Link Round-Up, 8-31-11

Here's an excellent case study in policy implementation: the new rules regarding the identification of criminal suspects by witnesses that have been implemented in some places (and now mandated in NJ), while others insist the old rules were fine.

President Obama has chosen a new head of the Council of Economic Advisers: Alan Krueger, an economist at Princeton who studies the job market among other topics.

On the occasion of the installation of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in D.C., Congressman John Lewis writes that the voter identification laws being passed in states around the country are just another attempt to keep minorities and the poor from voting -- a poll tax by another name

Here's a brief synopsis of the race for the Republican nomination, courtesy of The Economist

Liberal columnist Paul Krugman writes that the Republican Party has become the "anti-science party" as Republican candidate Jon Huntsman warned about.  He concludes by arguing that

the odds are that one of these years the world’s greatest nation will find itself ruled by a party that is aggressively anti-science, indeed anti-knowledge. And, in a time of severe challenges — environmental, economic, and more — that’s a terrifying prospect.

Link Round-Up 8-28-11

Health
Local schools are serving funnel cakes, among other sugary items, for breakfast

Here's a good visual as to why obesity is such a difficult policy problem: just look at the sheer number of factors that influence obesity

Education
America lags behind peer nations in math achievement; two writers argue that teaching HS math in task-oriented chunks rather than the current out of context progression can help us catch up

Politics
Despite being written off by national media, Ron Paul is currently faring better against Obama than Michelle Bachmann in the latest poll . . . though advocating for the elimination of FEMA during a hurricane may not make him the most popular man in some areas right now

This is a couple weeks old now, but after Rick Perry's entrance into the field (and surge in the polls) the WSJ led a stream of news outlets questioning whether the best possible Republican candidates are currently running . . . meanwhile, the latest poll shows the Republican voters are coming to terms with the candidates -- only 30% now report that they're dissatisfied

So-called "super-PACs" with unlimited donations are playing a large role in the upcoming Presidential race and are transitioning from issue-focused organizations to pseudo-campaigns supporting one candidate.

Other
The mayor of NYC ordered all coastal areas evacuated, but a number of residents are stayed put anyway

The new Vanderbilt coaching staff is pounding greatness into the heads of its players

A Few Interesting Political Links

David Brooks says we better start to take Rick Perry seriously because he could be our next President

Meanwhile, Michelle Bachmann is stepping up her rhetoric and promising to "lock the doors and shut off all the lights" of the EPA when she becomes President

A new Pew poll has found sizable changes in party identification since the last election, mostly due to shifts among White voters: here are some interesting charts to look through

After a death during fraternity hazing there last year, the President of Cornell is calling for the anti-hazing laws of NY state and others to be followed.

A recent law mandating drug testing for welfare recipients in Florida may end up costing the state more money than it saves if the current low rate of positive results continues