DSK and the Pernicious "Perp Walk" | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

DSK and the Pernicious "Perp Walk" | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The 'perp walk' — in which suspects are ritually displayed to the media, trussed up like a hunter's kill — has become common practice among prosecutors. But it's a practice any country devoted to the rule of law should reject.

'Perp walks are pernicious devices,' writes law professor Ernest F. Lidge, 'they humiliate innocent defendants, taint the jury pool and titilate the public.' Too often, they're 'used by prosecutors to build careers.'"

Global Warming and Global Food Security | Patrick J. Michaels | Cato Institute: Commentary

Global Warming and Global Food Security | Patrick J. Michaels | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Global surface temperature rose about three-fourths of a degree Celsius in the 20th century. U.S. corn yields quintupled. Life expectancy doubled. People got fat. Global warming didn't cause all of this, but increased atmospheric carbon dioxide directly stimulated plant growth. Further, greenhouse warming takes place more in the winter, which lengthens growing seasons. With adequate water, plants then fix and yield more carbohydrate.

While doing my dissertation I learned a few things about world crops. Serial adoption of new technologies produces a nearly constant increase in yields. Greater fertilizer application, improved response to fertilizer, better tractor technology, better tillage practices, old-fashioned genetic selection, and new-fashioned genetic engineering all conspire to raise yields, year after year."

"Indur Goklany, a much-published scholar on the consequences of global warming policies, recently calculated that in 2010 alone, diversion of grain to biofuels (like ethanol) caused nearly 200,000 excess deaths in the developing world because of increased prices."

Buying Can Reduce Giving | Psychology Today

Buying Can Reduce Giving | Psychology Today: "On some days, people walking across campus were givent he chance to donate to the American Cancer Society.  On other days, participants were given the chance to purchase a can of Red Bull for $2.50, and they were told that $0.50 would be given to the charity.  They were also allowed to donate additional money.  When only a donation was requested, about 80% of the participants gave money, but when there was a chance to purchase a drink, only about 20% of people gave money.  Even when including the amount of money that would be raised from the sales of the Red Bull, the charity got more money overall when there was no product for sale."

Wisconsin state smoking ban marks first anniversary | New Richmond News | New Richmond, Wisconsin

Wisconsin state smoking ban marks first anniversary | New Richmond News | New Richmond, Wisconsin: "Sometimes there is a shift in patrons, but in general we have so many more people that don’t smoke and who like clean air and are willing to go and spend what little money they have"

If that is true, then the market would provide sufficient smoke-free restaurants and bars to serve them.

"There is no liberty or no constitutional law that gives people the right to smoke"

Unbelieveable!

"In the big picture, we’re not going to stop testing someone’s water to see if it’s OK to drink, we’re not going to stop going in and testing their food and doing health inspections on the food, so why would we not do that with the air?"

It isn't always easy to determine if food or water is safe, but it is easy for customer to know if there is smoke in the air.

Federal Spending Doesn't Work | Chris Edwards | Cato Institute: Commentary

Federal Spending Doesn't Work | Chris Edwards | Cato Institute: Commentary: "In Keynesian theory, the total amount of deficit spending is the amount of 'stimulus' delivered to the economy. Well, we've had deficit spending of $459 billion in 2008, $1.4 trillion in 2009, $1.3 trillion in 2010 and $1.4 trillion in 2011.

Yet despite that enormous deficit-spending stimulus, U.S. unemployment remains stuck at more than 9 percent and the recovery is very sluggish compared to prior recoveries."

"The reality is that Washington is very bad at trying to micromanage short-term economic performance. Its failed stimulus actions have just put the nation further into debt, which will harm our long-term prosperity."

Presidential Winner Market

Do you want to know who will win the presidency in 2012? One good place to look is the Iowa Electronic Market. The market just opened and there isn't much volume yet, but it should be interesting in a while. You can also watch the 2012 congressional markets.

Are you wondering how well they have predicted previous races? Take a look at the graphs for previous elections:
2008 Presidential
2006 House of Representatives
2004 Presidential
2000 Presidential

Show Love to the Merchant Class - Jeffrey A. Tucker - Mises Daily

Show Love to the Merchant Class - Jeffrey A. Tucker - Mises Daily: "We are masters of the universe as customers and as compliant as lambs when acting as citizens. And perhaps that's easy to understand. The government has a gun pointing at our heads. The merchant is trying to persuade us to part with our money in exchange for goods and services. One won't take no for an answer; the other sees no as just part of daily life.

Still, we should be more conscious of the difference, and appreciate what it means. The class of people who have chosen the path of persuasion over coercion are deserving of our gratitude even when we don't buy from them. The merchant class is that which makes everything possible in our lives: our homes, our food, our medical care, our clothing, our air conditioning, our computers, our music listening — absolutely everything that makes daily life tolerable and joyful."

An Amen for Albany | Walter Olson | Cato Institute: Commentary

An Amen for Albany | Walter Olson | Cato Institute: Commentary: "New York City had long leaned heavily on institutions affiliated with major religious groups to provide foster placements for 'their' kids — Catholic agencies making arrangements for Catholic kids and so forth. Lawyers from the ACLU sued, saying this perpetuated religious discrimination. In particular, they argued, it was unfair that Catholic and Jewish kids got the assistance of relatively strong agencies backed by long histories of community philanthropy and volunteering, while other kids, notably black Protestants, were left with whatever foster arrangements the city could cobble together.

In a settlement, the city agreed to scrap the system and cut back religious matching in favor of something more like a first-come-first-served method of assignment, turning the agencies into something closer to interchangeable outposts of a single foster system. Problem solved? No. Outcomes went from unacceptable to even worse as the new rules demoralized and drove away volunteers at the high-performing religious agencies without turning around the others."

The Bin Laden vaccine: Yes, vaccinations are a CIA plot | The Economist

The Bin Laden vaccine: Yes, vaccinations are a CIA plot | The Economist: "All over the world, poor people resist vaccination campaigns in the belief that they are part of a plot by powerful authorities to take advantage of them. The CIA operation in Pakistan turns these fears from crazy conspiracy theories into accurate and rational beliefs."

Wisconsin Schools Already In Line to Save $155 Million Through New Contracts | Scott Walker for Wisconsin Governor

Wisconsin Schools Already In Line to Save $155 Million Through New Contracts | Scott Walker for Wisconsin Governor: "According to 2011 head counts from the Department of Public Instruction, these changes will affect 312,567 students in Wisconsin – saving districts an average of $497.81 per student."