I saw an interview of Nicco Mele on PBS, and was intrigued enough to read his book, The End of Big: How Internet Makes David the New Goliath. I am glad I did.
Mele does a good job of illustrating how "radical connectivity" -- the internet's capacity to reach across traditional institutional boundaries -- undermines the social structure of the world around us. While this poses some challenges, such as the decline of institutions capable of supporting good, investigative journalism -- a world of bloggers transforms the world into a colony of gossips -- it also presents...
May 28, 2013
Odds are you have an opinion about whether Jodi Arias should live or die. You probably also know all about Florida’s prosecution of Casey Anthony. The Boston Marathon bombing is an open wound in New England; you most likely have strong feelings about the man accused of helping set the bombs, Dzhokar Tsarnaev.
But what do you think about the Mother’s Day massacre in New Orleans this year?
Say what? New Orleans?
A gunman or gunmen opened fire on folks celebrating Mother’s Day in the city’s 7th Ward. Three suspects fled the scene. One was captured on film,...
May 25, 2013
I should be bleeding red, white and blue over reports that the Internal Revenue Service has singled out some Tea Party groups for extra-special scrutiny as tax exempt organizations. Instead, I can’t help but giggle. If ever there were two groups who deserve one another it is the tax department and the playpen patriots wearing tin foil hats.
First, the tax man.
A federal income tax has been part of the United States Constitution for 100 years now. The sixteenth amendment saw to that. The amendment is, frankly, a mockery of the first ten amendments. In a bygone era folks actually...
May 16, 2013
Here’s some free legal advice that might just keep you out of jail: If federal officials pay you a surprise visit and want to talk to you, don’t do it. If you just can’t say no, then demand that they permit you to tape record your conversation with them. If they won’t let you record the conversation, then, at the very least, take their business cards, call a lawyer, and politely ask them to leave your premises.
Why such a hardline with the feds?
It is a federal offense to lie to a government employee. (It is not, however, a violation of the law for a...
May 16, 2013
May 13, 2013
I originally posted this in 2010. Over the weekend, I was approached and asked for permission to republish this by a third party. I am reposting...
May 9, 2013
Tamerlan Tsarnaev is dead. He can’t hurt anyone again. So what’s the big deal about whether he is buried in Hamden, or in Russia, or...
May 8, 2013
Is Amanda Knox guilty of murder? One Italian jury said yes. Then a second jury said no. Now the case is being sent back for another trial. Ms. Knox...
May 5, 2013
If you are confused by the recent actions of Bethany’s Planning and Zoning Commission, here’s an attempt to decode them. The...
May 5, 2013
I wasn’t surprised to learn that United States Attorney David Fein tendered his resignation and will soon step down from his latest...
May 2, 2013
Perhaps the most telling moment in Ken Burns’ new documentary on the Central Park Five case is when a juror explains why he voted...