DailyOpEd.com

Path of Destruction - Wall Street Journal

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:22:10 GMT

Oklahoma endures the random fury of a monster tornado.

Why USC and not a black college, Dr. Dre? - Los Angeles Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

His huge gift to the school is commendable, but why couldn't it have gone to a needy black college?I was in Detroit preparing to give a speech last week when the news came across my Twitter feed: "Dr. Dre and music producer Jimmy Iovine donate $70 million to USC to create new degree." As one of the first university presidents from the hip-hop generation, I had to stop and read the story immediately.

Immigration: A wider better welcome mat - Los Angeles Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

The U.S. should do more to welcome and keep talented foreign students.As an immigrant and an engineer, I know the magnetic pull that the United States exerts on anyone who dreams of a career in science. From the time I watched NASA technicians on television during the first lunar landing in 1969, I resolved to get the best scientific education that my talents and circumstances would allow.

Goldberg: Obama's 'idiot' defense - Los Angeles Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

As the administration finds itself ensnared by errors of its own making, the curtain is drawn back on the cult of expertise and the fantasy of statist redemption.Although there's still a great deal to be learned about the scandals and controversies swirling around the White House like so many ominous dorsal fins in the surf, the nature of President Obama's bind is becoming clear. The best defenses of his administration require undermining the rationale for his presidency.

Editorial: Let DuPage pluck off useless government - Chicago Tribune

Tue, 21 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Give DuPage a chance to pluck off useless governmentThere's a bill heading to Gov. Pat Quinn's desk that would make DuPage County a laboratory for efficient local government.

Editorial: Our pension plea to President Cullerton - Chicago Tribune

Tue, 21 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Gov. Quinn needs you. We all do.John Cullerton, whether Illinois gets meaningful pension reform now rests with you. You've spent your career preparing for this leadership moment.

Old Oil in New Bottles - Wall Street Journal

Tue, 21 May 2013 03:41:35 GMT

The European Commission wants to protect you from olive oil served in dipping bowls.

Scott Stantis cartoon caption contest - Chicago Tribune

Tue, 21 May 2013 03:37:00 GMT

Click on the image for the full cartoon. Be sure to get your entries in by noon on Thursday.

Taking Note: There Just Has to Be a Scandal – Somewhere - New York Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 02:48:07 GMT

Instead of investigating talking points, how about looking into the C.I.A.’s role in the Benghazi security failure?

Letters: The Tale of the I.R.S. in Cincinnati - New York Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 02:00:15 GMT

Readers react to an article depicting an I.R.S. office struggling with its caseload.

Letter: Death Penalty Paradox - New York Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 02:00:15 GMT

Tobias Winright, an ethicist at Saint Louis University, responds to an editorial.

Letter: Campaign Finance Reform - New York Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 02:00:15 GMT

Common Cause/New York urges passage of “fair elections” legislation.

Letter: Security at the Trade Center, as the Police Dept. Sees It - New York Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 02:00:15 GMT

The New York Police Department takes issue with a front-page article, “With Security, Trade Center Faces New Isolation.”

Letter: F.B.I. Director’s Legacy - New York Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 02:00:15 GMT

The head of a security company praises Robert S. Mueller III.

Editorial: New Efforts to Undercut Health Reforms - New York Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:33:42 GMT

Republicans seize on two controversies to block the means to help the uninsured.

Editorial: Why Is Russia Still Arming Syria? - New York Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:28:54 GMT

Doubts are growing about whether a promised peace conference will even come off.

Editorial: No Public Office for Vito Lopez - New York Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:22:30 GMT

Now that he has resigned from the Assembly after accusations that he sexually harassed young women on his staff, Mr. Lopez is threatening to run for City Council. New Yorkers deserve better.

Editorial Observer: Food Stamp Politics - New York Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:17:04 GMT

Proposed cuts to food stamps are a sad retreat from American values.

Op-Ed Columnist: One School’s Catholic Teaching - New York Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:07:22 GMT

With just the briefest acknowledgement of her life partner, Carla Hale lost the job she’d loved for more than 18 years.

Op-Ed Columnist: What Our Words Tell Us - New York Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:07:16 GMT

Gradual shifts in language use over the centuries reflect tectonic shifts in culture.

Op-Ed Contributors: Stop the Leaks - New York Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:06:19 GMT

Prosecutors were right to obtain phone records of A.P. journalists.

