The Myth That Without Gov't Monopolies Or Subsidies, Discoveries Will Be Hidden By Secrets | Techdirt

The Myth That Without Gov't Monopolies Or Subsidies, Discoveries Will Be Hidden By Secrets | Techdirt: "contrary to what most people think, 'science' is not a public good, and that government-funded science actually tends to do more damage than good for global economies:"

Ron Paul: The People Can Handle The Truth About Unemployment and Inflation | Ron Paul .com

Ron Paul: The People Can Handle The Truth About Unemployment and Inflation | Ron Paul .com: "Ron Paul tells the Joint Economic Committee that the people can handle the truth about unemployment and inflation numbers. Real unemployment is at 22% and real inflation is at 6% according to the original method of measuring the CPI."

Stephen Colbert’s going on a hot, sweaty field trip | Grist

Stephen Colbert’s going on a hot, sweaty field trip | Grist: "Because all the posturing and gasbaggery about 'illegals taking American jobs' avoids one simple, difficult fact: 'Americans do not want to work in the fields. It's very difficult work that requires a lot of expertise, and the conditions are horrid! I was in the field on Tuesday with great workers out in Delano, Calif., in the San Joaquin Valley, and it was 110 degrees!' as Arturo Rodriguez, president of the UFW, told Stephen Colbert last night."

FOXNews.com - The Tea Party 'Not a Racist Organization,' Biden Says

FOXNews.com - The Tea Party 'Not a Racist Organization,' Biden Says: "Biden, speaking on ABC's 'This Week,' said both members and those on the 'periphery' of the movement have expressed 'racist views' which he described as 'really unfortunate.'

But despite the differences the administration has with Tea Partiers, Biden says he does not think that certain behavior by some members accurately portrays the movement as a whole.�

'I wouldn't characterize the Tea Party as racist,' Biden said. 'I don't believe, the president doesn't believe, that the Tea Party is a racist organization. I don't believe that -- very conservative, very different views on government and a whole lot of things, but it is not a racist organization.'�"

Buffett and Gates Are Wrong about What Schools Need | Andrew J. Coulson | Cato Institute: Commentary

Buffett and Gates Are Wrong about What Schools Need | Andrew J. Coulson | Cato Institute: Commentary: "education is perhaps the only field in which America's top performers don't enjoy tremendous financial success. This fact has profound implications for school quality, but Buffett is wrong about its cause.

Brilliant teachers aren't excluded from the billionaire's club due to any 'capriciousness' of our market economy. They're excluded because public schooling exists outside that economy. It has no prices set by supply and demand, no meaningful competition, little professional freedom for educators, negligible choice for consumers, and no system for rewarding successful education entrepreneurs with profits or of penalizing failure with losses."

"our schools have swallowed many trillions of additional dollars in recent decades without improvement. So even if they donate every penny to this cause, it might not do the slightest bit of good. Unless, that is, they recognize that the system itself is the problem — that monopolies cannot be tweaked into self-perpetuating excellence."

FOXNews.com - Feds to Monitor Obesity as White House Promotes Obama Cook to Senior Position

FOXNews.com - Feds to Monitor Obesity as White House Promotes Obama Cook to Senior Position: "Health and Human Services announced this week that under the stimulus law, health care providers must establish 'meaningful use' of electronic health records to qualify for federal subsidies or risk seeing their Medicare and Medicaid payments slashed. The electronic health records must include Americans' body mass index, or BMI, height and weight."