Daily Links From Glimpse From a Height

• The Ghost Of World War One
  That cultural paralysis produced by WWI was really the ground opening up underneath the West’s feet: And then…  And then the story failed.  Those we trusted, those in a position to know, sent waves of young men to be slaughtered for not much purpose at all.  They sent them to stack ten deep in death […]
• Boehner: No More One-On-One Negotiations with Obama
  Wow, talk about changing pitchers one batter too late: The negotiations approach has obviously become a trap. For one thing, Boehner has proven to be not very good at it. The president “negotiates” in bad faith and uses deadline pressure to slip bad bills through before legislators and the voters have any chance to read […]
• Health Care Law May Mean Less Hiring in 2013
  Fewer jobs, higher taxes, what’s not to like? Many businesses plan to bring on more part-time workers next year, trim the hours of full-time employees or curtail hiring because of the new health care law, human resource firms say. Their actions could further dampen job growth, which already is threatened by possible federal budget cutbacks […]
• What Are the Most Dangerous Countries for Banks?
  Investors looking to move money abroad remember that higher growth also usually means higher risks: “As we’ve seen the U.S. economy not do as strongly as we would have hoped in the last few years, we’ve seen a lot of our clients looking for new opportunities in emerging frontier markets,” says Angela Mancini, vice president […]
• For Camille Paglia, the Spiritual Quest Defines All Great Art
  I wonder what Jacques Barzun would have thought of this.  I like to think that in principle he would have approved, regardless of the execution or point of view of the writer. The art world is in spiritual crisis—it has not had a new idea in years. So argues the cultural critic and feminist provocateur […]
• States Letting Tax Increases Expire
  As Obama raises taxes, and Colorado considers doing the same, other states are letting their temporary measures expire: In 2009  residents approved a two-year surcharge on income tax rates for those earning more than $125,000 a year. The legislature declined to extend it in 2012, producing an estimated $133 million tax cut despite pressure by […]
• Poiticizing Pension Investment
  The New York City Teacher’s Retirement System is going to invest $1 billion in Hurricane Sandy reconstruction: Both are critically needed missions. It is understandable, the retirement system’s impulse to want to put some of its resources to work to help Sandy’s victims, who are neighbors in distress and some of whom might be system […]
• Keystone-Flavored TABOR?
  A Pennsylvania state senator is looking to our very own TABOR as a model: For the second year in a row, Folmer introduced the Taxpayer Protection Act, which would create a budgetary cap linked to population growth and inflation. “If you want to get taxes under control, you have to get spending under control,” Folmer said. […]
• Some Contributions to the Gun Control Debate
  Mitch Berg on Diane Sawyer, Rocket Scientist: So let’s set our levels right here; because a couple of college students, and media dilettante Diane Sawyer, couldn’t quick-draw faster than a cop carrying out a CQB drill, concealed carry is worthless? No – if you’ve taken any handgun training at all, you know that quick-draw shooting is very, […]