Op-Ed Contributor: The Outrageous Cost of a Gene Test - New York Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:04:57 GMT

When we can sequence 20,000 genes for $1,000, why should it cost nearly $4,000 to analyze just two?

Op-Ed Contributors: Cul-de-Sac Poverty - New York Times

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:01:11 GMT

More poor Americans live in suburbs than in cities, but public policy hasn’t caught up to address their needs.

Stephens: China Eco-Boosterism, Revisited - Wall Street Journal

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:56:25 GMT

Why did Western liberals think China was a model for environmentalism?

Austerity and Keynes can coexist - Washington Post

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:49:00 GMT

For those of us trying to sort out the debate over economic “austerity,” there’s a limit to what can be learned by inspecting the credentials of the contending economists. Yes, the fiscal-stimulus vanguard includes a couple of famous Nobel winners, but those pesky Swedes also gave their prize to the harshest postwar critic of Keynesian economics, a man whose signature policy proposal was the balanced-budget amendment. Read full article >>

IRS scandal inspires a Kafka-esque tale - Washington Post

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:49:00 GMT

It was only when they put the cuffs on her and led her out of the Cincinnati federal office building that she finally realized how much trouble she was in. Her husband, in one of his rare sober moments, had urged her to get a lawyer, and her neighbor, the know-it-all with the snow blower, urged her to leave the country. But she had a touching faith in America, and she felt that sooner or later everyone would understand how a big federal office works — or, actually, doesn’t. Instead, there she was doing the perp walk, cameras clicking, reporters shouting questions: “Mitzie, Mitzie,” they implored. This is how Mitziegate was born. Read full article >>

Obama administration mistakes journalism for espionage - Washington Post

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:48:39 GMT

The Obama administration has no business rummaging through journalists’ phone records, perusing their e-mails and tracking their movements in an attempt to keep them from gathering news. This heavy-handed business isn’t chilling, it’s just plain cold. Read full article >>

GOP fear of Common Core education standards unfounded - Washington Post

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:48:00 GMT

Modern conservatism comes in two distinct architectural styles. The first seeks to build from scratch, using accurate ideological levels and plumb lines, so every wall is straight and every corner squared. The goal of politics is to apply abstract principles in their purest form. But there is another type of conservatism, often practiced at the state level, which attempts to build out of flawed, existing materials, resulting in some odd angles and incongruous additions. These conservative reformers assemble unexpected alliances, accept reasonable compromises and welcome incremental progress. Read full article >>

On immigration, Sen. Jeff Sessions tries to halt the inevitable - Washington Post

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:39:00 GMT

Not since George Wallace, perhaps, has an Alabamian taken as passionate a stand for a lost cause as the one Jeff Sessions is taking now. Bipartisan immigration legislation is making its way inexorably through the Senate Judiciary Committee. Although its ultimate fate is unclear, its passage by the committee is assured, and conservatives on the panel such as ranking Republican Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Orrin Hatch (Utah) are doing what they can to improve the bill. Even firebrands such as Ted Cruz (Tex.) and Mike Lee (Utah) are holding fire. Read full article >>

A Journalist 'Co-Conspirator' - Wall Street Journal

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:33:18 GMT

The feds accuse a Fox reporter of criminal behavior for doing his job.

Natural Gas Exports, Maybe - Wall Street Journal

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:31:37 GMT

The feds approve one new terminal, with multiple caveats.

Jack Anderson: Boy Scouts, Please Find Your Way Back to Basics - Wall Street Journal

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:18:03 GMT

Don't establish a new policy on gay scouts—get rid of any policy on the subject whatsoever.

Kevin Kimberlin: Gene Patents Drive Medical Innovation - Wall Street Journal

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:16:29 GMT

The BRACAnalysis test has warned one million woman of their risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

James Woolsey and Peter Pry: How North Korea Could Cripple the U.S. - Wall Street Journal

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:15:40 GMT

A single nuke exploded above America could cause a national blackout for months.

David Rivkin and Lee Casey: The IRS and the Drive to Stop Free Speech - Wall Street Journal

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:14:54 GMT

Such a scandal was bound to happen after the government started trying to rule the expression of political views.

Room for Debate: Raise the Rim? - New York Times

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:49:22 GMT

Many basketball players today are a foot taller than players were in the 1800s; the rim is no longer out of reach. Should it be raised?

