Month: April 2010

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness A review from the above link: Contrary to the rosy picture of race embodied in Barack Obama’s political success and Oprah Winfrey’s financial success, legal scholar Alexander argues vigorously and persuasively that [w]e have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned…

I grew up in Omaha and my mom still lives there. So this report from Omaha about a Tea Party there inspired me to write. The big traffic problems in Southwest Omaha Thursday night could be blamed on one thing: a political rally. Some people had to park more than a mile away from the…

Megan McArdle’s experience at a Post Office highlights the inefficiencies of a government monopoly. I’m always surprised people can ignore the most obvious economic lessons of the 20th Century: statism slows productivity growth, and in the end productivity growth is more important than anything else (GDP is just population x productivity). You’re about ten times…

Senator Chris Dodd has a plan to make investing in new ventures more difficult. …Dodd’s bill would require startups raising funding to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and then wait 120 days for the SEC to review their filing. A second provision raises the wealth requirements for an “accredited investor” who can invest…

Regarding a plan to shift thousands of U.S. troops from Okinawa to Guam, Congressman Hank Johnson said this: My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize. Huh? Is he effing kidding? I’ve been having enough trouble lately trying to figure out what’s humor and…

Yesterday I saw an anonymous piece which appeared in the National Review Online. Titled “Getting Serious About Pornography,” the author claims that: — her husband left her because of porn — pornography is an addictive drug — hearings should be held, and the federal government should get involved. This is not a new topic here,…

We have an image of Victorians as prudish about sex. And the continuous decrying of our sex gone wild culture. But the truth may be different. For those into sex control the past was always more moral and today’s youth are going to hell one night at a time. But maybe human nature is not…

Either someone pays me by midnight tonight or the dreadful logo at the top of this blog is coming down. I mean it! Hackers, consider yourselves warned!

Earlier tonight I decided to check out a new restaurant that has just opened on the main boulevard here in Ann Arbor. As it is only a half a dozen or so blocks away, I decided to walk. A few blocks up the street, some young people were blasting the neighborhood with rap music at…

Remember when “death panels” were considered a right-wing crackpot conspiracy theory? Well, via Adam Bitely, I learned that it turns out that not only were the death panels there all along, but they’re a good thing! A cost saver, don’t you know. So explains Paul Krugman (who as a left-wing economist ought to know about…

A well-known blogger I greatly respect but won’t name (you will understand why; he fears reprisals) told me about an amazing man named Dr. Peter Beter. Dr. Beter was a successful Washington lawyer and former Kennedy administration diplomatic liaison, until finally he decided to blow the whistle on what was really going on, and he…

What the hell is going on with this blog? Have we been hijacked? MORE: Over at Power and Control, M. Simon expresses bitter disappointment, and is threatening to quit! I can hardly blame him. I think it is high time that we get some answers around here! AND MORE: What I want to know is…