Robert Samuelson: What we’re seeing in Greece is the death spiral of the welfare state. This isn’t Greece’s problem alone, and that’s why its crisis has rattled global stock markets and threatens economic recovery. Virtually every advanced nation, including the United States, faces the same prospect. Aging populations have been promised huge health and retirement benefits, which countries haven’t fully covered with taxes. The reckoning has arrived in Greece, but

Robert Samuelson: What we’re seeing in Greece is the death spiral of the welfare state. This isn’t Greece’s problem alone, and that’s why its crisis has rattled global stock markets and threatens economic recovery. Virtually every advanced nation, including the United States, faces the same prospect. Aging populations have been promised huge health and retirement benefits, which countries haven’t fully covered with taxes. The reckoning has arrived in Greece, but

From The Morning Bell, Heritage Foundation: According to multiple sources, at 10 am today President Barack Obama will announce his decision to name Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Kagan, who served as the Dean of Harvard Law School from 2003 to 2009, would be the first justice without judicial experience in almost 40 years. But this does not mean she is in any way a stranger to

From The Morning Bell, Heritage Foundation: According to multiple sources, at 10 am today President Barack Obama will announce his decision to name Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Kagan, who served as the Dean of Harvard Law School from 2003 to 2009, would be the first justice without judicial experience in almost 40 years. But this does not mean she is in any way a stranger to

Jonah Goldberg: Opponents of Arizona’s law believe government officials — i.e., cops — lack the judgment to enforce Arizona’s law. But at the same time, they believe other officials can make snap judgments about who deserves a job or a superior education based on skin color. Given this inconsistency, one has to wonder: Is the objection to the law that it won’t work, or that it will? Come now, Jonah.

Jonah Goldberg: Opponents of Arizona’s law believe government officials — i.e., cops — lack the judgment to enforce Arizona’s law. But at the same time, they believe other officials can make snap judgments about who deserves a job or a superior education based on skin color. Given this inconsistency, one has to wonder: Is the objection to the law that it won’t work, or that it will? Come now, Jonah.

Much to be thankful for today, not the least of which is that, as NPR reminds us, “Americans Don’t Fall for Spin During a Crises”. So. Along with mothers, we’ve got that going for us. Which is always nice.

Much to be thankful for today, not the least of which is that, as NPR reminds us, “Americans Don’t Fall for Spin During a Crises”. So. Along with mothers, we’ve got that going for us. Which is always nice.

Thanks so much to GeoffB, who was able to locate the .pdf of some of my old course notes, which — as background for my students — dealt with many of the issues of interpretation that we’ve been discussing here (and elsewhere) over the past few days. Many of the following observations on meaning and hermeneutics were made by Walter Benn Michaels and augmented by me for my own pedagogical

Please. Do what you can to keep protein wisdom the barely relevant voice of classical liberalism it pretends to be. After all, your throwing good money after bad month after month is what keeps alive what should be a dying site that offers little in the way of intellectual worth. Thanks in advance. Suckers. **** Sunday update: Thanks to those who contributed. I’m at about a quarter of my target