Best of the Web Today: A Crisis of Authority - Wall Street Journal

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:46:50 GMT

The deeper meaning of the Obama scandals.

First as Tragedy, Then as Cant - Wall Street Journal

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:47:21 GMT

Is the great historian Edward Gibbon really more responsible for dividing the world by creed than the crusading Pope Urban II? Daniel K. Richter reviews David Cannadine's "The Undivided Past."

Opinionator | The Stone: Savile, Beauvoir and the Lolita Syndrome - New York Times

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:20:22 GMT

From Simone de Beauvoir to Jimmy Savile, on the trail of the intellectual origins of the “culture of abuse.”

Opinionator | Disunion: The Battles of Vicksburg - New York Times

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:08:16 GMT

Before Grant laid his famous siege, he undertook two disastrous assaults on the bluff city.

Joe Nocera's Blog: The Weekend in Gun Violence - New York Times

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:21:32 GMT

A weekend in the life of armed America.

Opinionator | The Great Divide: The 1 Percent Are Only Half the Problem - New York Times

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:40:31 GMT

The other half of the inequality story, the skills gap, should also command our attention.

Room for Debate: What Guilt Does the U.S. Bear in Guatemala? - New York Times

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:57:00 GMT

Guatemala's dictator in the 1980s has been convicted of genocide. But is the U.S. responsible for supporting him?

Latitude: Comparing Nazism and Communism Online In Russia And Causing A Storm - New York Times

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:46:01 GMT

A fierce debate has erupted in Russia over whether Nazism and Communism are comparable.

Opinionator | Measure for Measure: What the Woodpecker Told Me - New York Times

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:06:28 GMT

Stuck without a lyric in sight, pondering the intricacies of a little bird’s brain, I suddenly thought about crazy Mary Sweeney.

Views around the country from our partners - USA Today

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:31:11 GMT

The best national commentary from Gannett's local papers.

Opinionator | Anxiety: Anxiety: Blood - New York Times

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:00:28 GMT

What had become of the stuff that flowed through his veins? Short fiction by Blake Butler.

Punchlines: Obama still in hot water - USA Today

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:20:04 GMT

One comedian says Obama will never be ousted because of two words: President Biden.

IRS inquiry rests on 4 key questions: Our view - USA Today

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:08:34 GMT

This is no trumped up, partisan scandal.

Yahoo-Tumblr mashup's uncertain future: Opinionline - USA Today

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:21:57 GMT

What people are saying about the latest giant tech deal.

Cheap clothes carry high price: #tellusatoday - USA Today

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:15:03 GMT

How can U.S. consumers urge safer conditions in garment factories abroad?

A birth control double standard - Los Angeles Times

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

Condoms are readily available without identification. Why not Plan B?In the uproar about making the morning-after contraceptive known as Plan B available to our daughters, there has been no similar outcry about condoms and our sons. Anyone of any age can walk into a drugstore — as well as most grocery and big-box stores — and buy condoms. If you want to remain anonymous, you can pay cash; no ID is required. If you're too embarrassed to face the checkout clerk, use the self-check aisle or, for $17.97, get a box of 100 — flavored or with "added sensations," even — delivered to your door in a plain brown box.

Newton: Decision time for L.A. - Los Angeles Times

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

The office of mayor often enlarges the winner. Will it do so again with Garcetti or Greuel?As the campaign for mayor of Los Angeles has played out over the last two years, the complaints I've heard most often are that none of the candidates has reached for big ideas, that the field has lacked big personalities and that the two finalists are hard to distinguish from each other. There's some truth to each of those, but with the campaign concluding Tuesday, it's also worth noting that all of them also are overstated.

Get tougher on tanning bed labels? Your Say - USA Today

Mon, 20 May 2013 06:54:56 GMT

The FDA is recommending that tanning beds carry a warning label alerting users to the risk of skin cancer.

How Eisenhower's ban on gays backfired: Column - USA Today

Mon, 20 May 2013 06:43:34 GMT

LGBT youth should care about what Eisenhower did to gay people.

AP phone flap makes freedom of press popular: Column - USA Today

Mon, 20 May 2013 06:35:57 GMT

Members of Congress come to media's defense, but what about passing the shield law?

