New IWF Fact Sheets

by Allison Kasic
July 17, 2008, 5:05pm

Check out the campus resources page to get the 411 on:  

Energy prices  

Sexual harassment policies on campus  

How school choice benefits families  

The living wage

Drilling for Oil

by Carrie L. Lukas
July 17, 2008, 1:03pm

Over at National Review Online, Mark Hemingway has a really interesting story on his experience visiting an off-shore oil platform:

The platform is the size of a few football fields jammed together, and the top of the derrick was easily a few hundred feet off the water. Dozens of people lived on board, and everything - from the computer systems to the actual drilling rig - was state of the art. Brutus produced over 100,000 barrels of oil a day - down from over 300,000 at its peak capacity.

That sounds impressive. But here's what truly floored me: Shell decided Brutus's location in the gulf would be profitable for drilling in April 1999. The company then built the massive oil platform, transported it to the right location in the gulf, anchored the floating leviathan onto the seafloor 3,000 feet below, drilled 17,000 feet below that, and began producing oil in July 2001. It took only two years to get Brutus online.

Of course, as Hemingway writes, this doesn't mean that allowing additional exploration would mean that Americans would be enjoying $2 per gallon gasoline, but it does suggest that help could be on the way sooner than many drilling opponents are willing to admit. Of course, allowing more exploration might also encourage foreign producers to begin pumping more and discourage speculation. In other words, while allowing drilling isn't an immediate fix, it would generate positive effects very quickly.

Podcast Alert

by Allison Kasic
July 15, 2008, 9:56am

Carrie Lukas and I  discuss several issues pertaining to women in the workplace, including the wage gap and mandated paid leave here.

Who Is Uninsured?

by Carrie L. Lukas
July 14, 2008, 1:38pm

The Clare Booth Luce Institute has put out a great primer on health care written by long-time friend of IWF, Sally Pipes. Health care is a central issue in every campaign and can be confusing. This piece helps seperate out fact from myth, helps the reader better understand who the uninsured are (hint, they are often young and with above average incomes) and what's at stake in reform proposals. It's a must read for anyone who cares about the future of our health care system.

Iraqi Women Putting Aside Fear and Fighting Violence

by Halima Karzai
July 14, 2008, 12:15pm

Due to a rise in female suicide attacks, the Daughters of Iraq, a group of approxiamately 70 women are bravely standing together in an attempt to curb Iraq's growing wave of female suicide bombers.

The group of women security volunteers was formed in an effort to stop female suicide attacks in Diyala province, still torn by violence. The women will begin searching other women at checkpoints, schools and hospitals next week.

The group of 70 represented a total of 130 women who graduated after a five-day training course. They join the ranks of some 80,000 U.S.-allied men security volunteers countrywide, called the Sons of Iraq.

Unlike their male counterparts, however, the Daughters of Iraq will not carry weapons.

The program was conceived in response to a rise in female suicide attacks in the province, said U.S. army Capt. Charles Knoll, whose unit is responsible for security in several towns in the Diyala river valley, north of Baghdad.

More than nine suicide attacks have been carried out by women in Diyala this year, part of a wave of over 20 female suicide attacks countrywide.

We see female police in America and we want to be like them," said Alwan. "It is a dream we want to make true. We want to use all the power we have to help our country."

"The danger is normal for me," she said. "If I don't help my country, who will?"

Read the complete article here.  

Feminist Dust Up

by Allison Kasic
July 11, 2008, 11:51am

You might want to check out this dust up between feminists at the Huffington Post and Jezebel.  It's creating quite the battle royale in the leftie blogosphere.  The conversation is practically a competition for who can dole out the worst advice (with comments like "People are always saying it's not safe to go home with strange men, blah, blah blah, like Mr. Goodbar whatever.")  Quotes and video clips (warning: adult language) available here.  

An Inkwell reader who sent me the article summed things up nicely:  "It's an astonishing conflagration of some of the worst advice ever dished out to young women."

Country Club Feminism

by Allison Kasic
July 10, 2008, 10:20am

Heather MacDonald had an interesting piece in City Journal last week about the NYT's ongoing obsession with gender-and-country-club-amenties.  Here's the latest situation that's outraging the Times:

The Phoenix Country Club has male and female members and a common dining room. But like many clubs, it has separate men's and women's grill rooms-an innocuous arrangement to which members agree by joining the club. The Times points out darkly: "Women at the club are not permitted to have lunch in the men's grill room with their husbands after a round of golf." It could as justly have observed that after the same round of golf, men at the club aren't allowed to lunch with their wives in the women's grill room.

The Rosa Parks role in this break-down-the-barriers battle is played by the Van Sitterts, a couple who, two years ago, wanted to eat eggs together in the men's grill room rather than in the club's formal dining room. Having failed to persuade the board to change its policies-presumably because most members are happy with the single-sex socializing options-they did what any self-respecting aspirant to victimhood does today: they went whining to the government. Instead of resigning their membership and joining another club, they petitioned Arizona's attorney general to intervene. The AG was only too happy to comply, brushing aside the legal nicety that private clubs are in theory not subject to antidiscrimination laws and ruling that the club was violating those laws, since (pending renovation) the women's grill room has neither a television nor its own bar. Television and booze are available elsewhere in the club, and women can bring drinks into their grill. But in the spirit of angry young wives who tally every pair of socks that they and their husband fold, the absence of absolute tit-for-tat equality in one room's appurtenances means that women occupy an unbearable position of inferiority.

More here.

Families Crave Flexibility

by Allison Kasic
July 10, 2008, 9:35am

Terry Neese and John Goodman have a short and sweet policy brief over at the National Center for Policy Analysis in which they argue that the key to "family friendly" policies is flexibility, not rigid mandates.  Check it out here.

Ban-happy Busybodies

by Allison Kasic
July 10, 2008, 9:33am

In his latest mini-documentary over at Reason.tv, Drew Carey gives a good overview of nanny-state regulations:

The Drama Never Stops

by Allison Kasic
July 9, 2008, 11:38am

Over at NRO, Elise Viebeck reports on the latest drama in the D.C. school system -- a push to change the composition of the board that governs D.C.'s charter schools.  Details here.

In Case You Missed It

by Allison Kasic
July 9, 2008, 9:31am

Check out Michelle Bernard's 4th of July reflections over at Townhall.com.

Spellings on Vouchers

by Allison Kasic
July 9, 2008, 9:27am

In a Washington Post article, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings points to the impressive results of D.C.'s under fire school choice system:

An independent study of the program released last year confirms...parental satisfaction. The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) found that parents of scholarship children express confidence that they will be better educated and even safer in their new schools. A study by Georgetown University found increased parental involvement and student enthusiasm for learning.  

The IES study reported academic gains in reading by three student subgroups, totaling nearly 90 percent of all students. They gained the equivalent of two to four extra months of learning. An IES report last year found increased math scores among some of the same subgroups.  

This is especially impressive when you consider that nearly all of the participating students are from families that are at or below the poverty line; the average income of participating families is $22,736, only $2,000 above the poverty level for a family of four. Ninety-nine percent of the children are African American or Hispanic. Many escaped poorly performing public schools, where they worked below grade level in a city that has struggled for years to educate its young.

More here.  Unfortunately, even positive results won't stop some politicians from trying to kill the program that has helped thousands of D.C. students get a better education.

Attention, Steve Largent Listeners

by Allison Kasic
July 9, 2008, 9:21am

As promised, here are the links to the documents we discussed on the air today:

Carrie Lukas' article on equal pay

The Young Woman's Guide to Financial Independence

New Report on Saudi Migrant Workers

by Halima Karzai
July 8, 2008, 4:11pm

Human Rights Watch has just released a report on the condition of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.  The report concludes two years of research and is based on 142 interviews with domestic workers, senior government officials, and labor recruiters in Saudi Arabia and labor-sending countries.  

The full report can be found here. 

Rhee to the Rescue

by Allison Kasic
July 8, 2008, 9:18am

Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee is taking positive steps toward meaningful education reform in Washington, D.C.  The Washington Post has the details: 

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee is proposing a contract that would give mid-level teachers who are paid $62,000 yearly the opportunity to earn more than $100,000 -- but they would have to give up seniority and tenure rights, two union members familiar with the negotiations said yesterday.

Under the proposal, the school system would establish two pay tiers, red and green, said the union members, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are confidential. Teachers in the red tier would receive traditional raises and would maintain tenure. Those who voluntarily go into the green tier would receive thousands of dollars in bonuses and raises, funded with foundation grants, for relinquishing tenure.

Teachers in the green tier would be reviewed yearly and would be allowed to continue in their jobs only if they passed an evaluation and boosted students' test scores, the union members said.

Fancy that -- paying teachers for performance and not for seniority!  More here.

Get the Facts: Cap and Trade

by Allison Kasic
July 8, 2008, 9:16am

Attention students (and anyone else who enjoys succinct info on important policy matters): check out the latest fact sheet over at IWF's Campus Resources page for all the need-to-know information on cap and trade.

Voucher Valedictorian

by Allison Kasic
July 7, 2008, 4:08pm

Over at National Review Online, IWF visiting fellow Elise Viebeck chronicles the achievements of Tiffany Dunston.  About to head off to Syracuse University, Dunston recently graduated at the top of her class at Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, D.C.  Dunston was able to attend Carroll thanks to a scholarship from D.C.'s school choice program, which is now on the verge of extinction.  

Read the story here and hope that the program will survive to help others throughout the city succeed like Dunston did.

DC Gun Ban Lifted

by Stacy Chin
July 7, 2008, 1:29pm

In a recent Townhall op-ed, Allison Kasic writes, "Citizens in the District of Columbia had plenty of reason to celebrate over July 4th weekend. In addition to our nation's birthday, countless barbeques, and a fabulous fireworks display, citizens of D.C. could finally enjoy their rights as set forth in the Bill of Rights. All citizens of D.C. should rejoice at their new found freedom. But for women especially, guns are the ultimate equalizer in self-defense."

READ THE ARTICLE HERE.

The Generation Gap on Campus

by Allison Kasic
July 7, 2008, 9:33am

How will campuses change as baby boomer professors retire?  The New York Times had an interesting article on the subject last week.  They maintain that younger professors are "less ideologically polarized and more politically moderate."  Are they right?  I certainly hope so.  

Check out the full article here.

4th of July Reading

by Allison Kasic
July 3, 2008, 2:58pm

In the spirit of the Fourth of July, IWF's Halima Karzai takes a look at the liberties that women enjoy in the U.S. and some of the challenges that women around the world continue to face.  Here's a snippet:

Almost 90 years ago, women in the U.S. were granted the right to vote and had limited access to education and employment.  Today, Women in the U.S. are reaching the height of political power, are working in high-level positions, and are fulfilling roles once seen as appropriate for only men.

American women are among the lucky few.  Across the globe, many women wish they had access to the rights and protections that women in the United States view as ordinary. 

More here.

Podcast Alert: Single-Sex Education

by Allison Kasic
July 3, 2008, 2:51pm

Over on the podcast page, Carrie Lukas and I discuss the latest controversy over single-sex education. Give it a listen here.

The Death of the Grown-up

by Allison Kasic
July 2, 2008, 11:42am

If you missed IWF's event for Diana West's book The Death of the Grown-up: How America's Arrested Development Is Bringing Down Western Civilization last November, you might be interesting in this Q&A between West and Kathryn Lopez over at National Review Online. 

Are Teachers' Unions Anti-Teacher?

by Allison Kasic
July 2, 2008, 11:19am

Over at edspresso.com, Larry Sand takes teachers' unions to school for opposing merit pay: 

One of the great bete noires of the unions is merit pay. They insist that all teachers at a similar point in their career make the exact same amount of money as other teachers at that same point. Good teachers earning more than bad teachers? Not on their agenda. Clearly, this old-style industrial model of paying people can kill incentive. Good teachers are less likely to have the impetus to excel when their neighbors who have lower aspirations, are less talented and less effective still make the same amount of money. Hence, good teachers suffer at the expense of their lower performing peers.

Good teachers can also be discriminated against in another way. If a school district needs to cut back its workforce, who gets cut? The lower performing teachers? No. Thanks to the unions, the system is based strictly on seniority. Quality is not a factor. When cutbacks were necessary in a Minnesota school district, a gifted and innovative Teacher of the Year who had won many awards and was loved by her students was among those who lost their jobs. It didn't matter that she was eminently more qualified than most of the teachers who retained their jobs. It was simply their version of last hired, first fired.

More here.

IWF on the subject here.

This is America: Racism in America

by Stacy Chin
July 1, 2008, 4:58pm

On April 4, 2008, Michelle D. Bernard joined This is America with Dennis Wholey for a discussion on racism in honor of the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s death and Obama's speech on race. 

Watch Online Now!