Daily Links From Glimpse From a Height
- Pals to Egypt, Israel: Let’s You And Him Fight
Strategy Page: If Egypt went to war with Israel, the Palestinians would benefit. Obviously, these folks have ignored the lessons of history. If the Egyptian army goes after Israel, the Egyptians will be defeated. Gaza, caught in the middle, will be seriously damaged. But all that would be declared another Palestinian victory, and that’s what […]
- Safire Channeled Nixon. Ledeen Channels Angleton…
Spengler channels Richelieu. With a nice Chelm reference at the end.
- China Leaves Krugman, Friedman Out On A Limb
Walter Russell Mead: In particular the report calls for a shift away from large state owned enterprises to private firms if the economy is to continue to grow. This will come as a profound shock to so many in the developing world and even in the US who think that the Chinese have discovered a […]
- Extend And Pretend Coming To An End
Zerohedge. I think he goes wildly over the top, especially at the end. And I don’t think Armageddon is nigh. But the numbers are of concern, and his basic point is worth remembering – a lot of these commercial real estate loans are still heavily-leveraged, and we’re operating with a lot less margin, making a […]
- Teller Reveals His Secrets
The neuroscience of magic: 2. Make the secret a lot more trouble than the trick seems worth. You will be fooled by a trick if it involves more time, money and practice than you (or any other sane onlooker) would be willing to invest. My partner, Penn, and I once produced 500 live cockroaches from […]
- AP IMPACT: Lender’s own probe links it to suicides
I thought this sort of thing only happened in grubby capitalist assembly plants like Apple’s in China. Who knew that trendy lefty ideas could be infected by it, too? More than 200 poor, debt-ridden residents of Andhra Pradesh killed themselves in late 2010, according to media reports compiled by the government of the south Indian […]
- Iraq’s Lesson for Iran
Hoping we won’t call their bluff.
- Chief Justice: Iowa Supreme Court Stronger After 2010 Ousters
Maybe: “It was quite destructive in many ways,” Cady said during a taping of the Iowa Public Television program “Iowa Press.” “We got through it. It has made us much stronger, and our resolve is strong.” Cady said the justices have tried to make their work more visible by hearing cases throughout Iowa, which is […]
- India’s Global Image: Overseas Investors Tired Of The Unbridled Corruption
This is one area where India really is an outlier in the Anglosphere. So, if we leave the foreign investment in markets out of the big picture for now, then the answer is no, no foreign investor of the serious kind is very concerned about India’s macroeconomics at the moment. Cutting deficits and balancing budgets […]
- Concerning Those Burned Qu’rans At Bagram Air Base
Captain’s Journal: A second official said that local religious leaders who came to look at the damaged material as part of an investigation into the incident were “shocked by what they saw.” Pages of the Korans contained many handwritten messages and in some cases printed notes were found inside the books. This official described the […]
- Democratic Governors Discuss Bypassing Congress With Obama
According to The Hill: Gov. Jack Markell, the Democratic governor of Delaware and the vice chairman of the National Governors Association, told The Hill that the meeting was “very good” and said many of the governors were responsive to ideas about bypassing Congress. “There was a sense that none of us should wait, we can’t […]
- Invest, Innovate, Educate
Walter Russell Mead on why primary and secondary education have been so resistant to innovation, and what to do about it: Unfortunately, venture capitalists are staying out of the K-12 education market in droves. The world’s central bankers are printing money as fast as they can, there is more capital floating around the world system […]
- Boko Haram Suicide Bomber Attacks Nigerian Church
I’m sure we’ll see a lot about the reprisals, though.
- Israel To Sell Weapons To Azerbaijan
Via the new online publication, The Times Of Israel: Israel has agreed to sell Azerbaijan military technology, including drone airplanes, in a deal reportedly worth $1.4 billion. The Caucasus nation, which borders Iran, will receive planes, drones and an advanced missile defense system. The country has recently found itself caught between Israel and Iran as […]
- “Gain Peace?” Not As Long As CAIR Is Involved
Abigail Esman has the scoop: In itself, this is fully understandable and would be laudable — were it not for the fact that among the schools of Islam Gain Peace defends is one which stands against American democratic values. Worse, the organization the Times cites (again) on the issue — and who supports the Gain […]
- The Spread Of Dependency
The NY Times has an interactive graph. The unemployment benefits measure is more cyclical, and 2009 happened to correspond to recovery from a recession, which none of the previous years (1969, 1979, 1989, 1999) did. But the rest of the chart is both illuminating and depressing. Colorado remains stunningly less dependent than other places, but […]
- These Are The PIIGS; These Are The PIIGS On Drugs
It’s not just banks who can’t collect: This whole story blows me away. I’m not surprised that the bankrupt PIGS are late payers. But three-years? That’s ridiculous. If the PIGS are stiffing drug companies, who else are they stiffing? Are they paying for the oil they use? Food? How big are these trade IOUs?
- Buffett 2012 Annual Letter
Ira Stoll has some questions: Third, Mr. Buffett announces in a backhanded way that the Berkshire board has chosen his successor. But he doesn’t name the successor, only giving clues to trigger a kind of cutesy guessing game: “Your Board is equally enthusiastic about my successor as CEO, an individual to whom they have had […]
- Fairness and Freedom
Tyler Cowen reads David Hackett Fisher’s latest. From his comments, I suppose admirers of each will find their biases confirmed; DHF is one of my favorite serious historical writers, and while he tends towards the left, he rarely picks and chooses freely or unfairly.
- The Insanity of Health Insurance
Employers are just the wrong conduit: It is insane that we get our health care from our employers. That happens because we have given a tax advantage to in-kind compensation such as health care. It’s a horrible idea and it leads people to complain about our employers deciding what health care we can receive. Our […]
- Spending on Energy in 2011 Was Lowest Since ’98
People paying less, and also driving less: The downward trend in both series would also suggest that higher gasoline prices in 2012 would have less of an impact on consumers than in past years. Maybe, but I think people are already cutting vacation driving, and seeing that as a cut in their standard of living. […]
- The Renaissance of American Manufacturing
and The New Reallocation of Global Manufacturing Hal Sirkin of the Boston Consulting Group discusses the rebirth of manufacturing that is underway in the U.S., partly because of the erosion of China’s manufacturing cost advantages, especially for wages, which has started bringing manufacturing production and jobs back to the U.S., reversing a decade-long trend of outsourcing […]
- Oscar Night II
Hollywood Cinemetrics, 2007-2011