Forced union dues violate free speech: Column - USA Today

Mon, 20 May 2013 06:00:21 GMT

Protecting the free speech rights of teachers is not an attack on collective bargaining.

Stantis: Farewell to a legendary cartoonist - Chicago Tribune

Mon, 20 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

In an era many consider the golden age of editorial cartooning, Dick Locher stands among the greats.

Krauthammer: Obama's credibility crisis - Chicago Tribune

Mon, 20 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Republicans, let the facts on Benghazi speak for themselves. They are damning enough.

Editorial: Worry about food stamp growth, not junk food - Chicago Tribune

Mon, 20 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

The fact that unhealthy food purchase are made with public assistance rubs a lot of people the wrong way. But there are much larger worries.

Editorial: Tighten Link card rules to fight abuse - Chicago Tribune

Mon, 20 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Ask any grocery clerk: program easy to abuse Grocery clerks will tell you: It's not uncommon for users to go through the grocery lane with food, then come back with TANF cash for cigarettes or alcohol.

Brotman: Stranded student or sly scammer? - Chicago Tribune

Mon, 20 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

I'm lighter by about $45, unsure whether I've been a good Samaritan or dupedLooking back, I have to admit it was well-played. So I made a $45 bet on the goodness of human nature.

Future's so bright we have to wear shades: Column - USA Today

Mon, 20 May 2013 02:37:47 GMT

The big bureaucracies won't vanish -- they'll just become smaller and less significant.

Letters: At the U.S.-Mexico Border, Prosperity and Pollution - New York Times

Mon, 20 May 2013 01:23:04 GMT

Professors from Berkeley and San Diego State discuss economic potential and environmental problems at our southern border.

Obama’s turn inward poses risk for U.S. interests abroad - Washington Post

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:27:35 GMT

“And the war will end by the end of next year . . . ” In the elusive search for an Obama Doctrine, that struck me as a telling phrase when I heard the president deliver it last week as he and British Prime Minister David Cameron took a couple of questions from reporters. Read full article >>

Political dysfunction spells trouble for democracies - Washington Post

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:25:09 GMT

We know American politics are dysfunctional. But after a week of scandal obsession during which the nation’s capital and the media virtually ignored the problems most voters care about — jobs, incomes, growth, opportunity, education — it’s worth asking if there is something especially flawed about our democracy. Read full article >>

Is the health-care spending slowdown for real? - Washington Post

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:22:00 GMT

“If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” — Stein’s Law , after economist Herbert Stein (1916-1999) We all know that Stein’s Law will someday apply to health-care spending, which has risen from 5 percent of the economy (gross domestic product) in 1960 to almost 18 percent now. What we don’t know is how and when its share of the economy will stabilize. Will this result from spending controls imposed by Washington; or from delivery-system “reforms” that spontaneously cut “waste”; or from rationing, which limits spending by denying people treatment; or by some combination of these? As for when, could it be now? Read full article >>

U.S. must stay committed to racing towards space - USA Today

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:57:22 GMT

What our nation fails to do today will be done by others tomorrow.

Why Ted Cruz isn't presidential material: Column - USA Today

Sun, 19 May 2013 07:13:49 GMT

Despite recent attention, Texas senator lacks appeal, charisma and a Hispanic base.

How to buy happiness - Los Angeles Times

Sun, 19 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

The new science of spending points to a surprising conclusion: How we use our money may matter as much or more than how much of it we've got.Imagine that you woke up tomorrow morning to discover $1 million under your mattress. Leaving aside the obvious lumpiness issue, take a moment to think: What would you do with that cash?

Superman, a hero with staying power - Los Angeles Times

Sun, 19 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's a space alien in a full-body leotard and underpants.My nomination for American hero of the 20th century is someone who lived half his life in disguise and the other half as the world's most recognizable man. He appeared on more radio broadcasts than Ellery Queen and in more movies than Marlon Brando, who once played his father. He helped give America the backbone to wage war against the Nazis, the Depression and the Red Menace. He remains an intimate to kids from Boston to Belgrade and has adult devotees who, like Talmudic scholars, parse his every utterance.

