Yearly Archives: 2005

Religious Inflation

This entry was posted in Economics Journalism Religion on by

Tyler Cowen notes this Denver Post article which states that:

In 2004, … Translated into consumer spending, readers spent $3.7 billion on religious books, a category that includes Christian books. That is an increase of nearly 285 percent from 1983.

This is impressive but perhaps not quite as impressive as it looks.
There is no indication in the article that the author made any adjustment for inflation so let’s do it for her. First, by her numbers sales of religious books in 1983 would be $1.29 billion ($3.7 B/2.85). The CPI inflation index for the period 1983 to 2004 is 1.897, i.e., 1 1983 dollar equals 1.897 2004 dollars. Therefore 1983 sales of religious books in terms of 2004 dollars would be $2.447 billion and the increase in sales from 1983 to 2004 is about 51% not the 285% stated in the article.
Impressive? Yes! But not near as impressive as the article would have us believe.

What Not To Buy At Wal-Mart

This entry was posted in Culture Marketing Music on by

Willie Nelson’s new album:

Assuming you buy anything at all there…. Wal-Mart apparently doesn’t like the cover.
A second thought: Yes, the cover image links to Modulator’s Amazon account but perhaps we shouldn’t buy it all or anything else put out by Universal Music Group until they stop licking the boots of the censors at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart certainly has every right to stock their shelves with items of their choosing but we do not have to support them or those who support the policy.
Via skippy’s place which you should hit many times today. Happy Birthday and many millions of hits to you!

An Administrative Supoena For You

This entry was posted in bush Law Law Enforcement Patriot Act War on Terrorism on by

Congress critters continue to work on spiffing up the patriot act. They have new stuff they’d like to add:

The Patriot Act already gives government too much power to spy on ordinary Americans, but things could get far worse. Congress is considering adding a broad new investigative power, known as the administrative subpoena, that would allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation to gain access to anyone’s financial, medical, employment and even library records without approval from a judge and even without the target knowing about it. Members of Congress should block this disturbing provision from becoming law.
The Senate is at work on a bill to reauthorize parts of the Patriot Act that are scheduled to expire later this year. In addition to extending those provisions, the Senate Intelligence Committee is proposing to add an array of new “investigative tools.” The administrative subpoena is not the only one of the new provisions of the current bill that would endanger civil liberties, but it is the worst.
When the F.B.I. wants access to private records about an individual, it ordinarily needs to get the approval of a judge or a grand jury. The proposed new administrative subpoena power would allow the F.B.I. to call people in and force them to produce records on its own authority, without approval from the judicial branch. This kind of secret, compelled evidence not tied to any court is incompatible with basic American principles of justice.

Hell, it is incompatible with any meaningful concept of justice and it is difficult to understand how the writer can turn around shortly after writing the above words and say:

The bill’s defenders note that administrative subpoenas are already allowed in other kinds of investigations. But these are generally in highly regulated areas, like Medicaid billing.

Sorry, just because an area is highly regulated does not remove the concern or make administrative supoenas any less incompatible with basic principles of justice. Administrative supoenas need to be removed from the legal process.
And the patriot act itself? Eliminate the controversy and toss the the whole thing out. Then draft up a nice short piece of legislation that reauthorizes the information sharing issues that the administration is so excited about.
Via beSpacific.