I'm not sure, but I think I may have just taken a huge step toward solving one of the toughest problems in criminal law: The meaning of reasonable doubt. It is famously difficult to define this standard for members of the jury, which is a problem, because they're supposed to use it to decide if someone is guilty. Scott Greenfield brought this up again a couple of months ago in … [Read more...] about Towards a Definition of Reasonable Doubt: A Modest Proposal
And Now For Some (Almost) Porn
It's probably a sign that there's something wrong with me, but somehow I find this video charming. It's composed entirely of just-before-things-get-naughty scenes from porno movies. I guess that knowing what happens next produces a certain tension with the innocent music and images. Warning: In and of itself, it's safe for work, but technically these are scenes of porn stars in … [Read more...] about And Now For Some (Almost) Porn
Make Them Stop Taking Our Computers
There are many things wrong in this story, but let me focus on this one for the moment: That's right, not only were they forced to live under the accusation of being child pornographers, but the FBI naturally had to seize all their computers, since they contained all the evidence. Like nice pictures of their cat Fluffy. Shouldn't that have had some impact on the … [Read more...] about Make Them Stop Taking Our Computers
Hail to the King, Baby!
After one final delay (see Gearbox studio head Randy Pitchford's gracious apology), the long, long, long awaited video game Duke Nukem Forever (a.k.a. "The Chinese Democracy of video games") is scheduled to ship on June 14, and it's already gone gold in pre-orders. Check out the latest trailer: I think I actually prefer this older trailer which came out a few months ago: I am … [Read more...] about Hail to the King, Baby!
Libertarianism and the Need For Compassion
A few weeks ago, Peter Moskos asked the folks at The Agitator to explain a few things about libertarianism and the need for compassion. Now, in a fit of shameless self-promotion, I'd like to link to my three part answer at Nobody's Business: Part 1: Ideology Part 2: Force and Freedom Part 3: Compassion Taken together, these form a sort of introduction to libertarianism for … [Read more...] about Libertarianism and the Need For Compassion