A parable: A few days ago, I was mugged by a white guy who stole about $300 from me. Then just yesterday, a black guy tried to mug me, but I got away. Am I a racist for not letting the black guy mug me? Some people say that since we bailed out the fatcat investment bankers, it's unfair not to bailout the labor-intensive Detroit auto industry. I disagree. It's not about … [Read more...] about Should We Bail Out the Auto Industry?
The Prison-Industrial Complex
Many people find economics depressing because the economic model of human behavior assumes all people are rational maximizers of their own interests. Seen in the worst light, Homo Economicus is selfish and callous, grimly pursuing his own interests while happliy sacrificing the welfare of all others.I find people depressing because the economic model is so often … [Read more...] about The Prison-Industrial Complex
“An honorable place to work”
Media mogul Ted Turner, being interviewed by Tom Brokaw: MR. BROKAW: You met Vladimir Putin when he was just an aide to the mayor of St. Petersburg. ...most people see not in his eyes a soulful person, but the eyes--three letters, as someone has put it: KGB. That he is... MR. TURNER: Well, he had that background. But you know, we have an FBI and, and, and, and, and we're … [Read more...] about “An honorable place to work”
Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center
Murray Newman got fired today. I didn't know it, but Newman was the author of the Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center blog. Not being all that interested in Texas politics, I wasn't a super-regular reader, but he writes well and he's been on my Bloglines subscription list for a while now. There was a change of administration at the last election, and in … [Read more...] about Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center
Get Your Anti-Marketing Badges Here!
[THIS IS A VERY OLD PAGE AND NONE OF THE CODE BELOW STILL WORKS!]In response to the debate over marketing on legal blogs, Gideon at a public defender posted a couple of badges for marketmarketing blawgers to use. They were designed for him by Heather Brandon at urban compass.Gideon is asking that people not directly link to the badges on his server, but instead download … [Read more...] about Get Your Anti-Marketing Badges Here!