Um, uh, ah: In praise of verbal stumbles. - By Michael Erard - Slate Magazine

Um, uh, ah: In praise of verbal stumbles. - By Michael Erard - Slate Magazine: "A University of Rochester lab published a paper this spring showing that kids over 2 were more likely to pay attention to an unfamiliar object if the speaker said 'uh' before stating its name. Presumably, this tactic gives children a leg up on parsing an adult's speech. Take the example of the mother who says to her child, 'No, that wasn't the telephone, honey. That was the, uh, timer.' The 'uh' indicates that there's a word coming up that might be new and unfamiliar, so extra attention is required."

Man Uses Phone Glitch to Bond Out of Florida Jail - FoxNews.com

Man Uses Phone Glitch to Bond Out of Florida Jail - FoxNews.com: "The phone system charges inmate accounts for calls but refunds the money if the call doesn't go through. But the system was reimbursing inmates twice for incomplete calls.

Authorities say Stone repeatedly made calls and hung up until he had more than $1,250 -- enough to bond out of jail."

A Pretense of Regulatory Reform - Gary Galles - Mises Daily

A Pretense of Regulatory Reform - Gary Galles - Mises Daily: "Sunstein wrote, 'Since the 1970s, milk has been defined as an 'oil' and subject to costly rules designed to prevent oil spills.' But the EPA has now concluded the burdens were unjustifiable, and given dairies an exemption saving them $140 million a year. Unfortunately, rather than demonstrating that Americans no longer need worry about abusive regulations, it illustrates the opposite.

The fact that a clearly nonsensical and costly policy persisted for decades, despite multiple 'reforms,' reveals that almost no attention is actually given to outdated and overly burdensome regulations. But when public outrage becomes severe, a few idiocies must be recognized and sacrificed to pretend regulatory responsibility. Once such a minimal reform diminishes outrage, Americans will again stop paying much attention to the regulatory bureaucracy, and the constraints on abusive regulations will once again shrivel."