Weekly Links (July 29th-Aug 4th)

Here are the new weekly links. Some of these articles I blogged about earlier in the week.

1)David Brooks op-ed on America's failing education system and its effect on our income gap. The US is lagging behind in human capital development (one of our hallmarks in the postwar years,) and this is part of a reason for our economic struggles. Also, the article cites research that "points out that big gaps in educational attainment are present at age 5. Some children are bathed in an atmosphere that promotes human capital development and, increasingly, more are not. By 5, it is possible to predict, with depressing accuracy, who will complete high school and college and who won’t." Obviously this should be a big issue in domestic policy and the current political campaign. Unsurprisingly, we haven't heard much from either candidate. Perhaps they were drowned out by the Media's screaming about the "race card."

2) Wall Street Journal piece on the changing demographics of the Mountain West states. Many professionals (both older and younger) are moving out from the West Coast, in search of cheaper real estate and a more laid back lifestyle. This is having serious ramifications for the political decisions of these states (for example Montana and Colorado are both in play for the Democrats this year.) It is also having an effect on the long-term residents of these states, many of whom don't like the changes instituted by the newcomers.

3)This New York Times article was my favorite article of the week. It dissected Barack Obama's tenure as a Law Professor at the University of Chicago. Obama was a highly-sought after lecturer, but was absent from much of the intellectual debating that is a hallmark of the university's faculty. Obama presented many interesting hypotheticals to his class, about such controversial issues as gay marriage and affirmative action, but often refused to take a stand, instead providing hypotheticals for both sides.

4)In-depth New Yorker report on the shadow economy of marijuana production in California. The state's legalization of marijuana for medical-purposes, which still runs counter to federal laws, has created a confusing situation, in which legality is never completely defined. The author chronicles the growers and sellers attempts to feel there way around the new laws, as well as the effect that the legalization has had on a formerly illicit business.

5)Autobiographical op-ed by Kristoff on his mixed feelings about meat-eating and animal rights. His memories from his childhood on a farm are pretty intense.

6)Sweet New York Times article about how a community emerged in New York City among people who took turns volunteering to read to a 101 year old woman. Kind of sappy, but still makes you feel good about the human race.

7)Another excellent David Brook's op-ed. This one deals with the topic of global sclerosis, or the inability for concerted global action on a number of very important issues, because so many countries now effectively hold veto power. He states presciently "...in each case, the logic is the same. Groups with a strong narrow interest are able to block larger groups with a diffuse but generalized interest. The narrow Chinese interest in Sudanese oil blocks the world’s general interest in preventing genocide. Iran’s narrow interest in nuclear weapons trumps the world’s general interest in preventing a Middle East arms race. Diplomacy goes asymmetric and the small defeat the large...But globally, people have no sense of shared citizenship. Everybody feels they have the right to say no, and in a multipolar world, many people have the power to do so. There is no mechanism to wield authority. There are few shared values on which to base a mechanism. The autocrats of the world don’t even want a mechanism because they are afraid that it would be used to interfere with their autocracy."

8)I found this article alarming. The government is currently allowed to confiscate any device which may hold digital or analog information that is held by travellers (US citizens or not) that pass through US borders. The government may hold the device for an unspecified period of time, and make copies of the information within. If the information is found to not be used in a criminal case, the copies must be destroyed, but the notes investigators made on the copies may be retained. This seems to me, to be a gross outrage against our rights, and emblematic of the type of police state action this country may see if another catastrophic terrorist attack occurs within our borders.

9) Interesting New York Times article about "the incline," a steep trail of railroad ties that gains 2000 feet in elevation over a mile of distance. It is located near the US Olympic training facility in Colorado, and is a "favorite" training tool of many of the athletes working out there.

10) Great inteview with Pakistan Scholar Ahmed Rashid. He just wrote a book entitled Descent into Chaos, about post 9/11 Afghanistan, and offers some excellent critiques on American policy, as well as some recommendations about how to create peace in the region.


Bonus Article: China's growing cities