I didn't vote for McCain, but you have to admire a dad who produces a daughter with this much spunky intelligence:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-03-02/looking-for-mr-far-right
Of course, she has a blog:
http://mccainblogette.com/
"And if an epitaph be my story, I'd have a short one ready for my own: I had a lover's quarrel with the world." -- Robert Frost
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Mark Cuban is Right about Madoff's Investors
As usual, Mark Cuban makes a fantastic point--this time, about Bernie Madoff and his investors:
http://blogmaverick.com/2009/02/21/was-madoff-a-better-investment-than-your-mutual-fund/
Basically, compared to the average investor, the Madoff investor might end up doing better. In addition, Madoff's investors will be getting tax deductions because of their portfolio "losses." Any way you dice it, Madoff's investors got about the same as the average investor over the last ten years. Yet, no one is trying to bail out the average stock market investor.
I said essentially the same thing here, but Cuban has more stats to support his view.
http://blogmaverick.com/2009/02/21/was-madoff-a-better-investment-than-your-mutual-fund/
Basically, compared to the average investor, the Madoff investor might end up doing better. In addition, Madoff's investors will be getting tax deductions because of their portfolio "losses." Any way you dice it, Madoff's investors got about the same as the average investor over the last ten years. Yet, no one is trying to bail out the average stock market investor.
I said essentially the same thing here, but Cuban has more stats to support his view.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Both Parties Love Big Government
Yet another reason America's two party system doesn't work:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090305/pl_mcclatchy/3182084
Exactly what I said before here:
In fact, Democrats like Reich and Krugman are stealing a page from the GOP's playbook. In the old days, Republicans would spend trillions of dollars on wasteful defense projects and then scapegoat poor single mothers on welfare. Now, Democrats are demonizing bankers and Wall Street to divert the public's focus from their own act of generational theft (America's future generations will be paying for the recent stimulus package). So while Republicans ran up deficits to increase the military, Democrats are running up deficits to send taxpayer money to their core constituents--education, local and state governments, and unionized interests. In the end, government gets bigger under either administration--it's just a matter of where the dollars go.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090305/pl_mcclatchy/3182084
Exactly what I said before here:
In fact, Democrats like Reich and Krugman are stealing a page from the GOP's playbook. In the old days, Republicans would spend trillions of dollars on wasteful defense projects and then scapegoat poor single mothers on welfare. Now, Democrats are demonizing bankers and Wall Street to divert the public's focus from their own act of generational theft (America's future generations will be paying for the recent stimulus package). So while Republicans ran up deficits to increase the military, Democrats are running up deficits to send taxpayer money to their core constituents--education, local and state governments, and unionized interests. In the end, government gets bigger under either administration--it's just a matter of where the dollars go.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Religious Biases Coming Back?
Brad Greenberg writes a great article on racism and religious bias:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0227/p09s01-coop.html
Though some Jewish money managers have proved to be scoundrels at best, like Shylock, it is not because they are Jewish – just as Christianity did not inspire Ken Lay to cheat Enron's shareholders. Indeed, Jews may be the easy historical target, but scapegoating misses the moral of our own failures. The real responsibility lies with all of us.
More from Mr. Greenberg can be found here.
Also, from the NYT, here are some interesting survey results about American Muslims:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/02/us/02muslims.html
One excerpt, showing the diversity within Islam:
But American Muslims are not one homogeneous group, the study makes clear. Asian-American Muslims (from countries like India and Pakistan) have more income and education and are more likely to be thriving than other American Muslims. In fact, their quality of life indicators are higher than for most other Americans, except for American Jews...
American Muslims are generally very religious, saying that religion is an important part of their daily lives (80 percent), more than any other group except Mormons (85 percent). The figure for Americans in general is 65 percent.
By political ideology, Muslims were spread across the spectrum from liberal to conservative, with about 4 in 10 saying they were moderates. By party identification, Muslims resembled Jews more than any other religious group, with small minorities registered as Republicans, roughly half Democrats and about a third independents.
The poll shows that American Muslims tend to be diverse, highly educated, religious, and Democratic.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0227/p09s01-coop.html
Though some Jewish money managers have proved to be scoundrels at best, like Shylock, it is not because they are Jewish – just as Christianity did not inspire Ken Lay to cheat Enron's shareholders. Indeed, Jews may be the easy historical target, but scapegoating misses the moral of our own failures. The real responsibility lies with all of us.
More from Mr. Greenberg can be found here.
Also, from the NYT, here are some interesting survey results about American Muslims:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/02/us/02muslims.html
One excerpt, showing the diversity within Islam:
But American Muslims are not one homogeneous group, the study makes clear. Asian-American Muslims (from countries like India and Pakistan) have more income and education and are more likely to be thriving than other American Muslims. In fact, their quality of life indicators are higher than for most other Americans, except for American Jews...
American Muslims are generally very religious, saying that religion is an important part of their daily lives (80 percent), more than any other group except Mormons (85 percent). The figure for Americans in general is 65 percent.
By political ideology, Muslims were spread across the spectrum from liberal to conservative, with about 4 in 10 saying they were moderates. By party identification, Muslims resembled Jews more than any other religious group, with small minorities registered as Republicans, roughly half Democrats and about a third independents.
The poll shows that American Muslims tend to be diverse, highly educated, religious, and Democratic.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The 4th Amendment and the Exclusionary Rule
Philip Kushner's letter on the 4th Amendment is one of the best legal letters I've seen--thanks in advance to the WSJ:
Paul H. Rubin complains that the exclusionary rule "hinders" law enforcement in detecting and prosecuting suspected crimes ("The Exclusionary Rule's Hidden Costs," op-ed, Feb. 28). He is probably right. The Bill of Rights contains many such provisions that restrict government's ability to detect and punish crime, including the right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures, the right to be arrested only upon probable cause, the bar against double jeopardy, the right to counsel, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to due process of law. Evidently, the Founding Fathers believed that there is a higher value than efficient law enforcement.
Paul H. Rubin complains that the exclusionary rule "hinders" law enforcement in detecting and prosecuting suspected crimes ("The Exclusionary Rule's Hidden Costs," op-ed, Feb. 28). He is probably right. The Bill of Rights contains many such provisions that restrict government's ability to detect and punish crime, including the right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures, the right to be arrested only upon probable cause, the bar against double jeopardy, the right to counsel, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to due process of law. Evidently, the Founding Fathers believed that there is a higher value than efficient law enforcement.
As for Prof. Rubin's claim that the exclusionary rule "encourages criminals to increase their illegal activity," that is far-fetched. Exclusion of evidence is extremely rare; exclusion of evidence that prevents prosecution and conviction is even rarer. Who engages in criminal conduct based on the assumption that the exclusionary rule will prevent their prosecution? Few citizens, including criminals, can predict when evidence will be suppressed. After the Supreme Court's recent decision in Herring v. U.S., which instructs lower court judges to engage in a kind of cost-benefit analysis in deciding whether to exclude evidence, no judge can say with confidence when evidence will be excluded either.
We have constitutional rights, many of which protect us from the government, also called law enforcement. Either we have remedies for violations of these rights or we do not. A right without a remedy is worthless.
Philip S. Kushner
Cleveland
Mr. Kushner, I have just one question: when is President Obama going to appoint you as a federal judge?
Interactive Unemployment Chart (2009)
The NYT published this interactive unemployment chart, showing rates of unemployment nationwide:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/03/us/20090303_LEONHARDT.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/03/us/20090303_LEONHARDT.html
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