Sunday Reading

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Sunday reading, as usual, blah blah. EXCEPT! Today, with special bonus link roundups from two awesome guests! Scroll down to the bottom...


The Debate over Student Loan Interest is Nothing But A Sideshow:

"Keeping the cost of borrowed money a bit lower for one more year won't cure the rising cost of higher education. It's not even a bandage. It's more like giving some comforting words to a critically injured patient. It might make a few people feel better, or win some votes, but it won't do much to help our problems.

Mona Eltahawy's "Why Do They Hate Us?" 

I would observe, by the way, that the magazine itself is at least as problematic as is Eltahawy, in every sense, to such an extent that it's a little frustrating to see her soak up the criticism personally (in part because that's just how she rolls, but in part, perhaps, because that's how they roll?).  The last two links focus on the issue as a whole.

...and some responses:

About "illegal immigration":

The thing to note, here, is how border enforcement doesn't even make sense in its own [racist] terms. After that, move on to the racist terms themselves.

  • We are not being flooded with illegal Mexican migrants. The total number of migrants from Mexico has varied very little since the 1950s. The massive influx many have written about never happened.
  • Net illegal migration has stopped almost ­completely.
  • Illegal migration has not stopped because of stricter border enforcement, which Massey characterizes as a waste of money at best and counterproductive at worst.
  • There are indeed more undocumented Mexicans living in the United States than there were 20 years ago, but that is because fewer migrants are returning home — not because more are sneaking into the country.
  • And the reason that fewer Mexican citizens are returning home is because we have stepped up border enforcement so dramatically.


From Bint Battuta, whose warning that not all her links are new should be taken as an invitation, not a disclaimer:

From Frank Pasquale, who should be working on his book instead:

A third of the ambulances need to be put out of their misery, said Astria L. Benton, a paramedic supervisor. Every week or so, a vehicle simply gives out while in transit, and Ms. Benton prays that the patient will not die before she can orchestrate a rescue. . . . The orthopedic department has a waiting list for elective procedures that one doctor quantified as “infinity.” Its doctors intermittently instruct other departments to not send them patients.

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