Unca Darrell

JULY 19 / Good introduction to John Calvin

[JULY 10 marked] the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, the French theologian who helped carry the Protestant Reformation into the heart of Europe . . . . Though Calvin was never the theocratic thug of popular imagination, neither was he a champion of individual freedom. 

JULY 17 / But hey, they've got national health care

[UNDER VLADIMIR] Putin's leadership, Russia has become more nationalistic, corrupt, and corporatist. Its economy, although much bigger than a decade ago, is even more dependent on oil and gas, an industry now controlled by a small group of klepocratic courtiers and former spies. The decision by IKEA . . . once bullish about Russia, to suspend investment because of graft is an indictment of the dire commercial climate . . . . Its non-energy exports are smaller than Sweden's.

JULY 8 / This post is boring. Read it anyway.

IF YOU don't have an answer to the issues posed below, you have nothing useful to add to the central public policy debate of our time.

JULY 7 / Unsustainable

[I]N THE LONG RUN today's fiscal laxity is unsustainable. Governments' thirst for funds will eventually crowd out private investment and reduce economic growth. More alarming, the scale of the coming indebtedness might ultimately induce governments to default or to cut the real cost of their debt through high inflation.

JULY 6 / The end of the free market?

IAN BREMMER, "State Capitalism Comes of Age," Foreign Affairs, May/June 2009:

Until very recently, New York City was the world's financial capital. It no longer is even the financial capital of the United States. That distinction now falls to Washington, where members of Congress and the executive branch make decisions with long-term market impact on a scale not seen since the 1930s. A similar shift is taking blace throughout the world . . . .

JULY 3 / Krauthammer on Obama's compulsion to find fault with his own country

LEFTIST JOURNOS (but I repeat myself) typically ignore July 4 or use it as a day to find fault with America. What better day than July 3, then, to do a preemptive takedown by recalling this fine Krauthammer column about our apologizer-in-chief: "Obama Hovers From On High," Washington Post, June 12, 2009. 

JUNE 25 / One-by-one, some journalists will admit the obvious. Here's one.

PHIL BRONSTEIN, "Bronstein at Large: Love or lust, Obama and the fawning press need to get a room," sfgate.com, June 8, 2009:

This guy [meaning President Obama] is good. Really good. And, frankly, so far, we [meaning the press] are not.

JUNE 16 / Stuart Taylor on Sotomayor and the New Haven affirmative-action case

Stuart Taylor, Jr.

may well support [Judge Sonia Sotomayor's] confirmation . . . if her testimony . . . dispels my concern that her decisions may be biased by the grievance-focused mind-set and the "wise Latina woman" superiority complex displayed in some of her speeches.

But close study of her most famous case only enhances my concern. . . .

MARCH 18 / New book on KIPP schools

THE KIPP schools started in Houston. A new book (Work Hard. Be Nice.) tells the story and explains the success. The secrets? 

MARCH 14 / "Buyer's Remorse," a continuing series

THIS IS NOT to deny that the liberal wish list in Obama's staggering $3.6 trillion budget would be wonderful if we had limitless resources. But in the real world, it could put vast areas of the economy under permanent government mismangement, kill millions of jobs, drive investors and employers overseas, and bankrupt the nation.

And this from someone (Stuart Taylor) who genuinely admires President Obama. Here's the lede: