Featured Articles — July 11, 2008

July 11, 2008 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under Featured Articles 

Interesting Takes from Home and Abroad:

How Hostages, And Nations, Get Liberated By Charles Krauthammer
On the day the Colombian military freed Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other long-held hostages, the Italian Parliament passed yet another resolution demanding her release. Europe had long ago adopted this French-Colombian politician as a cause celebre. France had made her an honorary citizen of Paris, passed numerous resolutions and held many vigils.

‘Fair Doctrine’ hypocrisy By Derek Hunter
There’s a battle raging behind the scenes in Washington these days about our most fundamental right: the freedom of speech.

Capitalism’s Reality Check By E. J. Dionne
The biggest political story of 2008 is getting little coverage. It involves the collapse of assumptions that have dominated our economic debate for three decades.

Gaffe Alert! By Howard Fineman
McCain doesn’t need enemies. He has friends.

Stop the new FISA By Chris Hedges
Allowing the new surveillance law to stand would seriously cripple our free press.

Obama’s Changes Raise Issue: Can You Believe in Him? By Mort Kondracke
Maybe the biggest question of the 2008 presidential campaign is “Who is Sen. Barack Obama really?” Of late, the mystery is deepening.

The Saudi Dialogue By New York Sun Editors
Quite a drama is unfolding in advance of the World Conference on Dialogue that is being sponsored by the Saudi king and is scheduled to take place next week at Madrid. Last week all the talk was of the “breakthrough” that had been obtained by the invitation to the conference of an Israeli rabbi, David Rosen. In the event, however, Rabbi Rosen, who was born in England and has served as chief rabbi of Ireland, turns out to be listed in conference materials as being from America.

School Lessons From China By Andrew Wolf
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.

Who Will Be President? By John O. McGinnis
An obscure government agency will soon decide whether citizens can get hold of information essential to modern democratic decision making. On Monday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission began to analyze whether to create a safe harbor for prediction markets in the U.S., as these markets would otherwise be hamstrung by the strictures of financial trading laws. The CFTC should create the safe harbor.

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