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"Your Liberty is Our Interest" |
April 12, 2004 | |
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Reason's Weekly Dispatch April 6, 2004
1. Shi'ite Hits the Fan 1. Shi'ite Hits the Fan TThe use of Apache gunships on a Shi'ite district of Baghdad underscores just how grave the situation has become in Iraq. The June 30 deadline for a shift in power from the Coalition to the interim Iraqi government is in jeopardy, despite brave talk to the contrary. The U.S. stands on the precipice of a two-front war in Iraq, one with the Sunnis in north-central Iraq, and one with the Shi'ites on Baghdad's outskirts and in the south. Either one of the conflicts would be manageable with the 115,000 troops the Pentagon has planned for in-country operations. But a fight with both would require the use of "force multipliers" like helicopters, artillery, and airstrikes. The problem with that approach is that such weapons, no matter how smart, are so destructive that the odds of claiming innocent lives when using them is much higher than it would be with a bunch of guys with rifles. Of course, if you don't have a bunch of guys with rifles to smother simmering dissent, then you don't have much choice. Apaches it is. So the U.S., far from laying the groundwork for long-term stability in Iraq, may well be jerry rigging a short-term "fire-brigade" strategy that may indeed beat back open, armed resistance. But it will do so at the cost of much popular support among Iraqis, and possibly doom long-term hopes for a friendly, independent Iraq. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/05/international/middleeast/05SADR.html 2.Tele Troubles The latest scary study of what TV does to kids comes with some particularly slipshod reasoning. A study published in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics essentially recommends that parents keep their toddlers from watching TV?at all. To do otherwise puts kids at an increased risk of developing attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, the study claims. "You might say there's no safe level since there's a small but increased risk," one of the study's authors, Frederick Zimmerman of the University of Washington, told Reuters. But the study of 2,500 kids had no way of correcting for neglectful behaviors of parents quite apart from the kids' TV viewing. And in homes where kids watched up to 12 hours a day of TV, it?s a safe bet the principle cause of behavioral problems is not the presence of a TV set. Plus, it is becoming increasingly clear that attention deficit diagnoses are highly subjective, with no clear definition for the ?illness? aside from behavior that some adult finds problematic. 3. Tax Returned Newsweek's latest cover story helpfully points out some of the myths surrounding the Bush tax cuts, albeit couched in the loaded language which assumes that capital gains must be taxed at the same rate as wage income lest it be "sheltered" from tax. And we all know tax shelters are illegitimate playgrounds of the super-rich and their fat cat lawyers. Still, the article points out that the added complexity wrought by adding in credits and special accounts for favored activities like education leaves many average Americans ill-equipped to lower their tax bills. The extent to which the alternative minimum tax (AMT) has marched down the income ladder to attack even middle-class families gets a good explanation in the article. The plain fact is that the U.S. tax code remains a mishmash of conflicting goals and policies, and could stand to be significantly simplified. This would reduce compliance costs while still raising essentially the same amount of revenue. The window for enacting this kind of reform, however, is slowly closing. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4660655/ 4. Quick Hits Quote of the Week "This is international fraud. Only a period of imprisonment is appropriate."?Judge John Rogers on the 20-month sentence Peter Okoeguale received in a north Wales court for his part in a Nigerian 419 email scam. hhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_west/3594043.stm
Pakistan Deals Pakistan wants to get together with India next month to discuss security issues. This is a good idea, as the nuclear-armed states just about blew each other up in 2002. hhttp://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=a.jC4ynLXh2g&refer=asia Share and Share Alike A new study of music file-sharing finds that downloading music has virtually no impact on music sales, effecting at worst perhaps a few million units out of some 800 million sold each year. The recording industry responds with sputtering. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/05/technology/05music.html?pagewanted=2&hp Tap into the Net Cox Communications turns to VeriSign to make its VoIP telecom traffic wire-tappable by the police. Other cable companies may soon follow suit. http://news.com.com/2100-7352_3-5184774.html?tag=nefd_top 5. New at Reason Online Emotional Choices 6. The Print Edition Get your personal copy of the latest issue of Reason's print edition each month -- before it hits the newsstands and before it's posted on the Web! Subscribe Today! 7. News and Events Buy Reason T-shirts and coffee mugs! Click here for the latest on media appearances by Reason writers. Want even more Reason? Sign up for Reason Alert to get regular news from Reason Magazine and Reason Public Policy Instiute, as well as advance notice about media appearances and events. We encourage you to forward Reason Express. If you received this issue from a forward, please subscribe. It's Free! ---
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