Today’s Links: November 4, 2011

OPINION

REASON TV: “Steven Pinker on the Decline of Violence and ‘The Better Angels of Our Nature’ (VIDEO)

TANA GANEVA: “Why is OWS Blanketed With NYPD Cameras—and Are Police Breaking the Law?
“[R]ecording legal protest activity violates the Handschu decree, a set of legal guidelines designed to check the NYPD’s historic tendency to steamroll First Amendment rights. The order emerged from a class-action lawsuit prompted by revelations that the NYPD had spent much of the 20th century and millions of dollars monitoring legal protest activity, an endeavor that generated up to a million files on such dangerous radicals as education reform groups and housing advocates. The Handschu decree prohibits investigations of legal political activity and the collection of data, including images and video of protests, unless a crime has been committed.”

TYLER COWEN: “Should Redistributionists Feel Compelled to Give More of Their Money Away?
“What a juvenile argument!  I cited this riposte when I was in high school.  Nonetheless, looking back on it, I think it might be right.  Here is a version from Steve Landsburg, and a while ago Steve Moore wrote it up in the WSJ.  After all, if government action to redistribute income is morally required, in the meantime is not greater private charity morally required too?”

NEWS

TAXES – Thirty Companies Paid No U.S. Income Tax 2008-2010
“Thirty large and profitable U.S. corporations paid no income taxes in 2008 through 2010, said a study on Thursday that arrives as Congress faces rising demands for tax reform but seems unable or unwilling to act.”

TECHNOLOGY – Groupon Shares Jump in Public Market Debut
“Groupon, the company that pioneered online group discounts, saw its stock rise sharply in its public debut Friday, showing strong demand for an Internet company whose business model is considered unsustainable by some analysts.”