Today’s Links: July 3, 2012

OPINION

EMILY BADGER: “Debating the Local Food Movement”
“A libertarian-leaning academic with a thick French-Canadian accent, [Pierre] Desrochers was in Washington, D.C., last week to present the book to what has undoubtedly been one of his friendlier audiences thus far, at the libertarian Cato Institute. He is particularly bemused by the notion that anyone would try to produce local food ‘when it makes no economic sense,’ when we have developed over the course of centuries an international and increasingly efficient system for feeding the world affordable bananas and blueberries and lamb year-round.”

JEFFREY GOLDBERG: “Eric Schmidt’s Irrational Optimism”
“I believe I’m a fairly sophisticated consumer of Middle East news. Or, at least, I’m sophisticated enough to distinguish obvious propaganda from depictions of observable facts. But I believe that other Internet surfers, when coming upon the work of Russia Today, might not understand its politics and motivations. Which raises the obvious question: Why can’t Google do better in presenting information to the world? Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google Inc. (GOOG), and one of the world’s most effective evangelists for technology- enhanced living, told me in an interview last week at the Aspen Ideas Festival that Google should ‘rank against’ disinformation. But he suggested that isn’t a task easily accomplished.'”

KEITH HENNESSEY: “A Strategy to Undo Obamacare”
“Now that the Supreme Court has ruled ObamaCare’s individual mandate constitutional, the direction of American health policy is in the hands of voters. So how do we get from here to ‘repeal and replace’?”

NEWS

LAW ENFORCEMENT – Florida Man Sees ‘Cruel’ Face of U.S. Justice
“Davis was convicted of participating in a string of armed robberies in the Miami area in 2010. […] Now 20 years old, he was sentenced to 1,941 months – almost 162 years – in prison without the possibility of parole.”

HEALTHCARE – Mass. Health Law May Bode Well For Federal Law
“Massachusetts has the nation’s highest rate of residents with health insurance. Visits to emergency rooms are beginning to ease. More residents are getting cancer screenings and more women are making prenatal doctors’ visits. Still, one of the biggest challenges for the state lies ahead: reining in spiraling costs.”

FAMILY – California Bill Would Allow Child to Have More Than Two Parents
“Mom and Dad, same-sex couples or blended families, California law is clear: No more than two legal parents per child. When adults fight over parenthood, a judge must decide which two have that right and responsibility – but that could end soon.”