Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:52:59 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Opinion :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/opinion istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us ANDREW WOLF http://www.nysun.com/opinion/save-yankee-stadium/82184/ Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST It came as an relief to me that our Landmarks Preservation Commission has designated 30 mostly forgettable buildings along the west side of Manhattan as the "West Chelsea Historic District." I can now sleep soundly secure in the knowledge that the R.C. Williams and Co. building, the Berlin and Jones Envelope Co. building, the Wolff Building and the Wolff Building Annex, and 26 others will be protected from the wrecking ball. Meanwhile, several miles to the north, wrecking crews are anticipating... R. EMMETT TYRRELL, JR. http://www.nysun.com/opinion/the-gaffable-prophet-obama/82186/ Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST As I suggested a few weeks ago, Senator Obama is not going to have an easy time of it. For one thing, Senator McCain is a much tougher candidate than has been suspected. Looking over his career, one will note that Mr. McCain learned politics before ever entering politics. As a young Navy liaison to the Senate in the 1970s, he worked effectively with Democratic and Republican hawks to reverse the post-Vietnam military decline. He, having managed the largest fighter squadron in the Navy, has... DIANA FURCHTGOTT-ROTH http://www.nysun.com/opinion/new-rules-for-osha/82188/ Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST The Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has rules that protect workers against extremely unlikely events, but no rules to protect workers from some more likely hazards. We can do better. It's good news, then, that the Labor Department is proposing new rules for evaluating different health risks. This rationalized approach to worker on-the-job safety will reduce costs to business — which helps to preserve jobs — without spending money on needless bureaucratic... PATRICK McILHERAN http://www.nysun.com/opinion/commute-of-the-future-the-bus/82185/ Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST So in Chicago, a city that thinks big, a would-be Olympic host with an extensive rail transit system, its newest line just 15 years old — in Chicago, what is the latest idea for transit? Buses. The Chicago Transit Authority is going to try the spiffed-up kind of express service called "bus rapid transit" sometime next year. It's merely the latest American city to do so. This is good news for liberty. What Chicago proposes is bus-only lanes on four major streets. With limited stops and on-board... MARIAN TUPY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/shame-the-beloved-country/82187/ Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST What do authoritarian regimes like China, Libya, Russia, Vietnam, and a democracy like South Africa have in common? Their representatives voted against an arms embargo on Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe during the recent U.N. Security Council meeting in New York. The South African vote, which will allow Mr. Mugabe's generals to go on procuring weapons they need to complete the destruction of their domestic opponents, is as shocking as it is hypocritical. After all, the South African... http://www.nysun.com/opinion/opera-in-translation/82181/ Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST 'Opera, in Translation' John McWhorter's column on supertitles at opera houses minimizes the wonderful benefits of titles accompanying operas [Oped, "Opera, in Translation," July 10, 2008]. Titles allow for increased comprehension as the opera evolves, helping one make sense out of what otherwise would be tedious stretches and adding to one's appreciation of the plot. In the first act of Puccini's "Madame Butterfly," there is an eruption on stage that traditionally has not been recognized for... http://www.nysun.com/editorials/hardly-a-depression/82093/ Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST 'Hardly a Depression' The biggest difference between the Great Depression and the current financial crisis is that this crisis hasn't ended yet [Oped, "Hardly a Depression," July 3, 2008]. Yes, the modern news press and broadcast press hypes every crisis, but even Peter can see a real wolf. Amity Shlaes is cited by Mr. Stossel, contrasting our current economic plight with the 1930s, " ... in the depression America confronted deflation ... today we are in an inflation. If this period is like... ANDREW NAPOLITANO http://www.nysun.com/opinion/unconstitutional-bailout/82095/ Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST When Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced that the government would provide a credit line to shareholders of Bear Stearns in order to prevent the giant investment bank from collapsing, he was consciously making a profound choice to use taxpayer dollars to save one bank and not to save another. On Friday, IndyMac, a huge California-based institution, with billions in assets, was permitted to expire while depositors waited in long lines outside of bank branches to retrieve the portions of... DANIEL JOHNSON