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Science News: Life Imitates Art--Again
Capital Ideas
By: Steven F. Hayward, Ph.D
7.27.1999
Years ago I recall a cartoon in a lampoon issue of National Review that showed a pot-bellied Archie Bunker-type reading the newspaper and commenting to his wife-in-curlers: "Sez here they’ve taught chimpanzees to speak. Great--another Third World country in the U.N." Sure enough, on Monday came the news out of Georgia State University that researchers there have taught a chimp a vocabulary and grammar of about 3,000 words, and have "conversed" with the chimp by means of a Stephen Hawking-style voice box.
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Women’s Liberty and Equality: Ideas with Consequences
The Contrarian
By: Laura Dykes
7.22.1999
To gauge how far women have come, consider where they were 151 years ago. At that time, women were forbidden to vote, prohibited from attending college, and barred from many trades and vocations. Married women were unable to sue, divorce, or own property. But that was all to change.
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Davis and Hart Sell Out Charter Schools
Capital Ideas
By: Lance T. Izumi, J.D.
7.20.1999
When recently asked about charter schools, Gov. Gray Davis replied: "I want to make sure that charter schools have every opportunity to succeed. . . . Free them from all the bureaucratic rules and regulations, and see if they can produce what counts--which are higher test scores." Despite his supportive rhetoric, however, Davis is pushing Senate Bill SB434, a measure that would not only tie up charter schools with new red tape, but would actually close down many charters.
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Fat Government on the Silver Screen
Capital Ideas
By: K. Lloyd Billingsley
7.12.1999
In cinematic terms, the last three generations have been educated to see government as Superman, able to leap all obstacles in a single bound and accomplish nearly miraculous feats for millions of people, at little or no cost to those people themselves. As the century draws to a close, many adults and young people are getting their ideas not from books and magazines but popular culture, which has supplied the most
accurate symbol of government to come along in some time.
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Are We Headed for a Medical Privacy Invasion?
Action Alerts
By: Sue Blevins
7.9.1999
Did you know that if Congress does not pass a medical privacy law by August 21, then the Clinton Administration will be handed the authority to regulate your medical privacy? This deadline, established by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), puts pressure on Congress to act, or be acted upon, to protect the confidentiality of Americans’ medical records.
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Female Golfers Not Par for the Course?
The Contrarian
By: Laura Steadman
7.7.1999
Women are finding a new, low-tech tool for competing in the workplace. A strong golf game, many are discovering, is an invaluable asset, giving them the opportunity to mix putting with business presentations.
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The Path of Consequent Logic
Capital Ideas
By: Steven F. Hayward, Ph.D
7.6.1999
The hottest thing in urban thinking today is something called the "New Urbanism." It is possible to summarize this idea as the view that America was a better place when porches were in the front and garages in the back of houses, instead of the other way around as they are in most suburban subdivisions today. Many traditionalist conservatives such as Russell Kirk made this point over 40 years ago, and classical liberals could easily join forces with New Urbanists in attacking the stifling government regulations that have prevented people from building "neotraditional" neighborhoods.
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Ending California's Water Crisis: A Market Solution to the Politics of Water
PRI Study
By: Erin Schiller, Elizabeth Fowler
7.1.1999
Although known as "the Golden State," water is undoubtedly California’s most precious resource. Beginning with the gold rush during the mid-1800s, water has guided California’s settlement and defined its landscape. At the turn of the century as settlers turned to farming and ranching, they depended on irrigation to transform arid California into the country’s most productive agricultural region. Today, California’s growing population has led to increased urban and industrial demands, not to mention the constant need for water to keep California’s rich environment healthy.
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Digital Signature Legislation Could Spell Disaster for High-Tech
ePolicy
By: Justin Matlick*
7.1.1999
Congress is poised to enact legislation governing digital signatures, a technology that is critical to the Internet's future. The high-tech industry's support of this legislation, which is unnecessary and dangerous, demonstrates how the industry is becoming trapped in establishment politics. Technology companies must reverse this trend or find themselves crippled by regulation.
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