Here are, in my view, interesting, noteworthy columns and articles from the past week that I highly recommend:
What of the crimes, massacres prevented?
“A reader who refers to himself as ‘a common-sense liberal’ writes in:
In view of the agonized calls for increased restrictions on firearm ownership resurrected by the recent shooting in Arizona, could you write a column with meaningful statistics on death and injury nationwide prevented by the civilian ownership of firearms?”
High speed rail is a fast way to waste taxpayer money
“High-speed rail may sound like a good idea. It works, and reportedly even makes a profit, in Japan and France. If they can do it, why can’t we?
“The fact is that the majority of abortions — far from all, but the majority — serve as nothing more than routine birth control: Most women who have abortions became pregnant by willingly engaging in high-risk sexual activity, and many resort to abortion more than once. For a solid pro-choicer, this presents no problem; if unborn children have no rights, there is no harm done.”
Why Sarah Palin Drives Them Wild
“I wonder how many television hosts and “journalists” tuned in to Sarah Palin’s interview on ‘Hannity’ this week, waiting with bated breath for her to say something they could try to distort. And the more she says ‘this isn’t about me,’ the more they make it about her. Let’s enter the world of Sarah Palin for a moment.”
“The welfare state has done to black Americans what slavery couldn’t do. . . . And that is to destroy the black family.”
Don’t kids shovel anymore?
“During my nearly three decades in Boston, exactly one kid has come by seeking a shoveling job. He worked for about 20 minutes on freeing my car from the snowplowed ridge that held it captive, whittling the wintry berm down to the point where you might possibly have extracted the vehicle if, say, you had a mammoth fork-lift at your disposal. When I noted same, he said he’d settle for half the agreed-on fee — and left me to finish the job.”
