Cure-alls and Remedies
I am teaching this course again. Every year it changes, and this year I hope it changes a lot. Here’s what I said about this today, our first day of classes: Any story about crime and punishment is bound to start with a few stylized facts. Until this year, I’ve started with the same number:…
I have a two year old daughter, and I’m overwhelmed every time this happens with fear and anger. I teach at a university, and I feel special fear every time there is an active shooter reported, though I quickly cover it with bravado and statistical arguments. (There were two on my old campus in a…
In preparation for our own series on militaries in The Good Society , I’m reading this very interesting series from the Military Times: AMERICA’S MILITARY A force adrift Readiness ‘on a shoestring’ The crushing deployment tempo Were the wars worth the cost? A conservative institution’s uneasy cultural evolution It’s worth checking out.
1. Tyler Cowen’s Ethnic Dining Guide is my new favorite DC thing. Ah, hell: just read the guy’s blog . 2. William Galston has a blog?!? Apparently he’s not too happy with the health care plan. 3. What about urban infill housing? EYA thinks that Hyattsville, MD can be the next U Street. 4. Is…
Laws are like sausages: you can’t enjoy them if you know how they’re made. This is doubly true for budgets and stimulus bills. That said, during the campaign American Public Media put out this nifty little Flash game that puts you in charge of the Federal budget, and in the spirit of self-governance (and wasting…
I never met Lucinda Peach , but because I’ll be covering one of her courses at American, I’ve been doing a little research into her life and work. Dr. Peach died July 24th from complications following treatment for recurrence of breast cancer . She was 52 years old. Her best known work, the book Legislating…
I’ve not seen much mention of one of the most important complaints about the FISA reauthorization: the claim made by Joseph P. Nacchio and Qwest Communication International that the Bush administration sought the power to engage in warrantless wiretapping in February of 2001 , seven months before the events of Semptember 11th and the Authorization…