WASHINGTON POST: …Reports of rising tensions between foreign and local fighters, aggressive and increasingly unsuccessful attempts to recruit local citizens for the front lines and a growing incidence of guerrilla attacks against Islamic State targets suggest the militants are struggling to sustain their carefully cultivated image as a fearsome fighting force drawing Muslims together under […]
Breedlove’s Bellicosity: Berlin Alarmed by Aggressive NATO Stance on Ukraine
SPIEGEL: US President Obama supports Chancellor Merkel’s efforts at finding a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis. But hawks in Washington seem determined to torpedo Berlin’s approach. And NATO’s top commander in Europe hasn’t been helping either. It was quiet in eastern Ukraine last Wednesday. Indeed, it was another quiet day in an extended stretch […]
The fiscal implications of Pennsylvania’s aging population
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE O-ED: …Over the period 1971-2013, Pennsylvania’s personal income tax base rose proportionately with respect to broadly measured personal income. However, spending pressures for the elderly in terms of health care and long-term care, grew disproportionately. For every 1 percent increase in Pennsylvania’s personal income, the personal income tax base grew by 1 percent. […]
The Feel-Good Gene
People with the variant FAAH gene are less anxious and are thus less inclined to like marijuana. They actually experience a decrease in happiness when smoking marijuana, compared with those with the normal FAAH gene, who find it pleasurable.
Utilities strive to fetter solar industry’s growth
WASHINGTON POST: …If demand for residential solar continued to soar, traditional utilities could soon face serious problems, from “declining retail sales” and a “loss of customers” to “potential obsolescence,” according to a presentation prepared for the group. “Industry must prepare an action plan to address the challenges,” it said. The warning, delivered to a private […]
After Talks, Nuclear Deal on Iran Is Seen as Close
NEW YORK TIMES: …Mr. Kerry’s immediate task on Saturday was to present a tableau of unity with counterparts from France, Britain and Germany a day after the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, complained that the emerging accord did not yet go far enough to constrain Iran’s nuclear capabilities. “There has been progress but as far […]
Does Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan help or hurt the middle class?
LANCASTERONLINE: …The sales tax would go from 6 percent to 6.6 percent, and expand the tax to include 45 items that are now exempt. Wolf estimates the increase and expansion of the tax would raise an additional $1.6 billion over the nearly $8.1 billion the tax generated this year. Pennsylvania’s state and local governments collect […]
LETTER: Is there is minimum standard required to be considered a newspaper?
I suspect actually producing “news” is just the necessary means of acquiring readership to justify advertising rates. It is all about them generating revenue from advertising and marketing.
A trip to Asia. A cry from the heart.
Our journey to witness the Asian miracle started in the city state of Singapore, a region that within our middle-age guide’s lifetime had transformed itself from huts without electricity to one of the great cities and economic centers of the world.
Netanyahu’s Iran Thing
NEW YORK TIMES COLUMN: Let’s begin with Benjamin Netanyahu’s Iran logic. He portrays a rampaging Islamic Republic that “now dominates four Arab capitals, Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and Sana,” a nation “gobbling” other countries on a “march of conquest, subjugation and terror.”
What Obama’s trip to Selma means
POLITICO: On Saturday, Obama will not only attend the march, he will lead it, along with his wife, Michelle, and both his daughters. In contrast to his first term when many black leaders were frustrated by how hard he worked to avoid inflaming racial tensions, in his second term he has more publicly embraced his […]
Election reform is on the line at the Supreme Court
WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL: …The case concerns an amendment to the Arizona constitution that empowered a nonpartisan committee to create district maps — without input from or the approval of state lawmakers. Voters went over the heads of state legislators, limiting politicians’ regularly abused power to manipulate the political system. That’s the problem, Arizona’s legislature argues. […]
U.S. Economy Added 295,000 Jobs in February, but Wages Continued to Lag
NEW YORK TIMES: The economy gained fresh momentum last month as the Labor Department reported on Friday that employers added 295,000 workers in February, far exceeding expectations, and the unemployment rate took another dip. But wage gains continued to lag, rising only 2 percent from a year earlier. The unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent, […]
Pennsylvania beer distributors could soon sell 12-packs
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: Bound for decades by rules requiring malt beverages to be sold mainly by the case or keg, Pennsylvania beer distributors could soon be able to sell 12-packs. As soon as today, according to multiple sources, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is expected to issue an advisory decision that would, in effect, allow distributors […]