If you’re reading this, you’re in the good company of about 400 others. If you’re reading this, you probably have at least someinterest in what I write. But here’s the thing, if you’re reading this, you probably have not bought my book, In Defense of Flogging. Yeah, I’m calling you out. How, you may ask,…
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How about that? Maybe that guy in 1996 at the Abbey Lounge in Somerville wasn’t him after all. The Timesarticle leaves out the details regarding his relationship with his younger brother, who was a long time state representative and then President of of the University of Massachusetts. If my older brother was on the lam,…
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But his acquittal in Dutch court is an important victory for free speech in the Netherlands. As a side note, the Dutch legal system has some peculiarities from an American perspective, and not just the fact that somebody can be tried for what they say: The verdict had been expected as prosecutors themselves had called…
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I stumbled across an Asian grocery store in The Bronx that had some of the feistiest crabs I’ve seen a while. Decent sized, too (for New York). I bought six. I was tempted to let one loose on the subway home, but I resisted. But a good eye would have seen some some of the…
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This is good news for Republicans, supply-siders, and those who like to stick their ideological economic heads in the sand: the rich are getting richer. The top 0.1 percent of the population (those making about $1.7 million or more) now have an average income of $5.6 million per year. This is a 385% increase since…
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The LA Times reports that the ATF Director is expected to resign over the “Fast and Furious” gun program. It sure does seem a little strange for law enforcement to watch guns being sold to criminals and not acting. The operation marked a rare instance in which ATF agents allowed guns to “walk” into the…
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I just received an email with a subject line that baffled me: “Enough room to swing a cat.” I’ve actually heard that absurd expression, which as far as I knew, came (at least in print) from Mark Twain. I was introduced to the phrase by a Russian translator in Moscow circa 1991 who liked to…
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[I just stumbled across this postfrom 2008 and rather liked it (if I do say so myself). I don’t really remember writing it. And since I don’t remember writing it, I figure you don’t remember reading it! So here it is again:] A liquor store in Baltimore is being forced to close because a man…
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In the Washington Post. By Marc Mauer and David Cole.