Elephant In Exile

Cherry Blossom Edition

Ok, after a long, cold spring in DC, spring has hit us out of nowhere and the city is awash in color from all the cherry blossoms, tulips, forsythias and locals red faced frustration with tourist packed metro trains. Not that this has anything to do with the selection of readings below....

Deficits Don't Matter? You need us and we need you

America and foreign central banks are locked in a codependent relationship: America is addicted to spending, and the banks can't stop throwing money at it in order to keep their currencies down. This is unhealthy for both parties, say the IMF and the World Bank. But is there any political will to change it?http://economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3834261]

Hearing No Evil:Rosy visions of the PATRIOT Act

This week, Congress manages to wrench its eyes from the muscular physiques of professional baseball players and turn to mundane matters of national security and civil liberties.
http://www.reason.com/links/links040605.shtml

How To Kill a Country

The Sad Story of Zimbabwe: (This story is over two years old, but gives you an idea of the problems facing the people of Zimbabwe. Things have only gotten worse and the Vatican allowed this monster to attend the Pope's funeral.)http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/news/opeds/2003/power_kill_country_am_1203.htm

History of the Cherry Trees in Washington, D.C.

The plantings of cherry trees originated in 1912 as gift of friendship to the United States from the people of Japan. In Japan the flowering cherry tree or "Sakura", as it is called by the Japanese people, is one of the most exalted flowering plants.
http://www.nps.gov/nacc/cherry/history.htm