Garrett Campbell for the Brookings Institution: Many analysts have called Russia militarily weak, with some pointing specifically to its shortcomings in air and naval forces in Syria. But based on Russia’s battlefield performance so far, this assessment seems off: To the contrary, Russia has shown that it has the capability and capacity (not to mention willingness) to employ its conventional forces to achieve limited political objectives.
The Russians are flying a significant number of sorties with recognizable successes. Current estimates range from 48 to 96 daily. This is a lot…
In the process, they have hit a significant number of targets among the rebels fighting Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. There are reports, for instance, that Russian airstrikes killed First Coastal Division Chief of Staff and former Syrian Army Captain Basil Zamo, a notable rebel leader, on Oct. 19. The commander of the Nour ad-din al-zinki Brigades was also killed in separate fighting.
Can Russia sustain this level of air campaign? Maybe. Almost none of our NATO allies could match what Russia has done so far in the skies. This was an unfortunate lesson of both NATO air campaigns in Kosovo and Libya.
Dr. Ben Carson vs. Dr. Jill Biden
R.J. Lehmann for the R Street Institute: Ben Carson has surged ahead to become the leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination. Carson now has the support of 26 percent of Republican primary voters, four percentage points ahead of Donald Trump.
That’s quite an accomplishment for what initially was considered a very long-shot candidacy. Some might suggest it merits a modicum of respect – say, by referring to the longtime director of pediatric neurosurgery at the nation’s premier teaching hospital (Johns Hopkins) with the well-deserved title “Dr.”
Yet in the pages of the New York Times itself, more often than not, Carson isn’t identified that way. In fact, thumbnail analysis I just did of Times stories using the media tracking service Nexis shows that second lady Jill Biden (who in 2007 received a doctor of education degree from the University of Delaware) is more than three times more likely to be called “Dr.” by The New York Times as Carson is.
Through Oct. 26, Nexis results show Carson’s name has appeared in The New York Times 373 times: 356 times as Ben Carson and 17 times as Benjamin Carson. On first reference (that is, the first time he is named in the story) he has been referred to as “Dr. Ben Carson” or “Dr. Benjamin Carson” 32 times, plus an additional 13 times on second reference. He’s been called “Mr. Carson” on second reference 57 times.
By contrast, Jill Biden’s name has appeared 61 times. Seven of those times, she was referred to as “Dr. Jill Biden” on first reference and another seven times on second reference. Only twice has she been called “Mrs. Biden” on second reference. The Times has never referred to her as “Ms. Biden,” so it isn’t simply a matter of preferring a less patriarchal terminology.
One million homes taken through eminent domain
Mark Calabria for the Cato Institute: It has been just over a decade since the Supreme Court decided in Kelo v. New London that local governments can take private property by eminent domain under a very broad reading of “public use.”
Not only has Kelo spawned widespread public backlash, but it also has given birth to renewed interest by legal scholars. As an economist, I am a little more interested in the direct impact on families.
Unfortunately, I have had no luck finding a database of all U.S. takings. The American Housing Survey, conducted by the Census Bureau every two years, does, however, offer some estimates. For respondents who moved within the previous year, the survey asks respondents the “main reason” for leaving their previous unit. One option offered is “government displacement.” For the survey years since Kelo, the average has been 109,000 households who say government action displaced them from their previous home. If that average holds for non-survey years, then a good estimate is that just over a million households have been displaced by government action since Kelo.
The survey also confirms some suspicions as to who the victims of eminent domain are. Since Kelo, about 29 percent of households displaced by government action have been African-American, about twice that of the general population. As concerning is that about 32 percent are households in poverty, again about twice the rate of the overall population. If you’re poor or African-American, you are twice as likely as households overall to be displaced by government action.
Compiled by Joseph Lawler from reports published by the various think tanks.