Cause for hope -- and fear -- in Pakistan - Los Angeles Times

Sun, 19 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

Can new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif succeed? That will depend largely on whether he has the strength of will to resist the military and to confront radical Islamists.There is reason for hope in Nawaz Sharif's victory in the recent Pakistani elections. Sharif, who has twice served as Pakistan's prime minister, has said he wants to build a more robust democracy, revive the country's shattered economy and end the military's 40-year domination of its politics. He has also promised to improve relations with India and take on the radical Islamist terrorism that has tormented Pakistan. The United States should assist him in every way possible to achieve those goals.

Commencement speakers: Conservatives need not apply - Los Angeles Times

Sun, 19 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

A look at the data suggests that at graduation ceremonies on U.S. college and university campuses, it's liberals only.We have once again entered the college commencement season, which means we'll soon be reading about uplifting graduation speeches delivered by prominent Americans. Or at least by prominent liberal Americans.

No, Obama won't be impeached: Column - USA Today

Sun, 19 May 2013 06:53:14 GMT

Serious talk of booting the president makes anything less look like vindication.

Notable commencement addresses: Opinionline - USA Today

Sun, 19 May 2013 06:48:06 GMT

What people are saying to the Class of 2013.

Rogue banks remain too big to fail: Our view - USA Today

Sun, 19 May 2013 06:42:26 GMT

15% cash cushions would force them to break up or be conservative.

The scandalously premature diagnosis of a cancer on the presidency - Chicago Tribune

Sun, 19 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

If it makes me a media lackey or a tail-wagging lap dog for President Barack Obama to hold out for, you know, actual evidence that he had anything to do with the various and glaring misbehavior, blundering and butt-covering in the governmental ranks before I begin invoking Watergate and floating the possibility of impeachment, then so be it.

Tale of 'Elevate Chicago' and foreclosure blight - Chicago Tribune

Sun, 19 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Thirty-six thousand one hundred and twenty-three. That's the number of properties in Chicago listed last week in some stage of mortgage foreclosure. This is a big factor behind youth violence.

Chicago's first archbishop was 'good prelate, good man' - Chicago Tribune

Sun, 19 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Patrick Feehan, Chicago's first Roman Catholic archbishop, oversaw a significant era of growth for the Chicago church.

Editorial: Conservatives should lead on immigration - Chicago Tribune

Sun, 19 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Good for America, good for the GOP If President Barack Obama delivers on his promise to sign meaningful immigration legislation in his second term, it could be because he wisely stayed out of the way while Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican with his eye on the White House, did the heavy lifting.

Editorial: Mayor Difficult -- Has Emanuel alienated Chicagoans? - Chicago Tribune

Sun, 19 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Or does no kept promise go unpunished?Early in 2011, Candidate Rahm Emanuel warned Chicagoans that their City Hall had to fix its finances or risk entering into eternal rest. The distance from broke government to broken government, he observed, is short: Without restoring financial health, this city cannot continue to serve its citizens.

McManus: The second-term scandal plague - Los Angeles Times

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:52:00 GMT

What is it about presidents' second terms that makes them seem so scandal-ridden? Simple: The iron law of longevity.What is it about presidents' second terms that makes them seem so scandal-ridden? Simple: The iron law of longevity. All governments make mistakes, and all governments try to hide those mistakes. But the longer an administration is in office, the more errors it makes, and the harder they are to conceal.

Editorial: Hospital sticker shock - Chicago Tribune

Sat, 18 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Most people entering the hospital can't get a straight answer to an obvious question: How much will this procedure or treatment cost? Nor can people easily compare prices among hospitals in their area.

Editorial: It's about safe water - Chicago Tribune

Sat, 18 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Put public health firstA state board assigned to protect the environment is taking a second look at a controversial ruling it issued last year.

The Benghazi e-mails’ backside-covering - Washington Post

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:41:55 GMT

The hundred pages of Benghazi e-mails released this week tell us almost nothing about how four Americans came to die so tragically in that Libyan city. But they are a case study in why nothing works in Washington. Read full article >>

Disturbing abuses of power - Washington Post

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:40:00 GMT

East Germany’s Ministry for State Security, also known as the Stasi, posed a major challenge during my three-year stint as an attache at the U.S. Embassy in Bonn during the 1960s. Detecting and preventing Stasi agents from penetrating the security of U.S. diplomatic facilities in West Germany was a 24-7 undertaking. Read full article >>

