What Life Was Like in 1776  —  Americans had the highest per capita income in the civilized world, paid the lowest taxes—and were determined to keep it that way.  —  Almost every American knows the traditional story of July Fourth—the soaring idealism of the Declaration of Independence …

The eternal meaning of Independence Day  —  On July 9, 1858, Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas gave a campaign speech to a raucous throng from the balcony of the Tremont Hotel in Chicago.  Abraham Lincoln was in the audience when Douglas prepared to speak.  Douglas invited Lincoln to come join him on the balcony to watch the speech.

As Weather Channel Buys Wunderground, Storm Clouds Brew Among Fans  —  It's stormy out there.  —  The announcement on Monday that the Weather Channel Companies, owners of television's Weather Channel and weather.com, would buy one of its rivals, Weather Underground, set off howls of displeasure …

Ben Bradlee's 20 Best Verbal or Written Barbs Microsoft's Downfall: Inside the Executive E-mails and Cannibalistic Culture That Felled a Tech Giant  —  Microsoft C.E.O. Steve Ballmer delivers the keynote address at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas, on January 9.

Snyder signs most of election reform legislation  —  LANSING, Mich. - Gov. Rick Snyder recently signed legislation to increase election transparency, prevent election fraud and provide consistency across all voting locations.  —  The election reform bills provide for better documentation …

Arafat's widow calls to exhume his body  —  A nine-month investigation suggests that the late Palestinian leader may have been poisoned with polonium.  —  It was a scene that riveted the world for weeks: The ailing Yasser Arafat, first besieged by Israeli tanks in his Ramallah compound …

Obama hosts naturalization ceremony, presses Congress on immigration reform  —  President Obama helped celebrate the Fourth of July Wednesday by naturalizing more than two-dozen active duty service members, and used the opportunity to press lawmakers to take up comprehensive immigration reform.

The Recession-Proof Fireworks Industry … - Egypt's New President Is Awfully Critical of the United States.  Should We Be Worried?  — Manjoo: Apple's iPhone Used To Be the Best.  But Its Competitors Have Caught Up.  — Why the Higgs Boson Discovery Is Such a Big Deal …

NEWS FLASH  —  North Carolina General Assembly Officially Dismantles The Racial Justice Act |  Today in North Carolina, the Republican-dominated General Assembly overrode Gov. Bev Perdue's (D-NC) veto of the rewritten Racial Justice Act.  The landmark legislation allowed North Carolina death row inmates …

Chris Collins: 'People Now Don't Die From Prostate Cancer, Breast Cancer' … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Health Care, Video, Affordable Care Act, Chris Collins Affordable Care Act, Chris Collins Health Care, Kathy Hochul, Chris Collins, Obamacare, Politics News

The Declaration of Independence Annotated  —  [From the next edition of my casebook, Constitutional Law: Cases in Context:]  —  When reading the Declaration, it is worth keeping in mind two very important facts.  The Declaration constituted high treason against the Crown and every person …

Bam: Trend of CO2 emissions falling toward 1991 levels  —  This is ten different kinds of glorious.  —  Greenies are always lamenting that we need big government to force humanity to treat the planet with their idea of respect, and bemoaning the toll that prosperity ostensibly takes on the environment.

The “narrative” of judicial intrigue  —  NOTE TO READERS: Ordinarily, this blog does not deal in “scoop” journalism, although we have been known to be first on some things.  We focus more on what the Court does than on whether the Justices have good manners or like each other, or on what they do in their free time.

STUDY: Medicaid Expansion Saves States Billions  —  Republican politicians across the country claim that Obamacare's expansion of Medicaid, the widely popular program which makes health insurance available for lower-income Americans, will increase costs for states.

Report: Rep. Cuellar to skip Dem convention  —  Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar is joining a growing list of lawmakers who will be skipping their party's nominating convention this September.  —  The four-term lawmaker from Texas says he wants to focus his efforts on his reelection bid …

The IMF Goes All-Out on Balance-Sheet Recessions, Providing Sanity on Economic Policy  —  The literature summary I just put out on balance-sheet recessions examines the recent April 2012 World Economic Report by the IMF.  It is remarkable how important this report is.

Clinton's ‘Sorry’ to Pakistan Ends Barrier to NATO  —  WASHINGTON — Pakistan told the United States that it would reopen NATO's supply routes into neighboring Afghanistan after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she was sorry for the deaths of two dozen Pakistani soldiers …