http://www.nysun.com/opinion/petraeus-for-president/82053/ Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST The New Yorker has achieved the impossible: it has united Barack Obama and John McCain. Both camps are competing to outdo one another in denouncing the magazine's cover illustration, which shows Senator Obama dressed in robes and head gear normally associated with Islamist-type radicals and Michelle Obama with an Afro and dressed in fatigues like a 1970s radical with a sub-machine gun slung on her shoulder celebrating their takeover of the White House by burning the Stars and Stripes. The... JOHN McWHORTER http://www.nysun.com/opinion/from-theatrics-to-reality/82054/ Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST On Monday Barack Obama made a speech before the NAACP at their annual convention about — brace yourself — black people being responsible for themselves. Such a fresh notion: black people can't expect the government to solve all of their problems. I am supposed to write this column about how this is what the black community needs to listen to and how brave Mr. Obama is. But I won't. Not because I don't salute him, but because he was doing something perfectly normal in modern black communities... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/tear-down-those-stop-signs/82055/ Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Day after day in Warren, Mich., people wait in a long line to pay traffic fines. Many are there because police say they didn't come to a full stop at a stop sign. Often the policeman saying that is Officer David Kanapsky. On last week's "20/20," you heard a motorist in court insist that she did come to a complete stop. The judge replied, as judges there often do: "I find Officer Kanapsky's testimony to be credible. He is an unbiased witness." But the officer is not really unbiased. The more... KENNETH BLACKWELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/the-gathering-threat/82056/ Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST House Speaker Pelosi is hinting at reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, and many of her liberal colleagues in Congress are doing the same in both chambers. Alleging the press isn't "balanced," they say government should be making sure that all viewpoints — meaning the left's — are "fairly" represented. I agree the press isn't balanced, but Mrs. Pelosi has it backward; liberalism dominates the press, including the three major networks and most major newspapers. Though originally the Fairness... EDWARD GLAESER http://www.nysun.com/opinion/houston-new-york-has-a-problem/81989/ Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST The Southern city welcomes the middle class; heavily regulated and expensive Gotham drives it away. New Yorkers are rightly proud of their city's renaissance over the last two decades, but when it comes to growth, Gotham pales beside Houston. Between 2000 and 2007, the New York region grew by just 2.7%, while greater Houston — the country's sixth-largest metropolitan area — grew by 19.4%, expanding to 5.6 million people from 4.7 million. To East Coast urbanites, Houston's appeal must be... RICK RICHMAN http://www.nysun.com/opinion/obamas-redivided-jerusalem/81959/ Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Senator Obama, in his speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, said, "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided." The next day, an unnamed adviser tried to "clarify" the statement to suggest it left room for Palestinian sovereignty. On Sunday in a CNN interview, Fareed Zakaria questioned Mr. Obama about his AIPAC speech supporting Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel. Mr. Zakaria asked him, "why not support the Clinton plan, which envisions... DIANA FURCHTGOTT-ROTH http://www.nysun.com/opinion/sec-sells-economy-short/81960/ Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST SEC Chairman Christopher Cox's emergency announcement that the Securities and Exchange Commission will limit short sales of stocks in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and brokerage firms for 30 days is yet another step in the government's interference in the workings of the economy. It's a desperate move that will have no long-term effect in stabilizing the markets. Mr. Cox's action follows on the announcement made earlier this week of the federal guarantees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the bailout... NICHOLAS WAPSHOTT http://www.nysun.com/opinion/mccain-a-formidable-rival/81962/ Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Something most unlikely is happening in the presidential election. All the odds are stacked against John McCain. By his own admission he is "as old as dirt" and has "as many scars as Frankenstein." He is not a great stump speaker, finds it awkward reading a speech from a teleprompter, and, though charming in person, he does not have great screen presence. His campaign is in shambles. Even before his economic adviser Phil Gramm started wagging his finger at Americans feeling the pinch at the gas... SETH GITELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/romneys-rationale/81904/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST The coming weeks will answer one very important question about John McCain: does he want to be the Republican Party's presidential