Polish orphans provide unlikely lessons in thriving - Washington Post

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:27:57 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand A fish restaurant in New Zealand seemed an odd place to discuss a war that took place several thousand miles away and several decades ago, but there we were: Sea bream was served, sauvignon blanc was poured, the rain drummed down outside and I listened while three septuagenarians smiled, laughed and told me of the unimaginable tragedy they had lived through as children. Read full article >>

Conspiracy of the unproductive - Washington Post

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:11:00 GMT

At the end of a truly dismal week in his presidency, President Obama remains lucky in one crucial category: his opposition. It has been only a few days since two administration scandals — the IRS harassment of conservative groups and the Justice Department’s seizure of Associated Press phone records — dropped into the Republicans’ lap. But instead of turning public outrage to their advantage, Republicans have already begun overreaching, turning legitimate areas of inquiry into just some more partisan food fights. Read full article >>

It's dangerous out there -- especially for parents - Chicago Tribune

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:55:00 GMT

Go outside and play! It was a phrase commonly uttered by parents back in the day. It's a phrase commonly seen in government exhortations today. Just knowing that it was once the parents and is now the government often doing the telling is evidence that something has gone horribly wrong.

Getting to responsible sexual health education - Chicago Tribune

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:54:00 GMT

As Illinois lawmakers prepare to vote on comprehensive sex education for Illinois' youth (House Bill 2675), they should consider the experience of a young woman who was victimized twice — once by a rapist and again by the inaccurate, ideologically driven, abstinence-only doctrine passed off as sex education in her classroom.

Editorial: 24 aldermen rush to praise new meter deal - Chicago Tribune

Fri, 17 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Aldermen, have your heads stopped spinning over all the details in that McCormick Place/Navy Pier megadeal announced Thursday?

IRS bureaucrats saw Obama in rearview mirror - Chicago Tribune

Fri, 17 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Of course the president deserves some of the blame.

Kass: Mayor's shell game should have taxpayers clutching their wallets - Chicago Tribune

Fri, 17 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

I've got a feeling that in some weird, alternate universe, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is making a decent living playing hide-the-pea.

Daum: The gift of a great dog - Chicago Tribune

Fri, 17 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

If Rex could have talked, we would have finished each other's sentences.We got another dog right away. That wasn't the plan. But back in March, less than two weeks after Rex died and when I still had faint bruises from digging my fingers into my forehead amid uncontrollable sobs, I signed us up to "foster" a Saint Bernard mix that had been rescued from a crack den.

Editorial: The 'missing piece' in Chicago tourism - Chicago Tribune

Fri, 17 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Mayor Rahm Emanuel fleshed out the funding details for "Elevate Chicago," his grand plan to raise the city's profile as a tourism and convention destination.

Editorial: The death of Baby Jeremiah - Chicago Tribune

Fri, 17 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Spread the word about safe haven lawWe wish we didn't have to write this editorial, again.

IRS, AP, Libya scandals are a trifecta with little payout - Washington Post

Fri, 17 May 2013 01:07:34 GMT

Folks, deep breath time. This is not the end of the Obama presidency. It’s a bad stretch with an unfortunate confluence of unfortunate events. None of which will make the first paragraph — not even the first page — of the account of the Obama administration in the history books. Read full article >>

Redacted truth, subjunctive outrage - Washington Post

Fri, 17 May 2013 01:06:00 GMT

Note to GOP re Benghazi: Stop calling it Watergate, Iran-contra, bigger than both, etc. First, it might well be, but we don’t know. History will judge. Second, overhyping will only diminish the importance of the scandal if it doesn’t meet presidency-breaking standards. Third, focusing on the political effects simply plays into the hands of Democrats desperately claiming that this is nothing but partisan politics. Read full article >>

Obama’s tapped-out trust - Washington Post

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:21:22 GMT

Leaving aside the seriousness of lawlessness, and the corruption of our civic culture by the professionally pious, this past week has been amusing. There was the spectacle of advocates of an ever-larger regulatory government expressing shock about such government’s large capacity for misbehavior. And, entertainingly, the answer to the question “Will Barack Obama’s scandals derail his second-term agenda?” was a question: What agenda? Read full article >>

The $642 billion excuse - Washington Post

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:49:12 GMT

In any other time and place, $642 billion would qualify as a lot of money. But in the Washington of 2013, it has been reduced to pocket change. When the Congressional Budget Office announced that it has cut its projected 2013 federal deficit to $642 billion — compared with 2012’s deficit of $1.1 trillion and an earlier 2013 estimate of $845 billion — there was an almost-palpable sigh of relief. The budget problem is taking care of itself. Congress and the White House can relax. No more self-destructive budget brawls. No more unpopular choices between tax increases and spending cuts. Read full article >>

Kass: D-Wade, others come up short in fashion - Chicago Tribune

Thu, 16 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

'Pedal pushers' aren't even the worst thing men wear to work nowIt's getting warm outside and the last thing America needs are men following D-Wade's lead by showing leg at the office.

