Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Data Scientist Cathy O’Neil: “Algorithms Are Opinions Embedded in Code”

I met Cathy in Cambridge when she spoke at MIT a few years ago. This is  re-posted from Naked Capitalism.  Cathy’s whole TED Talk can be watched after the fold. Data Scientist Cathy O’Neil: “Algorithms Are Opinions Embedded in Code” Cathy O’Neil has a PhD in mathematics from Harvard and is the author of the […]

Rampant judicial activism

Via Slate by Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern: The Clarence Thomas takeover But Thomas is more than just the Trump administration’s philosophical hero. His once-fringy ideas are suddenly flourishing—not only on the high court, through his alliance with Gorsuch, but also in the executive branch. … Everywhere you turn in Trumpland, you’ll find a slew of […]

FIX THE DEBT WANTS TO SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY BUT WHY?

by Dale Coberly FIX THE DEBT WANTS TO SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY BUT WHY? I received an email a few days ago from Chris Dreibelbis, Fix the Debt, purporting to explain “why the Social Security Trustees urge action.” “Fix the Debt” is a project of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) which is funded […]

Shootings by Police Officers: Self-Control and More

I stumbled on a recent paper in the Police Quarterly entitled “Quick on the Draw: Assessing the Relationship Between Low Self-Control and Officer-Involved Police Shootings.” The authors are Christopher M. Donner, Jon Maskaly, Alex R. Piquero, and Wesley G. Jennings from Loyola, U of Texas at Dallas, U of Texas at Dallas and U of […]

McConnell’s AHCA Bill Text and WP Interpretation

I have not had a chance to read through this; but, I thought I would put this out here for all of us to read, Senate Version AHCA McConnell Updated this post with the changes proposed in the McConnell Senate Bill as taken from today’s Washington Post. Washington Post Version How Senate Republicans Plan to […]