the work week, but regime holds firm By Liz Sly BEIRUT — The number of towns and cities where demonstrations against the Syrian government took place wasn’t unusual, nor was the casualty toll of eight reported deaths. Obamacare *************** Annals of Government Medicine Some Americans have warm and fuzzy feelings toward socialized (“single payer”) medicine. God knows why; the fact that they haven’t experienced it no doubt explains a lot. In the U.K., they have experience with the real thing, which means elderly patients left screaming in pain War & Terror *************** Al Qaeda's Gains in South Yemen By Katherine Zimmerman The collapse of the Yemeni state into Sana’a and the redeployment of elite counter-terrorism units from al Qaeda strongholds to the capital created a power and security vacuum.[1] Al Qaeda has benefited from this development in south Yemen. Islamist militants have demonstrated the capacity to take and hold territory from state control. These territorial gains increase al Qaeda’s operating space in Yemen. National *************** Campus Show Trials Posted by Trevor Burrus Harvey Silverglate, co-founder and chairman of the board of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) and a Cato adjunct scholar, has an excellent op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal highlighting the emerging problem of due process violations on college campuses *************** Labor’s new strategy: Intimidation for dummies Pressure manual advocates bullying of employers and their families http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/15/labors-new-strategy-intimidation-for-dummies/ The SEIU Contract Campaign Manual *************** Teen Kills Parents With Hammer Detectives Say He Killed Parents, Then Threw House Party *************** Let's Face It, High Speed Rail Is Dead Advocates were ecstatic when President Obama had $8 billion for high speed rail put into the stimulus bill. His administration planned to make HSR one of the cornerstones of its infrastructure investment program. *************** 14 Cities That Are Being Eaten Alive By Public Sector Workers Grace Wyler Although national attention has largely focused on state budget battles like Wisconsin's union showdown and Minnesota's state shutdown, the real spending struggle is actually taking place at the local level. *************** 'The Fall of the Faculty' Faculty members feeling besieged by, well, take your pick -- increased scrutiny of their productivity and the relevance of their research; broadsides against tenure; attacks on their expertise and ability to collectively bargain; or their shrinking role in the affairs of their institutions -- will no doubt find succor in a new book to be released next month. *************** Michele Bachmann's Church Says the Pope Is the Antichrist? By Joshua Green The Iowa front-runner for the GOP nomination was a longstanding member of a strict Lutheran synod with controversial views of Catholicism *************** Michigan school district caught interfering in recall efforts. Posted by Moe Lane *************** Journal of the American Medical Association: Take Obese Children from Their Parents *************** Do college students spend more hours drinking than studying? *************** Polygamist, Under Scrutiny in Utah, Plans Suit to Challenge Law By JOHN SCHWARTZ Kody Brown is a proud polygamist, and a relatively famous one. Now Mr. Brown, his four wives and 16 children and stepchildren are going to court to keep from being punished for it. *************** Ron Paul won't run for reelection to the House By ALEXANDER BURNS It's all or nothing for the congressman from Texas: After serving almost 24 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Ron Paul told The Facts this morning he will not be seeking another term for the District 14 seat. Economy
& Taxes *************** War of words over ‘fiscal child abuse’ *************** Get Ready for a 70% Marginal Tax Rate Some argue the U.S. economy can bear higher pre-Reagan tax rates. But those rates applied to a much smaller fraction of taxpayers than what we're headed for without spending cuts. *************** Perónism Lite The guiding spirit of fiscal management in the advanced world this past half century has in fact been Juan Perón, who ruled Argentina from 1946 to 1955 *************** Air Conditioning, Cable TV, and an Xbox: What is Poverty in the United States Today? by Robert Rector and Rachel Sheffield For decades, the U.S. Census Bureau has reported that over 30 million Americans were living in “poverty,” but the bureau’s definition of poverty differs widely from that held by most Americans. In fact, other government surveys show that most of the persons whom the government defines as “in poverty” are not poor in any ordinary sense of the term. *************** Uncle Sam, sugar daddy What's really behind debt fight Michael A. Walsh Forget all the numbers being tossed around in Washington -- the millions and billions and trillions of dollars being taxed, borrowed, printed and spent as the country approaches the Aug. 2 debt-ceiling deadline. *************** Gov. Dayton Agrees to Republican Budget to End Minnesota Shutdown 2 p.m. meeting brings governor, GOP back together *************** An Idea: Demand the Commerce Department Goes in Return for a Deal By Iain Murray *************** Rhode Island Cities Run Out of Other People's Money Matt Welch So while economic illiterates like Van Jones run around the country getting huge applause (and donations) from the left for saying stuff like "We are not broke—we were robbed, we were robbed. And somebody has our money," out there in the terra firma of accounts payable and receivable, governments are proving unable to pay for the promises they have negotiated with their own employees *************** California companies fleeing the Golden State By Tami Luhby California companies, including PayPal, have been expanding or relocating outside the Golden State. PayPal recently opened a facility in Arizona. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Buffeted by high taxes, strict regulations and uncertain state budgets, a growing number of California companies are seeking friendlier business environments outside of the Golden State. *************** Amazon seeks ballot measure to undo California tax SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc has taken the first step toward asking California voters to repeal a new law requiring websites that forward shoppers to it to collect sales tax, a spokeswoman for the state's attorney general said on Monday. *************** McConnell Says 'Real Deal' Not Possible With Obama By COREY BOLES WASHINGTON—A "real solution" to U.S. fiscal problems isn't possible as long as President Barack Obama remains in office, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday, heightening the rhetoric surrounding the debt-ceiling debate. *************** International *************** Ladies in White violently attacked yesterday by Castro State Security By Alberto de la Cruz *************** Venezuela's Chavez to boost prison construction CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday said he is instructing officials to boost prison construction after a 27-day uprising by inmates highlighted problems of overcrowding and violence. *************** Toronto District School Board Teaches That Only White People Are Racist The Toronto District School Board has decreed that "Only White People Are Racist" *************** The culture that is Sweden by Tyler Cowen Sweden’s The Local reports: A Swedish heavy metal fan has had his musical preferences officially classified as a disability. *************** Opinion *************** A Fling with the Welfare State From the best of intentions to bankruptcy and recriminations *************** Why Blue Can’t Save The Inner Cities Part I Walter Russell Mead We’ve been trying to solve the problems of the American inner cities for almost fifty years with the ideas, institutions and techniques of twentieth century progressive and liberal thought. *************** “Mister, We Could Use a Man Like Warren Harding Again!” Baby-boomers and watchers of the TV Land channel will recall the line from “Those Were the Days”—the custom version written as the theme song for “All in the Family,” not the more familiar Charles Strouse/Lee Adams composition—which runs, “Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again!” Norman Lear no doubt thought the invocation of Hoover, the Democratic Party’s go-to whipping boy for decades, would help hammer home his main purpose of mocking conservative middle class Americans. *************** |
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