nominee or does he want to be president? Senator McCain is lucky that the race is still close, the most recent Rasmussen poll showed him being tied with Barack Obama. So far, Mr. McCain's campaign has been abysmal: wooden set-piece speeches, poor visuals, and off-message surrogates. A former Texas senator and the candidate's purported top economic adviser, Phil... http://www.nysun.com/opinion/report-details-troubles-in-chinatown/81905/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST It is astounding that your article by Catherine Bilkey, "Report Details Troubles in Chinatown," only cites the Asian American Federation's Howard Shih and Chinatown Partnership LDC's Wellington Chen — both of whom blamed the business/economic model for Chinatown's economy not improving at the same rate as the rest of the New York economy [New York, "Report Details Troubles in Chinatown," July 2, 2008]. Yet neither one mentioned the loss of the Municipal Garage at Police Headquarters with its... HILLEL HALKIN http://www.nysun.com/opinion/skeletons-in-israels-cabinet/81849/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST 'The strongest reason why Ehud Olmert should resign," said a friend to me the other day, "is that he doesn't understand why he should resign." I agree. More scandalous than any of the financial shenanigans of which Mr. Olmert stands accused is his failure to realize the difference between being a private citizen and a prime minister. Although in both cases he would be legally innocent until found guilty, the legal innocence that would have entitled him to continue living his private life is not... ANNE APPLEBAUM http://www.nysun.com/opinion/brandenburg-gategate/81850/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST 'Odd." That's what the chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, said when told of Barack Obama's plan to deliver a major campaign speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, right where the Berlin wall used to be, where Ronald Reagan once famously called upon the Soviet Union to "tear this wall down," and not far from where John F. Kennedy once said "Ich bin ein Berliner" — "I am a Berliner" — to show his solidarity with the citizens of what used to be a divided city. One can see her point: We too... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/opinion/moral-hazard-of-fannie-freddie/81851/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST 'Too big to fail" was the verdict in the U.S. Treasury decision to backstop mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But is the taxpayer risk of moral hazard still as big as ever? Investors trashed shares of these government-sponsored enterprises last week, knocking them down almost 50% on a wave of bankruptcy rumors. A former St. Louis Fed president, Bill Poole, argued that technically, the two already are in bankruptcy, while fears spread they couldn't even raise overnight money to... LENORE SKENAZY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/63-signs-of-recession/81852/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST For the average American man and woman — let's call them Freddie and Fannie — times are feeling a bit dicey. The housing market is in a swoon. The stock market is swooning right along. Consumer confidence? Lying there like a wet towel on the bathroom floor that nobody's picking up. As troubling as things are, however, are we really in bad shape? Here's a handy-dandy way to find out. YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN A RECESSION WHEN ... 1. You put your family on eBay. 2. You have your gold fillings removed... The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/opinion/a-sun-special-columns-by-arthur-brooks/81834/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:15:26 EST Recession's Gift April 9, 2008 You have to be living in a cave to miss the news that America's economy is increasingly rocky. Crises in housing, credit, and financial markets are now threatening to increase unemployment. Indeed, the Labor Department reported last week that jobless claims are now at their highest point since September 2005. Hypocrisy's Virtue March 25, 2008 The prostitution scandal that toppled Eliot Spitzer has turned a spotlight of attention on prostitution and sexual... http://www.nysun.com/opinion/if-you-build-it-they-wont-come/81805/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST The article by Cal Thomas defending the building of the border fence was right on target [Oped, "If You Build It, They Won't Come," June 26, 2008]. He points out the nonsensical reasons for opposing the fence — such as that it inhibits the mating of wildcats — and the false analogism such as the June 30th Time magazine article implying it is similar to the Berlin Wall, whose purpose was to keep people in. I also stress the absolute necessity of learning not only English, but American history... SETH LIPSKY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/obama-in-berlin/81806/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Senator Obama will be in Berlin later this month for what will no doubt be one of the important tests of his campaign. So far the controversy has been over whether he will speak in front of the Brandenburg Gate, a backdrop for giants — Reagan spoke there — and a symbol, today, of