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 Tuesday, March 11, 2003
Measuring Lost Freedom vs. Security in Dollars [New York Times] [via Metafilter].
In an unusual twist on cost-benefit analysis, an economic tool that conservatives have often used to attack environmental regulation, top advisers to President Bush want to weigh the benefits of tighter domestic security against the "costs" of lost privacy and freedom.
11:14:22 AM () 
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Despite high-profile support, inmate's appeals rejected [Austin American-Statesman] [via Dan Gillmor's eJournal]. From the article:
"At some point our criminal justice system must reach repose and a finality of decision," Cochran wrote in a concurring opinion to the court's 6-3 decision. "After 23 years of litigation, review and re-review by this court and federal courts, (Banks) has had his fair share of due process."
The Board of Pardons and Paroles turned down Banks' request for clemency without considering its substance because the paperwork was filed one week late, said board Chairman Gerald Garrett.
His lawyers say that Bowie County prosecutors hid evidence that could have helped acquit their client, and that information unearthed since his conviction shows that he might well be innocent.
Some evidence of prosecutorial misconduct was not discovered until almost 20 years after the trial. ... No appeals court has considered that new evidence, said George Kendall, Banks' attorney.
If a man's life is in the balance, then there is no compelling need to reach finality of decision; it had better be the god-damned right decision, and this story makes it clear that it's not the right one. And it's doubly embarrassing that this story has to be pointed out by somebody on the way out of Texas after visiting for the purpose of a high privilege geekf-fest that's pretty much the direct opposite of this case. 10:54:50 AM ()
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Today's weird headline: Man wins tie sex ruling [BBC News]. The story itself is very tame; it's about workplace dress codes.
I keep trying to write witty follow-ons to these links, but I'm apparently not awake enough yet. So: ungggh. telecommuting mean no ties! grunt. mmmmm. 10:42:06 AM ()
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Alien Life Search Inches Forward [Wired News]. I used to run this on a lot of machines (because, hey, science fiction double feature!), but these days I do most of my work on a laptop with a variable speed fan, and if I don't run the CPU full-bore all the time, the fan stays quiet. Which I really like. 10:37:57 AM ()
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Gaming's Future at MS [Blue's News]. Describes future directions for gaming in Longhorn, including "...looking into making it possible to run Windows games directly from the CD without installation." I've been surprised since day 1 of the "CD-ROM revolution" that games didn't just work this way. This is something consoles just get right, even if it is by necessity. 12:25:46 AM ()
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Those who know me too well will understand why 
