Friday, November 27, 2015

The Do-Nothing President

Whose Values Is Barack Obama Promoting in Syria?, Newsday, November 27, 2015. "The most serious problem with the Syrian refugees isn't that they'll bring terrorists with them. It's the war in Syria that made them refugees in the first place. President Barack Obama claims we have to admit refugees if we are to live up to our values. But he's the one who's sat on his hands as Syria burned."

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Against the "Revolutionary" Climate Deal

Climate Pact a Bad Deal for the U.S., Newsday, November 22, 2015. "The nations of the world will gather in Paris later this month to negotiate a major climate change agreement. Most of the world's leaders will arrive in carbon-spewing private jets. It would be even more appropriate if they drove Volkswagens."

Friday, November 13, 2015

Against An International Investment Court

The U.S. Should Reject the European Commission’s Proposed Investment Court, with James Roberts and Riddhi Dasgupta, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4485, November 13, 2015. "The proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the United States and the European Union, if negotiated successfully, will certainly contain a mechanism for resolving disputes related to the treaty. The current model for Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) panels is widely used, but also wrongly controversial, particularly in Europe. The European Commission (EC), the executive body of the European Union (EU), has proposed that the TTIP create a new Investment Court System (ICS) to resolve such disputes.[1] The U.S. should firmly resist this proposal, which departs radically from the well-functioning ISDS system."

Monday, November 9, 2015

On Flying In A B-17

The Lady Wants to Fly, Weekly Standard, November 9, 2015. "In the Second World War, flying in a Boeing B-17—the iconic Flying Fortress—was dangerous beyond belief. Of the 12,731 bombers produced between 1937 and 1945, 4,754 were lost or written off in the course of operations, a loss rate of 37 percent. Ten Americans, the B-17’s standard crew, risked death on every mission. To fly in the plane is to remember that, and them. But what was a horror in 1943 is an honor today, for only 10 flying B-17s remain—1 in Britain, the other 9 in the United States. Of these, the finest, the most nearly fully original, is Yankee Lady, restored and owned by the Yankee Air Museum in Willow Run, Michigan, 35 miles west of Detroit. In late September, I joined a crew of seven museum volunteers for a roundtrip flight to London, Ontario."