our victory in the Cold War. But who will be with him? Too bad it couldn't be George Meany, Jay Lovestone, and Irving Brown. Those leaders of the free trade union movement are long since gone, and more's the pity. They... R. EMMETT TYRRELL JR. http://www.nysun.com/opinion/health-care-a-la-adam-smith/81794/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST I am back from travels in old Europe and have survived in the pink. Readers of this column will recall that over the last three weeks I have been traveling through France and Britain. Add Scotland to the pilgrimage. In Edinburgh during the July Fourth weekend I participated in the unveiling of an Adam Smith statue, prominently placed near the top of this famous city's Royal Mile. Smith now overlooks much of this city in which he with other members of the Scottish Enlightenment thrived. He is... HOWARD HUSOCK http://www.nysun.com/opinion/dont-blame-rangel-for-his-rent/81795/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST It is tempting to view the fact that Rep. Charles Rangel is renting no fewer than four rent-stabilized apartments in a Harlem building chiefly as a reflection of political corruption — perhaps using his position, and its implied influence, to obtain residences and an office at below-market rates. This may, indeed, be what was going on — but such a storyline, nonetheless, misses the point. Mr. Rangel's good fortune in getting inexpensive apartments is less important as a personal story than as a... DAVID TWERSKY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/the-danger-of-madrid/81796/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST This week's interfaith conference in Madrid, sponsored by the Saudi King, may be inherently limited in scope — but that doesn't diminish its capacity for trouble. Like the debate over Senator Obama's proposal to enter into direct talks with the president of Iran, critics are put in the awkward position of opposing dialogue in favor of conflict. Why, ask proponents of dialogue, should we look a gift horse in the mouth. The danger in interfaith dialogues, as in diplomatic ones, is the price of... GEORGE GRESHAM http://www.nysun.com/opinion/eitc-to-inform-and-protect/81797/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Annie Lewis, a nurses's aide at Buffalo General Hospital for the past 35 years, is a typical underpaid health care worker. Over these three-plus decades, Ms. Lewis has raised her children, some of her grandchildren, and currently her six-year-old niece, Nadia, without ever making more than $29,000 a year. Each spring, she would pay H&R Block to do her taxes. She was never informed about the Earned Income Tax Credit, which provides a refundable income tax credit for low and moderate income... http://www.nysun.com/opinion/a-grand-jury-unlocked/81692/ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST 'A Grand Jury Unlocked' The most important lesson to be learned from the post-World War I and post-World War II Red Scares, the Japanese internment, and our current War on Terror, is that no matter how formidable an enemy may perceived to be, as your editorial put it so eloquently: "This does not mean that we have to abandon our system of civil liberties, presumption of innocence, and common decency" [Editorial, "A Grand Jury Unlocked," July 1, 2008]. Over the years, more and more people all... NATHAN DIAMENT http://www.nysun.com/opinion/the-first-freedom/81693/ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Barack Obama delivered the latest installment earlier this month in an unprecedented amount of outreach to America's faith communities. He announced his intention to keep, although modify, the "faith-based initiative" begun by President Bush in which government grants for social welfare programs are more readily available to faith-based organizations. In the wake of the 2004 presidential election, where exit polls emphasized that a voter's frequency of church attendance was the surest indicator... DAVID SHRIBMAN http://www.nysun.com/opinion/nelson-and-lyndon/81694/ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Both Nelson Rockefeller and Lyndon Johnson were born 100 years ago this summer. Their legacies speak to us still. One was born in the family summer cottage in Bar Harbor, Maine. The other was born in a house without electricity near Stonewall, Texas. One was reared amid the greatest riches in the world at the time. The other was reared in struggle and poverty. One grew up with the glitter and lights of New York City. The other grew up in the hardscrabble of Texas hill country. Nelson... GABRIELLE BIRKNER http://www.nysun.com/opinion/puppyhood-in-the-age-of-anxiety/81695/ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST A television series that made its debut last night on CBS employs a familiar reality-television formula: Contestants are evaluated by a panel of sharp-tongued judges, tasked with eliminating a participant at the end of each episode. The difference here is that the entrants are not aspiring supermodels, fashion designers, captains of industry, or celebrity hair stylists; they're dogs — and not just any dogs, but ones who can, according to their bios, surf, skateboard, spell, sneeze on cue, and... JAMES KIRCHICK http://www.nysun.com/opinion/address-mugabe-with-force/81696/ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST