Water
Commentary
Something Fishy
The Obama administration has made a terrible mistake. On Tuesday, August 4, the White House posted a blog entry enjoining Americans to spy on one another, and to report any “disinformation” which might undermine the administration’s health-care reform: “There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there. ...
Business & Economics
Santa Is a Hoosier
For Barack Claus, if it’s Wednesday, this must be Indiana. The state’s recreational-vehicle industry is hurting badly — the local unemployment rate is around 17 percent — and his empathy knows no bounds, particularly since the land of the Hoosiers is a swing state. But what sort of gifts should ...
Commentary
What Do School Tests Measure?
The New York Times, August 4, 2009 According to a New York Times analysis, New York City students have steadily improved their performance on statewide tests since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took control of the public schools seven years ago. While statewide passing rates on the tests have risen in every ...
Commentary
Expanded Government — and No More Tonsil Theft?
In his televised press conference on Wednesday evening, President Obama said three separate times that he was being “honest” with the American people. So we know he was telling the truth. Therefore, we know that we can take the president at his word when he said: If you already have ...
Climate Change
Waxman-Markey: An Exercise in Unreality
“Waxman-Markey … seeks a first in economic history: rationing without scarcity or price inflation. [It] allows generous ‘offsets’ so that carbon-based energy does not, in fact, become scarce. The bill does, however, contain a multitude of new regulations, product-efficiency mandates, and spending programs that will require extensive managerial attention from ...
Commentary
Sweden, Universal School Choice Vouchers, and the Case for Participation by For-Profit Firms
SWEDEN, UNIVERSAL SCHOOL-CHOICE VOUCHERS, AND THE CASE FOR PARTICIPATION BY FOR-PROFIT FIRMS Speech at the Almedalan Week Seminar Sponsored by Almega Tjansteforetagen and Friskolornas Riksforbund At Visby, Sweden On July 2, 2009 By Lance T. Izumi, J.D. Koret Senior Fellow and Senior Director in Education Studies Pacific Research Institute Preface: ...
Business & Economics
A Move to Put the Union Label on Solar Power Plants
SACRAMENTO — When a company called Ausra filed plans for a big solar power plant in California, it was deluged with demands from a union group that it study the effect on creatures like the short-nosed kangaroo rat and the ferruginous hawk. By contrast, when a competitor, BrightSource Energy, filed ...
Agriculture
Analyzing the politics of climate change
San Francisco Examiner, June 9, 2009 We hear it every day. News headlines read: “Global Warming Biggest Threat of 21st Century, Experts say.” (businessweek.com. May 13th, 2009. Gardner, Amanda). News anchors provide us with a choice, either we believe the scientists that support global warming hypotheses, or we reject science ...
Commentary
Canadians seeking health care have a ‘wait problem’
Washington Examiner (Washington, DC), June 3, 2009 First of a two-part series It’s the start of what promises to be a beautiful spring day. But not for you. As the first rays of sunshine filter through your bedroom window, a searing pain settles into your head. You pop an aspirin ...
Commentary
The End of Medical Miracles?
Scientific discoveries are neither inevitable nor predictable Americans have, at best, a love-hate relationship with the life-sciences industry—the term for the sector of the economy that produces pharmaceuticals, biologics (like vaccines), and medical devices. These days, the mere mention of a pharmaceutical manufacturer seems to elicit gut-level hostility. Journalists, operating ...
Something Fishy
The Obama administration has made a terrible mistake. On Tuesday, August 4, the White House posted a blog entry enjoining Americans to spy on one another, and to report any “disinformation” which might undermine the administration’s health-care reform: “There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there. ...
Santa Is a Hoosier
For Barack Claus, if it’s Wednesday, this must be Indiana. The state’s recreational-vehicle industry is hurting badly — the local unemployment rate is around 17 percent — and his empathy knows no bounds, particularly since the land of the Hoosiers is a swing state. But what sort of gifts should ...
What Do School Tests Measure?
The New York Times, August 4, 2009 According to a New York Times analysis, New York City students have steadily improved their performance on statewide tests since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took control of the public schools seven years ago. While statewide passing rates on the tests have risen in every ...
Expanded Government — and No More Tonsil Theft?
In his televised press conference on Wednesday evening, President Obama said three separate times that he was being “honest” with the American people. So we know he was telling the truth. Therefore, we know that we can take the president at his word when he said: If you already have ...
Waxman-Markey: An Exercise in Unreality
“Waxman-Markey … seeks a first in economic history: rationing without scarcity or price inflation. [It] allows generous ‘offsets’ so that carbon-based energy does not, in fact, become scarce. The bill does, however, contain a multitude of new regulations, product-efficiency mandates, and spending programs that will require extensive managerial attention from ...
Sweden, Universal School Choice Vouchers, and the Case for Participation by For-Profit Firms
SWEDEN, UNIVERSAL SCHOOL-CHOICE VOUCHERS, AND THE CASE FOR PARTICIPATION BY FOR-PROFIT FIRMS Speech at the Almedalan Week Seminar Sponsored by Almega Tjansteforetagen and Friskolornas Riksforbund At Visby, Sweden On July 2, 2009 By Lance T. Izumi, J.D. Koret Senior Fellow and Senior Director in Education Studies Pacific Research Institute Preface: ...
A Move to Put the Union Label on Solar Power Plants
SACRAMENTO — When a company called Ausra filed plans for a big solar power plant in California, it was deluged with demands from a union group that it study the effect on creatures like the short-nosed kangaroo rat and the ferruginous hawk. By contrast, when a competitor, BrightSource Energy, filed ...
Analyzing the politics of climate change
San Francisco Examiner, June 9, 2009 We hear it every day. News headlines read: “Global Warming Biggest Threat of 21st Century, Experts say.” (businessweek.com. May 13th, 2009. Gardner, Amanda). News anchors provide us with a choice, either we believe the scientists that support global warming hypotheses, or we reject science ...
Canadians seeking health care have a ‘wait problem’
Washington Examiner (Washington, DC), June 3, 2009 First of a two-part series It’s the start of what promises to be a beautiful spring day. But not for you. As the first rays of sunshine filter through your bedroom window, a searing pain settles into your head. You pop an aspirin ...
The End of Medical Miracles?
Scientific discoveries are neither inevitable nor predictable Americans have, at best, a love-hate relationship with the life-sciences industry—the term for the sector of the economy that produces pharmaceuticals, biologics (like vaccines), and medical devices. These days, the mere mention of a pharmaceutical manufacturer seems to elicit gut-level hostility. Journalists, operating ...