The decisionjust seems to be just a general free-speech issue. They compare video games to books: Reading Dante is unquestionably more cultured and intellectually edifying than playing Mortal Kombat. But these cultural and intellectual differences are not constitutional ones. Just because there’s a new media doesn’t mean there’s a new exception to be carved out…
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Here’s the story with the video. Here’s the story about the inevitable backlash to anybody who talks about the harms that guns cause to people in our cities. They tend to be ad hominem. Kudos for not being afraid to talk about race. Yes folks, racism used to not only be legal, but mandatory. And…
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I got this query and and would be curious to learn the answer: I’m working on a story on the history of police riding bikes in New York City…. I’m looking to explore when the NYPD used bikes as transportation, why they did, and how their utilization has changed over time as policing strategies/ideologies have…
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If the state can censor sexfrom the eyes of children, why can it not censer violence? Isn’t sex better than violence? It certainly is more fun. I guess I’ll have to read the Supreme Court’s decision… And consider this: perhaps the more violent video games of the past few decades have actually contributed to the…
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Crime & Justice News reports on this story: As Congress debates border-security funding and as governors demand more assistance, the Associated Press investigated what taxpayers spend securing the U.S.-Mexico border. Using White House budgets, reports obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, and congressional transcripts, the tally is $90 billion in 10 years. For taxpayers…
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In the Crime Report: The Crime Report:A lot of people have compared your book to Jonathan Swift’s essay, “A Modest Proposal.” But Swift’s work was pure satire, where yours is an honest look at a possible alternative punishment. Does the comparison frustrate you, or is it apt? Peter Moskos:Neither. I like the comparison. True, I…
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I like this line from Time Magazine: Reading In Defense of Floggingis a lot like reading Woody Allen’s classic “My Speech to the Graduates,” in which he declares, “More than at any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us…
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The Timeshas a story about Samuel Battle, one of New York’s first black police officers. But what is reallyinteresting is his oral history. In his own words. “They had riots. Many riots.” Worth a read: I went on down, and we got there, with my squad. The whites and Negroes were battling. I saw the…
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Cops and bicycles and a good cause… what’s not to like?
In the New York Timestoday, there’s an article extolling the benefits of introversion. I love reading pieces like this, which make it clear that introversion is a personality trait and not a medical problem that needs to be “cured” or treated with drugs. My understanding of introversion began after I realized that being introverted is…
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