Today’s Links: March 2, 2012
OPINION
DAVID HENDERSON: “Tear Down These Walls”
“Something has switched for me and I think a large part of the reason is the way Bryan Caplan’s thinking on immigration has changed my thinking. As an immigrant myself who, at one time, faced a deportation order from the U.S. government, and as an economist who thought he understood the importance of resources going to their highest-valued use, I’ve always favored a huge relaxation of the U.S. government’s restrictions on immigration. At the same time, though, I’ve worried about whether the new immigrants would vote away the system that attracted them to the United States in the first place. My solution has been a 20-year residency requirement before one can become a citizen. I still favor that solution. So I can’t point to a particular policy view of mine that has changed. It’s more that Bryan Caplan has changed my view of the urgency of immigration reform. It’s like the Robert Lucas quote above: Now that I’ve started thinking about immigration, it’s hard to think about anything else, within economic policy, at least. It is pretty clearly the most pro-growth measure the U.S. government could take and the biggest anti-poverty measure.”
MATTHEW GREENFIELD: “What Major League Baseball Can Learn From the Fourth Amendment”
“Ryan Braun is going to play professional baseball in April, but fans will never learn why. Last week, Braun became the first player ever to successfully fight a suspension based on Major League Baseball’s drug policy. […] In the law of criminal procedure, the conventional answer is exclusion, but the difficult trade-off involved in this ‘exclusionary rule’ has tormented judges for decades, leading to the weakening of the exclusionary rule and an innovative tool that separates deterrence of police misconduct from deterrence of crime. Baseball should develop a similar tool.”
PHELIM MCALEER: “Frack Nation”
“Fracking is probably one of the most misunderstood words in the English language. Thanks to the Oscar nominated documentary “Gasland,” many people believe fracking — a process of getting natural gas out of rock — pollutes water and creates wastelands wherever it is used. But like so many documentaries nowadays, Gasland is high on anecdote and emotion but low on science and fact.”
NEWS
COPYRIGHT – Tiny Antennas Don’t Prevent Copyright Suit
“Fox Television, PBS and Univision Television and others Thursday asked a federal judge to halt an impending subscription service that enables the streaming of broadcast television to any internet-enabled device. The suit targets Aereo, a $12 monthly subscription service set to debut in New York on March 14. The suit claims that the upstart, backed by media mogul Barry Diller, has failed to acquire licenses from the networks. Aereo is to deliver broadcasts from NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, Fox and others — broadcasts it acquires over the air with multiple tiny antennas placed at its New York headquarters.”
EDUCATION – Mid-South Principal Accused of Controversial Remarks
“A Mid-South principal has been under fire for controversial statements about gay students and teen pregnancy. Dorothy Bond is the principal at Haywood High School in Brownsville, Tennessee. She’s accused of making insensitive remarks during a meeting with students.”
ANTITRUST – FTC Attorney Who Led Antitrust Investigations Into Google Will Be Joining Microsoft
“Randall Long, a deputy assistant director in the Federal Trade Commission attorney who led several of the agency’s antitrust investigations into Google, will be joining Microsoft, according to The Wall Street Journal.”