Townhall: 33 Billion Balloons in a Strange Land

So, what country are we living in, today? Well, it’s explicable, if absurd — explicable in terms of the old “Cui bono” idea, of incentives and disincentives; absurd because of . . . well, click on over to Townhall.com, read this weekend’s Common Sense column, and see. Then come back here for further limning of the absurdist status quo.:

• CNN: “Former Atlanta schools superintendent reports to jail in cheating scandal”
• Washington Post: “The danger of how we grade teachers and schools,” by Jena McGregor
• Huffington Post: “The 5 Causes of Test Cheating Scandals,” by Dr. Christopher Emdin
• Washington Post: “Atlanta’s former schools chief charged under law used against Mafia,” by Valerie Strauss
• The Daily Caller: “Ballot-fraud convictions shed light on Obama’s ’08 campaign”
• Washington Post: “Ending retirement abuses in Montgomery County”
• Washington Examiner: “Unions face off with Montgomery County Council, residents over raises,” by Kate Jacobson
• Washington Post: “Congress finds it hard to let Federal Helium Program run out of gas,” by David A. Fahrenthold
• The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics: “Public Choice,” by William F. Shughart II