Bridges not our only worry, says Engineering Association President
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The EPA reports 3.5 million people got sick last year from 73,000 sewer pipe breaks around the country. Water pipes are even worse. In some parts of America, 50 percent of the drinking water leaks from bad pipes after it is treated but before it reaches the home. About 30 percent of America's nearly 500,000 bridges are categorized as "deficient" and in "urgent need of repair." "Ignoring bad infrastructure and hoping it will do no harm is not an option anymore," says Rooney. "Places that take care of their infrastructure are safer, healthier and more prosperous."

False idols of autonomy, utility work against life, cardinal says
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Like the Israelites who idolized the golden calf, the pro-life movement is challenged today by "the idolatrous gospel of total autonomy, sheer utility and false mercy," Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia told a gathering in Arlington Aug. 2. "Those who have blind faith in embryonic stem-cell research and its so-called 'biblical power to cure' -- as House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi called it recently -- are worshipping a modern-day false idol," Cardinal Rigali said. "They are putting their faith in an exaggerated view of the wonders of science and in their own ingenuity to overcome disease and aging."

Muslim Group Murders Oakland Post Newspaper Editor
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Officers raided the Muslim group's headquarters at the original bakery on San Pablo Avenue, as well as three houses in Oakland. They arrested seven people on charges including homicide, robbery and assault, including the son of the group's founder. Colleagues said Oakland Post editor Chauncey Bailey, 57, had been working on a story about Your Black Muslim Bakery before he was ambushed and slain Thursday morning near the Alameda County courthouse in downtown Oakland.

Federal Court – Pharmacists can reject Plan B for moral/ethical reasons
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Illinois pharmacists are not obligated to violate their consciences and dispense Plan-B and "emergency contraceptives" according to this week's ruling by a federal judge.

Ethanol production has created a price increase in fuel and food
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Ronald Reagan once said that the most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." His one-liner immediately comes to mind when looking at the problems behind the federal government's campaign to boost production of corn-based ethanol with a massive 51-cent-per-gallon subsidy.

Schumpeter's Paradox: Wages, Wealth & Incentives
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America's federal minimum wage has begun its legally-mandated long march from $5.15 an hour to what will be $7.25 in 2009: a 40 percent increase. This was the result of considerable lobbying of America's Congress by unions, activists, and churches - all of whom claim to be promoting social justice. But whether this measure will help low-income workers in the long-term is more questionable. The basic economics of supply and demand suggest that legally enforcing a wage-price above the natural market wage is likely to cause unemployment among low-income and entry-level workers.

The War on Drugs – Afghan record poppy harvest
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Afghanistan will produce another record poppy harvest this year that cements its status as the world’s near-sole supplier of the heroin source, yet a furious debate over how to reverse the trend is stalling proposals to cut the crop, U.S. officials say.

Remember Global Cooling?
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In 1975 Scientists urged governments to consider emergency action to head off the terrible threat of . . . well, if you had been following the climate-change debates at the time, you'd have known that the threat was: global cooling.

New York Times in Financial Crises
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The move will cut newsprint expenses and, in some printing press locations, will make special configurations unnecessary. The Times along with 90% of the rest of the print papers in the country are finding out that their liberal bias is having an effect on their business operations.

Democrat Party is growing more liberal
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The Democratic Party is growing more liberal for the first time in a generation. Then there's the eye-catching fact that 40 percent of Democrats in last year's elections called themselves liberal, according to the American National Election Studies, a research project supported by the National Science Foundation. That's the highest since the survey began in 1972.