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from AIER | American Institute for Economic Research
Free Market Liberalism Is Needed More Than Ever
Over the last several decades, humankind has been witnessing a dramatic and amazing end to poverty in more and more parts of the world, along with the availability of unimagined technological inventions for a growing number of the billions of people on this planet. But instead of an appreciation of how partly freed-up market forces have made this all possible, especially in those areas formerly known as the underdeveloped third world, the counterrevolution against human liberty seems to be picking up steam once again with the call for “democratic socialism,” a Green New Deal, and massive increases in the welfare state’s “entitlement” programs and beyond.
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from BBC News (UK)
Notre-Dame: Massive fire ravages Paris cathedral
A major fire has engulfed the medieval cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, one of France's most famous landmarks. The 850-year-old Gothic building's spire and roof have collapsed but the main structure, including the two bell towers, has been saved, officials say. Firefighters are still working to contain the blaze as teams try to salvage the artwork stored inside.
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from Bloomberg
Media/News Company
Poland and U.S. Closing In on Deal to Build ‘Fort Trump,’ Sources Say
Poland is nearing a deal with the U.S. to establish an American military base in the former Communist bloc country, according to people familiar with the matter -- an outpost the Poles see as a deterrent to Russian aggression and that the Kremlin would likely consider a provocation.
Poland and U.S. Closing In on Deal to Build ‘Fort Trump,’ Sources Say
Poland is nearing a deal with the U.S. to establish an American military base in the former Communist bloc country, according to people familiar with the matter -- an outpost the Poles see as a deterrent to Russian aggression and that the Kremlin would likely consider a provocation.
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from City Journal
A quarterly magazine of urban affairs, published by the Manhattan Institute
In Seattle, people are losing patience with city leadership over the homelessness crisis, but the frustration is running in both directions: the city’s political, cultural, and academic elites are conducting their own revolt—against the people. With residents fed up by the homelessness crisis, city leaders and their allies coordinate a PR campaign to convince them that everything is fine. The inner workings of the #SeattleForAll campaign tell a clear story: a group of well-funded philanthropies hired a PR firm to produce misleading polling results, distributed them through the city’s main newspaper and other media outlets (many of which enjoy generous donations from those same philanthropies), and then concealed the fact that the messaging was part of a broader campaign coordinated with the city. The “counter-narrative” to the Seattle Is Dying documentary was not a spontaneous reaction of a diverse group of experts; it was a planned effort by Seattle’s philanthropic, academic, media, and governmental elites to steamroll critics. Seattle’s institutional powers, in other words, attempted to quash the emerging public consensus that the city’s approach to homelessness is failing.
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from Competitive Enterprise Institute
It is not that climate change is a hoax or poses no risks but that we have more to fear from climate policy than from climate change itself. The rate of warming is modest and steady, not rapid and accelerating, official assessments exaggerate climate change risks, climate campaigners further hype those risks and deny climate policy risks, and the alleged “climate crisis” provides a bottomless well of excuses to expand the cost and reach of government.
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from FEE (Foundation for Economic Education)
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, HIGH, non-profit organization
Requiring people to attend law school before being allowed to practice law is unnecessary and wasteful. Kim Kardashian has expressed a desire to become a lawyer without going to law school, by apprenticing for a law firm. She is in California, one of a few states in which the old method of becoming a lawyer—working as an apprentice, rather than going to law school—is still available. At Slate, Mark Joseph Stern urges “more states” to allow this alternative path to becoming a lawyer.
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from The Heritage Foundation
RIGHT BIAS, MIXED American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.
RIGHT BIAS, MIXED American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.
Drug Crises over the Horizon
Ending the modern drug epidemic may be impossible, but there are many good and practical ways to limit the damage caused by commercialized recreational drug use. The first crucial step is widespread recognition that recreational pharmacology—especially polydrug recreational pharmacology—is unhealthy and dangerous. A public health corollary is that national policy must aim to reduce the use of intensely brain-stimulating chemicals for personal pleasure. Recreational pharmacology, sadly, will claim many more victims, and its heightened commercialization must be avoided in the interests of the public health. This rapidly evolving drug epidemic will reshape our political decisions and test our nation’s ability to deal successfully with commercialized recreational pharmacology for generations to come.
