He instituted a number of innovative programs that have been effective in preventing or reducing crime, including bicycle registration; block watches; child ID; “Operation Identification”; “Operation Notification”; “Hard Knocks High,” which gives credits for a high school diploma; ALPHA, a highly successful anti-substance abuse “Project Lifeline;” and an annual summer camp for kids.
Paul Samuelson, ‘Economics’ Textbook Author, Dies at 94
- Tuesday, 15 December 2009 09:10
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Long-renowned economist Paul Samuelson died on December 13 at his home in Belmont, Massachusetts, at the age of 94. In addition to writing Economics in 1948 — which became the best selling economics textbook for several decades, having been translated into forty-one languages and selling over four million copies — Samuelson also won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1970.
The chorus of accolades of effusive praise continues to resonate:
NYC Mayor Bloomberg: “Too Many Guns”
- Sunday, 13 December 2009 09:11
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According to the Associated Press, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg “railed against gun violence” on December 11, one day after a street peddler died in a shootout with police in Times Square. Unfortunately, this type of crime is increasingly typical in high-crime areas of major U.S. cities, especially where gun control laws make it extremely difficult for law-abiding citizens to possess a gun. Yet Bloomberg, founder of the anti-gun group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, viewed the shootout as evidence that there are “too many guns on the streets.”
Amtrack, Guns, and Sausage
- Friday, 11 December 2009 15:17
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When congressional negotiators agreed to a final version of a transportation bill, it included an amendment to allow Amtrak passengers to take their guns with them—unloaded, locked, and only in their checked baggage.
While only a small skirmish in the long war against the right of citizens to “keep and bear arms” under the Second Amendment, the process by which this amendment was added is worth examining as a microcosm of “representative government” in action.
Bernanke Claims Economy Recovering
- Thursday, 10 December 2009 06:21
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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the Economic Club of Washington that the economy is recovering, even as it confronts “formidable headwinds.”
He also promoted the Federal Reserve, and the job he is doing as head of the Fed) in an op-ed piece he wrote recently in the Washington Post where he assured readers (and Congress) that “the Fed played a major part in arresting the [financial] crisis, and we should be seeking to preserve [the Fed’s] ability to foster financial stability and to promote economic recovery without inflation.”
Sarbanes-Oxley and the Separation of Powers
- Monday, 07 December 2009 19:15
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On Monday, December 7, the Supreme Court began hearing arguments concerning Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).
While perhaps not as memorable as the “date which shall live in infamy,” this case has been called the most important “separation of powers” case in 20 years by Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the dissenter in the 2-1 decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled for the PCAOB, prior to the case going to the Supreme Court for review).
Eminent Domain Battles Continue: Fee Simple Is Not So Simple
- Friday, 04 December 2009 20:37
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Image by Sister72 via Flickr
The Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan, New York, has ruled against Columbia University’s plans to use eminent domain to develop a satellite campus in Upper Manhattan. This reflects one minor skirmish in the battle that has raged nationally ever since Kelo vs. City of New London was decided by the Supreme Court in 2005.
In his “A Summary View of the Rights of British America”, Thomas Jefferson made one last plea to King George to reconsider the path England was taking in its relationship with the American colonies. With elegance and eloquence, Jefferson laid the moral and political groundwork for life, liberty, and property:
Jobs Summit: More talk? Yes. More jobs? No.
- Thursday, 03 December 2009 21:35
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Image by smemon87 via Flickr
When ABC News asked if the “jobs summit” would make real progress or would just be “simply a glorified public-relations stunt,” it studiously avoided asking the real question: How can the prime movers that created the current economic “Great Recession” be expected to fix it?
For starters, where is the constitutional authority for the government to get involved in creating jobs, even if it could?
Captains of the Economy: The ‘Good Ol’ Boy’ Network is Alive and Well
- Wednesday, 02 December 2009 10:19
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Image via Wikipedia
In its attempt to glorify “the 10 who shaped the U.S. economy the most since 2000,” ABC News did a great favor for those interested in the interconnections among the “elite” who are impacting the current world economic and political scene.
Naturally, much was left unsaid about these “captains,” especially regarding their connections to the elite currently in charge. In order, then, here is a brief look at each of these “10 who shaped the U. S. economy”:
Double Dip Recession Coming?
- Tuesday, 01 December 2009 08:56
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If Will Rogers didn’t say “Those who don’t read the papers are uninformed; those who do are misinformed,” he probably should have.
Witness this headline from The Wall Street Journal: “Jobs, Spending Bode Well for Growth.”
Compared to this from Bloomberg: “Orders for Durable Goods in U. S. Unexpectedly Fall.”
Or this from APNews: “Jobless claims off, spending up in sign of rebound.”
Finally, to confound the confusion, see this from the Denver Post: “Good news raises hopes that recovery won’t fizzle.”
How does one make any sense of it all? Dr. Kenneth McFarland (named America’s Number One Public Speaker by the U. S. Chamber of Commerce in 1965) once quipped that he had read so much about the harmful effects of tobacco and alcohol that he just decided to give up reading!
There is another option: dig deeper.
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