As its electoral crisis drags onto an agonizing fourth month of stalemate, Zimbabwe has proven to be one of the world's most intractable political conflicts. After 28 years of uninterrupted rule, President Mugabe has succeeded once again in stealing an election. Since receiving less votes than his opponent, the Movement for Democratic Change's Morgan Tsvangirai, in the March 29 presidential election, Mr. Mugabe let loose a campaign of intimidation, violence, forced relocation, and murder... ANDREW WOLF http://www.nysun.com/opinion/school-lessons-from-china/81699/ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Next week, some 30 educators from Shenzhen, China are attending seminars sponsored by the College of Mount St. Vincent "to study the concepts, practices, institutions, policies, and learning strategies embedded ... specifically within New York City where test scores are ever improving, and put those concepts into practice back in China," according to the announcement of the program released by the college. I would suggest that perhaps we turn things around and have the Chinese educators teach... AMITY SHLAES http://www.nysun.com/opinion/a-connection-premium/81577/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST They have to get in. Sometimes it's an Ivy League link they covet. Other times it is that slot at a college that people talk about at church. Either way, college and grad-school applicants clearly believe that a lifelong benefit derives from admission to a certain school. Recently, a team of economists dubbed this ineffable value a "connection premium." Most of us assume that a business school connection brings the highest reward of all, especially for that clannish crowd, equity analysts. But... http://www.nysun.com/opinion/a-grand-jury-unlocked/81579/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST 'A Grand Jury Unlocked' Your editorial about the suit to release transcripts relating to the indictment of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg cites Klaus Fuchs and Ted Hall as scientists who gave the Soviets "much more accurate information" than the Rosenbergs, but doesn't mention an even more significant agent whose name has only just come to light — George Koval [Editorial, "A Grand Jury Unlocked," July 1, 2008]. On November 12, 2007, the New York Times ran a front-page article reporting that... JOHN McWHORTER http://www.nysun.com/opinion/opera-in-translation/81541/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST The 25th anniversary of supertitles at the Metropolitan Opera is warm beer to me. Supertitles are definitely a darned sight better than the old days when one sat through operas barely knowing what anyone was singing and just savoring the "passion." In 1943, one man described what going to the opera was like when he was a kid. He said, "Listening to people sing words you didn't understand wasn't much fun." That was Oscar Hammerstein. Supertitles were beyond the technology of the day, and so he... DANIEL JOHNSON http://www.nysun.com/opinion/obamas-grand-tour/81542/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST LONDON — Even before November's presidential election, Barack Obama already is being treated as the most important person on earth. The mere prospect of his appearance in London on July 18 — as a brief stopover on a tour that will, we are assured, take him to Paris, Berlin, and Israel, and very likely to Iraq and Afghanistan — has the London press salivating. Mr. Obama's second coming — he spent 24 hours in Europe a decade ago — promises to be less a visit than a visitation. It does, however... KENNETH BLACKWELL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/the-post-racial-mccain/81543/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST On July 16 Senator McCain will address the NAACP at its national convention in Cincinatti, Ohio. It will give him a historic opportunity to lay out his vision for individual empowerment, and offer concrete solutions for solving the challenges facing many African-Americans today. For all the talk of post-racial politics, the Obama camp tries to make his campaign all about race when he speaks to African-American audiences. When campaigning for Rep. Harold Ford of Tennessee for a U.S. Senate seat... JOHN TAMNY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/memo-to-dc-let-gm-fail/81544/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST There's a non-publicized view held among foreign-car lobbyists that General Motors is much scarier dead or bankrupt than alive. When those lobbyists discuss what they fear most, increased stateside competition from our big three carmakers pales in comparison to what the collapse of GM, Ford, or Chrysler might mean in terms of bad policy. GM's situation is particularly notable owing to its stock having recently hit a 50-year low alongside increased talk of bankruptcy. With a market cap of $5.7... http://www.nysun.com/opinion/more-uninsured-are-among-ranks-of-the-employed/81484/ Wed, 9 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST To cure a problem, first diagnose it accurately. The article "More Uninsured Are Among Ranks of the Employed" says the United Hospital Fund is reporting an increase in uninsured New Yorkers [July 7, 2008]. Here are surprising facts from the UHF report that disclose who is uninsured and why employers are not to blame. 