In the news, Friday, August 2, 2019

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AUG 01      INDEX      AUG 03

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from Competitive Enterprise Institute

Judge Rejects Climate Suit to Establish 'Right to Wilderness'
Oregon District Court Judge Michael McShane on July 31st rejected a petition by two nonprofit groups—Animal Legal Defense Fund and Seeding Sovereignty—and six individuals who allege the U.S. government’s failure to combat climate change violates their constitutional right to a safe and sustainable environment.

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from FEE (Foundation for Economic Education)

RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, HIGH, non-profit organization

There Is No Way to "Cancel" Student Loan Debt

We must confront the reality that "cancellation" of student loan debt may successfully serve a political campaign promise, but it fails as serious policy.

The Economic Cost of Cuban Socialism

Cuba has a very sad history. It traded a regular dictatorship for a communist dictatorship six decades ago, and the results have been predictably awful. Oppression, persecution, rationing, spying, deprivation, and suffering are facts of life. For a while, it was subsidized by the Soviet Union, but that communist system eventually collapsed. More recently, it’s been subsidized by Venezuela, but now that socialist system also is collapsing. And this means extra hardship for the people of Cuba.

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from The Guardian (UK)

Britain’s towns and cities will never flourish if ‘local’ is a dirty word
Some people think Britain’s greatest challenge is the impending Brexit. They are wrong. Britain’s greatest challenge is the impending collapse in its local public services. I recently travelled to cities in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. The contrast to Britain was stark. Of course surface impressions can be deceptive, but I was struck by the absence of piles of litter, potholed streets, screaming police cars, tacky ads on roundabouts and graffiti. There were also fewer desperate people pleading for money. I felt I was briefly in a civilised continent. The difference is that in continental Europe, these matters are at the discretion of local people, the mayor and electors. As they get richer, they reasonably expect, vote for and pay locally for better services. In Britain they are not allowed to do this. So they get worse.

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from iFIBER One News

Broadcasting & Media Production Company in Ephrata, WA

UPDATE: Wildfire near Lake Roosevelt balloons to 5,600 acres
Fire officials at the Mt. Toleman Fire Center in Keller now report that the Williams Flats Fire has grown to 5,600 acres. A level 3 evacuation alert is in effect for one home and a level 1 evacuation alert is in effect for another home. Officials say the fire is burning in a remote area.

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from National Review  RIGHT BIAS

So, You Want Canadian Health Care?
Fine, but you should know exactly what you’re giving up in the bargain.
It’s true that all Canadian citizens and legal residents (though not illegal immigrants) get “free” health care, but only in the sense that you don’t get a bill after seeing a doctor or visiting a hospital. Medical care is subsidized by taxes, but the price comes in another form as well — rationing. When there’s an artificial shortage of a good or service, a black market usually follows. I have heard from several Canadians that paying doctors bribes to jump the line is not uncommon. But Canada has another pressure reliever: 90 percent of Canadians live within 90 miles of the U.S. border, and medical centers in Buffalo, Chicago, Rochester, and elsewhere receive tens of thousands of Canadian patients every year.

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from New York Post  Newspaper in New York

Pseudo scientific hysteria is the wrong answer to climate change

A year ahead of the US presidential election, exaggeration about global warming is greater than ever. While some politicians continue (incorrectly) to insist it’s made up, far more insist (also incorrectly) that we face an imminent climate crisis threatening civilization. Until well into the early 1990s, US opinion about environmental issues, including climate change, remained remarkably unified. Then a partisan gap in attitudes emerged, and has been exploited from both sides of the political aisle. Today Democrats and Republicans are farther apart on how much priority should be accorded climate change and the environment than on any other issue. This gulf is exacerbated by those who wrongly deny the existence of climate change, but today they are largely ignored and derided, while liberals are given a free pass to make far-fetched exaggerations.

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from Psephizo  (blog)

Has wealth become our rival god?
The lectionary reading for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity in Year C is the Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12.13-21. It is one of several parables that is unique to Luke, and includes features that connect it with other Lukan parables.

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from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

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