Huppke: A social media term the world could do without - Chicago Tribune

Thu, 16 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

How "seflies" are destroying civilization, and what you can do to help.

Eric Holder’s abdication - Washington Post

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:21:00 GMT

As the nation’s top law enforcement official, Eric Holder is privy to all kinds of sensitive information. But he seems to be proud of how little he knows. Why didn’t his Justice Department inform the Associated Press, as the law requires, before pawing through reporters’ phone records? Read full article >>

Government’s heavy hand felt in IRS, AP scandals - Washington Post

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:02:00 GMT

So, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has investigated the IRS investigation of conservative groups. And the FBI has launched a criminal investigation of the IRS. And the State Department’s Office of Inspector General is investigating the Accountability Review Board that investigated the administration’s response to the Benghazi terror attack. And House committees including Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform, Ways and Means and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence are variously investigating the Benghazi matter, the IRS and the Justice Department investigation of the Associated Press. Read full article >>

The GOP’s Hispanic problem - Washington Post

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:01:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The U.S. Census Bureau released its November voting data and one thing is clear: The so-called Latino Sleeping Giant is still snoozing — fewer than half of all eligible Hispanics turned out to vote in 2012. Read full article >>

The false god of ‘narrative’ - Washington Post

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:56 GMT

“What if the government starts enforcing the espionage statute whenever there’s a leak?” Steve Roberts, a former New York Times journalist who teaches at George Washington University, observed to the Baltimore Sun. “It’s going to have a tremendously chilling effect on this interplay between sources and reporters.” Read full article >>

In IRS and AP scandals, a frighteningly impotent government - Washington Post

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:13 GMT

At a time when Congress can’t pass a budget and the president can’t win approval of any important legislation, the public is indignant about the threat of an overreaching, all-powerful federal government that uses the IRS and the Justice Department to harass its enemies. Read full article >>

Angelina Jolie went public to help other women - Washington Post

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:49:00 GMT

As it happens, I do not read op-eds written by celebrities, mostly because I don’t care what they think — if and when they ever do. It was for that reason that I went right by the New York Times op-ed written by Angelina Jolie and returned to it only after my sister called to talk about it. She has just finished a bout of (preventive) radiation to stop what could be breast cancer in its tracks. Jolie, she said, had done a wonderful thing. Yes, indeed. Read full article >>

IRS-gate goes to the top - Washington Post

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:55:00 GMT

(The Oval Office. September 2010. Barack Obama is alone, reclining in his chair, legs up on the desk. The Communist Internationale plays loudly. The president whistles along while reading a large hardcover book. As camera zooms in, the words “Das Kapital” can be seen on the spine.) Read full article >>

Obama, the uninterested president - Washington Post

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:36:58 GMT

President Passerby needs urgently to become a participant in his presidency. Late Monday came the breathtaking news of a full-frontal assault on the First Amendment by his administration: word that the Justice Department had gone on a fishing expedition through months of phone records of Associated Press reporters. Read full article >>

Mending factory conditions after Bangladesh - Washington Post

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:35:06 GMT

The most dangerous job in the world, outside war zones, isn’t that of an undercover police officer or a firefighter or a bullfighter or aerialist. It’s sewing garments — particularly in Bangladesh. The death toll in the April 24 collapse of Rana Plaza has topped 1,100 and continues to rise. But Rana Plaza is merely the most deadly of an unbroken string of preventable disasters that have plagued garment manufacturing in Bangladesh, the world’s second-largest exporter of clothing, behind only China. It’s not even the most recent preventable disaster: Since the cataclysmic building collapse, several fires have swept other Bangladeshi factories, the most recent of which, last week, took eight lives. Read full article >>