1. Nearly 40% of New Yorkers counted as "uninsured" actually have health security. They are eligible for existing government programs such as Medicaid and have failed to sign up... NICHOLAS WAPSHOTT http://www.nysun.com/opinion/obamas-hot-air/81485/ Wed, 9 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Barack Obama's young supporters are discovering that their candidate is hardly the champion of the "new politics" he promised to be. Now that their primary and caucus votes are safely counted, and Hillary Clinton has been dispatched back to the Senate, the Democratic presidential candidate elect is racing toward the political center. Like a sinking hot air balloonist, he is madly throwing out ballast and baggage to stay aloft in what is turning out to be a far more tightly contested race than... MICHAEL RIPS http://www.nysun.com/opinion/harmless-error/81469/ Wed, 9 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST The federal court of appeals that affirmed Conrad Black's criminal conviction did so without ever addressing the constitutional argument that was central to his case. The Court achieved this by invoking a legal doctrine of questionable relevance to Black's case. Black, along with other defendants, had been convicted of violating a federal statute that makes it a crime to "deprive another of the intangible right to honest services." The defendants maintained at trial that they did nothing more... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/armed-to-save-lives/81470/ Wed, 9 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST 'Repeal the Second Amendment," the Chicago Tribune editorialized. "The Supreme Court on Thursday all but ensured that even more Americans will die," the New York Times said. "[T]he Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms only in relation to service in a state militia," added the Washington Post. Those are a few of many editorial expressions of disgust from the mainstream press over the Supreme Court's ruling that when the Bill of Rights says that "the right of the people to keep and... JOE MYSAK http://www.nysun.com/opinion/the-new-york-that-felker-saw/81471/ Wed, 9 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST It wasn't easy to believe in the future of American cities back in 1968. Soaring crime rates, exploding welfare rolls, white flight, race riots, the deterioration of urban infrastructure — take your pick. They were all ravaging American cities. Yet that was the year newspaperman Clay Felker, who died last week at the age of 82, chose to launch New York magazine. What a daring act of faith. The glossy, irreverent weekly featured the work of writers such as Tom Wolfe and Jimmy Breslin and... DIANA FURCHTGOTT-ROTH http://www.nysun.com/opinion/holding-up-a-mirror-to-the-seiu/81472/ Wed, 9 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST On July 17, in New York and 50 other cities, one of America's biggest unions, the Service Employees International Union, will try to demonize prominent New York financier Henry Kravis, a founding partner of the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. The SEIU already has attempted to besmirch Mr. Kravis on its Web site for paying too few taxes, even though it does not accuse him of illegal activity. It asserts that because of tax loopholes, Mr. Kravis's taxes are too low. It wants higher... LENORE SKENAZY http://www.nysun.com/opinion/like-a-prayer-a-rod/81417/ Tue, 8 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST It happened to Madonna, it's happening to A-Rod, and for a while it even happened to Britney. One reaches the pinnacle of fame, fortune, and truly fabulous muscle tone, and what's left? Judaism. Okay, so it happens to be the most esoteric expression of Judaism since the goose-shaped chopped liver: Kabbalah, a practice many American Jews will never even encounter. What does Kabbalah have to offer our superstars, and why should we care? What do those superstars have to offer each other, and why... HUGH HEWITT http://www.nysun.com/opinion/obama-and-your-child/81418/ Tue, 8 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Dear Millennial: The passion that millions of young voters have for Senator Obama is very real and unlikely to waver in the least bit absent excellent and detailed appeals to their reason. There are tremendously appealing reasons to support Mr. Obama, especially for those of your generation, born in the 1980s. You think the country is broken, its politics bitter and boring, elected officials stupid, and President Bush and Vice President Cheney at best incompetent and at worst evil. The only way... http://www.nysun.com/opinion/whither-thou-goest/81422/ Tue, 8 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Hillel Halkin displays a superficial understanding of the conversion controversy in Israel based on a superficial understanding of the Book of Ruth [Oped, "Whither Thou Goest ...," June 10, 2008]. In fact, Ruth did have a formal conversion in the rabbinical court headed by Boaz even before she had any thoughts of marrying him. Ruth's conversion was extremely controversial, so much so that King David's enemies dogged him about his lineage throughout his monarchy. More important, the title quote...