Year: 2009

  • Thinking About the Stimulus: GDP

    I want to bloviate about the economy and the stimulus a bit, so I’m going to try to explain our current unpleasantness as I understand it. My economic knowledge is purely amateur, so if you think I’m wrong, let me know. (And if you think my explanation is so bad it’s not even wrong, let… Read more

  • Handicapping the Phelps Fiasco

    Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott is apparently out to get champion swimmer Michael Phelps for smoking pot. After Phelps’s admissions last week, Sheriff Lott arrested eight people as part of his “investigation” into the matter. Now word is coming out about some of the details of those arrests: “He’s sitting there on Saturday, and 12… Read more

  • Nordstrom Backs Down…Maybe

    InformationWeek has the story. (Hat tip: Randazza) Read more

  • The Bullies at Nordstrom

    I’ve been a little busy, so I’m late to the party on this one, but Randazza, Popehat, Greenfield, and Bennett (among others) have been piling onto Nordstrom for their attempts to bully a small business. There’s a nice summary of the situation at InformationWeek, but basically the U.S. Patent and Trademark (PTO) office mistakenly approved “Beckon” as… Read more

  • Give Jurors a Guide

    Once again, I offer another crazy idea for reforming the justice system… A few days ago, Shawn Matlock wrote a Top Ten list of causes of Jury Anxiety which Ken Lammers commented on yesterday. I’ve served on two juries, one civil and one criminal, and both of these lists seemed reasonable, but they tended to miss… Read more