Recommended Readings... 080706

A few interesting items...

• Harvard Professor Edward Glaeser writes in the Globe reflecting on how the US began as a Revolution of urban rebels, a notable theme dating back to the Athenian polis.
• Two examples of NIMBY anti-liberty action groups in the news: Victoria Cheng writes in the Globe Moving in, moving out about redevelopment in Chinatown. Finally this blighted part of Boston is getting ever-more much-needed investment. But there's pushback from "community members" who want "development decisions back in the hands of those most affected" as opposed to the property owners, I suppose. Second, Sudbury homeowners protest a bike trail, writes Sarah Schweitzer in Suburban peace vs. pedal power, who quotes neighborhood watchdog Carole Wolfe, "Instead of solitude, you'd be having people." Shock! People would clearly be worse than the trains which previously used the right-of-way. Both of these are examples of democracy-gone-wrong with rich and poor people alike believing their opinion alone entitles them to unfettered influence over the property rights of others.
• Martin Fackler writes in the NYTimes that Japan Sees a Chance to Promote Its Energy Frugal Ways, pointing out that "Japan rushed to embrace these technologies back in the 1980s. Now the rest of the world is finally catching up."
• Christopher Shea in the Globe Brainiac Ideas Blog summarizes the skepticism surrounding Bill Gates's "Creative Capitalism".
• The WSJ delights again with a center-column article by Jane Spencer about Ahmed Ibrahim, the matchmaking cabbie!
• Two more stories about anti-Liberty policies in the US: Steve Hanke and Stephen Walters in the WSJ Blame Taxes for Baltimore's Rot. And Eric Uhlfelder in Barron's writes that prominent global companies have bolted the NYSE and are Taking the Over-the-Counter Route to U.S. because of the onerous burden and unfunded mandate (a.k.a. tax) of Sarbanes-Oxley.
• Patricia Cohen in the NYTimes writes that On Campus, the '60s Begin to Fade as Liberal Professors Retire.
• Bloomberg reports that iRobot is seeking to expand beyond consumer and military markets and is exploring an oil-industry robot building on their MicroRig collaboration with Halliburton.
• Andrew Downie in the NYTimes writes Wanted: Skilled Workers for a Growing Economy in Brazil, about the sizzling growth prospects for this Latin giant which is finally blossoming economically.
• Joe Leahy in the FT writes in A passage through India that "the struggle is on to upgrade roads, rail and ports" and that "inadequate transport infrastructure and power capacity are increasingly limiting the country's economic potential."
• Two curious sex stories in TIME, one by Michiko Toyama entitled Where older dogs are learning new tricks, about the booming "elder porn" genre in Japan. Apparently not to be outdone, David Van Biema writes And God Said, "Just Do It." about churches urging spouses "to have hot sex -- and lots of it."
• Finally, several pieces on emerging happenings in China: Jake Hooker in the NYTimes writes that Quake Revealed Deficiences of China's Military, lamenting that "Chinese troops were eager, but they were unprepared to save lives." Jamil Anderlini in the FT writes that China tries to muzzle quake victim parents who are outraged by the corrupt Communist Party officialdom which allowed shoddy school buildings which disproportionately collapsed, killing kids during the recent quake. Juliet Ye and Geoffrey Fowler write in the WSJ that Chinese Bloggers Scale the 'Great Firewall' in Riot's Aftermath about citizen attempts to spread news despite official censorship. But all is not uniformly dismal and anti-Liberty in China, as Edward Cody writes in the Washington Post, A pioneering Chinese city eyes political reform: Seeks more open, softer socialism. Good.