Today’s Links: September 8, 2011

OPINION

Caroline Baum: “A Layman’s Guide to the Government’s Jobs Speech.”
“Let’s face it: If the president had a plan to create jobs, he wouldn’t have kept it under wraps until now. Why take flak from Republicans and heat from the public if you have what it takes to turn the economy and labor market around? ”

Andrew P. Kelly: “How For-Profit Colleges Can Save Themselves—and Higher Education”
“What’s next for proprietary colleges and universities? If I knew that, I’d be raking it in with the short sellers rather than taking the bus to work every day. But it seems as though the for-profits would be wise to take a cue from other corporations that have reinvented themselves in the face of economic and political challenges. In particular, they may have a lot to learn from companies that evolved from producing and selling goods directly to consumers to providing services and expertise to other organizations. In short, for-profit colleges should consider becoming the next IBM. ”

Diana Furchtgott-Roth: “Don’t Forget the Job Killing EPA, Mr. Obama”
“President Obama, in a preface last Friday to his speech tonight on creating jobs, instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to refrain from adopting stricter standards on ozone. He did so right after the Labor Department reported that in August, there was no net growth of jobs in the United States. None. A dismal report. ”

John Mueller and Mark G. Stewart: “Probability Neglect: Why the Government Massively Overestimates the Risks of Terrorism.”
“The fact that the public has difficulties with probabilities when emotions are involved does not relieve those in charge of the requirement, even the duty, to make decisions about the expenditures of vast quantities of public monies in a responsible manner. In the end, one might darkly suspect, various versions of probability neglect are grasped because, if realistic probabilities that a given target would be struck by terrorists were multiplied into the risk calculation and if the costs of protection from unlikely threats were sensibly calculated following standard procedures, it would be found that vast amounts of money have been misspent.”

NEWS

DRUG TESTING – Mo. Technical College Begins Widespread Drug Tests
“Federal and state courts have consistently upheld more limited drug testing of public high schools students, such as those who play sports, as well as NCAA athletes and students at private colleges. But the move by Linn State to enact widespread drug tests of the general student body appears unprecedented—and no small point of pride for administrators at the state’s only technical college.”

NANNY STATE – No Paper or Plastic? LA Shoppers Wary of Proposed ‘Nightmare’ Ban
“An effort to allow only reusable bags at Los Angeles grocery stores may sound like a political long-shot, but one city councilman thinks the public will eventually warm up to the initiative.”

FORMER CEI DINNER SPEAKER, ALEX KOZINSKI – A Heartwarming Story—Plus Diet Tips!—From Judge Alex Kozinski
“I mean, does it really take the Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit to acknowledge a signature on a simple form so a guy can file a Delayed Report of Birth with the State of New Jersey? I left messages and went all over town begging to make an appointment with any judge for the simplest matter, and the only person I can get to do anything is the Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit.”