The star wattage wins the show competitive status in the
prestige drama space currently dominated by AMC and HBO with shows
like Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire. But Netflix
offers viewers something none of its pay-cable competitors can
match: instant access.

Rather than roll out episodes on the familiar weekly schedule,
Netflix dropped the entire season online at once. That’s perfect
for a serialized, plot-twist-driven series like this. Sadly, the
abundant absurdities in its storytelling make the series less
innovative than the delivery system. House of Cards won’t
change TV drama, but it might change the way we watch it.
—Peter Suderman

Read the rest of this article at: http://reason.com/archives/2013/05/07/netflix-gambles

As Arthur shows in this frequently fascinating survey of things
left unsaid, the consequences of refusing to acknowledge basic
realities of life go beyond silly censorship. The idea that
prostitution must be prohibited because it is tantamount to
slavery, for instance, is based on unexamined, culturally and
historically contingent beliefs about female sexuality, while the
disastrous attempt to create a “drug-free society” by force denies
the basic human desire to achieve altered states of consciousness.
Demystification is often a prerequisite for decriminalization.
—Jacob Sullum

Read the rest of this article at: http://reason.com/archives/2013/05/07/repression-begets-repression

Reason

Click here to read
our complete May issue.

Read the rest of this article at: http://reason.com/blog/2013/05/07/read-our-complete-may-2013-issue

“I don’t want to look like a weirdo. I’ll just go with a
muumuu.”

Read the rest of this article at: http://reason.com/blog/2013/05/07/delaware-becomes-11th-state-to-recognize

TMJ4

The security guard wanted this investigated but told
MPD’s Internal Affairs, “He did not trust the Milwaukee Police
Department to investigate the matter properly.”
That security [guard] asked the I-Team to hold police accountable.
MPD’s Internal Affairs talked to all involved. The department’s
report found, “the investigation revealed no evidence of criminal
misconduct.”

It turns out the man was a Marine. The cop helped him out when the
Marine broke a taxi window.

The report showed the cab driver did not want to press charges and
only wanted the Marine to pay him back for the damages. The report
said the “officer indicated he did not keep any of the
money.”

A
pattern of police abuse
and excess has led to a significant trust deficit for police.
From TMJ4:

MPD’s reputation makes investigating itself harder…
[the security guard] said he doubted MPD because how long it took
the agency to release the Derek Williams’ dash cam video.

Williams died while begging for help in police custody in 2011.
Also, in April Officer Michael Vagnini entered a plea in his role
in the illegal strip search scandal within the agency. Three other
cops are still awaiting trial. Also, the FBI is still looking into
practices within the department…

Even Chief Edward Flynn admits trust is a key element.

“A community’s trust in the police department is a crucial
component,” explained Flynn.

But when so many fail to trust his department, how can it change
the negative perception? Flynn blamed us.

“I’ll tell you how we change the perception. I’m old enough to
remember when being transparent was a bad thing. Now we recognize
it’s a good thing,” said Flynn.

The police chief has previously called the Milwaukee
Journal-Sentinel’s extensive reporting on his police
department  a
“witch hunt.” Speaking of witch hunts,

Read the rest of this article at: http://reason.com/blog/2013/05/07/cop-caught-on-camera-withdrawing-money-u

Print PDF

Read the rest of this article at: http://www.campaignforliberty.org/national-blog/kane-podcast-on-the-internet-sales-tax-mandate/

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I thought I’d provide some context:

However, an important finding of this study is that
stranger homicide by patients with psychosis is exceptionally rare,
with an incidence of approximately 1 case per 14 million population
per year. [1]

Schizophrenia and other psychoses are associated with
violence and violent offending, particularly homicide. However,
most of the excess risk appears to be mediated by substance abuse
comorbidity. The risk in these patients with comorbidity is similar
to that for substance abuse without psychosis [2]

Homicide rates by people with schizophrenia are
associated with rates of all homicides. It is therefore likely that
both types of homicide have some common etiological factors.
[3]

1. Nielssen, O. et al. Homicide of Strangers by People with a
Psychotic Illness. Schizophr Bull 37, 572–579 (2011).

2. Fazel, S., Gulati, G., Linsell, L., Geddes, J. R.
Grann, M. Schizophrenia and Violence: Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis. PLoS Med 6, (2009).

3. Large, M., Smith, G. Nielssen, O. The relationship
between the rate of homicide by those with schizophrenia and the
overall homicide rate: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Schizophrenia Research 112, 123–129 (2009).

Read the rest of this article at: http://reason.com/blog/2013/05/07/air-force-staffer-in-charge-of-preventin

I thought I’d provide some context:

However, an important finding of this study is that
stranger homicide by patients with psychosis is exceptionally rare,
with an incidence of approximately 1 case per 14 million population
per year. [1]

Schizophrenia and other psychoses are associated with
violence and violent offending, particularly homicide. However,
most of the excess risk appears to be mediated by substance abuse
comorbidity. The risk in these patients with comorbidity is similar
to that for substance abuse without psychosis [2]

Homicide rates by people with schizophrenia are
associated with rates of all homicides. It is therefore likely that
both types of homicide have some common etiological factors.
[3]

1. Nielssen, O. et al. Homicide of Strangers by People with a
Psychotic Illness. Schizophr Bull 37, 572–579 (2011).

2. Fazel, S., Gulati, G., Linsell, L., Geddes, J. R.
Grann, M. Schizophrenia and Violence: Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis. PLoS Med 6, (2009).

3. Large, M., Smith, G. Nielssen, O. The relationship
between the rate of homicide by those with schizophrenia and the
overall homicide rate: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Schizophrenia Research 112, 123–129 (2009).

Read the rest of this article at: http://reason.com/blog/2013/05/07/air-force-staffer-in-charge-of-preventin

Conducted by Robert Rector and Jason Richwine, the
study found that amnesty for illegals would impose a net fiscal
cost of $6.3 trillion over the course of their (immigrants’, not
Rector/Richwine’s) lifetime.  “Given the U.S. debt of $17
trillion, the fiscal effects detailed in our study should be at the
forefront of legislators’ minds as they consider immigration
reform,” Rector and Heritage President Jim DeMint wrote in the
Washington Post yesterday.  Actually, as I noted
here and
here, what should be at the “forefront of legislators’ minds”
is that a foreign-born underclass is a bargain for taxpayers
compared to a native-born one and hence might help strengthen the
safety net.

Be that as it may, these results are completely in line with
Rector’s controversial 2007 study, which is credited with having
derailed President George W. Bush’s immigration reform. That study
found that low skilled immigrants imposed nearly $1 trillion in
annual fiscal costs on American taxpayers.

However, it was riddled with methodological flaws most of which,
unfortunately, the new study does not even acknowledge, let alone
correct.

One big
flaw that Alex Nowrasteh of the Cato Institute points to is
that in this study Heritage abandons its usual methodology of
dynamic scoring. Heritage criticizes CBO and other government
agencies for applying a static methodology when it comes to
examining the fiscal effects of tax cuts. This approach counts the
revenues the government looses from tax cuts, but does not factor
in the revenues the government gains from the economic growth and
productivity gains that these cuts engender, thereby greatly
exaggerating the impact of tax cuts on government coffers.

But Rector does the exact same thing

Read the rest of this article at: http://reason.com/blog/2013/05/07/heritages-updated-study-on-the-welfare-c