Assorted Links (10/29/2012)

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:

Mugging our descendants

www.washingtonpost.com

Quoting from this article, “America’s ethos once was… “optimistic Puritanism,” combining an affinity for personal enterprise with a horror of dependency. Nov. 6 is a late and perhaps last chance to begin stopping the scandal of plundering our descendants’ wealth to finance the demands of today’s entitlement mentality.”

President Obama in Shining Armor

www.nytimes.com

“The Obama campaign has been making a weirdly paternalistic pitch to women.”

The Fiscal Duty of Congress’s Lame Duck

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Steve Forbes notes that the Congressional Budget Office predicts a recession if tax hikes and the sequester are allowed to take effect on Jan. 2.”

Notable & Quotable

online.wsj.com

“Joseph Schumpeter writing in Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1942) about how a swelling mass of unemployed and unemployable college graduates sets the stage for anticapitalist radicalism.”

America’s Capsizing Naval Policy

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, novelist and Claremont Institute fellow Mark Helprin writes that China’s maritime power and aggressive posture is rising while the size of the U.S. Navy continues to shrink.”

The Anatomy of Government Failure

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Michael Boskin writes that a government cure for an economic or social problem may be worse than the disease it purports to fix.”

America’s Religious Past Fades in a Secular Age

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal’s Houses of Worship column, David Aikman notes that one in five Americans today has no religious affiliation, which would have been unthinkable to the Founders.”

The Dangers of an Informed Electorate

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Bradley Smith writes that the left would rather voters remain in the dark than get information from their employers.”

A Chronic Case of Obamnesia

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Potomac Watch columnist Kimberley Strassel writes that President Barack Obama—who accused Mitt Romney of ‘Stage 3 Romnesia’—has left a long trail of flip-flops during his career.”

Michael Lewis: Obama’s Way

www.vanityfair.com

Fascinating October 2012 Vanity Fair article by Michael Lewis, the author of Boomerang, Moneyball, Liar’s Poker, and various other very fascinating books; I also recommend Terry Gross’s “Fresh Air” interview with Michael Lewis about this article @ http://www.npr.org/2012/09/12/161003362/michael-lewis-studies-obamas-way.

2012 U.S. Electorate Looks Like 2008

www.gallup.com

Interestingly, according to Gallup, 49% of likely voters in 2012 are either Republican or “lean” Republican, compared with 46% being either Democrat or leaning Democrat. This is quite a change from 2008, when 54% of likely voters were Democrat or leaned Democrat, compared with only 42% being or leaning Republican…

What’s Your Magic Retirement Number?

bing.com

This brief video provides some logically coherent and easy-to-follow guidelines concerning how to determine appropriate financial goals and objectives related to saving for retirement, irrespective of whether your 35, 45, or 55 years old…

Obama’s 2nd term plan: Does it add up?

The Obama campaign released a plan detailing his plan for a second term. Does it add up? CNN’s Erin Burnett’s answer is an emphatic no. Boom…

The Island Where People Forget to Die

www.nytimes.com

“Unraveling the mystery of why the inhabitants of Ikaria live so long and so well.”

Poll Addict Confesses

www.nytimes.com

“Is all this 24/7 hysteria over the latest political poll doing us any good?”

Does Killing Bin Laden = Successful Foreign Policy?

reason.com

“Over at the Washington Examiner, the editors note that killing Osama bin Laden does not a foreign policy make.”

It’s Not a Kill List. It’s a “Disposition Matrix.”

reason.com

“Terrifying highlights from The Washington Post’s new report on the Obama administration’s drone-driven targeting killing program…”

Is America Exceptional?

www.hillsdale.edu

I highly recommend Norman Podhoretz’s essay entitled “Is America Exceptional?”

Why I Refuse to Vote for Barack Obama

www.theatlantic.com

“The case against casting a ballot for the president — even if you think he’s better than Mitt Romney…”

YouTube Videos Don’t Kill People

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Information Age columnist Gordon Crovitz notes that in a speech in Iowa last week, Obama dropped his standard claim that ‘al Qaeda is on the run.’”

The Castros in Winter

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Americas columnist Mary Anastasia O’Grady writes that Cuba will soon make it easier for some to legally travel abroad—but this is not a sign of liberalization.”

If Ben Bernanke Sought Advice

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Noam Neusner imagines how a financial analyst might assess the firm of B. Obama & Associates and its Fed funders.”

The Unreality of the Past Four Years

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Dorothy Rabinowitz writes that the Benghazi fiasco is a brutally illuminating portrait of the Obama White House in crisis mode.”

Mr. Johnson Goes to Washington

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Allysia Finley interviews Wisconsin Senator and tea party favorite Ron Johnson on the frustrations of his first two years in Washington, his version of the ‘Buffett Rule,’ and what could happen if Mitt Romney wins.”

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