Archive for April, 2011

ROGER KIMBALL: The Way We Live Now. Until we grow tired enough of it to do something about it.

IN THE MAIL: From Steven Pressfield, Do the Work. That’s the hardcopy version. I already got the free Kindle version.

AL NEUHARTH: Obama’s Space Goodbye Mocks JFK’s Hello. Actually I think Obama’s private-sector approach is much superior, even though I doubt he’s pursuing it because he particularly cares about space. But I’d rather have the right policy for the wrong reason than the other way around.

MEN’S DOCKERS SHIRTS, for $14.99.

LARRY KOTLIKOFF AND ANDY WEISS look at tax plans for left and right. “Our country is saving nothing, investing nothing, growing more unequal, going broke and pulling apart. The current tax system makes these problems much worse. Our plan, called the Purple Tax Plan (www.thepurpletaxplan.org), provides a simple and transparent tax system with much better incentives to work and save, much greater revenue-generating capacity, and much greater equity. Best of all, both parties can call the plan their own.”

THOUSANDS OF SYRIANS protest military crackdown. “Tens of thousands of Syrians poured out of mosques and into the streets after Friday prayers for what appeared to be the biggest demonstrations yet in the country. The large turnout, after days of deadly clashes, suggests that the will of the protesters remains unbroken despite the government’s stepped-up efforts to crush the uprising.”

DUDE, WHERE’S MY RECOVERY? “Seven quarters into the Obama recovery, GDP growth has averaged an annual rate of only 2.8 percent. In contrast, since 1970, the first seven quarters of previous recoveries averaged 4.6 percent. The poor growth rate is especially surprising since the preceding recession was so severe, there should have been ample room for high growth as the unemployed returned to work. For example, the Reagan recovery followed a similarly high unemployment rate and saw the economy grow at an average annual growth rate of 7 percent . . . . The slight decrease in unemployment – currently at 8.8 percent — has been touted as good news. Yet that slight drop has largely been the result of job-seekers giving up looking for work and leaving the labor force. On top of that, the new jobs that have opened up have primarily been temporary jobs, the number of permanent jobs has actually fallen.”

RUBEN NAVARETTE: Six Reasons Why Latinos May Stay Home On Election Day.

Related: Mickey Kaus: Let’s Play Pretend:

Rosario Dawson, Eva Longoria and other “stakeholders“ “influential Hispanics” were at the White House yesterday ”in another behind-the-scenes effort to enlist support and build momentum” for President Obama’s “vision of immigration reform,” according to Jake Tapper. Unless Obama knows something I don’t know about Republicans in Congress, these meetings have a near-pathological air of unreality about them, as if they were taking place in an alternative universe in which the 2010 election didn’t happen.

That seems to be the case on a lot of fronts.

TED LAPKIN: Morally Depraved UN Has No Right To Preach.

Thuggish despot who slaughters peaceful protesters in the streets, or global guardian of human rights? The United Nations can’t seem to make up its mind where Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is concerned.

This week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was expressing “grave concern” over Assad’s decision to set loose his tanks on unarmed pro-democracy demonstrators. But Ban then declined to intervene in the coming elections at the UN Human Rights Council, where Syria is a shoo-in for a new three-year term.

Scheduled for mid-May, these elections have about as much suspense as polling day in … well … Damascus. As one of the four candidate nations vying for the four open slots allocated to the Asia group, Syria’s election to the council is all but assured.

Given its own dubious record, you’d think the council might hesitate before setting itself up as a moral arbiter.

And yet, it does not.