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from The Inlander
Media/News Company in Spokane, WA
‘Stop Sanders’ Democrats are agonizing over his momentum
Members of the party establishment who oppose Bernie Sanders have had discussions about how to handle his candidacy, while others warn of a schism within the party.
Media/News Company in Spokane, WA
‘Stop Sanders’ Democrats are agonizing over his momentum
Members of the party establishment who oppose Bernie Sanders have had discussions about how to handle his candidacy, while others warn of a schism within the party.
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from Maclean's
Canada's national current affairs and news magazine
Canada's national current affairs and news magazine
Geophysicists tracking the Earth’s magnetic field say the pole is slipping into Siberian territory.
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, MIXED
NOTRE DAME AND WHAT WAS LOST
Yesterday's terrible fire at the Notre-Dame Cathedral reminds us how quickly centuries of accumulated "cultural capital" can be destroyed. Oak timbers dating from the 1200s in the roof and spire were lost forever; some priceless stained glass windows appear to have suffered damage. As the saying goes, France is the heart of the West, Paris is the heart of France, and Notre Dame is the heart of Paris—and as such the sight of the iconic church ablaze makes an uneasy if simplistic metaphor for the decline of the West. Accumulation and time are key. Healthy societies build and preserve wealth, which is to say they are made up of individuals who strive to create more than they consume. The people who built Notre Dame over two centuries, using rudimentary pulleys and scaffolding, certainly did not expect to see the end results of their work. In fact no single Pope, architect, financier, mason, artist, laborer, or French monarch saw the project through from start to completion. But they built something lasting, something of incalculable benefit to future generations. They created wealth lasting far beyond their lifetimes. All healthy societies do this. The notion of being concerned with things beyond one’s lifetime is innately human. Humans are hardwired to build societies, and the most ambitious humans have always sought to build lasting monuments and modes of living. That’s not possible unless people work toward a future they will not enjoy themselves.
Why the New "GDP-B" Measure Doesn't Solve the Failures of GDP
Gross Domestic Product-B attempts to capture the added value of things we don’t pay for, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Google and other digital services free to the user. B stands for benefits; the benefits consumers receive from free and subsidized services. It was devised by Erik Brynjolfsson, a professor at MIT, and is a work-in-progress. He points out that according to the US Bureau of Economic Affairs, the information sector in GDP statistics has been stuck at between four and five per cent of GDP for the last twenty-five years. Yet, the importance of this mainly digital sector now dominates both work and leisure activities, benefits not recorded in GDP.
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from Orthodox Christianity – orthochristian.com
Religious Organization in Moscow, Russia
The world-famous Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris went up in flames yesterday at about 6:50 local time, stoking fears that the great architectural treasure of Western Christianity would be lost, and with it the precious relics housed inside. However, thanks to the brave efforts of Parisian firefighters, both the cathedral’s main structure and several of the most precious relics were saved. Fire Department Commander General Jean-Claude Gallet said the main body of the cathedral was saved after hours of tireless work by firefighters, though flames had caused significant damage both inside and outside the cathedral. The cathedral is home to one of the most precious relics in Christendom—Christ’s Crown of Thorns, which it had received from Jerusalem in the 13th century, as well as a piece of the True Cross, one of the nails from the Cross, and the tunic of St. Louis, a French saint—all of which were saved by firefighters who formed a human chain to rescue the invaluable relics.
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from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington
Painting the Pavilion
A two-person crew puts a new coat of white paint on the support structure of the Pavilion’s netting in Riverfront Park, Tuesday, April 16, 2019. The cable netting was covered with a tent when it was built as the U.S. Pavilion for Expo ’74. Since the fair, the tent fabric has deteriorated each time it was replaced. Planners for the $63 million park renovation have added rectangular lighted panels to the cable netting and the pavilion interior is being transformed into an amphitheater for events which can also be used passively.
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Painting the Pavilion
A two-person crew puts a new coat of white paint on the support structure of the Pavilion’s netting in Riverfront Park, Tuesday, April 16, 2019. The cable netting was covered with a tent when it was built as the U.S. Pavilion for Expo ’74. Since the fair, the tent fabric has deteriorated each time it was replaced. Planners for the $63 million park renovation have added rectangular lighted panels to the cable netting and the pavilion interior is being transformed into an amphitheater for events which can also be used passively.
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