Peggy Noonan on the (Declining) American Character
The nation seems to be on the wrong track, and not just economically. Noonan thinks America’s problems are more than economic. Read her regular Saturday column in the Wall Street Journal here.
Crime:
Arizona strikes back: State investigates feds over gun-running scandal
Arizona’s state legislature will open its own investigation into the Obama administration’s disgraced gun-running program, known as “Fast and Furious,” the speaker of the state House said Friday. Speaker Andy Tobin created the committee, and charged it with looking at whether the program broke any state laws — raising the possibility of state penalties against [...]
The Honor System Doesn’t Work for the Less than Honorable
Dave Lister writes in today’s Oregonian about Trimet’s ongoing crime problems. He suggests that the honor system for fare payment is part of the problem.
The Occupation, Crime, and City Hall
A headline on the front page of today’s Oregonian metro section reads: Crime spikes around Occupy camps. A headline on the front page of today’s New York Times reads: At Scene of Wall St. Protest, Rising Concerns About Crime. Just a coincidence? I don’t think so. There are reasons that most cities in the country [...]
Growth of Federal Criminal Law Threatens Individual Liberty
There is much debate and litigation over the federal government’s expanding role in health care and health insurance. Meanwhile, American liberties are being quietly eroded by the steady expansion of federal criminal law — an area traditionally of primary concern to the states. Not only have the number of federal criminal laws grown dramatically in [...]
Going to War against the War on Drugs
Conservative columnist Mary Anastasia O’Grady writing in the Wall Street Journal and liberal columnist Charles M. Blow writing in the New York Times agree with the recent report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy that the forty year war on drugs is a collossal failure in need of “a paradigm shift in global drug [...]
In Portland, Art Therapy and Other Lures for the Homeless
In the Wall Street Journal, Portland, Ore.-based writer Ethan Epstein argues that the lavish new $46.9 million Homeless Service Center opening this week in Portland’s Pearl District could well attract more homeless people rather than tackle the pervasive drug-dealing and panhandling that threaten the Rose City’s livability. Read his May 27 article here.
Capital punishment and fiscal responsibility in Oregon
By Tung Yin – Oregon death row inmate Gary Haugen has been in the news lately because he has asked to forego any remaining post-conviction appeals that he might have, which would clear the way for his execution. The judge in the case has ruled that Haugen is mentally competent to make this decision and [...]
