Новости за 19.12.2011

James Waterson reports on this week's tennis news for Tennis Now. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are at odds about whether tennis should adopt a two-year ranking system similar to golf's, American 16-year-old Madison Keys won the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Playoff, and Goran Ivanesivic was deemed too expensive to be Croatia's new Davis Cup captain.

For the Oregon State women’s basketball team to find success during the rigors of the upcoming Pac-12 Conference schedule, the Beavers will need strong play in the post.

I was not the least bit surprised by the recent study from the Pew Research Center which declared that marriage rates have dropped to historic lows in the United States. Just under half of American adults are now wedded in holy matrimony, the lowest level ever, according to Pew. Today, only 51 percent of U.S. adults (aged 18 or above) are married, versus 72 percent in 1960. Moreover, couples are getting married later in life – currently, the median age is 26.5 for men and 28.7 for women; again, all-time highs.

Chani Getter was married off by her ultra-Orthodox family when she was 17. By the time she was 24, she had three children. She was deeply religious and deeply unhappy. She knew she was gay and could not stay in her marriage, but she also knew that she wanted to stay within the ultra-Orthodox community […]

Richard W. Rahn

Do increases in government spending increase or decrease the number of jobs? Conventional wisdom is they will increase jobs, and a few left-wing economists, such as Paul Krugman of the New York Times, frequently are trotted out by reckless politicians and some in the news media to argue that we need more government spending in order to create jobs. If this were true, we should be able to see it in the historical evidence, so let’s look at the numbers.

Government spending grows each year... Читать дальше...

Alan Reynolds

A proposal by House Republicans to roll back the maximum duration of unemployment benefits from 99 weeks to 59 passed the House by 234 to 193. If such a plan also passes the Senate, that would be politically ideal for President Obama.

Reducing the amount of time people can collect unemployment benefits would clearly cut the unemployment rate below 8 percent by election time, greatly improving the President’s chances for reelection. Yet the President could... Читать дальше...

Gene Healy

Last Thursday — which happened to be the 220th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights — the Senate passed a defense bill that demonstrates just how cavalier Congress can be with our fundamental liberties.

Given the opportunity to clarify existing law and confirm that American citizens are not subject to indefinite military detention at the order of the president — Congress punted.

After a debate in which key members seriously contemplated... Читать дальше...

Steve H. Hanke and Richard Conn Henry

For more than five hundred years, the most popular and influential book, after the Bible, was The Golden Legend by Jacques de Voragine.* At the end of the 13th century Voragine grappled with the sacralization of time and its usage. Following the Council of Trent in the 16th century, the rules of time that, for the most part, have ruled Western civilization, were established.

Recently, an interesting change occurred. On 28 March 2010... Читать дальше...

Seen but rarely heard this season, Scott claimed last week that the Jets, despite having won their previous three games, were not a playoff team, let alone a Super Bowl contender. The scope of Philadelphia's domination — 420 total yards by the Eagles, three touchdowns by LeSean McCoy, a point total that was the second-highest during Ryan's tenure — added credence to Scott's claim, even if the AFC postseason picture appears a bit more forgiving. For the Jets, more than New York pride is at stake... Читать дальше...