"Homeschooling: Back to the Future'' by Isabel Lyman in Policy Analysis294, January 7, 1998, published by the Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20001. This review of the origins and current state of homeschooling in the United Sates contains much useful information.
"Environmental Scares: Plenty of Gloom'' in The Economist, December 20, 1997, p19. This is an excellent review of activities of the merchants of environmental fear during the past several decades. The article covers everything from the runaway population growth myth to the false claims about depletion of natural resources. Our current favorite is two quotes: "The first comes from Newsweek in 1975: 'Meteorologists disagree about the cause and extent of the cooling trend . . . But they are almost unanimous in the view that the trend will reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century.' The second comes from Vice-President Al Gore in 1992: 'Scientists concluded - almost unanimously - that global warming is real and the time to act is now'.'' [Italics added by The Economist.]
"The New Threat of Mass Destruction'' by Richard K. Betts, Foreign Affairs, January/February 1998, pp 26-41. This article advocates the installation of civil defense for the protection of American civilians from terrorist and other use of weapons of mass destruction, with special emphasis on biological weapons. The author unfortunately uses civil defense to deprecate the installation of strategic defenses, which are also badly needed to protect American civilians.
Biological weapons are receiving increasing attention because their ease of manufacture and delivery renders deterrent measures almost useless. A couple of dedicated and moderately well-educated terrorists with $50,000 worth of surplus laboratory equipment could, for example, kill millions of unprepared Americans in a single anthrax attack.
eco-logic 41, November/December 1997, published by the Environmental Conservation Organization, P. O. Box 191, Hollow Rock, TN 38342. This entire issue is excellent reading from the Kyoto Report and the Leipzig Declaration to articles by S. Fred Singer and Hugh W. Ellsaesser. The global warming issue is covered here in numerous articles about various aspects of the subject.
