This Just In ...

 
Here are, in my view, interesting, noteworthy columns and articles from the past week that I highly recommend (You will note that on occasion, I do not endorse the opinions of the author and may point that out. Despite my disagreements, I still feel the piece is worth a read).


Liberals' Wisconsin Waterloo

"As the moonless night of fa$ci$m descends on America’s dairyland, sidewalk graffiti next to the statehouse-square drinking fountain darkly warns: 'Free water . . . for now.' There, succinctly, is liberalism’s credo: If everything isn’t 'free,' meaning paid for by someone else, nothing will be safe."


Gone Fishin'

"Today, some right-wingers are criticizing Mr. Obama for his island jaunt during a bad economy. But come on—isn't the president entitled to spend a few days with his family at the end of August? Is the country going to be downgraded again because he eats a little taffy?"


Obama slams his own policies as "unpatriotic"

"Coming soon to a Republican campaign ad near you.."


An open letter to the national media. Subject: Texas

"Dear national media:

Welcome back to Texas! We almost missed you the past couple of years. But you seem to have suffered amnesia. In eight years in Crawford, did you learn nothing, or did you just forget? Yesterday, I heard a national TV guy say 'Plano' as if it rhymed with 'guano'. Another national guy called our governor 'too big for his britches' and  expressed irritation with men who wear boots and formalwear. The cliche-fest has begun.

I’ve been in Texas about eight years now, and I’ve learned a few things. So let me help you out."


Almost Everything We're Taught is Wrong

"We grow up learning that some things are just bad: child labor, ticket scalping, price gouging, kidney selling, blackmail, etc. But maybe they're not.

What I love about economics is that it can show that what seems harmful is actually good for society. It illuminates what common sense overlooks."


The Dark Side of euthanasia: Selling Death

“’Eleanor’ (not her real name) was larger than life even when she became ill with cancer in her 50s. Spirited and feisty with a wicked sense of humor, Eleanor regaled us doctors and nurses with her tales about her event-filled life. But as her cancer treatments failed to cure her, Eleanor's mood darkened and she told us of her plans to commit suicide either with a doctor like Jack Kevorkian or by her own hand. She was insistent that she die before she became mentally diminished or physically dependent on others.

We worked with Eleanor by treatment and especially by addressing her fears and the ramifications of a suicide decision. We were elated when Eleanor changed not only her mind but also her attitude. Once she decided against suicide, she embraced life fully and with gusto. She eventually died comfortably and naturally.

However, when Eleanor initially changed her mind about suicide, her friends tracked me down on the oncology unit where I worked to complain that we doctors and nurses were unjustly ‘interfering with her right to die’. Instead of being happy or relieved for Eleanor, these friends were instead outraged that we took the usual measures we would take with anyone to prevent a suicide.”


The Mindset List: 2015

“This year’s entering college class of 2015 was born just as the Internet took everyone onto the information highway and as Amazon began its relentless flow of books and everything else into their lives.  Members of this year’s freshman class, most of them born in 1993, are the first generation to grow up taking the word 'online' for granted and for whom crossing the digital divide has redefined research, original sources and access to information, changing the central experiences and methods in their lives. They have come of age as women assumed command of U.S. Navy ships, altar girls served routinely at Catholic Mass, and when everything from parents analyzing childhood maladies to their breaking up with boyfriends and girlfriends, sometimes quite publicly, have been accomplished on the Internet.

Each August since 1998, Beloit College has released the Beloit College Mindset List, providing a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall.”