Big Labor's Last Stand
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 10:00 pm PST
RealClearPolitics.com - The term "big labor" is becoming a vestige of a bygone era. Union ranks have not been this thin for 75 years, when the Wagner Act catalyzed the modern labor movement. Labor is today defending its last bulwark, civil service unions. Napoleon once said that an army marches on its stomach. Today's union battle ultimately concerns how unions feed, or fund, their army--that is, what remains of it. Labor is standing before the breach. Full Story | Top |
North Korea Threatens Action Over South Korea's Leaflet Attempt
Sun, 27 Feb 2011 02:01 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - South Korea has been sending balloon leaflets referencing the protests in Egypt and Libya over its northern border as part of a campaign to get North Koreans "to think about change." Food, medicines and radios were also secured in light-weight baskets to the balloon leaflets, Reuters reported. The effort has been met by firm resistance by Pyongyang. On Sunday, the North Korea state-run news agency has issued a statement saying "that it will 'launch direct, targeted firing attacks' at any area where activists or military members are seen releasing the balloons," the Washington Post reports. Post reporter Chico Harlan quotes from a recently released report by economists Marcus Noland and Stephan Haggard about the likelihood of the regime "unraveling":"There are reasons to doubt that a dramatic political unraveling will occur in North Korea any time soon....The regime has aggressively forestalled independent forms of social organization....There are no independent unions, autonomous religious organizations, or forums of intellectuals, all of which have served as platforms for organizing dissent in countries that have democratized in recent decades." Full Story | Top |
THE MYSTIC CHORDS OF MORAL LEADERSHIP
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 05:02 pm PST
David Shribman - Seven states had left the Union. Fort Sumter needed to be resupplied. Washington was in upheaval, sharpshooters were deployed to the roofs of buildings, a light-artillery battalion was installed on Capitol Hill. It was in this atmosphere, 150 years ago this week, that Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office. Full Story | Top |
Did Google's New Search Algorithm Hurt the Huffington Post's Google Juice?
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 03:58 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - Google rolled out a new algorithm in the U.S. on Friday to prevent so-called "content farms" from gaming the system with a seemingly never-ending supply of low-quality how-to articles. The Atlantic's Alexis Madrigal decided to test the enhancement by querying the phrases "drywall dust" and "is botox safe" in the new system, that is the U.S. version of Google, and the old system by way of a proxy server that accessed Google's overseas search where the new algorithm hasn't been released. His conclusion? The new algorithm yielded "far superior results." Full Story | Top |
Lawmakers Come Under Rocket Fire in Iraq, Claim They Weren't Scared
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 03:18 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - Five members of Congress came under rocket fire while visiting a military base in Iraq Friday, Politico's Marin Cogan reports. They were herded into a bunker and guarded by soldiers while they listened to the explosions. But don't worry folks--they weren't scared, not for a minute. Full Story | Top |
Why Isn't the GOP Learning From Chris Christie?
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 02:21 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - Daunted by the bitter budget battle in Wisconsin, GOP leaders in "several states" are softening their positions on public employee unions, reports the Associated Press. In Indiana, Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) implored GOP legislators to abandon a "right to work" bill. In Ohio, GOP senate leaders have watered down a bill prohibiting collective bargaining rights for public employees. Michigan's and Florida's GOP governors have agreed to take a "conciliatory approach" to union groups. The question that should come to mind for Republican strategists is why now? Whether one considers the fight against public unions an example of malicious Republican scapegoating or genuine budgetary problem-solving is beside the point. Politically, there's a strong argument to make that union-bashing has never been a more popular issue. In his cover story in The New York Times Magazine, Matt Bai makes precisely that argument in his assessment of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's recent successes: Not only are public employees' contracts no longer untouchable for any politician who wants to stay in office, but it turns out that the opposite is true; taking the fight to the unions is a good way to bolster your credentials as a gutsy reformer with voters who have been losing faith for years in public schools and government bureaucracies. This, more than anything else, is the lesson that Chris Christie has impressed on his contemporaries. Full Story | Top |
Quote of the Day: Gates Says No More Wars Like Iraq and Afghanistan
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 01:54 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - "In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,' as General MacArthur so delicately put it." -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in a speech to West Point cadets Friday. Full Story | Top |
Number of Abortions Performed Drops in Latest CDC Tally
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 01:54 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - The Center for Disease Control has released its data on abortion statistics for the year 2007. One of the most noteworthy findings is that abortions were nearly at a 10-year low during that year. "The new report indicates 827,609 abortions were done in 2007," notes the pro-life Web site LifeNews. "The 2007 total is the second lowest since 1998, with only the 2005 figure of 820,151 showing fewer abortions." Nationwide, numbers have been on a gradual decline since 1998, except for a spike in 2006, as seen on the graph below. Full Story | Top |
Is DOMA Dead?
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 01:31 pm PST
The Nation - The Nation -- On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder stunned lesbians and gay men and allies by announcing that the Obama administration will no longer defend Section 3 of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Full Story | Top |
Obama decision on gay marriage shows government trying to abolish God
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:53 pm PST
The Christian Science Monitor - In a controversial decision, President Obama this week abandoned the Defense of Marriage Act – the 1996 law that defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and forbids the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. Mr. Obama ordered his administration to stop defending it in court because he has decided it’s unconstitutional and unfair. Full Story | Top |
Do Journalists Hate Their Jobs?
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:18 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - An informal survey of 146 journalists who lost their jobs two years ago when the Rocky Mountain News closed has revealed a surprising finding: A majority of the journalists who've left the industry say their lives are now better--even though most are making less money. The results come from John Temple, the former publisher of the paper. In a piece for The Atlantic, Temple writes that a number of his former employees say "more time with family, learning new skills, and new opportunities made up for the loss of a job."His survey found that 70 percent of the laid off journalists are making less money today than they did at the Rocky Mountain News. So what's happening here? Is journalism such a soul-crushing profession that when its adherents leave and subsequently earn less money they're actually more satisfied? Maybe, maybe not. If anything, the experience of journalists at the Rocky Mountain News seems to be an outlier. Another recent survey by The Journalism Shop, questioned 124 writers, editors, news editors, managers and artists who were laid off at The Los Angeles Times. Though the respondents weren't directly questioned about quality of life, the responses were anything but upbeat. “Week-to-week takes on a whole new meaning,†wrote a man in his 40s. Full Story | Top |
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