Employment, Italian Style, Wall Street Journal 6/25/12

An incredible tale of the bureaucracy that plagues European businesses.

You also know you’re going to run into problems once you hire your 16th employee, since that will trigger provisions making it either impossible or very expensive to dismiss a staffer.

On Vacation and Sick? A Court Says Take Another, New York Times, 6/21/12

More reasons that Europe is broke.  If you get sick while on vacation, you are now entitled to get more vacation.

A Weapon We Can’t Control, New York Times, 6/24/12

Perhaps a computer virus is preferable to carpet bombing, but it does open up a can of worms for us all as the internet has now been militarized.

A Cruel and Unusual Record, The New York Times by Jimmy Carter, 6/24/12

I am not often a fan of Jimmy Carter, but he suggests a point worth considering.  From water boarding to detention outside of established law, to invading a sovereign nation to commit an assassination, to keeping a ‘kill list’,  we seem to be going down a path that needs some pause.  It is hardest to remain civil when your enemy is so uncivil, but that is when it is most important.  We are facing an enemy that fights outside the normal rules.  Bush and Obama made tough decisions and did what they thought they needed to do. Bush did not do this without some considerable debate and thought.   We need new rules for fighting terrorist interests that exist independent of national entities.  How do good people end up doing bad things?  One small step at a time.

For another view on Carter’s article: Jimmy Carter: Human Rights Violator by Robert Wargas in Pajamas Media

Jerusalem doggie DNA database to trace poo offenders

Jerusalem animal control is keeping DNA logs of dogs so that they can fine the owners of the ones that soil the streets.  Oy!

print