From the category archives:

Crime & Punishment

Legalizing organ sales: one way to reduce waiting lists

July 21, 2009

UPDATE: Also see this follow-up post on a 22 year old alcoholic denied a transplant and now dead. Doctors proposing that selling your organs need not be illegal: This article will make you think. It tells the story of a somewhat schizophrenic homeless American man, recruited to sell a kidney in Houston, and along the [...]

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Deep Throat: The FBI vs. the Sexual Revolution

June 20, 2009

An interesting article on the battle fought by the FBI against “Deep Throat” – apparently the first “mainstream” pornographic film (I haven’t seen it). Fascinating from the standpoint of roles – i.e.: the degree to which policy shapes culture and empowers organizations like the FBI to become culture police. What’s your take: moral values through [...]

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Smart Move or Nanny State? Britain’s Anti-Stab Knife

June 16, 2009

Kitchen knives are apparently the most commonly used murder weapon in Britain, absent firearms. Fortunately, there’s now an alternative. Up next: blunting the “pocket terror” of stabby pens and pencils, and forest patrols to elimate pointy sticks. I’m on the “nanny state” side here: if someone wants to do grievous harm, they’ll find a way, [...]

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The Price of Legalizing Pot is Too High

June 9, 2009

“…both of our two already legal drugs — alcohol and tobacco — offer chilling illustrations of how an open market fuels greater harms.” [LAT] The LA Times published a compelling summary of the social-cost arguments against legalization a few days ago. Related: France to raise its drinking age from 16 to 18. Make your own [...]

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Flying Prostitute stirs up controversy in the Yukon

June 8, 2009

The Yukon government is charging two Calgarians for violating heritage law by salvaging a WWII bomber (the “flying prostitute” in question) from a Yukon lake. “…[the Yukon gov't] fears the Watson Lake Marauder could wind up in an American private collection, much like a P-39 Cobra fighter that was allowed to leave the Yukon and [...]

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Would the advocates of Guantanamo “harsh interrogations” waterboard Anti-Abortion Terrorists?

June 8, 2009

Hanlon’s razor asks an interesting question. The murderer of Dr. George Tiller in Kansas last week fits the profile of a domestic terrorist, and claims that more strikes will take place over the summer. He refuses to divulge details. Would the same people that support(ed) harsh interrogations in Guantanamo support waterboarding Scott Roeder until he [...]

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The Human Cost of a Failing Justice System

February 4, 2009

The Megan O’Toole at the NatPost today covers the story of a Vancouver 13-year old: A 13-year-old boy who has had 75 run-ins with the law over the past year was arrested by Vancouver police on the weekend for allegedly slashing a man who refused the boy’s request for a cigarette. [National Post] As a [...]

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