Palin's Popularity to be Tested as Oil Profits Fall

February 17, 2009

Gov. Palin’s popularity has been bolstered by revenues for the state from oil prices, but the second half of her term will present her with significant policy problems. If Palin (who’s already a megafundraiser for the GOP) plans to run nationally again in 2012, she’ll need to concentrate on dealing with challenges at home.

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Zimbabwe Health Care Crumbles, Needs Emergency Infusion of Aid

February 17, 2009

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says Zimbabwe’s whole health system has collapsed in the midst of the worst cholera outbreak in its history (3,400 dead since August, 68k infected). A meeting of Zimbabwe’s new cabinet, which will feature the balancing act of President Mugabe and PM Tsvangirai, shows no signs of change. This one demands intervention.

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Inside the Post-Print Halls of The Politico

February 17, 2009

This is what the collapse of old journalism looks like: Albritton’s post-print media organization has made incredible strides since its launch two years ago, and Harris and VandeHei couldn’t be happier. Politico has the ninth most-visited newspaper website in the country, and expects profits this year in the millions.

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Rating the Presidents: Fun Games for Boys and Girls

February 17, 2009

There are no rules for presidential ratings. Do private lives matter? Oratory skills? Unforeseen consequences? Hill staffers love to play them after a few (now that’s charming first date talk), but in the end, such rankings always say a lot more about the standards imposed by the ranker than they do about the presidents themselves.

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Postmaster Raked in 800k While Fighting for Mailing Cutbacks

February 17, 2009

Some of the best-paid people in Washington aren’t presidents, but bureaucrats who’ve put in their time and amassed more compensation and retirement benefits. Postmaster General Potter’s total compensation in 2008 was more than twice President Obama’s salary.

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The Ranchers and the Environmentalists: Can the American West Survive?

February 17, 2009

While written from an anti-rancher perspective, the essential conflict is accurate: Ranchers consider themselves “natural stewards of the land,” balancing against unlimited development, but many environmentalists believe that these ranches are still dangerous for the western landscape, and assign their endurance merely to the “fantasy of playing cowboy.”

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America's Emptiest Cities

February 17, 2009

Just seeing the title, most readers will assume “Detroit’s got to be at the top of that list.” You’d be wrong – though Detroit is still up there, having lost half its population, down to 900k people. Simply put: you have no idea how stark the effects of the housing crisis have been.

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Net Neutrality Embedded in Stimulus, Prompts Backlash

February 17, 2009

Open Internet access rules added to the stimulus package threaten the tentative partnership between technology and telecom companies, which have coalesced behind the bill’s $6 billion funding for broadband access.

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Is Human Evolution Over?

February 17, 2009

The debate over the validity of evolutionary theory may be real enough when it comes to religious belief and cultural outlook. But it has nothing to do with science. No evidence seriously contradicts the idea that the plant and animal species found on Earth today are descended from common ancestors that existed long ago.

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Bailout Busts: The Private Equity Meltdown Myth

February 17, 2009

Michael Gross, a founding partner of the private equity firm Apollo Management LP who is now at a hedge fund, recently asked a group of business students at Northwestern University this question: In three years’ time, what might the private equity and airline industries have in common? His answer: From day one, neither will have […]

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